Economic hit men [EHMs] are highly paid professionals who cheat countries around the globe out of trillions of dollars. They funnel money from the World Bank, the U.S. Agency for International Development [USAID], and other foreign "aid" organisations into the coffers of huge corporations and the pockets of a few wealthy families who control the planet's natural resources. Their tools include fraudulent financial reports, rigged elections, payoffs, extortion, sex, and murder. They play a game as old as empire, but one that has taken on new and terrifying dimensions during this time of globalisation. I should know: I was an EHM.
My job was to encourage world leaders to become part of a vast network that promotes U.S. commercial interests. In the end, those leaders become ensnared in a web of debt that ensures their loyalty. We can draw on them whenever we desire - to satisfy our political, economic or military needs. In turn, they bolster their political positions by bringing industrial parks, power plants, and airports to their people. A condition of such loans is that engineering and construction companies from our own country must build all these projects. The owners of U.S. engineering/ construction companies become fabulously wealthy.
The recipient country is required to pay it all back, principal plus interest. If an EHM is completely successful, the loans are so large that the debtor is forced to default on its payments after a few years. When this happens, we demand our pound of flesh. This typically includes one or more of the following: control over United Nations votes, the installation of military bases, or access to resources such as oil or the Panama Canal. Of course, the debtor country still owes us the money. In this way another country is added to our global empire.
[John Perkins]
