The permanent weekly Cardiff Burma protest thread!

OK, not to kep repeating the same thread here's the last one (promise!) about Burma protests in Cardiff. There was another succesful protest against oil and gas company Total's involvement in Burma in Cardiff last Saturday, and the people who went agreed to have another one next Saturday (20th October) at the same place and same time. Deatils below:

DO SOMETHING ABOUT BURMA IN CARDIFF - SPREAD THE WORD!

French oil company Total is one of the biggest foreign investors in Burma. It has been propping up the violent and oppressive regime there for years. It has even used army-imposed forced labour to construct a gas pipeline across the country.

People in Britain have been protesting outside Total garages and offices all week with demos in places like Bradford, Oxford, and London - now it's our turn!

Protest at the Total Garage, Cathedral Road, Cardiff, 11am Saturday 20th October.
Assemble: 10.30am outside Glamorgan Staff Club, Westgate Street to march on the garage.

As the media's attention span wanes a full-scale state and military backlash against Burma's people is underway. Let's target the companies that prop up Burma's murderous military dictatorship and let them know that they can't get away with supporting despots with impunity.

Bring banners, placards, and whatever else you expect to find - wear saffron or dark red if you want to.

This demonstration is called by the South Wales Anarchists - all are welcome, and please spread the word to your networks!

Get good and reliable news about Burma at:
http://www.burmanet.org/news/

Thought this might also be appreciated:

"MEPs from Plaid Cymru and the Scottish National Party have expressed their deep concern at the European Commission's failure to suspend a contract with Total Oil in the light of the company's operations in Burma.

They have tabled a parliamentary question calling for the current contract with Total to be reconsidered and for ethical considerations to be built into future public contracts with EU institutions.

At present, Total Oil is the holder of the inter-institutional contract for fuelling all official vehicles of the European institutions.

It also holds the contract for fuelling all official vehicles of the Belgian federal administration. The Belgian secretary of state for sustainable development has asked for the contract to be suspended but is hampered by EU rules on public procurement that are lukewarm on ethical criteria for awarding public contracts. "

I'm not really bothered about 'deep concern' but if the Parliament votes in favour of suspending the contract, that'd be a blow to Total and maybe would encourage them to pull out of Burma.

lewislewis said:

I'm not really bothered about 'deep concern' but if the Parliament votes in favour of suspending the contract, that'd be a blow to Total and maybe would encourage them to pull out of Burma.

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That's a nice bit of news - ta for that.

Companies that trade near us that support Burma's dictatorship:

Some people in Cardiff are thinking of organising a demo to keep Burma on the agenda here - we're thinking of making it a tour of shame, which gives people info about companies which prop up the dictatorship in Burma. Here are some of these companies that trade near us:

Dragon Travel
Dragon Travel is a travel company based in Wales that organises tours to Burma. Aung San Suu Kyi and the Burmese democracy movement have asked tourists not to visit Burma because it helps fund the regime and gives it legitimacy. Forced and child labour was used to develop many tourist facilities.

Managing Director
Dragon Tours & Travel Ltd.
13 Howells Crescent
Llandaff
Cardiff
CF5 2AJ
Email: [email protected]

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Daewoo International Corporation
Daewoo is a South Korean conglomerate with interests ranging from oil and gas, to grain, televisions and cars. It is a partner in the Bay of Bengal gas exploration project in Burma which could earn the regime hundreds of millions of dollars. Daewoo Motors also has a car assembly plant which is a joint venture with Myanmar Automobile and Diesel Industries (MADI). MADI is owned and controlled by the regime. In addition, Daewoo supplies IT services to the regime, and has timber manufacturing and clothing interests in Burma.

Lee Tae-Yong
Chief Executive Officer
541 5-Ga Namdaemunno, Chung Gu,
C.P.O Box 2810
Seoul
Korea
Fax: 00 8227539489

Managing Director
Daewoo Int’l London Branch Office
Missing Link House, 3 Eastbury Road,
Northwood
Middlesex HA6 3AB
Fax: 01923 833 487
E-mail: [email protected]

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Fodor's/Random House
Fodor’s is an American publishing company that specialises in travel guides. Their South East Asia guide includes a section on Burma which helps facilitate tourism to the country. Fodor's is part of the Random House publishing group. Aung San Suu Kyi has asked tourists not to visit Burma because it helps fund the regime and gives it legitimacy. Forced and child labour was used to develop many tourist facilities.


Managing Director
Random House, Inc.
1745 Broadway
New York, NY 10019
USA

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Lonely Planet
Lonely Planet is an Australian multinational publishing company specialising in travel guides. Lonely Planet publishes a guide to Burma which encourages tourists to visit the country. Lonely Planet also vigorously defends tourism to Burma, attempting to undermine calls by Aung San Suu Kyi and Burma’s democracy movement for tourists to stay away.

Judy Slatyer
Chief Executive
Lonely Planet
90 Maribyrnong Street
Footscray, Victoria 3011
AUSTRALIA
Fax: 00 61 3 8379 8111
Email: [email protected]

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Insight Guides
Insight Guides is an independent publishing company that produces holiday guides, including a guide to Burma that promotes tourism to the country. Aung San Suu Kyi has asked tourists not to visit Burma because it helps fund the regime and gives it legitimacy. Forced and child labour was used to develop many tourist facilities.

Managing Director
Insight Guides
58 Borough High Street
London SE1 1XF
Fax: 020 7403 0290
Email: [email protected]
Email: [email protected]

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Hutchison Whampoa/3 Mobile/Superdrug
Hutchison Whampoa Ltd is a Hong Kong based company with a wide range of investments around the world. In Burma it operates Myanmar International Terminals Thilawa (MITT), a major port in Burma. It describes these port terminals as “strategically positioned to facilitate and service Myanmar’s international trade.” In the UK, Hutchison owns 3 Mobile, Superdrug, three major ports – Felixstowe, Harwich International and Thamesport, and has major stakes in luxury property developments such as Royal Gate in Kensington, Belgravia Place near Sloane Square and Albion Wharf in Chelsea.

Mr. Li Ka-shing
Hutchison Whampoa Limited
22/F Hutchison House
10 Harcourt Road
Central
Hong Kong
Email: [email protected]
Email: [email protected]

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Siemens
Siemens are a German engineering and technology company operating all over the world. Siemens are supplying gas turbines to Total for a new platform in the Yadana gas field.

Chairman
Siemens
Wittelsbacher Platz 2
D-80333 Munchen
Germany
Email: [email protected]

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Suzuki
Suzuki’s main business is the manufacture of cars and motorbikes. In 1998 Suzuki invested $6.9 million to set up a joint venture with Myanmar Automobile & Diesel Engine Industries (MADI). MADI is controlled by the military regime. Suzuki owns 60% of the business, MADI 30% with the remaining 10% split between two Burmese companies with close government links.

Managing Director
Suzuki GB PLC
46-62 Gatwick Rd
Crawley
West Sussex RH10 2XF

Osamu Suzuki
Chairman
Suzuki Head Office
300 Takatsuka
Hamamatsu
Japan

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Swift
Swift is a financial services co-operative company owned and controlled by many of the world’s largest banks, including Citibank, HSBC and ABN Amro. Swift hosts an electronic network that banks use to make transfers to each other. Following the imposition of financial sanctions by the United States government in August 2003 the regime faced a crisis, unable to use dollars in financial transactions. Swift came to their aid, making four Burmese banks part of its network. The regime is now able to avoid US financial sanctions by making financial transfers in Euros using Swift’s network.

Jaap Kamp
Chairman, Swift
C/O ABN AMRO Bank N.V.
Head Office
Gustav Mahlerlaan 10
1082 PP Amsterdam
The Netherlands

Leonard H Schrank
Chief Executive Officer
Swift
Avenue Adèle 1
B-1310 La Hulpe
Belgium
Fax: 00 32 2 655 32 26
Email: [email protected]

Managing Director
Swift
7th floor, The Corn Exchange
55 Mark Lane
London EC3R 7NE
Fax: 020 7762 2222

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Total Oil
Total is in a joint venture with the military regime developing an offshore gas field in the Andaman sea. The gas is exported to Thailand through a pipeline that travels 65 kilometres through Burma. Total is one of the biggest foreign investors in Burma. Total has been taken to court by six Burmese people who were used as forced labour in the preparation of Total’s pipeline in Burma.

Christophe de Margerie
Chief Executive
Total
2 Place de la Coupole
La Defense 6
92400 Courbevoie
France

Managing Director
Total Holdings UK Limited
33 Cavendish Square
London W1G OPW
Fax: 020 7416 4497

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I think the tourism stuff is not worth protesting against (although I respect the democracy movement and wouldn't want to visit Burma anyway), surely if enough tourists went there they would bring more of the outside world to Burma? Aren't there also ordinary people that benefit from the economic effects of tourism?

At the end of the day, if you visit America as a tourist you're funding a regime that has killed more people than Burma has, yet there are no protests against American travel agencies? Tourism to America is potentially funding torture and extraorindary rendition.
Ditto for the UK, direct funds to the UK Treasury which does indeed pay for nuclear weapons and imperialism.

But on the other hand i'd say Wales is one of the few places in the world you could visit with a clear conscience : )

I agree to an extent and I know people who've been to Burma without paying the govt. much at all, avoiding public transport, only using private facilities and accommodation, etc.
The US analogy is a bit odd - you can't really compare the two places. However much we hate stuff about the US of A it is relatively free country. There's no military dictatorship, there's no slave labour, and most importantly there's no incredibly oppressed mass opposition movement calling for a boycott of tourism there. That last bit's the key for me.
I'm really torn on the benefits of a tourism boycott, but I'm willing torespect it if that's what the major organised opposition to the dictatorship there is calling for.
Here's what the democracy movement gave to say about the boycott and the answers they have to the arguments against it:
http://www.burmacampaign.org.uk/action_holiday.html
Here's how they answer your point Lewis:

Doesn’t the tourism boycott hurt ordinary Burmese people?

A very small percentage of ordinary people in Burma benefit from tourism. No one is suggesting that this group is unimportant. However, it has to be emphasised that only a minority of Burma’s 48 million people are engaged in the tourism industry. Around 75% of Burma’s people make their living from agriculture. Of the remaining 25% only a small percentage ever come into contact with tourists.

The greatest obstacle to prosperity for people in Burma is the regime itself. The more revenue it is able to earn from tourism and foreign investment, the longer it will be able to stay in power. Change will only come if international pressure on the regime is maintained to cut its economic lifeline. The Tourism Boycott is part of a short-term strategy to ensure long-term prosperity, security and freedom for all of the peoples of Burma.

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