Ruto won an election almost two years ago on a platform of championing Kenya's working poor, but has been caught between the competing demands of lenders such as the International Monetary Fund, which is urging the government to cut deficits to access more funding, and a hard-pressed population.
Very interesting!
from an accidental duplicate post i made:
for context, a finance bill was brought by Ruto's government to bring in austerity measures, mainly by increasing taxes - initially including 16% sales tax on bread and 25% duty on cooking oil - to reduce national debt with notable pressure from the IMF.
protestors have been notably agitated as Ruto was voted on a platform of increase the wealth of the poor, leading to relatively large protests in Kenya and especially in Nairobi.
anyways death to the IMF
now that's how you storm a capital
if it ain't burnin', no one's learnin'
Notably everybody didn't immediatly go home the first time there was a singular actual negative consequence.
Have any countries actually just said "We're not paying you back" to the IMF? I assume they'd be kicked out of trade organizations and whatnot but I'm curious if that might not be a better option...
See Correa, Rafael:
https://www.cadtm.org/Ecuador-s-poisoned-loans-from-the-World-Bank-and-the-IMF
Interesting, so according to the articles there was no substantive backlash from the IMF/World Bank, though Lula's Brazil did exert enough pressure that they gave in on that specific bilateral debt. Still, the takeaway seems to be that it's definitely viable.
Out of curiosity, it claims that's a 3-part series but I can't find part 3. You know if it exists?
Sorry I have no clue whether or not it exists or not. It might be on the French side of the internet because the author is French, but I'm not sure.
Ecuador during the 2000's/2010's, but I think Argentina and Brazil helped Ecuador so there was no backlash
Members of the CPK are reporting that there have been 8 martyrs due to this thus far.
Statement by the Communist Party of Kenya: https://www.blackagendareport.com/index.php/unmasking-rutos-betrayal-and-mobilizing-kenyas-sovereignty-and-justice
You might say, the high-finance equivalent of the guys who come to break your legs.
Ambassadors and high commissioners from countries including Britain, the U.S. and Germany said in a joint statement they were deeply concerned by violence they had witnessed during recent anti-tax protests and called for restraint on all sides.
Americans shut the fuck up about Tax Protests.
This is a revolt for Kenyans, by Kenyans, against a comprador western bootlicking government that is giving up their sovereignty. Yes, Kenyans deserve this and it's high time they stood up for themselves and began de-colonization, I'm happy for them. This is a beautiful occasion
