Former 'Economic Hitman' to Sputnik: US Uses Loans to Control Other Countries

[The Eagle]

Former 'Economic Hitman' to Sputnik: US Uses Loans to Control Other Countries
© AFP 2017/ JEWEL SAMAD

16:17 16.11.2017

In his latest best-selling book "The New Confessions of an Economic Hit Man," John Perkins tells how American companies used loans from the World Bank to take control over developing nations. In the first part of an exclusive interview with Sputnik Germany, Perkins gave an inside look at his former job.

Sputnik: Your criticism of the current global economic system dominated by the United States is based on your own experience. Back in the day, you were an "economic hitman." What was your job?

John Perkins: My official position was called "senior economist and economic adviser" at a major consulting company. My job was to find countries with large reserves that our American companies wanted to seize. I mean oil and other things. Then I arranged large loans for those countries via the World Bank and its partner organizations. But those governments never received the money. Instead, the money was transferred – directly or indirectly – to American companies, including construction firms like Halliburton or suppliers like General Electric.

Those companies then launched infrastructure projects in the countries, including power grids, industrial parks and highways, which generated huge profits. But those profits ended up in the pocket of American companies and several rich local families. What those countries had was huge debts that caused suffering both for the poor and the middle class.

Sputnik: When working for Chas T. Main, an American consulting firm, you were involved in providing loans to developing countries. How large were those loans?

John Perkins: You know it’s difficult to recall because I was involved in this business back in the 1970s. The amount of a loan was different at the time. Some deals were multibillion. It depended on a country and on a particular project. For some countries, multimillion budgets were arranged to build a nationwide power grid. That included the construction of hydroelectric power plants and power distribution stations and cable installation. In such cases, it was always about big money.

Sputnik: What exactly you were doing? Could give us an example, maybe related to economic activities in Panama or Honduras? What does it look like when an "economic hitman" takes on a job in a developing country?

John Perkins: As for Panama, the plan was to build a power grid in the country and large loans were provided to the government. But the real goal in Panama was to discredit national leader Omar Torrijos, in other words to bribe him and then put him in a situation so he owed us a lot of money. So, we could blackmail and control him.

Torrijos tried to wrest the Panama Canal from the grasp of the US and return it to his country. But what was even more important, he had a reputation of a politician from a small country who could confront such a great power as the US. He was a man who wanted to return the Panama Canal to his people. But the situation was not only about the US control over the waterway. Torrijos was standing against American imperialism. He became a political and spiritual leader of a global scope.

(In 1977, Torrijos signed a deal with the US, which guaranteed that the government of Panama would have full control of the Panama Canal starting 1999. In 1981, he was killed in a car crash. Perkins was involved in activities in South America at the time. He claims that Torrijos was assassinated by the CIA. He tells this story in his book "The Confessions of an Economic Hit Man" — Sputnik)

Sputnik: That is, those loans and hence debts were used to blackmail national leaders and to control them?

John Perkins: Credits were used in many ways. Panama was an exception, because it was about the political leadership of a state. As for more suitable examples, there are Ecuador, Indonesia and Colombia where we were hunting oil. We believed there were a lot of oil fields. We managed to persuade the governments to accept our huge loans and give their oil fields in pledge. So, we usually told them, "You borrowed millions of dollars from us, and in exchange, American companies will have access to your oil at very low prices and on very moderate market conditions, without the commitment to observe any environment rules and regulations."

When some of those countries were unable to service their debt we often said, "Ok, you may not pay now, but your country will vote to support the US at the next vote in the UN. Or you will allow the US to build a military base on your territory." Or something else of the kind. In fact, this is a very old form of establishing control over a nation. This practice goes down in history for centuries. Many empires have used it, including the Soviet Union.

Sputnik: You were involved in such activities until 1981. Today, where do you see signs of "economic hitmen"? Are they targeting Russia?

John Perkins: Of course, Russia is in the crosshairs. And at the same time, Russia is targeting the US. Two months ago, I was speaking at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. I was on the stage with [Russian] President Vladimir Putin and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres. Putin had a pretty strong impression on me. He said: "Is Russia spying on the US. Yes, of course. Is the US spying on us? Sure. This is happening, of course." But he also said: "Basically, this is nothing new."

We need to learn to understand that we all have to deal with the global crisis, including climate change, security threats, injustice and the risk of nuclear war. I believe that many global leaders are realizing that the old system doesn’t work anymore. We need a new system. It looks like only US President Donald Trump understands nothing and is lagging behind everyone.



In the second part of this interview, Perkins will tell how the former "economic hitman" knew that his employer was cooperating with the CIA and the NSA. Perkins will also explain why he decided to quit and speak out about "economic hitmen."

 

[Ryuzaki]

In a Pak news show,Ishaq Dar was called an "Economic Hitman"

 

[VCheng]

My job was to find countries with large reserves that our American companies wanted to seize. I mean oil and other things. Then I arranged large loans for those countries via the World Bank and its partner organizations.

How many oil-rich countries are actually indebted? And what "other things"? Mineral resources? Water? Why seize anything when all such inputs already trade openly in the world's markets. Look at the success of China in outbidding US companies all over the world, specially in Africa, with huge loans on easy terms on offer.

In 1977, Torrijos signed a deal with the US, which guaranteed that the government of Panama would have full control of the Panama Canal starting 1999. In 1981, he was killed in a car crash. Perkins was involved in activities in South America at the time. He claims that Torrijos was assassinated by the CIA.

Sounds like a sinister plan, except that USA actually did relinquish control of the canal to Panama, just as the treaty stipulated. Torrijo's death had no effect on this agreement. The argument would hold weight only if US killed him to keep control, which it did not. (And he was killed in a plane crash.)

We managed to persuade the governments to accept our huge loans and give their oil fields in pledge.

Right. Except that it is the governments that go seek out such loans because of their own dire economic straits born of their own decisions. A choice.

Of course, Russia is in the crosshairs. And at the same time, Russia is targeting the US.

So it is a two-way street. The better player wins. Is there a problem here?

 

[The Eagle]

Former 'Economic Hit Man' Reveals to Sputnik How CIA, NSA Conceal Activities
© AP Photo/ Carolyn Kaster

17:53 23.11.2017(updated 18:11 23.11.2017)

In the second part of an exclusive interview with Sputnik Germany, former "economic hit man" John Perkins tells about the cooperation between his employer and American intelligence agencies, their role in the global economic system and, finally, his decision to quit and write his revealing book, "The Confessions of an Economic Hit Man."

John Perking worked for an American consulting firm when he knew that his company cooperated with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the National Security Agency (NSA).

Sputnik: Mr. Perkins, how did you know that your employer executed orders from the CIA and the NSA? Was that a moment of truth?

John Perkins: I need to clarify – I never worked directly for intelligence agencies. As for the company I worked for, I can say that we received orders from the World Bank or the US Agency for International Development (USAID) or through the Treasury Department. We had an agreement on Saudi Arabia with the Treasury Department.

So, my company received money from these institutions and, in my turn, I received a salary from the company. We never had real contacts with the NSA and the CIA. All operations ran through some mediating contracts, mediators and subcontractors, at least as far as I know.

My contacts with the NSA were rather mediated. The person who hired me at Chas T. Main was in the US military reserve and, possibly, he had contacts with US intelligence. So, our contacts were not direct.

(Chas T. Main was an American consulting company headquartered in Boston. Perkins was a senior economist and economic adviser there. His job was to arrange credits from the World Bank for developing countries, making their governments dependent on American companies. In addition, loans were used to pressure those governments toward American political and economic interests. Read more on the issue in the first part of the interview with John Perkins.)

Sputnik: So, you didn’t meet CIA or NSA operatives as part of your work?

John Perkins: Maybe, I met some of them, but they didn’t identify themselves. It is normal for intelligence agencies officers. They don’t have visiting cards and usually work under official cover, including as diplomats, trade representatives in embassies or employees in private companies. So, I never met a person who I knew was a CIA or NSA agent, but I can suggest that there were some of them in my work.

Sputnik: What is the current role of intelligence agencies in the global economy?

John Perkins: The NSA, the CIA and other agencies often employ representatives of the economic world, just like the NSA did to me. Why? This is the perfect cover. In other words, they employ business representatives who secretly work for intelligence agencies.

I never got paid from the NSA or the CIA. I always got paid by my employer, Chas T. Main. In its turn, the company received money from those agencies for certain infrastructure projects in undeveloped countries. Thus, the government could always say it was not involved and was not aware of those activities while private companies did the job.

Sputnik: Why did you quit?

John Perkins: In the first years, I thought that my job was a good business for all, including for developing countries. We invested money there and those countries really developed, which was proved by statistic data. But in course of time, I realized thatonly certain rich local families and American companies, including my company, were getting benefit from those investments.

When a country, like Ecuador or Indonesia, received a loan there was a must that the money could be used on infrastructure only with the participation of American companies, such as Halliburton and General Electric; and local oligarchy was also involved.

At the same time, the majority of the population in those countries was poor or extremely poor and continued to suffer, as their finances remained the same. It took me years to realize that. In particular, it happened because I was in the US Peace Corps. I fluently speak Spanish. I walked in the streets in many of those countries, talked to the people and I saw their problems.

Sputnik: What happened after you quit?

John Perkins: My former employer did their best to convince me to stay. But I finally resigned and started writing a book about what I did. I talked to other people in this business, so-called "jackals." They were called when we, "economic hit men," failed to convince the government of a country to cooperate. "Jackals" used coups, mutinies or even assassinations to topple governments that refused to cooperate.

After I quit, I received threats, including against my family and my daughter. I also received a quite tempting offer from another consulting company, a rival of my former employer. They told me: "Accept our offer and don’t write the book." At the time, I felt some pressure and started writing other books. And many years later, I wrote "The Confessions of an Economic Hit Man," my most famous book.

Sputnik: In the first part of our interview, you already said that you want to change the world. Please, tell us what you are doing? What is the main goal of your organization Dream Change?

John Perkins: Dream Change is a non-commercial organization I co-founded. Our goal is to change the dream, to change the paradigm of "predatory capitalism." Our goal is to change perception. We need to realize that our reality is determined and formed by perception. … Everything exists because people perceive it in this very particular way. When a lot of people have the same vision of one or another thing this begins to influence the reality. My goal now is to change this vision.

We know that the world is in a deep crisis today. The world has been caught in the trap of the currently economic and military systems that pose a threat to the whole planet. But the reason is that global corporations that control the world ignore the negative consequences of their actions. I want to help change this.

In a Pak news show,Ishaq Dar was called an "Economic Hitman"

In view of his approach, corruption and name found in leaks especially w.r.t. making money and spending in Dubai, the one is rightly called as such. He damaged the economy and lied to the people continuously for which, currently he is out of country yet not facing the Court for the charges. He is also one of the key witnesses regarding Sharif Family corruption and even testified in past.

 

[seesonic]

You have to read the original edition not the new edition.