BOOK REVIEW 79 The case of Brazil provides the closest example in the real world (perhaps next only to that of the present fascist regime in Chile) of the policies dear to the aid agencies. Both the World Bank and USAID had refused to lend to the populist-nationalist government ofjoao Goulart. But when a coup overthrew him, installed a military dictatorship, and changed economic policy dramatically in favour of imperialism, the picture was transformed. The new regime followed a brutal policy of deflation and suppression of wages. ^The foreign-owned motar-car industries were revived in 1965 by special diminishing tax reductions to car purchasers, but it was apparently ^more difficult' to apply measures of this sort to mass-consumption industries such as the textile industry...The main beneficiaries of increased prices (in agriculture) were not the rural poor, but the landlords and middlemen... Finally, political repression became increasingly severe."9 And interestingly enough, ^The three international agencies and the Brazilian government were../all in it together', and a study of Brazilian economic policies from 1964 to 1967 would provide a good illustration of the international agencies9 ideal.9'10 Hayter is thus able to see from her case studies that the policies of these aid agencies ^perpetuate and sometimes increase the existing severe inequalities in the distribution of income and power in Latin American countries.'911 But the question arises as to why these governments do not fight back and choose to forgo aid. And it is here that Hayter discovers, most importantly, that ^The security of foreign interests of the present governing classes in Latin American are closely interconnected.9912 When World Bank Applauds All in all, Hayter's book is a splendid expose of the sham of imperialist ^aid". The book is mostly narrative, and not analytical. As Hayter herself states in her preface, ^The study is basically a liberal critique of aid policies'9.18 Nonetheless, it is informed by a sincere concern for the oppressed people of the ^Third World". It is not at all surprising that this brilliant author has subsequently developed into a committed Marxist. A word of caution is necessary. It is easy to exaggerate the importance of aid as a political weapon of imperialism. To her credit, Hayter recognizes that ^the cutting of aid is merely a minimum response to a revolutionary situation; the other sanctions of imperialism, commercial and military, are those which really need to be faced and dealt with.'914 The central message of this book is especially relevant for people in some ^Third World" countries: When IMF and Word Bank shower fulsome praise on a government's economic policies, it is often an unfortunate comment on the character of the policies, placing that government in not so august a company. RS