American corporations pay foreign countries for rights to extract oil, gas, and minerals from within their borders. Those governments have done nothing to regulate oil company practices that pollute the environment and otherwise endanger the lives of local residents. Their reckless practices (which would not be allowed here in the U.S.) have polluted wetlands and rivers, killed fish and vegetation and destroyed livelihoods.
The Bush administration, in their typically arrogant, misguided, neocon, "corporations-can-do-no-wrong" attitude, have turned a blind eye to how U.S. corporations (as representatives of our country) have done little to provide for the locals’ needs and security.
Security for these U.S. corporations in such places as Nigeria, Burma, and Angola are local military who use villagers as forced laborers and freely rape local women and children. U.S. corporations, stalwarts of democracy and human rights that they are, also turn a blind eye as long as they can keep their bottom line healthy.
Local communities remain impoverished while governments accumulate huge profits from contracts with U.S. corporations.
Congress is currently “considering” legislation that would require all oil, gas, and mining companies to publicly disclose, in their reports to the Securities and Exchange Commission, how much they pay to foreign governments for extracting natural resources. This legislation is a joke. Nothing more than another slap on the wrist lacking anything in the way of teeth to address this issue.
Since the U.S. wants to take on the role as the world’s police and talk tough against human rights abuses then our congress should call for and enforce an embargo on any country who participates in these atrocities. If U.S. corporations have financial interests in these countries then it would be to their obvious benefit to use their connections with these foreign heads of state to help force compliance with basic human rights policies.
Chevron has production arrangements with some of the worst human rights offenders in the world. Anyone who purchases or otherwise provides an income to Chevron is facilitating their part in these human rights atrocities.
These companies continue to profit from their actions against humanity so that we Americans can drive our cars, heat our homes, cook our meals. But we are not dependent on Chevron for these needs. While congress hangs on to the tired old belief that financial transparency is enough to force a change in human rights abuse, these people remain impoverished and their military rulers are well-fed and have warm comfortable beds to sleep in. It is time we did more. It is time we took a hard line against U.S. corporations making record profits and host governments reaping giant windfalls on the backs of host country citizens.
We need to boycott Chevron and all of their subsidiaries.
We protested against the Iraq War on the principle that there should be "No Blood For Oil". This situation is no different.
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