Tuesday, June 05, 2007 (16:06:32)
How the U.S. Uses Globalization to Cheat Poor Countries Out of TrillionsDemocracy Now!'s Amy Goodman interviews author (and former economic hit man) John Perkins.
From Democracy Now! (Transcripts and audio available at the link.)
"The protests this week in Bolivia come as Latin America is seeing significant success among popular progressive movements. From Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, Lula da Silva of Brazil to the changes of government in Uruguay and now Ecuador, there is a continent-wide trend that has Washington concerned. The US has long exploited countries throughout Central and Latin America for the natural resources, labor and land. Over the decades, this exploitation has been backed up by force and through devastating policies dictated to puppet regimes. Our next guest says he helped the U.S. cheat poor countries in Latin America and around the globe out of trillions of dollars by lending them more money than they could possibly repay and then taking over their economies. From 1971 to 1981, John Perkins worked for the international consulting firm of Chas T. Main. He described himself as an "economic hit man." He"s written a memoir called Confessions of an Economic Hit Man. When he joined us in our fire house studio, we asked him to begin with how he came to be recruited first by the National Security Agency - far larger than the C.I.A. - and then this so-called international consulting firm of Chas T. Main."
Watch the video in RealPlayer
I was able to find a 1 hour speech from John Perkins, talking about "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man," in Free Speech TV's video archive.
Watch the video in RealPlayer
John Perkins was on Democracy Now! today for a full hour to discuss his new book, "The Secret History of the American Empire: Economic Hit Men, Jackals, and the Truth about Global Corruption." (Transcripts, audio and video available at the link.)
"Hundreds of thousands of protesters are gathering in Germany ahead of tomorrow's G8 meeting of the world's richest nations. The three-day summit is being held in the coastal resort of Heiligendamm. German police have spent $18 million dollars to erect an eight-mile-long, two-meter-high fence around the meeting site. Global warming will be high on the agenda. Going into the meeting, President Bush has proposed to sideline the UN-backed Kyoto Accords and set voluntary targets on reducing emissions of greenhouse gas. Other top issues will include foreign aid and new trade deals.
Today, we spend the hour with a man who claims to have worked deep inside the forces driving corporate globalization. In his first book, "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man", John Perkins told the story of his work as a highly paid consultant hired to strong-arm leaders into creating policy favorable to the U.S. government and corporations -- what he calls the "corporatocracy." Perkins says he helped the U.S. cheat poor countries around the globe out of trillions of dollars by lending them more money than they could possibly repay and then taking over their economies."
Watch the video in RealPlayer
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