WASHINGTON�Howls of "De-Fund the Fund! Break the Bank!" and Dump the Debt!" rang across the National Mall, as hundreds of people locked arms and marched down Pennsylvania Avenue in a pre-protest of the World Bank/ International Monetary Fund (IMF) Spring Summit scheduled for April 12-17, at IMF headquarter shere.

In the aftermath of last November�s World Trade Organization protests, riots and street battles with police in Seattle, Wash., law enforcement and military agencies have implemented special training to handle demonstrators.

Security around the Capitol has more than doubled, huge amounts of riot gear have been distributed, and police look more like a standing army.

With demonstrators expected to take to the streets demanding an end to foreign debt crushing African, Asian and Caribbean nations, more jobs, less poverty, and calls for the dismantling of both organizations, the authorities don�t intend to be caught off guard.

"We would hope that the D.C. police, the National Guard and any other law enforcement agency would use restraint and respect our First Amendment right to this protest and not overreact," said Asantewaa Nkrumah-Ture of the Mobilization for Global Justice (MGJ).

She also hopes Blacks realize the relevance of the issues facing impoverished countries in Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean.

"We have a movement that is very broad�the broadest that we have seen since the 1960s. For African people, or anyone who cares about justice, we hope they attend the protests, keep their minds and their hearts open to the information we share," she said.

Her group, Jubilee 2000/USA Campaign, which is devoted to having Western nations forgive debt owed by the world�s poorest countries, will be joined by the group 50 Years Is Enough, several student organizations and international humanitarian groups for massive April 16-17 demonstrations outside IMF headquarters.

Much of the IMF-World Bank Summit agenda is under wraps, though some of the major things to be discussed are HIV/AIDS, trade and development and progress reports on how poverty reduction strategies are going.

Over 40 heavily indebted poor countries in Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America, all identified by the IMF, owe foreign governments and financial institutions over $230 billion in development loans. Just three-fourths of that debt equals the combined income for all sub-Saharan African nations, or a debt that equals $400 for every man, women and child in sub-Saharan Africa.

The debt balloon grew in the 1960s, with western nations giving away money, often to dictators, with little discussion of how it was to repaid. Between the Cold War and the desire to exert power over developing countries, the money flowed. When these nations found it harder and harder to repay the money, the World Bank and IMF stepped in. They offered "structural adjustments," which dictated economic policies and government spending for debtor nations and reorganized debt payments.

Critics complain that for all the World Bank/IMF help and expertise, Africa and the Caribbean are worse off, and are now losing control of their resources and sovereignty as the western-controlled financial institutions dictate how they should operate.

"I am weary of seeing people being squeezed into paying the debts imposed on them, while at the same time fighting off the violence of poverty," said Mulima Kufekisa, coordinator of the Structural Adjustment Monitoring Project in Zambia. "I am angry also because this is no accident. This is a result of policies decided on by the world�s most powerful (countries), I�m angry because powerful leaders seem to feel no urgency in ending this disaster."

Many IMF/World Bank critics say with developing nations spending so much money to pay back debt, there is no money left to tackle the AIDS crisis, fund education, or pay for things like clean water.

"Obviously, there is a direct connection between the enslaving of African people here and the conquest of Africa. If you want countries to develop you cannot keep this onerous debt on their backs. Debt relief has been around as long as there have been countries and is mainly used for political reasons," said Charles E. Cobb, Jr., a Black American who publishes African News Service, an Internet web site.

"With western powers controling the flow of trade in Africa, it keeps Blacks from growing into the world power we represent," said Joe Madison, a talk-show host for the Washington-based Radio One. "The control of Africa�s wealth by whites causes us to remain poor and powerless because we can�t come from Africa and enjoy lateral trade with Black America."

Mr. Madison also warned that some of the protests might be geared to distract attention from the World Bank/IMF meeting.

"When has an event of this magnitude come to the city and the media not discuss its agenda. We don�t know the leaders, the delegates nor the issues. We hear more about the demonstrations than we do the meetings inside," he said.

Defenders of the institutions call them necessary to help governments make tough choices, keep needed development aid flowing, help nations repay borrowed money and make progress. In addition, they argue, the IMF and World Bank also see the need to reduce poverty.

Peter Heller, a high-ranking IMF official, said initiatives unveiled at the World Bank/IMF annual meetings last September put poverty reduction "at the center of the IMF�s efforts" for poor countries.

The World Bank will lead discussions on creating programs that reduce poverty, while the "IMF will seek to ensure that these social programs can be accommodated and financed within a supportive, growth enhancing, low-inflation macroeconomic and budgetary framework," Mr. Heller said.

Poverty reduction has also become more than just the cause of rabble rousers outside of IMF/World Bank meeting rooms. During the conference last fall, United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan called for creation of two billion jobs to go along with promised debt relief, which he said should not be confused with "poverty relief."

"We have a choice: we can give them (the poor) the tools they need to fulfill their human potential, or we can leave them to nurse their sense of frustration, misery and grievance. It is up to us," said Mr. Annan.

In the final analysis, he said, the world�s poor "are not expecting high paying jobs, company cars, flushing toilets." They are hoping to send their children to school, get a few containers of water without having to walk many miles, have enough money to feed themselves and some land to work on, Mr. Annan said.