Along these lines, "Confessions Of An Economic Hit Man" is an absolutely
fascinating read.



"F. George McDuffee" wrote:
snip

In meeting with one extended family, I learned that one of the
young women had just lost a child, possibly to typhoid. Her
questions was "why did the US banks insist on repayment of the
loans, even though it meant that the [Brazilian] government had
to eliminate the childhood immunization programs which may well
have saved her child's life?" I had no answer, particularly as
these loans were made to a repressive military junta [see:
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB118/ ] that replaced
the popularly elected Goulart regime, and mainly benefited the
already rich.

While my Portuguese is limited, I could tell these were questions
from the heart, by people who were trying to understand why they
had to take it in the shorts so the rich could get richer.

It is a short step from holding the American government and
American businesses responsible to the middle east position of
holding America responsible, thus justifying killing any American
you can get your sights on.

BTW, there is some metal content he "Lula" da Silva,
President of Brasil was an assembly line machinist. See:
http://www.washtimes.com/world/20031...5152-4806r.htm

In meeting with one extended family, I learned that one of the
young women had just lost a child, possibly to typhoid. Her
questions was "why did the US banks insist on repayment of the
loans, even though it meant that the [Brazilian] government had
to eliminate the childhood immunization programs which may well
have saved her child's life?" I had no answer, particularly as
these loans were made to a repressive military junta

This is just another form of spin. The US government gets blasted all
the time for giving economic help to repressive regimes. So when they
elect to not concede millions to this regime, they (we) are now baby
killers. There is no direct cause and effect in this example. Fact is,
the Brazilian government decides how their limited (?) funds are used.
That government made a decision to discontinue child immunization in
favor of something else, probably more military tools to keep the
populace in line.