From: Dale T. McKinley

ALBANIA CAPITALISM UNMASKED!

Electoral fraud, an economic crisis, the collapse of financial
organisations, an armed uprising, manoeuvring by discredited political
parties and the recent arrival of a United Nations (UN) 'stabilisation'
force - such has been the lot of Albania over the past year! It comes as no
surprise that the real culprit behind this state of affairs is the deadly
duo of the International Monetary Fund-World Bank (IMF-WB) and their
programme of so-called "free market" capitalism.

The beginning of the end for the latest experiment of "free market"
capitalism (Albania being the 'patient') began in mid-1996. National
elections held in May of that year were marred by massive irregularities,
voter fraud and political intimidation. None of this made much difference
to the western capitalists who vigorously backed the 'pro-western'
strongman Sali Berisha, who subsequently 'won' the election.

Berisha adopted an IMF-WB plan to 'de-regulate' and liberalise the economy.
The Albanian government acceded to the IMF's 'advice' to abolish guarantees
on bank deposits and liberalise the banking system such that pyramid
schemes (with a 100% monthly interest rate) became possible. As one
Albanian political activist commented, this was a "deliberate attempt to
encourage the primitive accumulation of capital Albania's fledgling
bourgeoisie so badly needs." Despite the lack of job creation and
productive investment, the IMF-WB argued that Albania was a "model" of
growth, and Berisha was hailed as a neo-liberal hero.

By the end of 1996 these pyramid schemes had taken in over US$2 billion
(80% of Albania's GDP) from ordinary Albanians desperate to raise their
standard of living. When the schemes collapsed most Albanians were left
penniless and unemployment rocketed to 80%.

The resultant armed uprising by large sections of the Albanian population
(not just confined to the South) represents the people's complete rejection
of the crude capitalism imposed on them as well as Berisha's corrupt and
undemocratic regime. Establishing self-management and self-defence organs
in numerous towns and villages, participants in the uprising have sought to
create a situation of dual power whereby Berisha's discredited regime would
be ousted, free elections held and lost investments recovered.

While the uprising has been marked by lack of organisation and
revolutionary leadership, reports by the western media that Albania has
been locked in a state of civil war and anarchy are simply untrue. What has
happened resembles more of a military and political stalemate between the
popular uprising and the remnants of Berisha's regime loosely allied with a
weakened Socialist Party.

As a result, we are now witnessing the deployment of a UN 'stabilisation'
force, no doubt designed to prepare the ground for the 'normalisation' of
Albania's political and economic affairs. Given the recent history of
western involvement in Albania, one can well imagine what such
'normalisation' will mean. Meanwhile, most Albanians struggle to survive.
Isn't capitalism wonderful?