On December 11 about 60 activists, mainly from labor unions and community groups, gathered at the Colegio de Abogados for a presentation of Dr. Juan Jované’s new book, “Neoliberalismo, desarrollo y Seguridad Social” (in English, that’s Neoliberalism, development and Social Security).
These were some of the former Social Security director’s backers who took to the streets when he was fired, but Raúl Leis, hosting the event on behalf of the Panamanian Center for Social Studies and Action (CEASPA), pointed out that “what we’re dealing with is not a move to reinstate Jované but a social struggle for economic justice.” The argument over Seguro Social, he said, came in the context of Moscoso administration policies that are “deepening the inequalities” in Panamanian society, and Dr. Jované’s review of the issues and forces at play is useful for “other situations the people may confront.”
It’s not that what’s going on with the Social Security Fund (CSS) is a forgotten issue. Juana Camargo, a teacher, noted the announcement a few days earlier that private brokers will be hired in no-bid proceedings to manage the fund’s cash reserves. “This confirms,” she said, “the plan for Social Security’s privatization” that is being promoted by “agents of the insurance industry.” Other labor activists vowed that despite some setbacks to their movement, the effort to prevent the privatization of the CSS or its services is not a dead letter. There were several criticisms of the government’s proposal for an amnesty for people who are behind on payments into the fund, which will require payment of 10 percent of the amounts owed and the negotiation of plans to pay off the rest of the arrears by next April, in exchange for forgiveness on the interest and late fees.
There was also a little international contingent present, a delegation from the Cry of the Excluded coalition that included a Mexican, a Martinican and a Bolivian. In their brief presentation, they alleged that the real issue is globalization on the multinational corporate model, generally known in Latin America as neoliberalism, which “denies the right to access to the most basic services.”
And that set the tone for Jované’s talk.
Neoliberalism, the econometrics professor argued, “is going to kill everyone of hunger.” The trend that he sees is “less work and more precarious jobs all over Latin America,” with more and more workers falling below the poverty level and being forced into the informal economy. “If you want to confront this,” he claimed, “you must confront neoliberalism.”
Although its principal icon is the market, Jované disputed any identification of neoliberalism with a market system. In his book he argues that it’s a fundamentalist dogma that can’t pass muster in the face of serious economic analysis. To the crowd at the Colegio de Abogados he argued that it’s a system of “primitive acquisition” that abuses market rules for the benefit of a very few.
Primitive acquisition? “In English they call it looting,” Jované explained.
Jované did talk about the specifics of Seguro Social. He blasted the moratorium as a free loan to “bad businesspeople” and a bad example to conscientious employers. He panned Mireya’s decree to hire stockbrokers, not only noting the opportunities for corruption in her set-up but also pointing out that in the economics profession “all the literature says that external fund management is much more costly than internal management.” He criticized the Ministry of Health’s hiring of a consultant to redesign Panama’s public health care system.
Jované won’t get his old job back, although, due to the irregular way in which he was removed, he may at some point in the future win some damages and back pay. After a couple of far less than general attempted general strikes to stop the process, the Moscoso administration has declared victory and is pressing ahead with various forms of privatization. And yet the former CSS director does not talk like a defeated man. “We can’t abandon this struggle, we can’t lower our guard,” he pleaded, urging the people in the audience and the groups that they represented to maintain their unity in the face of neoliberal economic initiatives.
Jované himself may just slip back into teaching university economics courses and doing his research, but the movement that rose to his defense, weak as it may be, is likely to be heard from again in 2004. There are two logical points at which conflicts may be expected. First, in the lame duck months between next year’s May elections and September inauguration, all manner of unpopular and special interest legislation is likely to be come before the assembly. It goes with the cycle, and the things that happen in these periods rarely benefit working people. Second, there is a possibility that the Moscoso and Bush administrations might attempt to pass a bilateral US-Panama free trade agreement before Mireya leaves office. If that’s the plan the movement that supported Jované will rather instantly take to the streets and other social and economic sectors --- particularly the farmers --- are also likely to mobilize against neoliberal policies embodied in a free trade proposal.
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