To: See list of Spanish government recipients below

24 July 2008

Dear sir/madam

We are writing from the campaign for the abolition of the external debt “ Who Owes Who? ”, a platform of more than fifty organizations of all of Spain, to communicate our preoccupation and considerations around the process of reform of the Fund for Aid to Development (FAD) and of the CESCE export credit/insurances on behalf of the Spanish State, which are anticipated in the Law regulating management of the External Debt (Law 38/2006), as well as over several declarations made by diverse Departments of the Government of Spain regarding the concession of FAD credits to Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC).

From statements made by Mrs. Silvia Iranzo, Secretary of State of Commerce, and reports in the mass media, we have learned of some
of the proposals of the Government regarding the expected and necessary reformulation of the FAD and of CESCE. We are worried about the lack of transparency and participation of civil society in the process of redefinition of such mechanisms which are responsible for management of
External debt. The State should, as provided in the Law regulating management of the External Debt, establish “the mechanisms necessary to assure the participation of civil society”. On behalf of the campaign “ Who Owes Who” we wish to exercise our right to participate in the discussion of the new laws of regulation of the FAD and of CESCE, and of the creation of new mechanisms for internationalization of Spanish companies.

We also want to express our preoccupation in reference to declarations made by Mrs. Iranzo and Minister of Industry, Tourism and Commerce, Mr. Miguel Sebastián, on their intention to create new instruments to promote Spanish investments abroad, especially in poor countries. In these declarations mention was not made of the considerable negative social, environmental and economic impacts that these investments are having in the countries of the south. The creation of new instruments of internationalization of Spanish companies cannot be carried out on the back of a very real situation, i.e. the social irresponsibility and impunity with which until now Spanish companies have acted in poor countries.

Finally, in the appearance of the Secretary of State of Commerce before the Commission of Industry, Tourism and Commerce of the Congress of Deputies on June 24th 2008, she affirmed that “since the Law of management of the external debt was published we no longer give credits, we no longer provide financial support to the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC)”. In actual fact from the 7th of December 2006 (date of publication of the Law in the BOE), the government has granted up to 14 FAD credits to HIPC countries, 8 of them a year after the approval of the law in Parliament. Nicaragua (4), Ghana (5), Mauritania (2), Santo Tomé and Prince (1), Burkina Ditch (1) and Honduras (1) are all countries described by the World Bank as Highly Indebted Poor Countries, and a good part of the Aid for Development that has been granted to them from the Spanish State in the last two years (after the approval of the Law of management of the external debt and in clear contradiction with it) it has been in the form of tied repayable aid. We hope that declarations of Mrs. Iranzo will be corrected publicly and that the Government is sufficiently honest with Spanish society to recognize its errors and theh reasons that have led to them, which are the result of the prioritization of the interests of Spanish companies over the necessities and social, economic and environmental rights of poor countries.

We expect to receive a response to our concerns, as well as the establishment of the necessary mechanisms of necessary transparency and participation.

Sincerely,

The “Who Owes Who?” Campaign

www.quiendebeaquien.org
quiendebeaquien@moviments.org
http://www.quiendebeaquien.org/spip.php?rubrique54

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