August 27, 2004

BUENOS AIRES - 1980 Nobel Peace Laureate Adolfo Perez Esquivel, together with other Argentine individuals, presented a writ with new evidence to support a complaint filed by the Argentine State against the World Bank for social economic crimes affecting millions of residents.

Pirez Esquivel, Nora Cortiqas and Josi de Luca, called on Argentine justice to include the evidence that was presented and recently made public, to the complaint Argentina filed before the World Bank Arbitral Tribunal in response to a demand imposed by the US CMS firm.

This company filed a suit against the Argentine state, demanding $265 million, as compensation for damages suffered due to emergency economic norms known as pesification, sanctioned by the Buenos Aires government in 2001 and 2002.

The Argentine state presented evidence alleging that CMS committed, through the dominion of a financial economic power system, crimes that forced huge sectors of the population into poverty, exposing them to conditions that have lead to serious physical and psychic harm that are inherent to social exclusion.

These economic and social crimes were committed against millions of Argentines through a system of domination led by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, the state alleges. The arbitration is still to be resolved and is before the ICSID, based in Paris, France.

According to estimates made by economic-financial media, the CMS suit is a pilot case that others will follow and the amount is approximately $16 billion, which would put the Argentine state at enormous risk.

The new evidence presented by Perez Esquivel states that the Argentine state was placed in state of need due to the application of economic policies that were imposed - Indirectly or directly - by the International Monetary Fund. This situation impeded it from fulfilling its obligations stemming from agreements celebrated as a consequence of these impositions.

He added that the resulting situation would imply a risk of dissolving the National State as the Argentine government defense maintains.

He said, moreover, that the increase in rates that the company is seeking, if they are accepted, would make the damage invoked in the lawsuit irreparable and would provoke an unsustainable increase of poverty, aggravating the critical social and economic situation in the country.

ALC News Service