G8: Watch What They Do, Not What They Say

[Matilda]

"It is time once again for that touching annual ritual, in which the world’s most powerful people move themselves to tears. At Heiligendamm they will emote with the wretched of the earth. They will beat their breasts and say many worthy and necessary things – about climate change, Africa, poverty, trade – but one word will not leave their lips. Power. Amid the patrician goodwill, there will be no acknowledgement that the power they wield over other nations destroys everything they claim to stand for."

(snip)

"In February this year, the Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Association of the Philippines (PHAP), which represents multinational companies, ran a series of advertisements expressing concern for women unable to breastfeed their children. The campaign was described by the UN’s special rapporteur, Jean Ziegler, as “misleading, deceptive, and malicious in intent”. He claimed the adverts “manipulate data emanating from UN specialized agencies such as WHO and UNICEF … with the sole purpose to protect the milk companies’ huge profits, regardless of the best interest of Filipino mothers and children.”

Last year, in the hope of arresting this public health disaster, the Philippines Department of Health drew up a new set of rules. It prohibited all advertising and promotion of infant formula for children of up to two years old. It forbade the formula companies from giving away gifts or samples or from providing assistance to health workers or classes to mothers(13). The new rules seem stiff, but they all come straight from the WHO’s code. PHAP, whose members include most of the world’s biggest pharmaceutical companies, went to the supreme court to try to obtain a restraining order. When it failed the big guns arrived.

The US embassy and the US regional trade representative started lobbying the Philippines government. Then the chief executive of the US Chamber of Commerce in Washington – which represents three million businesses – wrote a letter to the president of the Philippines, Gloria Arroyo. The new rules, he claimed, would have “unintended negative consequences for investors’ confidence”. The country’s reputation “as a stable and viable destination for investment is at risk.” Four days later, the Supreme Court reversed its decision and imposed the restraining order PHAP had requested. It remains in force today. The government is currently unable to prevent companies from breaking the international code."

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/06/05/1681/


We are all ruled by the multinationals, for the benefit of the multinationals, and even the imminent
destruction of the ability of the planet to sustain life doesn't stop them in their tracks for one
minute.