Brazil owes almost $250 billion to private banks, governments and multilateral agencies. External Debt provides a concise history of Brazils financial crisis. Marcos Arruda focuses on the government of Fernando Henrique Cardoso and its agreement with the International Monetary Fund. He examines how Cardosos economic policies have brought Brazil to financial ruin by submitting to the dictates of the IMF and the US government. Despite this, the author argues, Brazilians are neither passive nor resigned to Cardosos policies. Arruda describes the viable alternatives which the government and opposition parties have both failed to realise, and examines a range of related key issues, such as the Jubilee 2000 Debt Campaign and its Brazilian dimension. Arruda explores the ways in which social movements in both hemispheres have developed a global network around the issue of over-indebtedness, and the extent to which their pressure on authorities has led to important policy changes on the part of creditor governments and multilateral institutions. The study concludes with an assessment of a range of proposals submitted by national and international forums, demonstrating that civil society around the world is mobilised towards equitable relations between North and South.

Chapter 1: E(x)ternal Debt - Understanding Brazils Debt Crisis 1. What Is External Debt? 2. Is External Debt A Motherless Child? 3. How Do You Pay External Debt? 4. Who Do You Pay External Debt To? 5. Who Pays External Debt? 6. How Did External Debt Begin? 7. We Did Not Get Into Debt, They Got Us Into Debt! 8. We Did Not Develop, We Under-Developed! 9. Capital Takes All, Social Spending Gets The Crumbs. 10. A Good Budget Makes For Good Planning. 11. The FHC-IMF Agreement: And The Government Promised Not To Govern With Packages... 12. Cancel Unpayable Debts! 13. Debt Glossary Chapter 2: Trojan Horse Brazil And The International Financial Crisis 1. The Reals Three-Legged Prop Starts To Fall Apart 2. Brazil And The IMF (International Misery And Famine) 3. Are There Ways Out? Chapter 3: Neoliberal Adjustment And Globalisation - A Southern Perspective 1. The Historical Roots Of The Adjustment Project 2. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) Recipe 3. Adjusting To Competitive Globalisation 4. Economic And Social Impacts 5. Opportunities And Challenges Chapter 4: For A Debts-Free Millennium 1. The Burden Of Unpayable And Unsustainable Debt 2. The Movements 3. Partial Successes: Official Relief 4. Alternatives, From Society's Point Of View Bibliography Further Reading