Sir, - Recently, on numerous occasions, I have been approached by various individuals at church and at school to sign the Jubilee 2000 petition. This is a petition for the ending of the unpayable debt of the Third World. I am sure that many people believe this to be a right and noble cause, but we must ask a few questions about what is the unpayable debt of the Third World. Is it the debt of nations like Somalia and Ethiopia, which for most of the past 30 years have been borrowing money at exorbitant rates to finance the military's lust for domination? Is it the debt of nations like the Republic of the Congo, which are in vast debt due to years of pilfering by their nation's leaders? Are these the nations that will be benefiting from the cancellation of unpayable debt?
Will the cancellation of these nations' debts not lead to more money being borrowed to finance their leaders' personal lifestyle or their military rush to have an atom-bomb, now that they have had part of their debt repaid? Would it not be more responsible for Western nations to reduce the rate of interest and increase the duration of payment on these loans? Are we going to be given guarantees that the nations which will benefit from the Jubilee 2000 debt cancellation will pass on the benefits of debt cancellation to the people of their nations, who, we are being told, are the ones forced to pay this debt?
Finally, will this debt cancellation be passed on to all the nations with unpayable debts or just those which the US and the other G7 nations approve of?
Until these questions are answered, I am afraid that I will not be able to sign these petitions. - Yours, etc., John J. Carroll,
The Old Mill, Ratoath, Co Meath.