Washington, February 8 (RHC)-- The U.S. military views major global financial institutions like the World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) as unconventional “weapons” that it can use to serve its own interests, according to a secret document released by WikiLeaks.
The 2008 document, titled “Field Manual (FM) 3-05.130, Army Special Operations Forces Unconventional Warfare,” jumped into spotlight in the wake of the recent unrest in Venezuela, where U.S.-backed opposition leader Juan Guaido has been challenging President Nicolas Maduro, according to a report by MintPress News.
WikiLeaks mentioned the document on Twitter to underline Washington’s years-long campaign of economic pressure against the South American country. The document, titled “Financial Instrument of U.S. National Power and Unconventional Warfare,” argues that global institutions can serve as means of economic warfare “in times of conflict up to and including large-scale general war,” as well as in leveraging “the policies and cooperation of state governments.”
WikiLeaks specifically draws attention to a section of the 248-page document which states the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) -- which oversees U.S. sanctions against other countries, has long been “conducting economic warfare” deemed necessary for the success of any related operation by Army Special Operations Forces Unconventional Warfare (ARSOF UW).
The document lists the global institutions as extensions of America’s political and financial power as well as integral parts of Washington’s “current global governance system.” It’s worth mentioning that these financial “weapons” are essentially governed by the US National Security Council (NSC), currently headed by John Bolton.
The NSC is primarily responsible for “the integration of the economic and military instruments of national power abroad,” the document says. In the case of the Washington-based World Bank, the organization’s president has always been a U.S. citizen who is directly chosen by the U.S. president. Washington is also the bank’s largest shareholder, and therefore the only member with veto rights.
Ivanka Trump is not being considered to run the World Bank herself but is busy looking for a candidate, according to the White House. “As major decisions require an 85% super majority, the United States can block any major changes” to World Bank policy or its services, the leaked manual notes. This is while US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, functions as the World Bank’s governor.
The IMF is also largely dominated by U.S. government influence and funding. This level of U.S. control means that these organizations can easily use their loans and grants to “trap” nations in debt.
In case of Venezuela, Guaido has already requested IMF funds, and thus IMF-controlled debt, to fund his “coup” against Maduro.
Ecuador, another Latin American country in chaos, has gone so far as to conduct an “audit” of its asylum of journalist and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in order to win a $10 billion bailout from the IMF.
Assange has been staying in Ecuador’s embassy in London since 2012 and Washington has fervently sought his extradition.
