Since then, Giustra's interests in Colombia have run into trouble. For instance, the manner in which energy concessions were handed out has come under fire. There have been media claims of a “juicy concession" for Giustra from the Colombian government obtained with the help of Bill Clinton.
This is about charges of corruption. I post these pieces to show people are complaining everywhere about what this group is doing to their countries. The link is here.
Colombian senator Jorge Enrique Robledo claimed the Uribe government showed favoritism to Pacific Rubiales during the process of granting Colombian oil concessions.
Pacific Rubiales has been the subject of repeated complaints about "deplorable conditions" for workers. The complaints included "contracts, work hours, pay, democratic guarantees, housing, hygiene, transportation and the right to organize."
When leaders from the country's petroleum workers union Unión Sindical Obrera (USO) tried to mediate, Pacific Rubiales reportedly blocked the public highways in the region to prevent them from arriving.
This piece is suggesting that the Clintons behave as if they are involved in organized crime. The link is here.
Another of Giustra's companies, Prima Colombia Hardwood, has also run into problems. In May 2011 the Ministry of Environment began monitoring the logging being done by Prima Colombia.
According to published reports, the company needed to answer for ten environmental violations, including erosion of the natural wildlife habitat, shifting water currents in the area, and the alteration of the vegetation cover. The National Environment Licensing Authority (ANIA) subsequently decided to deny all environmental permits required by Prima Colombia.
Giustra and friends.
CHAPTER 10
Disaster Capitalism Clinton-Style
THE 2010 HAITIAN RELIEF EFFORT
Jean-Max Bellerive
On the afternoon of January 12, 2010, a devastating 7.0 earthquake shook the island nation of Haiti. In less than a minute, the violent tremors leveled an estimated 25,000 government and commercial buildings, more than 100,000 homes, and killed approximately 230,000 people.
Jean-Max Bellerive
When the earth stopped quaking, more than 1.5 million people were left living in makeshift tent camps. "In 30 seconds, Haiti lost 60 percent of its GDP," said Haitian prime minister Jean-Max Bellerive.
Jean-Max Bellerive
For a country whose history was plagued with natural disasters, corrupt leaders, and abject poverty, it must have seemed like the exclamation point on some sort of cruel natural joke.
Jean-Max Bellerive
The international charitable response from groups like the Salvation Army and the Red Cross was generous, as millions of people around the world wrote checks or donated via their cell phones.
Jean-Max Bellerive
Foreign governments committed funds, too. Days after the earthquake, Hillary Clinton was en route to Port-au-Prince to inspect the damage. To accommodate her, all flights to and from the island were halted for three hours.
The link is here.
Hillary arrived on a Coast Guard C-130, along with American relief workers and a supply of toothpaste, mustard, and cigarettes her staff had purchased from US supermarkets the night before.
She did not leave the airport, to avoid impeding rescue efforts, but declared her deep sympathy for the people of Haiti and offered assurances that America would be Haiti's “friend, partner, and supporter," with the State Department and USAID taking a front and center role in the relief effort.
Bill Clinton was soon on the ground in Haiti, too. He had been appointed a United Nations special envoy to the island in 2009 and traveled to Haiti regularly. With a cluster of cameras around him, Bill teared up as he described what he saw.
The Clintons' close friend and confidante, Cheryl Mills, who was Hillary's chief of staff and counselor at the State Department, was assigned responsibility for how the taxpayer money, directed through USAID, would be spent.
Cheryl Mills
Within days, the State Department conceived and created a funnel that would direct the aid and relief money that would soon flood into the country. The Interim Haiti Recovery Commission (IHRC) was given the task of executing an action plan developed with the help of Haitian authorities and countries that were donating funds to the rebuilding effort. It was supposed to prioritize the rebuilding of Port-au-Prince, with a focus on restoring the economy and government services.
