Veracruz: otra deuda exorbitante

Con base en cifras de Hacienda y del Inegi, legisladores panistas federales y locales de Veracruz revelan que en 11 años esa entidad ha hecho crecer desproporcionadamente su deuda pública. En poco más de una década, afirman, el adeudo estatal se elevó más de 67 mil por ciento y ahora la entidad debe pagar unos 60 mil millones de pesos, para lo cual ya comprometió las participaciones federales de los próximos 30 años… “Algo anda mal”, concluyen, aunque no es posible castigar esa irresponsabilidad, porque todo se ha hecho con el aval del Congreso local.

Javier Duarte, actual gobernador de Veracruz.

Regina Martínez

VERACRUZ, VER. (Proceso).- Miguel Alemán Velasco y Fidel Herrera Beltrán, exmandatarios, y Javier Duarte, actual gobernador y quien fue secretario de Finanzas de aquél, contribuyeron a que la deuda del estado de Veracruz en 11 años (de 2000 a 2011) haya tenido un crecimiento acumulado de 67,000%, de acuerdo con la Secretaría de Hacienda y Crédito Público (SHCP).
Aunque oficialmente Veracruz sólo tiene registrada ante Hacienda su deuda con instituciones bancarias –que al 31 de marzo del año pasado era de 21 mil 874 millones 400 mil pesos–, diputados de oposición afirman que el monto real es de más de 60 mil millones, por adeudos acumulados en otros rubros.
La administración veracruzana ha comprometido los recursos de las participaciones federales de los próximos 30 años para pagar líneas de crédito contratadas desde el gobierno de Alemán Velasco, que en 2004 le dejó al estado una deuda de 3 mil 500 millones de pesos, la que hoy se acerca oficialmente a 22 mil millones.
Un análisis del área económica del grupo legislativo del PAN en el Congreso de la Unión sobre la deuda de los estados –elaborado con datos de la SCHP, el Inegi y el Consejo Nacional de Evaluación de la Política de Desarrollo Social– calificó de “sorprendente” el caso de Veracruz.
En el análisis del periodo 2000-2011, la deuda veracruzana creció 67 mil 939% al llegar el último año a 21 mil 874 millones de pesos, dice a este semanario el legislador federal Luis Enrique Mercado.
Según el estudio sobre la deuda de las entidades federativas, difundido en agosto pasado, explica que si los estados tuvieran que pagar sus adeudos en estos momentos, en promedio invertirían 60% de las participaciones federales, “lo que constituiría un problema financiero”.
En torno a Veracruz, asegura que cualquier pasivo que crece 67,000% indica que algo anda mal y aunque se ha actuado de manera irresponsable, en este momento “no hay ninguna sanción, ya que son entidades soberanas y corresponde al Congreso local poner freno a esa velocidad de endeudamiento”.

Gasto corriente, en riesgo

El senador veracruzano Juan Bueno Torio afirma que la deuda pública en las entidades creció de manera desproporcionada, ya que en 2000 era de 90 mil 731 millones de pesos y al 30 de septiembre de 2011 había llegado a 358 mil 501 millones.
Con excepción de Tlaxcala, que mantenía su endeudamiento en cero, y Querétaro, que lo redujo 7%, las obligaciones financieras de entidades y municipios se cuadruplicaron en los últimos 11 años, significando ya una tercera parte de las participaciones federales para los estados, dice a Proceso.
“Esto representa un aumento global de 295.1% en términos nominales y de 144.8% en términos reales, observándose una tendencia a incrementar su deuda pública pese a que han aumentado las participaciones federales para los estados”, apunta.

Leer mas AQUI.

Campaña de firmas del "Manifiesto por Ecuador y por la constitución de una red mundial contra la deuda ilegítima"

Tlaxcala

El pasado 29 de octubre Rebelión publicó el "Manifiesto por Ecuador y por la constitución de una red mundial contra la deuda ilegítima". Hoy, una semana después, los lectores pueden solidarizarse con esta justa causa de los pueblos añadiendo su firma a las más de quinientas ya contabilizadas, entre las cuales se encuentran las de Eduardo Galeano, Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, Pablo González Casanova, Roberto Fernández Retamar, François Houtart, Aram Aharonian, Daniel Viglietti, Ana Esther Ceceña, Immanuel Wallerstein, Frei Betto, Atilio Borón, Ángel Guerra, Theotonio Dos Santos, Marta Harnecker, Pascual Serrano, James Cockcroft, Gilberto López y Rivas y docenas de compañeros más de todo el mundo.

Para firmar, pinche en el enlace de aquí abajo, lea el manifiesto y vaya luego al final de la página:

http://www.tlaxcala.es/detail_campagne.asp?lg=es&ref_campagne=7

Ecuador Declares Foreign Debt Illegitimate and Illegal

As Crisis Mounts, Ecuador Declares Foreign Debt Illegitimate and Illegal

By Daniel Denvir, AlterNet.

A special debt audit commission released a report charging that much of Ecuador's foreign debt was illegitimate or illegal.

Amidst the spreading global financial crisis, a special debt audit commission released a report charging that much of Ecuador's foreign debt was illegitimate or illegal. The commission recommended that Ecuador default on $3.9 billion in foreign commercial debts--Global Bonds 2012, 2015 and 2030--the result of debts restructured in 2000 after the country's 1999 default.
Although Ecuador currently has the capacity to pay, dropping oil prices and squeezed credit markets are putting President Rafael Correa's plans to boost spending on education and health care in jeopardy. Correa has pledged to prioritize the "social debt" over debt to foreign creditors.
The commission accused Salomon Smith Barney, now part of Citigroup Inc., of handling the 2000 restructuring without Ecuador's authorization, leading to the application of 10 and 12 percent interest rates. The commission evaluated all commercial, multilateral, government-to-government and domestic debt from 1976-2006.
Commercial debt, or debt to private banks, made up 44% of Ecuador's interest payments in 2007, considerably more than the 27% paid to multilateral institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF). But the report also lambasted multilateral debt, saying that many IMF and World Bank loans were used to advance the interests of transnational corporations. Ecuador's military dictatorship (1974-1979) was the first government to lead the country into indebtedness.
The commission found that usurious interest rates were applied for many bonds and that past Ecuadorian governments illegally took other loans on. Debt restructurings consistently forced Ecuador to take on more foreign debt to pay outstanding debt, and often at much higher interest rates. The commission also charged that the U.S. Federal Reserve's late 1970's interest rate hikes constituted a "unilateral" increase in global rates, compounding Ecuador's indebtedness.
If President Rafael Correa follows the commission's recommendations--which is far from a certainty--Ecuador could default on some portion of its foreign debt, becoming the first Latin American country to do so since Argentina in 2001.
But despite all the hints at a default, it seems likely that Ecuador will use the commission's report as leverage for restructuring the country's debt. Commission president Ricardo Patiño indicated as much to Bloomberg News, but said that Ecuador would not settle for a 60% reduction, a number that had earlier been mentioned.
Ecuador announced that it would delay paying $30.6 million in interest on the Global Bonus 2012, taking advantage of a month-long grace period. The announcement sent the global financial universe into a panic, with Standard and Poor's cutting Ecuador's risk rating to CCC-.
Social movements have long alleged that corrupt former governments illegally negotiated loans for their own personal financial gain.
Significantly, the commission singled out foreign debt for being "illegitimate" rather than simply illegal. Social movements have long declared most foreign debt to be illegitimate, but Ecuador's use of legitimacy as a legal argument for defaulting would set a major precedent; indeed, the mere formation of a debt auditing commission does so. Osvaldo Leon, of the Latin American Information Agency (ALAI), says that it remains to be seen if other countries in Latin America will follow suit.
Ecuador's findings could set an important precedent for the poorest of indebted countries, whose debt burden has long been criticized as inhumane.
Pablo Davalos, an economist and fierce social movement critic of Correa, has said that the report will in the end only amount to political posturing. Correa has criticized the foreign debt since his brief 2005 stint as Finance Minister--but has faithfully made each and every payment since his 2006 election. Correa has also made peace with oil and mining companies after acrimonious, high profile negotiations. In response, social movements have accused Correa of being overly friendly to business. The foreign press, and the business press in particular, regularly exaggerates Correa's radicalism.
It is also important to emphasize that Argentina's 2001 default did not hamper the country's economic recovery--in fact, it gave it a strong boost.
Former Constituent Assembly President Alberto Acosta echoed Correa, saying that the proposal could provide the legal basis for the prosecution of Ecuadorian officials involved in the negotiation of illegal or illegitimate debt. He also said that it was perfectly reasonable to take a debt's legitimacy into account. "The United States itself has embraced the concept of illegitimate debt in encouraging countries to forgive the debt accrued in Iraq under Saddam Hussein." In fact, the U.S. originated the concept of foreign debt after the Spanish-American war. The U.S. refused to pay Cuba's outstanding debt to Spain, arguing that it was created by agents of Spain in Spain's self-interest, a matter in which Cubans had no say.

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Daniel Denvir is an independent journalist in Quito, Ecuador and a 2008 recipient of NACLA's Samuel Chavkin Investigative Journalism Grant. He is an editor at www.caterwaulquarterly.com.