- I am well familiar with the problem of re-colonization, since I was in charge, for 10 years, of one of the largest UN programs for modernization of the Central African countries. I had the opportunity to learn first-hand the politics of big capital towards the former colonial countries. As these countries became independent, they usually regained ownership of sources of raw materials within their territories, as well as of enterprises that had been formerly owned by their colonizers. However, in the second half of the 80s, a massive process of re colonization began. In a sense, international capital “announced” to the Africans: “You now have your independence, your countries, so we will buy from you your enterprises, mainly those involved in mining minerals, and also those producing coffee, tea and exotic fruit. You will own your small and medium corporations, but primarily your countries will provide workforce for farming. And, of course, you will buy our goods; you will be forced to import them because your small national economies are incapable of producing sufficient output to cover your needs.”

In the late 70's and 80's the information revolution began. The possibilities emerged to create powerful economic empires that have gained a potential to influence the entire world. This created a fabulous opportunity for re colonization. For example, one holding company was able to take over the mining industry in Congo, Rwanda and Uganda. Horrific corruption in Africa facilitated a very cheap purchase. This operation, approved by the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, has grown incredibly.

- And in Rwanda, you could see first-hand the effects of policies of big business…

- Indeed, I know by personal experience the background of the Rwandan conflict. My project employed 56 people, including 45 Negroes, of whom only two survived. The others were murdered. The whole conflict was orchestrated and executed by American capital. When Rwanda and Burundi gained independence early 60s, the Tutsi seized power. Later, in Rwanda a revolution broke out and the Hutu seized power, with the majority of Tutsi fleeing to Uganda. These refugees from Rwanda turned out to be better educated and equipped than the local population, so they were able to seize power in the army. An agreement was then struck with American defense industry capital – if you give us credit for arms, we invade Rwanda, and then through Burundi we reach Zaire, the country richest in minerals, diamonds and uranium. At the time, Zaire was controlled by the French and Belgian capital, while the U.S. capital wanted to take it over. This all played out right before my eyes. Americans donated armaments to Uganda, which then started the war. Rwanda had inferior, outdated Soviet weaponry. I was evacuated at the moment my deputy was killed, and the Uganda army was 20 km away from the capital of Rwanda. The Hutu went on to murder the local Tutsi, settling old scores. But Tutsi from Uganda conquered Rwanda, peacefully marched through Burundi – also dominated by Tutsis – and moved to Zaire, where 500-600 thousand people were killed. As a result, American and British capital seized control of the entire region. Today, it controls the entire central Africa.

- How was the mechanism of re-colonization of Africa adapted to our part of Europe?

- Africa was attractive because of raw materials, but the global capital realized that its laborer, and even an engineer, was poorly qualified. I love the Negroes, they are nice and friendly, but they have one drawback - they lack the sense of systematic work. African culture arose not from work, but from play. In Burundi, for example, there are banana forests, and of banana one can make soup, beer or bread. Even in the 30s fallow ran freely in the streets of Bujumbura, just shoot an arrow for a meal, and working was not necessary. To the locals, life was and still is about play. Engagement and wedding celebrations last several days. Meanwhile, Poland had a staff of skilled engineers and workers. According to U.S. sources, in 1980 she was 12th in the world in terms of production volume. There was, therefore, another fantastic opportunity for global capital to acquire an attractive market. So, George Soros jumps into action. He is one of the 10 wealthiest people in the world, who made his money in stock market speculation. Poland is an open country, with much of the country’s younger leadership educated in the U.S. scholarships. There are many like Cimoszewicz, Kwa¶niewski, Rosati or Balcerowicz. Leszek Balcerowicz, for example, received his MBA from Saint John's University. The decision was: we begin in Poland. The great representative of the global capital, George Soros, travels there in May '88. He meets with Rakowski and Jaruzelski. He immediately creates the Batory Foundation, to the tune of millions of his dollars, and sets the goals: an open society and open markets. Shortly thereafter, the National Bank of Poland spins off nine commercial banks under the Communist Party leadership. The first stage begins with the creation of so-called nomenklatura companies. Soros develops his program based on so-called Washington Consensus. It assumes opening of the borders, allowance for large imports and as far-reaching privatization as possible. That is based on the concept of Milton Friedman’s neo-liberalism, in which free market is an absolute authority, and over which the state has no power. Soros brings in Sachs, who is funded by the Batory Foundation.

- And then, Sachs met with Solidarity strategists.

- In May of '89, Soros meets [Bronis³aw] Geremek. The latter admits that he has no clue about economics. Then they visit [Jacek] Kuron in Zoliborz. Kuron does not speak English, so they invite Lipton, who works at the International Monetary Fund and at “Gazeta Wyborcza”. Kuron assures them repeatedly that this plan will surely come together, and orders Sachs to develop a detailed program. They go to "Gazeta Wyborcza", where there is a computer and by next morning Lipton and Sachs develop the program. They run to meet Adam Michnik, who also confesses that he has no clue about economics. But he decides to write an article: "Your President, our Prime Minister" [addressing the Communist Party] and to oblige the government to implement the program. I am not discovering anything new, all of this is in Jeffrey Sachs’s book: "End of Poverty. The task for our generation". Later, Sachs meets with OKP in the Sejm...

- ... where the majority of Members also have no knowledge of economics...

- Aleksander Malachowski later admitted: "We were like sheep." The question arises: who is to implement this concept? At first, they propose Trzeciakowski, but he refuses. Neither agree Józefiak and Szymanski. Then Stefan Bratkowski puts forth my candidacy. I was in Burundi at the time, where there is no embassy, so the Polish ambassador called from Kenya, but he could not elaborate on any details of the proposal. I was one year short of completion of the 10-year program, so I refused. Then Kuczynski out of the blue comes up with Balcerowicz. Interestingly, Balcerowicz received his doctorate in '75, but in '89 he was still without a habilitation. When I worked at the Warsaw University Department of Management, our lecturers had only five years to complete the habilitation, otherwise, they were fired. Secondly – Balcerowicz did not participate in the Round Table works. Thirdly – he had no management experience. Thus, his selection was highly questionable. At that time, OKP created a commission to create a master economic program, directed by prof. Janusz Beksiak. And then [Tadeusz] Mazowiecki puts the matter on a knife-edge - either they, or us. Balcerowicz wins.

- Why others did not want to implement this plan?

- Because there were no benefits in it for Poland, other than stifling inflation: it resulted in the destruction of state-owned enterprises, liquidation of state-owned farms, mass unemployment, and the flood of imports – we even imported hairpins and waste paper. I came back to Poland to see French milk on the food store shelves. My cousin told me that a propaganda effort is under way, not to buy Polish milk, because the IXI detergent is allegedly used to clean the milk bottles. I asked in a store for [mineral water] "Mazowszanka" that I have always liked. They do not have it, but I can buy German mineral water instead. I want to buy Pollena shaving cream – and we must remember that the Swedes often traveled to Poland specifically to buy Polish vodka and Polish cosmetics. Now, Pollena is out, but there is Colgate. A saleswoman finally located Pollena in the back room. It is three times cheaper than Colgate. A woman explains that it is more profitable to sell more expensive merchandise, so she avoids putting any Polish goods on the shelves. In short, what begins is the planned elimination of Polish competition from the market. Siemens buys out Polish ZWUT, which at the time had the monopoly on the telephone market in the Soviet Union. Germans give employees a nine-month severance pay, everyone is happy. Then they demolish the factory, move the entire production line to Germany and take over all relationships with Russia. They eliminate "Kasprzak", the production of integrated circuits, diodes, transistors, and even our invention, the blue laser. Foreign capital buys out Polish cement plants, sugar factories, cotton factories, a modern paper factory in Kwidzyñ, and then the government just “consumes” the money received.

- The biggest scandal of them all, however, is the National Investment Funds affair.

- I once bought a NIF certificate for 20 z³, and as I left the bank, a man stopped me in a street offering 140 z³ for it. It turned out that the holder of 35 percent of the shares was entitled to make sales decisions. NFI was comprised of over 500 top companies. All of them, over time, either went bankrupt or were sold for pennies, and then their certificates were worth one-fourth of the original value. There have been lawsuits, against [minister] Janusz Lewandowski among others, and that one ended in acquittal last year. All made great careers, and Balcerowicz received the Order of White Eagle and even was a candidate for the Nobel Prize. It is unbelievable!

- Poland gave the banks away, and the energy sector is being taken over by the other nation's state companies, such as the Swedish Vattenfall.

- Previously, the Telekomunikacja Polska SA was taken over by France Telecom. The same pattern had been applied in Africa. All goods imported from Europe or America were vastly more expensive. I bought a Volkswagen in Africa for 15 thousand dollars, then I came to Berlin, to find the same car for only $8K. Now also prices of industrial products are much higher in Poland, while the wages are incomparably lower. That is how foreign companies benefit [from the changes]. Even if wages, as unions demand, were brought to the level of EU average, foreign companies would relocate to Romania, Bulgaria, Belarus, China, and even to Africa. After all, Ford closed down a factory near Warsaw, and reopened it in St. Petersburg.

- Was this re-colonization carried out similarly in other countries as they transformed away from communism?

- Yes, this concept was implemented in the entire Central Europe.

- How do you assess the current situation of Poland?

- It is tragic. The sum of the state debt and private debt exceeds the national income. And the debt is growing, because all these 20 years we have had a negative balance in foreign trade. We live according to philosophy, formulated by Prime Minister Tusk - "here and now." There is no strategic plan.

- Are the CO2 emission limits an idea to complete the destruction of Polish industry?

- The climate package is favorable to the Western Europe, bent at exploiting the Central European countries, which are to be neo-colonies. This is the real reason behind the elimination of Polish-owned banks, heavy industry and trade. This is the last year of Polish trade. This year alone, Carrefour and Biedronka plan to open a hundred new stores.

- So, the Poles are not to own big companies?

- This is the goal. Poland is threatened by a serious financial crisis. At risk is the social security system. How could one create the OFE [retirement funds], which consists of over a dozen foreign companies that collect 7.5 percent commission? One should instead have created a single Polish-owned retirement fund company, which would set up a fund that invests only in high-rise building and large enterprises, and profits from that. Just as the UN, whose retirement fund owns high-rise buildings in New York City, whose value grows year after year. But to allow foreign insurance companies such profits?

- Why did the Germans decide to open its labor market?

- They need specific professions, among others – computer specialists, physicians and people to care for the elderly. Germany is pursuing a consistent policy. A few hundred thousand Poles, who had relatives in Germany, emigrated there in the 70s and Germanized. There is also a segment of the population of Lower Silesia who already have German citizenship; they practically work in Germany already and only spend vacations in Poland. We assume that another 400 thousand Poles will leave for Germany after May 1st.

- 1.5 million Poles already work abroad. What are the consequences of mass emigration for work?

- They are tragic. Shortage of professionals and skilled workers will further reduce the opportunities for growth. Brightest are leaving, and only a small percentage of them would return. They still send money to Poland, but this will end when they bring their families in. In addition, we are dying out as a nation, because our natural growth is as low as 1.23. At the same time, Germany grows at a record pace, already ranking as the fourth world economic superpower and attracting the best specialists, also from Poland. The program drafted by “Solidarno¶æ” at their first congress in Oliwa was based on the concept of self-governance of enterprises and professional associations. After the '89 Poles managed to create 1,500 employee-owned companies that are booming today. But project "S" was dismissed on the state level.

Prof. Witold Kie¿un - management theorist, student of Tadeusz Kotarbiñski. He teaches at the Leon Kozminski Academy in Warsaw. Former soldier of the AK, fought in the Warsaw insurgency.

Polish original of the interview here.

Translated by Andrzej Burghardt