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World Council of Churches
Update UP-03-17
For Immediate Use
29 April 2003

Latin American churches say "Enough is enough!"
There is salvation outside the system

Cf. Press Release, PR-03-16 of 24 April 2003
Free photos available, see below

Latin American governments should refuse to pay their foreign debt and
creditors should cancel it, according to a document debated by church
representatives meeting in Buenos Aires. The document also calls for
"economic disobedience" and the reform of international financial
institutions.
 
Entitled "Looking for solutions ... moving forward. Protestant churches say
'Enough is enough!'", the document was submitted for debate on 28 April at a
consultation called "Globalizing the Fullness of Life". The document, drafted
by sociologists, economists, theologians and pastors, is intended as an
"invitation to realism" and a "call to move beyond powerless fatalism". 

It calls on creditor nations and institutions to take a decision - the
cancellation of foreign debt - that "cannot be postponed if they do not wish
to be dragged down into chaos". It also calls on governments across Latin
America to "together have the courage and the political will to refuse to pay
this foreign debt", described as "immoral and unpayable". 

Latin American governments are also called to "economic disobedience"
concerning the "dictates of international financial institutions". "There is
salvation outside the system" the document declares.

"If it were not for the debt and the International Monetary Fund, Latin
America and the Third World could have accumulated sufficient capital to
ensure growth at the level demanded by the needs of their peoples", states
the document. 

Organised by the Latin American Council of Churches (CLAI) and co-sponsored
by the World Council of Churches (WCC) and other ecumenical organisations,
the Buenos Aires consultation lasts until 1 May. Participants include more
than 100 representatives, mostly from Latin America and the Caribbean, but
also from Europe, North America, Asia, Africa and the Pacific.

The document "Seeking solutions..." is presented as the fruit of theological
reflection by the churches as they move from being an "insignificant to an
active minority that makes proposals, facilitates and motivates change". 
After offering a critical analysis of the dominant ideology, it makes a
series of concrete proposals on international governance and local and
national initiatives.

Topping the list is a proposal to reform international financial institutions
(IFIs) like the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the World
Trade Organisation. IFIs should link "economics to ethical and social
aspects", including "respect and promotion of human rights", the document
claims. 

It also discusses the need to create international public bodies to regulate
capital markets and strengthen international law, and proposes a form of
economic integration "with a Latin American face" different to the one
imposed by the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA).
 
Besides measures on foreign debt and disobedience of international financial
institutions, the document proposes "models of national governance" based on
ideas about a new economic and social pact, and a new concept of the state.

In a theological chapter, it explores Biblical perspectives on God's Grace
which nourish the hope that a "different world is possible". 

Early in the consultation, participants agreed that the document was
"current, concrete, purposeful and prophetic" and reflected accurately "what
is happening in this part of the world, in the South". Discussion will
continue throughout the consultation. 

Participants also suggested sections on political elites, corruption, social
and military violence, migration, and environmental destruction, as well as a
perspective on gender issues and references to other regions in the world. 

After being redrafted, the document will be used for CLAI's lobbying and
advocacy work with the US and Canadian governments and with international
financial institutions.

The consultation is being cosponsored by the WCC, the World Alliance of
Reformed Churches (WARC) and the Conference of European Churches (CEC).

Free photos to accompany articles based on this update are available on our
website:
http://www.wcc-coe.org/wcc/what/jpc/argentina-e.html 

For further information, please contact the Media Relations Office,  tel: +41
(0)22 791 64 21 / 61 53

**********

The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a fellowship of churches, now 342, in
more than 100 countries in all continents from virtually all Christian
traditions. The Roman Catholic Church is not a member church but works
cooperatively with the WCC. The highest governing body is the assembly, which
meets approximately every seven years. The WCC was formally inaugurated in
1948 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Its staff is headed by general secretary
Konrad Raiser from the Evangelical Church in Germany.

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