| | |  Editorials | Opinions 
Has the US Government Realized What They Have Started?
 Guillermo Ramón Adames y Suari - PVNN
August 09, 2010
 |  | What the US Government has started is the tip of the iceberg. |  | | |
In a recent effort to recover taxes that some Americans were evading, the US government insisted to know the names of those US citizens with accounts, particularly in Switzerland, that were evading US taxes. Naively the Swiss authorities were going to provide 3 to 4 names to the US government. A strong US reaction indicating that the US government could possibly block Swiss capitals in the Continental US gave a far far longer list. The first negotiations gave some 250 names but then the press stopped all information. Further negotiations will uncover almost all of those concerned. The original US initiative went further and spilled to other countries: Italy and France's authorities proceeded likewise and got some of their citizens to take action. Whatever that might mean: Either returning their money home or paying taxes to their corresponding countries. We all know it is disproportionate the amounts deposited in Swiss banks and certainly know why. Switzerland has more money than we can ever imagine… far too many zeroes. But nobody dare question that.
All of this sounds fine in an effort to collect whatever tax is avoided and eventually incorporate altruistically this money into the development in one way or other to the corresponding countries. We all know there is no altruism and some money "will get lost" in the way. As authorities will take away the money from those avoiding taxes, nobody will agree to whatever it is invested in when they consider that it is "their money".
What the US Government has started is the tip of the iceberg. In the past, at the time of WWII, European Jews of all invaded countries that had lost its properties and money deposited in Swiss banks have united behind nonprofit organizations to help them recover whatever they can. This from Swiss banks that do not want to return whichever money is not Swiss banks property; all sorts of pitfalls are in the way. Those people have been in legal process against Swiss authorities/banks since the end of WWII. These results have encouraged them to put further pressure on Swiss authorities to recover their dues. There is a hope of justice to be done for those whose capitals were deposited in one way or other in Swiss banks "for safety".
But this will not end up here. Switzerland has been chosen to deposit all sorts of capitals from all over the world regardless of its source or whether it is clean money or not. Mexico's example: 10 million US dollars were confiscated by the Swiss Authorities after a long legal process. They were in an account of the brother of a late Mexican president. The list of claims has been getting longer and longer and ranges from totalitarian governments in Africa and Europe as well as "unidentified" sources from the Nazi regime in WWII, passing through accounts of presidents in Latin American dictatorships (and not dictatorships but life presidents and powerful ministries) and ex-Soviet leaders that were so much against capitalism. Soviet names were disclosed by the press when "the wall" was thrown down. As soon as that happened, the press shut down (or was it shut down?). All sorts of other scandals involving religions (all of them) came up to light but went back to the darkness right away.
The main issue here is that if there is an accusation, there must be a name, a figure and a justification of fund transfer. Some young but money hungry governments after the falling of communism/Soviet regime are also after some of these "evading tax" situations. Their claim is that during the Soviet regime, "everybody" was poor. Nobody had any capital or savings whatsoever. So how can it be that in some 10 years time, some Russians (or Bulgarians or Polish or Hungarians or…) can afford today buying costly apartments in Paris and in New York or football clubs that cost millions of dollars if 10/15 years ago their accounts were zeroes? Where does the money come from? Why does (some) of the money in this transactions depart "legally" from Swiss banks?
And the next step: we will be moving in time.
What seems more worrying is to come: Spain has in its "Archives of Indies" registered all the tons of gold and silver that were actually taken away from its colonies. So as far as an accusation, all the elements are there: The responsible person(s), The Spanish Crown, the dates the ships and the weight of gold… but: Will the ex-colonies claim its dues? There are ways and means but it seems difficult: Spain will claim that pirates (that some times were organized governments' thieves disguised as pirates and supported by other European crowns) stole from them and could certainly prove it… but Spaniards were the originators of this theft. They will claim "time" but pure theft in their current law is timeless. So is the current law in most ex-colonies that inherited Spain's legal system. How "old" is "old" in a theft, mainly if it was theft with violence? Likewise, Spain will be in an extremely bad position to return those dues as they have proven in time to be extremely bad administrators. In the 17/1800 they had the gold and silver "to literally buy the world" and look at their finances today. Add Portugal: both of them together scraped America altogether. And part of the Netherlands and the Philippines and the northern part of Africa. If we include Portugal's ex colonies, there will be Angola and other now constituted independent countries.
Britain is not any better: Imagine that the US would claim that what was stolen with violence from the US should be returned to the US government today now that the US is in financial trouble: we are talking of pure gold. Add the Middle East and India, English speaking Africa and Australia. What would be the claims coming from Hong Kong and other likewise conquered territories? Further islands in the Far East and the Caribbean. And what about France? The list after the subdivision of Africa and the Indochinese peninsula, gets long. The French even wanted to take over Mexico from Spain and certainly not for Mexico's pre-Colombian culture. What was taken away from Louisiana… Some islands in the Caribbean now form part of Continental France and other Islands in the Pacific. And the Belgian Congo? And the Dutch? Include their presence in South America and the Caribbean. There will not be answers like "there were other times" or "you were conquered". We are talking here about a lot of money: enough money to get all of "the new world" out of the current financial crisis. And there will be no "forgiving". Did France or Britain or the US "forgive" Germany and Japan at the end of WWII?
Nothing can be said on oil's money. The countries sitting on oil wells are spending their own money. But some oil countries in Africa and today, the Gulf of Mexico are exploited by foreign companies. Some governments get nicely bribed but that will not last forever. Everybody wants part of the cake. And we are talking here "hard and lots of money".
The main problem here is that the world has evolved to a "solely money" culture. Do not be surprised that in the future, ex-colonies will claim their dues of proven stolen assets. Those were taken away from now sovereign countries which are sometimes, more powerful than the old colonizers. If power comes to power, they displayed it in the past but will they face a challenge, a hinted challenge? The answer by some of the readers will be a definite "no" but how about recovering the gold for the next 100 years simply by proving that the money was there and that it was taken by force? In an only money oriented culture? It can happen.
Guillermo Ramón Adames y Suari is a former electoral officer of the United Nations Organization. Contact him at gui.voting(at)gmail.com |
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