What did they know, and when did they know it? That's the question some members of Congress are asking about the role of the International Monetary Fund in the military coup against the democratic government of Venezuela in 2002.
In April 2002, a military coup briefly ousted the democratically elected government of Venezuela. Coup leaders dissolved the Constitution, the National Assembly, and the Supreme Court before a popular uprising brought the democratically elected government back to power. The Bush Administration had advance knowledge of the coup and tried to help it succeed.
On the morning of the coup, just hours after it had taken place, the IMF's chief spokesman, Tom Dawson, was asked if the IMF had any concerns about its relationship with Venezuela following the coup. He replied that "we [the IMF] stand ready to assist the new administration in whatever manner they find suitable." He appeared to be reading from a prepared statement. The transcript and video are here.
The decision to offer financial backing to a coup government that has just overthrown a democratically elected government is a major decision. Recall that after the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq, the World Bank was extremely reluctant to get involved with the U.S.-installed government, despite heavy U.S. pressure to do so. Partly, this reflected a prudent desire to avoid getting their people killed. But it also reflected a desire not to be implicated in the U.S. occupation of Iraq, widely regarded internationally as totally illegal and illegitimate.
So how did the IMF arrive so quickly at the decision to "assist the new administration in whatever manner they find suitable"? Did the IMF have advance knowledge of the coup?
Representatives Dennis Kucinich and Raul Grijalva have drafted a letter to the IMF seeking answers about its support for the coup, including whether it knew of coup plans in advance.
It's extremely unlikely that Tom Dawson came up with this statement on his own. An economist who follows the international financial institutions once told the following story. He was at a IMF seminar on reform of the international financial institutions. Someone cited the commonly offered critique that the IMF is "unaccountable."
At this, a senior IMF official exploded. "Why do people always say that the IMF is unaccountable?" he demanded. "We never do anything without checking with US Treasury!"
Ask your Representative to sign the Kucinich-Grijalva letter.