World Bank�milking cow of the biggest imperialist corporations
In the past twelve years, the World Bank (WB) has poured billions into energy projects, among them the construction of large dams, the extraction of minerals and oil and laying down oil pipelines. These projects have resulted in the massive dislocation of people's lives and livelihoods and destroyed the environment in areas where they have been launched.
The projects have been carried out without any regard for the people's welfare and despite their strong opposition.
Along with siphoning off the natural resources of backward countries, these projects worsen the socio-economic and political problems of host countries. For instance, people living in affected areas are driven out and robbed of their lands, and various forms of repression are unleashed against the downtrodden people who oppose the projects.
Worse, the only real beneficiaries are five of the world's ten largest companies and ten other gigantic corporations. Most of them are American imperialist companies heavily endorsed by top US government officials to become recipients of the World Bank's favor. Most of them have likewise been exposed and are now under investigation in the US and elsewhere for fraud, racketeering, bribery, market manipulation, and/or human rights violations.
The World Bank has already poured over $28 billion into these projects from 1992 to 2004. After the US invasion and occupation of Iraq, most of these projects have been earmarked for the "reconstruction" of Iraq and for siphoning and exporting Iraqi oil. This is in exchange for the $32 billion contributed by these companies to Bush's election campaign in the US in 2000.
The World Bank poured $10.7 billion in the same period for oil projects alone. The number one beneficiary has been Halliburton, a company run by cronies of the Bush family and government. It was one of the largest beneficiaries in 1996-2000, when its president was Richard Cheney, currently the US vice president. Cheney used his vast political influence to secure loans from the WB and other banks. With support from Bush and Cheney, Halliburton is now also among the companies benefiting from fat "reconstruction" contracts and projects for the extraction and export of oil from Iraq.
Shell, BP Amoco and ExxonMobil, the world's three largest oil companies, also received World Bank funds. Among the other WB "beneficiaries" are scandal-ridden companies such as Enron, El Paso Energy, General Electric, and even Harken Energy, the company where US Pres. George W. Bush used to work and own shares.
In the Philippines, among the projects being funded by the WB is the Sual coal-fired power plant in Pangasinan which is being constructed by the Belgian-owned ABB Alstom and The Southern Company of the US. The World Bank is also funding the construction of an oil-fired power plant in Bataan under Covanta Energy of the US.
Most of the oil projects being funded by the WB are not geared to satisfy the local demand for petroleum products in their host countries. Eighty-two (82%) percent of the projects are focused on building infrastructure to extract oil for Western Europe, the US, Canada, Australia and Japan.
Its funding of multinational corporations, especially oil companies, runs counter to the WB's much vaunted programs for a "world without poverty." Even the institution's staunchest apologists have raised their objections. In a study commissioned by no less than the World Bank, the Extractive Industries Review (EIR) has recommended a halt to funding oil companies. The EIR revealed that most of the projects are riddled with irregularities and controversies. It is no secret to the World Bank that massive violations of human rights and corruption by its cohorts among the local ruling classes are being perpetrated in areas where these projects have been set up.
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