[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index ][Thread Index ]

Pepsi Burma FBC News Release



Free Burma Coalition Letterhead



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:=09=09=09=09=09APRIL 25, 1996

PEPSI "BURMA PULL-OUT" CALLED A SHAM

ANGRY ACTIVISTS ANNOUNCE HUNGER STRIKE PLANS


Madison, WI:  Supporters of Burma's democracy movement have lashed out at
PepsiCo's claim to have exited Burma, calling it a cynical public
relations exercise that intentionally misrepresents the facts.

"We refuse to swallow Pepsi's lies about its Burma operation and its ties
to the military junta" says Free Burma Coalition (FBC) organizer Zar Ni.
"They claim they're leaving Burma, but they're not.  This is nothing more
than some paper shuffling.  The situation on the ground in Burma is
absolutely unchanged.  There's a lot of anger out here."

In response, the FBC has announced an international hunger strike aimed at
Pepsi and the small number of multinational companies, including UNOCAL,
Texaco, Arco and Heineken, that prop up the military regime.  The hunger
strike will begin on October 4 on campuses and in cities worldwide.  Other
actions will target Pepsi's annual shareholder meeting, scheduled for May
1 at PepsiCo's headquarters in Purchase, New York, where sharp questions
from disgruntled stockholders are expected.

Pepsi has been criticized by a network of 100 college and high school
campus groups, and 40 independent organizations from 15 countries, as well
as Burma's democratic leaders in exile.  Student activists at Harvard
recently got a $1 million Pepsi contract scuttled, due to Pepsi's
unwillingness to address questions about ties to forced labor in Burma.
Also, 2000 Stanford students blocked a proposed (Pepsi-owned) Taco Bell
restaurant from their campus.

"I urge the international media not to accept Pepsi's public relations
claims at face value, but to look at the facts of their presence in Burma"
says exiled Burmese Prime Minister Dr. Sein Win of the National Coalition
Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB).  He was elected as a
representitive of Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD),
whose landslide victory in Burma=D5s 1990 elections the military has refuse=
d
to honor.  "Pepsi's presence strengthens the Burmese military junta and
undermines the democracy movement."

Pepsi claims that its Burmese partner, Mr. Thein Tun, is a "private
entrepreneur." In fact he is chairman of a joint venture with the military
called JV3, and was chosen by Pepsi because of his close military
connections.

Pepsi claims that it "compete(s) with the government" in the
soft drink business.  In fact, the military, which controls all aspects of
business and the economy, has essentially granted Pepsi a monopoly in the
Burmese market, where Pepsi now has a 90% market share.  In return, Pepsi
sponsors international trade fairs where the junta woos other foreign
investors, and Pepsi funds youth and sports activities organized by the
military.  Pepsi's support of the military regime has been consistent and
steadfast.

Pepsi is a major contributor to the Union Solidarity and Development
Association (USDA), the junta-sponsored "patriotic organization."  Nobel
Peace Prize winning Burmese democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, whose NLD
has been subject to rising violence and intimidation, this week compared
USDA thugs to "Hitler's brown shirts," saying "I want the whole world to
know that the USDA is being used to crush the democratic movement."

Pepsi also purchases agricultural products in Burma to sell abroad, as a
method of repatriating its profits.  With forced labor pervasive in the
agricultural sector, activists are concerned that Pepsi's purchases are
connected to forced labor.  Pepsi has resisted 18 months of requests for
details of its agricultural transactions.

"Pepsi's hypocrisy regarding Burma is positively sickening" says Burma
specialist Larry Dohrs.  "They say they don't support tyranny, when that
is exactly what they are doing in Burma.  They don't fool anyone in Burma,
and they shouldn't be allowed to fool the rest of the world" he said,
noting that students within Burma have initiated a Pepsi boycott of their
own.

Recent reports from the United Nations say "forced labor, torture and
arbitrary killing are all still widespread" in Burma.  Aung San Suu Kyi
and the NLD have repeatedly asked foreign companies to stay out of Burma
until there is progress towards democratization and respect for human
dignity.  The Free Burma Coalition supports this position.

Six US cities, including San Francisco and Oakland have passed laws
banning contracts with companies active in Burma, including Pepsi.
Similar laws are pending in other cities, and a Burma sanctions bill has
been introduced with bipartisan support in both the US House and Senate.



Contact:  Zar Ni, Free Burma Coalition 608-256-6572
  =09     Dr. Sein Win, NCGUB 202-393-7342
                 Larry Dohrs, Seattle Campaign for a Free Burma
                    206-784-5742