“★★★★”- Kam Williams, Newsblaze.com

“A sort of ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ for global economics…a powerful description of how Western policies since colonialism have subjugated Third World countries.”

-Charles Masters, The Hollywood Reporter

  CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED DOCUMENTARY

‘THE END OF POVERTY?’

Available on BLU-RAY May 24, 2011

LOS ANGELES (March 16, 2011) – This provocative documentary, which garnered national and international attention from educators, activists and humanitarians. THE END OF POVERTY?, narrated by Martin Sheen, has been screened by colleges, universities, and non-profit organizations across the nation and now, by popular be demand, it will be available on BLU-RAY nationwide on May 24, 2011.  The film, which was shot on four continents and invited to over 30 international film festivals, has generated both vehemence and tears during screenings and events as it touches on the inherent imbalance in our chosen economic system that finds the poor bailing out the rich. 

The film initially premiered at Critics’ Week during the Cannes Film Festival, then it was selected to screen twice at the United Nations and was therefore followed by a nationwide theatrical release with sold out shows. Critics have proclaimed: “…(it) should be required viewing by every politician in the world.”(Eric Monder, Film Journal International). The film also enjoyed an extensive theatrical run in Europe playing 13 consecutive weeks in Paris with distribution handled by Cargo Films, the production/distribution company of iconoclast filmmaker Jean-Jacques Beineix.

Filmed in the slums of Africa to the barrios of Latin America, The End of Poverty? explores how the true causes of poverty stem from actions taken during (and since) colonial times to perpetuate exploitation:  first by forcing people from their land and their access to natural resources, then through unfair trade, debt repayment and unjust taxes on labor and consumption.  This system was carefully built and then maintained with neo-colonial policies such as free market economics, resource monopolies and structural adjustment programs by the international financial institutions. 

The documentary features:  Nobel prize winners Amartya Sen and Joseph Stiglitz; expert authors Susan George (“Another World Is Possible If”), Eric Toussaint (“The World Bank: A Never Ending Coup d’Etat”), John Perkins (“Confessions of an Economic Hit Man”), Chalmers Johnson (“Nemesis: The Last Days of the America Republic”), as well as Brookings Institute fellow and author, William Easterly (“White Man’s Burden”) plus government ministers such as Bolivia’s Vice President Alvaro Garcia Linera, and leaders of social movements in Bolivia, Brazil, Venezuela, Kenya and Tanzania.

The film has been embraced by activists and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) worldwide for its ‘direct talk’ about the role of debt, free trade, and neo-liberal policies and poverty.  Groups including: Action Aid, Amnesty UK, ATTAC, CADTM, Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP), InterAction, Jubilee Debt Campaign, Make Poverty History, Share the World’s Resources (STWR), Tax Justice Network, Transnational Institute, and the UN Millennium Campaign have screened the films as part of their anti-poverty campaigns in the past year.

Synopsis:  Narrated by Martin Sheen, The End of Poverty? is a daring, thought-provoking and very timely documentary by award-winning filmmaker, Philippe Diaz, revealing that poverty is not an accident. It began with military conquest, slavery and colonization that resulted in the seizure of land, minerals and forced labor. Today, global poverty has reached new levels because of unfair debt, trade and tax policies — in other words, wealthy countries exploiting the weaknesses of poor, developing countries such that today 20% of the planet’s population uses 80% of its resources and consumes 30% more than the planet can regenerate.  (Produced & distributed by Cinema Libre Studio with the Robert Schalkenbach Foundation) www.theendofpoverty.com | Twitter | Facebook | Clips & Trailer | High Res DVD Art

A 398-page companion book, ‘Why Global Poverty?’ published by The Robert Schalkenbach Foundation with Cinema Libre Studio, provides extended, translated transcripts from over 75 experts and people living in poverty who are featured in the film as well as a substantive introduction to the film by the director, Philippe Diaz. (ISBN 978-0-911312-94-2, SRP; $20.00, available at cinemalibrestore.com and Amazon).

BLU-RAY DETAILS:

SRP: $29.95 | TRT: 104 minutes

PreBook: 4/12/11 | Street Date: 5/24/11

UPC: 881394111127 | Catalog: CLS 1111

Genre: Documentary

Languages: English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Swahili and local dialects with English subtitles

Bonus Features include: 

• SPEAKING FREELY, Volume 1 with JOHN PERKINS on Globalization
• Extended interview with Director Philippe Diaz
• ‘10 Steps to End Poverty Petition’
• ‘Changes in Venezuela’ (a look at Hugo Chávez’s reforms and the impact on the country’s poor)
• Extended Interviews w/ Experts Including: John Perkins: How Economic Hit Men Work; Heather Remoff: Colonialism and Monoculture in Africa; Joshua Farley: How Land Tax in Brazil Would Break Up Latifundia; Mason Gaffney: How U.S. Companies Gain Control of Land; HWO Okoth-Ogendo: On Private Property; Gitu wa Kahengeri: On the Results of Independence
• Stawi Youth & Adult Centre (Kenya) Profile

ABOUT CINEMA LIBRE: Cinema Libre Studio, a leader in distributing social issue documentaries and features by passionate filmmakers, is a haven for independent filmmakers offering a complete array of production and distribution resources. Headquartered in Los Angeles, the Cinema Libre team has released over one hundred films and is best known for releasing the award‐winning  films: OUTFOXED, UNCOVERED:THE WAR ON IRAQ, Participant Media’s ANGELS IN THE DUST, the Independent Spirit John Cassavetes Award Winner, CONVENTIONEERS, and  the Sundance Audience Award‐Winning FUEL. The company is currently releasing Oliver Stone’s documentary SOUTH OF THE BORDER with films from Haskell Wexler and Rachid Bouchareb slated for 2011 releases.   In 2011, Cinema Libre Studio is producing THE LAST DAYS OF KARL MARX in Algeria and Belgium as well as developing John Perkins’ best‐selling memoirs, CONFESSIONS OF AN ECONOMIC HIT MAN, into a major motion picture. For more information and updates, please visit: www.cinemalibrestudio.com | Updates | Facebook | Twitter | Affiliate Program

Press Contact: 

Cinema Libre Studio

press (at) cinemalibrestudio (dot) com

With Launch of DVD on June 22^nd, the FUEL team of Energy Experts

Began a National Dialogue on Solutions for the DeepWater Oil Spill

Events to Span from Los Angeles to New Orleans and Canada

__________________________________________________________________________

LOS ANGELES, CA (June 23, 2010) –   To coincide with the two month anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion that triggered the worst environmental disaster in American history and the June 22^nd DVD release of the Sundance Award winning documentary, FUEL, New Orleans native, filmmaker and alternative fuels activist, Josh Tickell has kicked off a week long campaign.  In the course of the next several days, multiple events will engage politicians, scientists, oil spill experts and activists such as Peter Fonda, Amy Smart and singer/songwriter Jason Mraz to elevate awareness and outline solutions to the oil spill.

Tickell grew up near Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in an area known as ‘cancer alley’ for having the highest cancer incidence in the United States due to the byproduct of the oil processing industry.  FUEL is the only film that investigates the influence that the oil industry has had on the region which provides the historical and political context for the current disaster. The film also tells of an oil spill in the region following Hurricane Katrina that was grossly underreported and has proven to be prescient: it features an animation of the Horizon Deepwater Oil Rig that collapsed as well as a former Chevron/Texaco oil executive detailing the hazards of deep water drilling in the Gulf.

Tickell, producer Rebecca Harrell Tickell and a team of established environmentalists will be organizing a series of high-profile events that span from Los Angeles to Canada with the focus on New Orleans:

Tuesday, June  22^nd (in Los Angeles):

• Press conference at Los Angeles City Hall yesterday with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to discuss his 30/10 transportation initiative and to declare “Get LA Off Oil Day” while showcasing the City’s alternative fuel vehicles. A Green Car Rally followed.
• The FUEL bus, a mobile museum of alternative fuel that runs on bio-diesel, departed Los Angeles for New Orleans yesterday and is filled with young activists.
• FUEL became available on DVD nationwide loaded with special features such as How To Make Fuel for Under $1.50 per gallon.

Saturday, June 26^th (in Los Angeles):

• Pacifica radio’s KPFK will screen FUEL with a discussion to follow with “The Green Cowboy,” S. David Freeman, energy guru with KPFK’s ‘Free Forum’ host Terrence McNally at the Warner Grand Theatre in San Pedro, CA. (Starts at 7:30pm, $15 at door, details here.)

Monday, June 28th (in New Orleans):

• Fonda, Smart and Mraz will join Tickell and spill clean up experts such as Dr. Randall von Wedel, developer of the Cytosol bioremediation process and others for a tour of the spill area organized by the Louisiana Environmental Action Network (LEAN) with participation of leaders from local organizations such as the Riverkeepers, Sierra Club and Global Green.

Monday, June 28th (in New Orleans) Continued:

• FUEL to screen for the first time in New Orleans followed by a community conversation on solutions to the oil spill at the Theatres at Canal Place (333 Canal, New Orleans, LA  70130, RSVP required at rsvp@thefuelfilm.com).  Hosted by Peter Fonda, the film starts at 7:00 pm, followed by a discussion with director Josh Tickell and producer Rebecca Harrell Tickell.

Tuesday, June 29th (in New Orleans):

• A strategic oil spill solutions think-tank, The Turning Point, lead by Synetics Group, on solutions to the oil spill with scientists, thought leaders and other notable activists. (From 9:00am – 2:00pm, interested parties must RSVP to thinktank@thefuelfilm.com.)
• 1100 Person March for Clean Energy – The peace march begins at 3:00pm at the steps near Café Du Monde and continues through the French Quarter culminating at 5:00pm in the Human Oil Spill demonstration in Jackson Square with an aerial art project by John Quigley.  (Participants encouraged to wear black and bring a sign.)

Friday, July 2nd – 8th:

• FUEL will premiere for the first time in Canadian theaters at The Bloor Cinema in Toronto.  Details at www.bloorcinema.com.

Updates will be available at: http://www.facebook.com/TheFuelFilm

DVD DETAILS:

Josh Tickell’s stirring, radical and multi-award winning FUEL is a powerful portrait of America’s overwhelming addiction to, and reliance on, oil.  The feature length documentary film features: Barbara Boxer, Richard Branson, Sheryl Crow, Larry David, John Paul DeJoria, Larry Hagman, Woody Harrelson, Jim Hightower, Robert Kennedy, Jr., Willie Nelson, Julia Roberts and Neil Young.

Fuel DVD

DVD Bonus features include: How To Get 150 MPG From Your Prius, Building A Green Bottom Line With John Paul DeJoria, How to Save Thousands Through Energy Efficiency, Sustainable BioDiesel with HeroBX, How To Make Fuel for Under $1.50 per gallon, and Filmmaker Commentary track.  (Street Date: 6/22/10 / $24.95 / 112 mins./ Documentary/Eco-Packaging). Distributed by Cinema Libre Studio.

The film was produced by Greg Reitman of Blue Water Entertainment, Chip Rosenbloom of Open Pictures, Daniel Assael and Rebecca Harrell Tickell.  FUEL is now available at DVD outlets nationwide that will include: Best Buy, Whole Foods, Barnes & Noble, Netflix, iTunes, Amazon, Cinema Libre Store and independent video stores (distribution in English-speaking Canada on July 27, 2010 by VSC).

For more information on FUEL as well as downloadable materials, visit www.thefuelfilm.com. Additional information can be found on Twitter and Facebook.

About Cinema Libre Studio:

Cinema Libre Studio is a haven for independent filmmakers with one-stop shopping for production and distribution. Headquartered in Los Angeles, the company has been a leader in distributing social issue and political documentaries.  More information at Cinema Libre Studio.

# # #

For Editors, Producers and Web Masters:
High Res DVD box art for FUEL can be downloaded here: http://www.cinemalibrestudio.com/clscatalog/2010/Fuel_3D_HR.jpg

Trailer is available to view/embed at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upTCSSkxlxE

To arrange an interview with director Josh Tickell or to request a screener for review or story consideration, CONTACT Corinne Bourdeau, corinne@360Degreecomm.net. 310-454-8933 / 310-454-2469

“A sort of ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ for global economics…a powerful description of how Western policies since colonialism have subjugated Third World countries.”
-Charles Masters, The Hollywood Reporter

The End of Poverty? is a daring, thought-provoking and very timely documentary by award-winning filmmaker, Philippe Diaz, revealing that poverty is not an accident. It began with military conquest, slavery and colonization that resulted in the seizure of land and other natural resources as well as in forced labor. Today, global poverty has reached new levels because of unfair debt, trade and tax policies — in other words, wealthy countries exploiting the weaknesses of poor, developing countries. image The End of Poverty? asks why today 20% of the planet’s population uses 80% of its resources and consumes 30% more than the planet can regenerate? Can we really end poverty under our current economic system? Think again.

Special features: Extended Interviews, Stawi Profile, Interview with Philippe Diaz, DVD-ROM Content

BUY IT NOW

The educational DVD is also available for educators, librarians, and other organizations. Find out more here.

We will be updating our new program regularly, so sign up for our Educational and PPR mailing list and keep checking our new Educational and PPR section of the Cinema Libre Store for new titles.

For all the details on our new program, please see our Educational and PPR homepage with F.A.Q.‘s.

ADM Tries to Take Down Funny Davos Video; Big Business Has No Solutions; Now What?

• ADM video still available here, here, and (for download and reposting) here; page here
• Fake initiatives pages, with links to organizations seeking change on these issues
• More information about last week’s website and videos
• Contact: scurrilous@theyesmen.org, bportello@cinemalibrestudio.com

A legal complaint from agribusiness giant ADM has resulted in the removal from Youtube of a fake video of ADM’s CEO making over-honest pronouncements. (The video is still available here, here, and, for download and reposting, here.)

Last week, the filmmaking team behind The End of Poverty? partnered with the Yes Men to create a parallel, imaginary World Economic Forum in which world leaders came up with real solutions to poverty. The leaders seemed, in a < a href=”http://www.we-forum.org/en/events/AnnualMeeting2010/index.shtml“>series of videos, to be supporting a set of initiatives based on 10 Solutions to End Poverty, a petition for which the filmmakers are trying to get ten million signatures by the end of 2010.

Each of those initiatives pages has links to organizations that are fighting hard for change on these issues.

In contrast, the actual World Economic Forum ended Sunday with a profound lack of results, some seemingly satirical but all-too-real headlines (like Goldman Sachs’s Lloyd Blankfein’s rumoured $100 million bonus), and one fruitless complaint to Youtube.

“If we can bail out bankers to the tune of trillions of dollars, surely we can solve poverty, which will just take a few structural changes, plus a whole lot less money,” said Beth Portello, the producer of The End of Poverty?

“All the crises we’re facing are rooted in massive inequality and poverty,” says Philippe Diaz, the film’s director. “If these leaders really wanted to make a difference, they would work towards ending poverty, however uncomfortable that might be for business.”

“It’s easier to remove funny videos from Youtube,” added Portello.

###

The press release and links to videos can be viewed online at: http://theyesmen.org/adm

DETAILS:  The End of Poverty? is a critically-acclaimed feature length documentary narrated by Martin Sheen and directed by Philippe Diaz which is currently in theatrical release in New York (Cinema Village), Los Angeles (Laemmle Monica 4) and Phoenix (Harkins Valley Art) with more cities to follow.  It is produced and distributed by Cinema Libre Studio (www.cinemalibrestudio.com).

 CONTACT: press@cinemalibrestudio.com

THE END OF POVERTY returns to NYC at Cinema Village on Friday 1/29 and Los Angeles at Laemmle ‘s Monica this weekend. Starts 2/5 in Phoenix at Harkins Valley Art


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 28, 2010

Scurrilous Videos Besmirch, Enrage Forum, Leaders, World
Videos threaten very existence of WEF

• Close examination of fake website reveals outrageous, elaborate subterfuge
• Videos may be viewed here or downloaded
• Lefty filmmakers mainly to blame
• Contacts: scurrilous@theyesmen.org, info@theendofpoverty.com

In a series of diabolically stupid video manipulations, a cabal of anti-poverty filmmakers have performed an elaborate slander of the World Economic Forum, showing its “leading lights” taking a dramatic departure from the litany of meaningless pledges they usually make at the annual gathering in the Swiss resort town.

In response, WEF spokesperson Adrian Monck could barely contain himself. “The only defense to satire is common sense!” he sputtered, before racing back into the WEF war room to deal with the burgeoning crisis.

Fortunately for the WEF, few media outlets picked up on the WEF’s fantastic but fictional approach to world poverty (“World Leaders Pledge Strategy to End Poverty Now”). Instead, the media was dominated by coverage of a real WEF press release warning of “Over Regulation of the Financial Sector” (sic).

The forged videos showed eight of “leading lights of Davos” outlining a few clear strategies to end poverty.

The CEO of Archer Daniels Midland, the world’s largest agribusiness conglomerate, spoke of “agriculture’s role in today’s economic savagery, and the broader long-term issues of robbing whole groups for the greed of the food industry,” before calling for “universal justice and agriculture’s reform” via Food Sovereignty. “We want to undo the injuries of global capitalism,” added a much-improved “Klaus Schwab,” founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum.

“The source of our financial treasure was violence towards the colonies of the global South,” admitted “Queen Elizabeth II” most refreshingly, before pledging to sell her lands and use the proceeds to improve the lot of the world’s poor. “We have caused this disaster,” added “Prince Harry” with a stalwart giggle. “Nobody wants a catastrophe,” Canadian Prime Minister “Stephen Harper” chimed in most helpfully.

“Haiti was a house of cards that we built through a history of exploitative economic policies,” said a tired-looking “Bill Clinton.” Now we have a chance to rebuild a more independent society by ending exploitation, forgiving their debt and bringing back real sustainability.”

The perpetrators included a prominent film director, several Hollywood voice actors, at least one disaffected member of the World Economic Forum itself, and thirty-four of the Yes Men.

“Yes, these are real talking heads,” explained Robert Diaz Leroy, a Hollywood film producer who was one of those behind the action. Another co-conspirator, film director Philippe Diaz, went into greater detail.

“We did this out of frustration with the fact that each year in Davos, the wealthy and powerful figure out ways the global economy can continue to benefit them,” said Diaz, who directed The End of Poverty?, which opens this Friday in New York. “Even this year, they’re still talking about economic growth and de-regulation as the solution to poverty. That’s especially obscene in light of this year’s economic crisis, which resulted from those exact policies and has disproportionately affected the poor.”

Despite the WEF’s annual posturing, neoliberal policies have proven to be a massive failure for the vast majority of the poor, said Diaz. “When a disaster strikes a poor country like Haiti, our culpability becomes graphically clear.”

Diaz explained that growth has by and large benefited only the wealthiest fraction of the population. “Our economic system depends on the resources of the global South that we have plundered since 1492. Only the tools have changed: nowadays we rarely use guns or armies, we mainly use economic instruments. But the damage is just as real.” (See the fake press release for some real statistics to that effect.)

“What you won’t hear in Davos is anything about the structural factors at the root of global poverty,” said Beth Portello, who produced The End of Poverty?. “Poverty is created: it’s the byproduct of centuries of exploitation of human and natural resources maintained into modern times by unfair trade, tax and land policies, and odious debt.”

“Unlike the lip-service solutions from Davos, the proposals on our fake WEF site would actually end poverty,” said Diaz. “We’re going to do everything we can to make them happen. The film is just the beginning.”

“Poverty isn’t an accident, and it won’t end by accident, either,” added Portello.

In a dramatic bit of irony, it was revealed that the fake Queen Elizabeth II was played by boy actor James O’Keefe, who was recently arrested for feloniously attempting to tamper with the phone line of U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu, not long after being honored by House Republicans for his “ACORN pimp” role last year.

“Oh that queen,” said Andy Bichlbaum of the Yes Men. “Who knows what trouble she’ll get into next.”

***

The End of Poverty?, a film with some real solutions to global poverty, is currently playing in US theatres. If you happen to be in New York City this weekend, come meet Philippe and Beth at screenings this Friday (1/29), Saturday or Sunday matinee at Cinema Village in lower Manhattan. Phillipe, Beth and Andy are all available for interviews in NYC or by phone: conta ct press@cinemalibrestudio.com to arrange.

Eric Toussaint – Sophie Perchellet[1]

There is a great risk that one of the largest relief operations in history will be similar in nature to the tsunami relief efforts in 2004, unless a radically different approach to a reconstruction model is adopted.  Haiti was partially destroyed by an earthquake measuring 7 on the Richter scale. We have all shed tears and the media, as they bombard us with apocalyptic images, report on financial pledges generous States have made. We know that Haiti needs to be rebuilt, this country hard-hit by poverty and “its curse”. Therefore, at the moment, the focus is on Haiti. Comments fail to look beyond the terrible earthquake. We are told that it is one of the poorest countries in the world without any explanations provided.  We are led to believe that poverty just happened, that it is a situation beyond remedy: “Haiti is an accursed land”.

There is no doubt that this recent natural disaster has lead to considerable and unforeseeable material and human damage. Emergency aid is therefore needed and everyone can agree on this point. However, this earthquake was not the root cause of poverty and squalor. This country needs to be re-built because it has been stripped of its means to rebuild itself. Haiti is neither a free nor a sovereign country. In recent years, its domestic policy choices have been made by a government constantly under pressure by orders coming from outside the country and by manoeuvres carried out by the local elites.

At best, Haiti is described as a violent, poor and repressive country. There are few comments remembering the independence gained in 1804, after a hard-fought struggle against Napoleon’s French armies. Rather than focusing on their humane approach and their fight for Human Rights, savagery and violence are the traits attributed to Haitians. Eduardo Galeano talks about “the white curse.”

“At the border where the Dominican Republic ends and Haiti begins, there is a large sign with the following warning:  The bad path. On the other side, it is black hell. Blood and hunger, poverty, plagues[2].”

It is therefore necessary to look back at the struggle for emancipation waged by the Haitian population, because in retaliation against this double-faceted revolution, both anti-slavery and anti-colonial in nature, the country inherited the ransom France demanded for independence, amounting to 150 million francs (that is, France’s annual budget at the time). In 1825, France decided that “The current inhabitants of the French part of Santo Domingo will pay into France’s Federal deposit and consignment offices, the sum of one hundred and fifty million francs, to be paid in five instalments, year after year, with the first term due 31 December 1825. The money will be used to compensate the former colonists who will demand compensation.[3]” That is equivalent to approximately 21 billion dollars nowadays. From the outset Haiti had to pay a very high price. Debt became the neo-colonial instrument used to maintain access to this country’s many natural resources.

The payment of this ransom is therefore the founding element of the Haitian State. In legal terms, this means that it was contracted by a despotic regime and this contract was used against the interests of the people. First France, then the United States, whose sphere of influence expanded to Haiti from 1915, are entirely responsible for this.

Now, whilst it would have been possible to face up to their painful responsibilities of the past in 2004, the Régis Debray Commission[4] report preferred to scrap the idea of repaying this sum on the pretext that it was “legally unfounded” and that this action would open a “Pandora’s box.” The Haitian government’s request was rejected by France: no compensation was warranted. Moreover, France does not recognize the role it played in the shameful present it gave to the dictator in exile “Baby Doc” Duvalier, by granting him political refugee status and thus, immunity.

The Duvaliers’ rule began with the help of the United States in 1957: it lasted till 1986, when the son “Baby Doc” was thrown out of power by a popular uprising. The violent dictatorship, broadly supported by Western countries, ravaged the country for almost 30 years. It was marked by an exponential growth in its debt. Between 1957 and 1986, foreign debt had multiplied by 17.5. At the time Duvalier fled, it amounted to 750 million dollars. It then rose, through interest and penalties, to over 1,884 million dollars[5]. This debt, far from serving the interests of the impoverished population, was actually aimed at enriching the ruling regime: it is therefore an odious debt. A recent inquiry reveals that the Duvalier family’s personal wealth (well protected by their western bank accounts) amounted to 900 million dollars, or in other words, a greater sum than the total debt of the country at the time “Baby Doc” fled. A trial is currently taking place before the Swiss courts for the restitution of goods and assets to the state of Haiti, embezzled during the Duvalier dictatorship. For the moment, these assets remain frozen by the Swiss bank UBS, which has put forward unacceptable conditions for the restitution of these funds.[6]. Jean-Baptiste Aristide, by contrast, was enthusiastically elected, however he was soon accused of corruption, before being put back in office as a United States puppet and finally ousted by the US army. So Aristide, unfortunately, is not innocent in relation to debt and embezzlement of funds. Furthermore, according to the World Bank, between 1995 and 2001, the debt service, that is to say capital and the reimbursed interests, had reached the considerable sum of 321 million dollars.

All current financial aid announced following the earthquake is already lost to the debt repayment!

According to the latest estimates, over 80% of Haiti’s foreign debt is with the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank (IBD) with up to 40% each. Under their leadership, the government applied “structural adjustment plans”, now disguised as “Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers” (PRSP). In exchange for contracting more loans, Haiti has been given some insignificant amount of debt relief or cancellations, which cast the creditors in a positive light. The Highly Indebted Poor Countries initiative (HIPC), for which Haiti was accepted, is a typical odious-debt laundering manoeuvre, as was the case with the Democratic Republic of Congo[7].  Odious debt is replaced by new so-called legitimate loans. CADTM views these new loans as a key part of odious debt as they are used to pay off the old debt. The offence continues to be committed.

In 2006, when the IMF, the World Bank and the Paris Club accepted that the HIPC initiative include Haiti, the whole stock of public foreign debt totalled 1,337 million dollars. At the time of completion of the initiative (in June 2009), the debt totalled 1,884 million. The cancellation of a debt totalling 1,200 million dollars was decided so as to “make the debt bearable”. Meanwhile, the structural adjustment plans wreaked havoc, especially in the agricultural sector, the effects of which reached its peak at the time of the 2008 food crisis. Haitian peasant farming suffered from US agricultural goods dumping. “The macro-economic policies supported by Washington, the UN, the IMF and the World Bank do not concern themselves at all with the need to develop and protect domestic markets. The only concern of their policies is to produce at the lowest price for exportation on the global markets.[8]” It is therefore a scandal to hear the IMF say that they are, “ready to play their role with the appropriate support in these areas of competence.[9]”

As stated in the recent international appeal, “Haiti calls for solidarity and the respect for the sovereignty of the people”: “ Together with many Haitian organizations, over recent years we have denounced the military occupation of the country by United Nations (UN) troops and the impacts of the domination imposed via the mechanisms of debt, free trade, the looting of its natural habitat and the invasion of transnational interests. The vulnerability of the country to natural tragedies – provoked to a large extent by the environmental devastation, the non-existence of basic infrastructure, and the systematic weakening of the state’s capacity to act – should not be seen as something disconnected from these policies, which have historically undermined the sovereignty of the people.

Now is the time for the governments that form part of the MINUSTAH, the UN and in particular France and the United States, the governments of Latin America, to revise this action that is contrary to the basic needs of the Haitian people. We demand of those governments and international organizations that they substitute the military occupation with a true mission of solidarity, and that they take action to ensure the urgent cancellation of the debt that is still being collected of Haiti.”[10]

Irrespective of the debt issue, it is feared that the aid will take the same form as that provided after the tsunami hit several Asian countries at the end of December 2004 (Sri Lanka, Indonesia, India, Bangladesh) or after cyclone Jeanne hit Haiti in 2004. Promises were not kept and a large part of the funds were used to line the pockets of foreign or local elites. The majority of these “generous donations” came from the creditor countries. Rather than giving donations, it would be preferable that they cancel Haiti’s debt: totally, unconditionally and immediately. Can we really speak of donations when we know that this most of this money will either be used to repay foreign debt or to implement “national development projects” decided on the basis of the interests of these creditors or local elites? It is clear that without these immediate donations, it will not be possible to secure repayment of this debt, at least half of which corresponds to odious debt. The major international conferences, whether G8 or G20 expanded to include IFIs, will not produce any progress whatsoever in terms of Haiti’s development rather, they will rebuild instruments to help them secure neo-colonial control of the country. The purpose is ensuring that debt repayments continue, the basis for submission, as has been the case since the recent debt relief initiatives.

On the contrary, in order for Haiti to rebuild itself in dignity, national sovereignty is the fundamental issue. A total and unconditional debt cancellation for Haiti must be the first step towards a more general course of action. A new alternative development model to the IFIs and the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPA signed in December 2009, the Hope II Accord…), is necessary and urgent. The most industrialized countries, which have systematically exploited Haiti, beginning with France and the United States, must pay compensation towards a fund aimed at financing the reconstruction of the country, controlled by the Haitian people’s organizations.

Translated by Francesca Denley in collaboration with Marie Lagatta.

[2] http://www.cadtm.org/Haiti-la-malediction-blanche

[3] http://www.haitijustice.com/jsite/images/stories/files/pdfs/Ordonnance_de_Charles_X_de_1825.pdf

[4] http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/fr/IMG/pdf/rapport_haiti.pdf

[5] http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/scr/2009/cr09288.pdf (page 43)

[6] http://www.cadtm.org/Le-CADTM-exige-que-la-restitution

[7] See the CADTM magazine, In favour of an audit of Congolese debt, Liège, 2007 online: http://www.cadtm.org/spip.php?page=imprimer&id_article=2599

[8] See http://www.cadtm.org/Haiti-Le-gouvernement-mene-une

[9] http://www.liberation.fr/monde/0101613508-haiti-l-aide-internationale-se-mobilise-apres-le-seisme

[10] http://www.cadtm.org/Solidarity-and-respect-for-Popular

Serge Latouch, Philippe Diaz, and Susan George at the premiere in France.

Jean-Jacques Beinex and Philippe Diaz at the premiere in France.

Jean-Jacques Beinex and Philippe Diaz at the premiere in France.

Charles Berling who did the voiceover for the French version of the film

Philippe Diaz filming with Eve Jackson his France24 interview.

Philippe Diaz filming with Eve Jackson his France24 interview.

Philippe Diaz filming his France24 interview.

Regal Meridian 16 (1501 7th Ave.  Seattle, WA 98101) – ENDS 12/17
Showtimes (12/11-12/17): 11:40AM, 2:05PM, 4:40PM, 7:55PM, 10:30PM

Living Room Theaters (341 SW Tenth Avenue. Portland, OR 97205) – ENDS 12/17
Showtimes (12/11-12/17): 2:20PM, 4:30PM, 6:45PM, 9:00PM

4-Star Theaters (2200 Clement St. @ 23rd, San Francisco, CA) – ENDS 12/22
Showtimes (12/16-12/22): 12:25PM, 4:20PM, 8:15PM

IN AUSTIN & DENVER STARTING DECEMBER 18

Regal Arbor Cinema @ Great Hills (9828 Great Hills Trail Suite 800 Austin, TX 78759)
Showtimes: 12:20PM, 2:50PM, 7:15PM, 9:45PM

Regency’s Tamarac Square (7777 East Hampden Ave. Denver, CO. 80231)
Showtimes: 11:20AM, 2:00PM, 4:45PM, 7:20PM
*There will be a Q&A with Executive Producer Clifford Cobb following the 7:20pm shows on Friday and Saturday.

If you would like to make a donation to sponsor a group to see The End of Poverty? in theatres, visit our website.