Jubilee Debt Campaign supports Brazil audit

The decision of the Brazilian parliament to audit Brazil's debts is a great first step to understanding their legitimacy.

On August 19th it was announced that the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies are to implement a Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (CPI) to investigate the public debt of the nation. This heralds a victory that an international network of civil society movements and society organisations including our friends at Jubilee South and Jubileo Sur Americas have successfully campaigned for.

The Brazilian government is forced to spend a massive 50% of its annual budget on public debt (237 billion Reals). Whereas on healthcare the figure is only 40 billion Reals and 20 billion on education. Therefore, repayment of debts owed is one of the biggest encroachments on the basic rights of the Brazilian people.

This is the first step in realising the illegitimacy of debts accumulated through the interventionist policies of the IMF and World Bank during the years of military dictatorship in Brazil. It is hoped the CPI will give an opportunity for those who have benefited from the transferring of public resources to be named. Furthermore, it will give an opportunity for the Brazilian people to point out how much debt they have already repaid and to show who really owes whom.

Our Director Nick Dearden has written a letter to demonstrate our wholehearted support for the audit to the commission itself, the organisations campaigning for debt audits and the Brazilian people.

READ NICK'S LETTER >>