FT echoes accusations of “knowingly profiting from murder” against World Bank, but not mistakes by bank regulators?

Sir, Shawn Donnan’s “Lawsuit” of March 9, has left me dumbstruck.

In 2002-2004 I was an Executive Director at the World Bank (IFC) occupying the Chair that, among others, represents Honduras. In 2003, surely before Dinant and its late owner Miguel Facussé times, I have never heard about them, I visited some of those palm plantations in the Bajo Aguán region of Honduras.

In an Op-Ed I then wrote, I stated that I found these to be horrible, appalling; basically because to me it looked like that it “could be the mother of all poverty traps”, “ the borderline of lowest overall marginal cost, that is, where the least is paid to farmers for their labor”; and also because I always felt that “if we let globalization simply pursue the lowest marginal cost of labor, then Great Bad Deflation will inevitably come”.

But, as to the World Bank or the IFC “knowingly profiting from the financing of murder”? And of these being a detonator? “Lawyers lay out a build-up of violence before and after the IFC began lending to the company” I have to say no, no and no!

Could IFC, the World Bank, be lured into lending or investing in something that has something awful going on behind the curtains? Yes, that could happen to anyone. 

Could some individual from IFC and the World Bank be involved in something criminal? Of course, but from there to launch this type of accusations against the institutions as such, only damages without serving any purpose. How much seed of suspicions can you seed before you do irremediable damage?

Also could it not be that someone is knowingly exploiting some poor suffering Honduran farmers, in an ambulance chasing type of action? I do not know EarthRights, and I have absolutely no reason to suspect anything but good intentions on their part, but profiteering happens, and so one needs to always proceed with utmost care.

I am no longer an ED, and since I am no longer capable, in my profession, of making one to my conscience honest living in my Venezuela… I now belong to a Civil Society (don’t ask me to explain precisely what that means). And as a member of it I do my best to generate constructive advice to valuable institutions such as the World Bank (and, disclaimer, absolutely not only because my wife works there).

Sir, let me get back to how I have titled this letter: The Basel Committee for Banking Supervision has made some mindboggling and very dangerous mistakes. FT has not shown a willingness to clearly echo my concerns or even ask bank regulators for some very basic explanations. But, “without fear and without favour”, you now allow this against the World Bank to be published. How come the differential treatment? Could not bad regulations be a murder weapon?

PS. Nowadays I hope for robots to take care of those palm plantations; and by taxing a bit those robots, be able to provide the poor farmers of Honduras a better chance to place themselves closer to something more profitable for them, and foremost for their children and grandchildren.

@PerKurowski