Word: burma
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...Burma (also known as Myanmar) has one of the worst human rights records in the world. Although the most prominent dissident, Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, has been freed, pro-democracy leaders continue to be imprisoned. Forced labor and forced relocations are commonplace; often whole villages are destroyed to make way for new development or the American-sponsored oil pipeline. Extrajudicial executions, torture, rape and forced prostitution are regularly practiced by the armed forces. During one incident last month, 11 villagers were killed, two women were stripped and tortured and three people were arrested...
Despite SLORC's atrocious human rights record, some might argue that Western investment ultimately helps the people. There are good reasons to believe this is not true, especially in the case of PepsiCo. Foreign investment is heavily taxed in Burma, such that considerable revenue goes directly to the government. PepsiCo's Burmese partners are known to have close SLORC ties. Burmese law specifies that any foreign corporation employing more than five Burmese must hire only from a government-supplied list, thus eliminating the possibility that Burma's democrats might benefit from the presence of the multi-nationals...
There is little doubt where the government's revenue goes. A former US ambassador to Burma describes SLORC as "so single-minded that whatever money they obtain from foreign sources, they pour straight into the army while the rest of the country is collapsing." PepsiCo contributes to the government in more subtle ways as well; they sponsored the first trade fair in Rangoon in 1994 and have been the sole sponsor of athletic competitions. One can only guess how Pepsi's red-white-and-blue symbol is interpreted...
PepsiCo may also be contributing to forced labor; in order to convert its worthless Burmese revenue into hard currency, PepsiCo buys agricultural goods in Burma and sells them on the international market. These goods may be the products of forced labor farms that are common in Burma, but PepsiCo will not acknowledge its sources. Other companies have pulled out of Burma by now; Levi-Strauss, for example, pulled out in 1992, saying that "it is not possible to do business in [Burma] without directly supporting the military government and its pervasive violations of human rights...
Investment in Burma is not PepsiCo's only offense. In 1994 Greenpeace reported that PepsiCo was shipping discarded plastic bottles from California to India--bottles with the "California Redemption Value" labels still visible. International trade in plastic wastes is forbidden by Indian law and international law. PepsiCo claims, however, that the bottles are all recycled and thus it is not waste. An Indian recycling firm does take the bottles and some are recycled, amidst working conditions far below US standards. But they admit that much of the plastic is nonrecyclable; the toxic byproducts of the process stay in India, while...