10,000 Valentines Delivered to Cancel Liberia's Debt

Update from Sarah in DC on the Jubilee event:

Last Tuesday, February 6, Jubilee USA and partners delivered almost 10,000 handmade valentines made by US citizens to the US Treasury Secretary, asking him to "have a heart" and cancel Liberia's debt. Afterwards, representatives from Jubilee, Friends of the Earth, Church World Service, Africa Action, and the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) met with the Treasury Secretary in person to pass on the message!

The activists don't think it's enough for the G8 to pay Liberia's arrears and have the country spend years going through current debt relief processes (HIPC). HIPC will take too long and will involve more harmful IMF-mandated reforms. They are pushing Treasury to move beyond HIPC and give Liberial immediate, unconditional debt cancellation.

Here's the Jubilee report about the event, including a photo of Emira Woods of IPS, a Liberian woman who took part in the chilly demonstration on the steps of the Treasury Dept.

You can also access several other photographs of the rally at this link, including great shots of demonstrators in wooly hats holding messages and signs about Liberia, some addressed specifically to the Liberian people.

xxx Sarah