News

 

Pepsi pulling out of Burma is a partial victory

 

by Idella Sturino

Montreal (CUP)—After years of boycotts and consumer activist campaigns
around the world, PepsiCo has bowed to pressure and announced its complete

withdrawal from Burma:

he January 28 announce

ment came almost a year

after the company’s decision
last April to sell its 40% stake in its
Burmese franchise bottler, Pepsi
Cola Products Myanmar. But since
then, PepsiCo has continued to
supply the bottler with syrup for
its soft drinks.

Now, PepsiCo has stated that it
has severed its ties with the bottler,
which will end production and
distribution of Pepsi products as of
May 31, 1997.

The $30-billion beverage and
food giant’s decision came as a
surprise to activists who have been
working to pressure the company
to withdraw from the country.
Burma is ruled by a military
dictatorship that has repressed
ethnic minorities and the pro-
democracy movement since it
seized power in 1988.

PepsiCo explained its decision in
terms of wishing to comply with
the “spirit” of American foreign
policy, which has recently taken a
hard line on the Burmese dictator-
ship.

In early February, US Secretary
of State Madeleine Albright
condemned the State Law and
Order Restoration Council
(SLORC) for its repression of anti-
government student movements
and other opposition in the
country.

The SLORC has also been
condemned by the US Department
of State, the United Nations and a
host of international human rights
organizations.

As well, Nobel Peace Prize
laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi,
recognized as the leader of Bur-

ma’s popular democracy move-
ment, has become the centre of
international attention since being
placed under house arrest in 1989.
Her party, the National League
for Democracy, won the majority of
legislative seats in the 1990

Such battles have taken place
at several Canadian universities
including McGill and Carleton,
and more importantly, students
at large American schools have

joined the fight.

elections, but the results were
nullified by the SLORC.

Students have played a large role
in the Pepsi boycott—often
fighting the company when it tried
to sign contracts with university
administrators. Such battles have
taken place at several Canadian
universities including McGill and
Carleton, and more importantly,
students at large American schools
have joined the fight.

Last April, Harvard killed a $1
million deal with Pepsi over the
company’s Burma holdings.
Stanford University blocked a Taco
Bell—which is owned by
PepsiCo—from opening a campus
outlet after 2000 students signed a
petition denouncing the company.

But whether PepsiCo’s recent
decision was a bow to consumer
pressure or US foreign policy
remains unclear.

John Sallenave, of the Quebec
Public Interest Research Group,
doubts the decision came simply in
response to international student

 

continued from cover

The irony of the situation is that
though the groups are using
websites to further their disparate
causes, the subject of their debate
is technologically rather behind.
One chunk of hypertext on the
Myanmar webpage concerns
Rangoon (Yangon), the capital of
four million: “Yangon city tel-
ephone numbering changing to 6
digits.” This doesn’t mean that
you'll be able to email your
Burmese uncle and aunt anytime
soon, though. When you purchase
a modem in the Rangoon equiva-
lent of Future Shop, you get a free
seven-year prison sentence.

he next target is Big Oil.
| Unical and Total have now
become the targets of the

surfers and protestors.

California-based Unical and the
' French company Total are, with the
cooperation and anticipation of
both SLORC and the Thai govern-
ment, building a $1-billion pipeline

across the Thai-Burmese ithsmus,
from the Andaman Sea to the Gulf
of Thailand. There have been
reports of forced labour and
relocation. Harmston says, “People
have died because of this.”

This past December was witness
to more student-led riots in Burma.
They were campaigning for the
right to be able to form a student
union. The state stopped them
once again, this time with more
restraint. That is, if they did kill
protestors, they did it inconspicu-
ously.

One of the ways SLORC has
prevented any demonstrations,
according to Christine Harmston,
was to close all schools
indefinately. “Open schools are
grounds for student organization,”
says Harmston, “but, they are
ruining the education of future
generations.”

Harmston visited Burma last
year for three weeks, and managed
to meet the leader of the opposi-

  
   

pressure. He speculates that US
politics were as much of an
impetus for the decision as con-
sumer activist movements.

This sentiment is echoed by Alex

Mirkich, co-chair of McGill’s
Financial Ethics Research Commit-

tee. Mirkich points to sanction laws

in the US which, similar to those

passed against South Africa during

the anti-apartheid movement in

the 1980s, prevent a city or state

from entering into
contracts with busi-
nesses involved in
Burma.

He and others view
these laws as part of
the motivation behind
PepsiCo’s decision.
Sanction laws against
Burma were passed by
almost a dozen

American cities, as well as the state

of Massachusetts.

But Sallenave said that the pull-
out represents an impressive
victory, regardless of the motiva-
tion behind it. He added that, at

least in part, it can be seen as the
result of the boycott and other
consumer pressure.

“It’s an inspiration to human
rights groups and student move-
ments that their efforts aren’t
futile,” Sallenave said.

Such feelings of victory were
reiterated by other groups in-
volved in pressure against the
SLORC. The message on the
Canadian Friends of Burma’s
answering machine last week
asked callers to “please join us in
rejoicing PepsiCo’s complete
withdrawal.”

But for groups like the Canadian
Friends of Burma, the work to
support Burma’s democracy
movement is far from over.

“What Pepsi’s withdrawal does
is sharpen the energy to deal with
those people still doing business in
Burma,” said Penny Sanger of the
Ottawa-based group. She points to
Canadian-based companies like
Seagram’s and NovaGas, which
have either direct or indirect
connections to Burma, as the target

 

The elusive War
Chief Ernie takes

the stand

=- €¢ OO.
Gustafsen Lak

 

by Doug Whitlow

of he last week of February
began with George Wool
calling civilian members of
the RCMP to the witness stand.
The first witness was a dispatcher.
She was on duty the morning of
August 18, 1995 when Percy
Rosette called in to report
camoflaged armed men surround-
ing the camp at the lake. The
dispatcher told the court that she
immediately phoned her boss,

_ Constable Tassell, at his residence

and was ordered to do nothing.
Tassell told her that there was an
Emergency Response Team in the
area and everything was under
control.

Trial

This testimony from the civilian
member was contrary to every-
thing the court had heard from the
RCMP prior to her taking the
stand, and appears to support
George Wool’s statement that
certain RCMP officers had lied
while on the witness stand.

The next witness to appear was
Danny Ford, a maintenance
foreman from the Adams Lake
Indian Band. Mr. Ford had been
called to the home of William Jones
Ignace (Wolverine) on August 17,
1995 to clean out a septic tank for
Mr. Ignace. The date was signifi-
cant; it put Wolverine, Joseph (Jo-
Jo) and Flo Sampson all at home
and not at the camp at the time
when one of them was supposed to
have taken a shot at a Mountie.

On Wednseday, February 26,
after much speculation and two
attempts on his life, the elusive
Ernie Archie took the stand. Mr.

of future awareness campaigns.

Larry Dohrs of the Free Burma
Coalition in the US also sees
Pepsi’s withdrawal from Burma as
a significant sign of an
“unstoppable movement.” The
Coalition, which has worked to
raise awareness about businesses
involved in Burma, has referred to
the country as the “South Africa of
the ’90s.”

Now that Pepsi has withdrawn,
Dohrs says, the Coalition will
likely focus on oil companies such
as Unocal and Total, which are
partners with the Burmese regime
in a large-scale project to pipe
natural gas into Thailand.

Dohrs adds that he hopes
PepsiCo’s decision will serve as a
“red flag” to other companies still
involved in Burma.

PepsiCo is the latest company to
withdraw from Burma among a
growing list, including Walt
Disney, Heineken, Carlsburg, Liz
Claiborne, Eddie Bauer, J. Crew
and Apple Computer. ¥

 
 

Archie had been the First Nations
War Chief at the camp in the
summer of 1995, and admitted to
owning some of the guns found
after the surrender in September
1995. Archie appeared very
nervous as he gave testimony and
appeared confused much of the
time. His name had came up many
times in previous testimony
regarding the use of police inform-
ants and Archie was not charged
along with the others; adding fuel
to allegations of his being an
informant.

War Chief Ernie will be back on
the stand next week as will the
recently convicted Mr. Bruce Clark
who is scheduled to appear on
Thursday, March 6. Attorney
General, Ujal Dosanjh, has retained
counsel and is reported to be
prepared to fight.rather than
appear as a “hostile” witness. ®

 

tion and Nobel Peace Prize Winner
Aung San Suu Kyi. She also
attended some of Suu Kyi’s
weekend rallies in downtown
Rangoon, now banned since the
December demonstrations. “Ten
thousand people shouting her
name; I can’t describe the feeling.”
As for The Lady herself, “She
was wonderful,” says Harmston,
“but it was just as nice to meet the
average person on the street. I met

students who had been tortured,
and were going right back to their
work.” In such an oppressed
society, the work that the students
do is important, but difficult. Often
the mere administration of an
office and attending the Suu Kyi
rallies, are the only things the
protestors can do. “It’s very, very
restricted.”

“This is a country where we can
take action,” Harmston concludes,

ANOTHER REWARD OF HIGHER EDUCATION.

Get $750 towards the purchase or lease of any new GM vehicle.

THE $750 GM GRAD PROGRAM. FOR DETAILS CALL 1-800-GM-DRIVE.

“It’s time to get tough. It is a test
case for (Foreign Affairs Minister)
Axworthy.”

The next few months will see
who exactly is better equipped to
take action against the regime; the
governments of first world nations
or a loose collection of spiders
united by webs of telephone cord,
hovering over their computers in
the blinking light of the modem. ®

 

 

The Other Press March 4, 1997 3