By Eric Toussaint Mozambique, a country of 20 million inhabitants, has just suffered the worst floods for 30 years. While the industrialized countries point to the emergency aid they have provided to the victims, they are discreetly demanding that the Mozambican authorities repay the country's foreign debt. Mozambique, which is one of the poorest countries on the planet must pay its debt, money it could use to meet the basic human needs of its people. The WB and IMF wish to ensure the continuation of their control over the future of Mozambique. The bilateral debt, which represents more than half the foreign debt, is mostly owed to governments in the North - in order, Russia, France, Italy, Germany, Great Britain, the USA and Japan.
Brazil is also an important creditor.
It only said that it would defer payments for a few months - but that the money would have to be repaid later. Human distress was already immense in Mozambique before the floods. It can be said without fear of contradiction that the country's debt is the consequence of aggressions launched by the racist regime in South Africa in the 1970s and 80s. Mozambique had to get into debt to organize its defense against this external aggression and attempt to rebuild itself. After some years of strict application of the economic reforms demanded by the IMF and the WB, Mozambique should in principle have benefited from a cancellation of its foreign debt.