overhaul of the United States ’ foreign aid program and a step-up in its military and economic assistance abroad .” (‘ INDIA MORTGAGED ’, page - 110 , 111 , 112 & 116 ).
We will now see in detail who is the mainstay and what is the actual form and volume of this economic aggression in India as well as throughout the world .
“ USA - The Biggest International Exploiter :
The United States is the biggest international exploiter and is the mainstay of colonialism today . It is the chief bulwark of world reaction . It is extremely important that we understand the purpose of the foreign aid that the U . S . A is distributing all over the world .
Long ago , Theodore Roosevelt , ex-President of the USA , had exclaimed that ‘ Americanisation of the world is our destiny ’. To that end , invisible dollar imperialism has been spreading its tentacles all over the world , even before World War-II . In the post-Second World War period , with the collapse of the fascist countries and with the weakening of Britain and France - America became the most powerful country . Foreign aid constitutes the main lever of US neocolonialism . There is a lot of talk that American aid is for development of the under developed countries . But , as D . A . Fitzgerald , a former high official in-charge of foreign aid , has clearly stated : ‘ this was not the objective of all ’. In one of the reports of the foreign affairs committee of the USA , it is admitted that : ‘ The most important reason for economic aid is that nations are determined to develop . Only by participation in that process , we will have an opportunity to direct their development along lines that will best serve our interests ’.
To put it concretely , in an article — ‘ The Domestic Dividends of Foreign Aid ’, in Colombia Journal of World Business , 1965 , Mr . E . R . Black says :
‘ Our foreign aid programs constitute a distinct benefit to American Business . The three major 12 benefits are ( 1 ) Foreign aid provides a substantial and immediate market for US goods and services ., ( 2 ) Foreign aid stimulates the development of new overseas markets for US companies , ( 3 ) Foreign aid orients national economies towards a free enterprise system in which US firms can prosper ’.
Thus the USA encourages the development of new local capitalist forces - whether in industry , trade , or agriculture - provided they continue to depend upon American aid . The US Government has always encouraged US monopolies to establish themselves in those countries which guarantee their involvement and super-profits .
US ( private ) involvements abroad , between 1950 and 1968 , rose in Latin America from $ 4,576 million to $ 12,989 million , in Asia from $ 998 million to $ 3,645 million , and in Africa from $ 147 million to $ 1,961 million . According to certain calculations made , the profit rate of US direct private investments in the developing countries in 1951 reached 23.1 % as against 14.3 % in its own country . In 1963 the percentage obtained were 15.7 % and 9.9 % respectively , and in 1968 , 20 % and 8.3 % respectively . One can now understand why , according to Senator Church , the foreign aid program – ‘ has become a spreading monetary tree under which the biggest American business finds shelter when they invest abroad ’. The aid program provides about $ 1,000 million of sales annually for American manufacturers and gives US shipping companies about one-fourth of their total revenue from outward-bound cargo . With dollar aid , India can buy goods only in the most expensive US market and the commodities must be transported in US ships . How the American ships fleece India can be seen from the following news item that appeared in Economic Times on May 25 , 1969 —
‘ The US insistence on shipping fertilizers in US bottoms , in terms of the decision that 50 % of American Fertilizer export financed out by US aid should be carried under US flag ’,
... is likely to add to a substantial increase in freight costs on fertilisers to be shipped from the U . S to India ’.
We can now understand how costly US aid is . We not only pay high prices for the goods purchased in the US , under the aid programs , but also pay extremely high transport charges with other concomitant service charges added , and of course , we pay interest on the loan . As Lenin said , aid is a double-edged weapon in the hands of finance capitalists to bleed the country to which aid is given . Would Bank — American Aid in Disguise
Besides the economic levers which America uses directly , it has increasingly resorted to international financial organizations to probe and penetrate the third world , to hide the face of the ugly American whose image is becoming very much tarnished all over the world . Such international financial organizations as the World Bank , International Finance Corporation , International Monetary Fund , Asian Development Bank , etc . are nothing but semi-official American organizations , even though several other countries too are members of these financial bodies . In these bodies , the USA plays a dominant role on account of its economic power .
Let us now examine the conditions of the World Bank for getting loans and credit . The World Bank , before granting a loan , is authorized to make thorough investigations of the general economic situation of the country which applies for a loan , even though the loan may be only for a specific project . A special committee is sent to that country , not only for inquiry on the spot concerning the project for which a loan has been applied but also for economic espionage . After the loan has been granted , the World Bank continues to follow closely not only the economic but also the political evolution of the debtor country , by periodically sending an investigation committee to the country .
“ For example , the World Bank has been preparing a report on the
Class Struggle