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French Public Rallies, Protests, th



Subject: French Public Rallies, Protests, the Media & Total: DEBATE or BOYCOTT Now!!!

In the last six months there has been virtually no articles on Total and
Burma in the French press, this at a time when the French oil company
made its move to swallow Total. There have been only a paragraph or two
on James Mawdsley and Rachael Goldwyn, and a report last June, I think
it was, on the Aubert parlimentary ""investigation" mission to Burma,
after their having been barred from entering refugee camps in Thailand.
Were they ever allowed in those camps? I don't know the answer to that
as I was not at the press conference yesterday, not knowing that there
was going to be a press conference yesterday. 

The release to the press of the french parlimantary mission yesterday,
having been known to others before hand, those who wished to keep that
information for themselves, now is coming to the surface with the same
conspiratorial handling that has for such a long time been a feature of
burma relations here. And now this famous french parlimentary mission
signals to the press that french political mps are not closing their
eyes to the crimes in Burma. That after over five years of raggedy
reporting and zig-zag firing at french govt officials and the Total
company, from general assembly to general assembly, year after year.
Many of the people responsible for Total in Burma have already left
Total. Daniel Valot, director, left last month to become president of
Technip, 4th largerst parapetroliere company, after three companies.
Joseph Daniel, former Total spokesman for exterior institutional
relations, and great defender of Total in Burma, is somewhere lurking in
the government media sector.And now this parlimentary commission, citing
Burma, follows up the call of a few EU resolutions, the ILO and the
Socialist International. A commission without the legal weight for
reform of policy. There has been absolutely no policy change by the
government or Total since the beginning on Burma, except how to better
handle the media, and they have top media professionals to take care of
that, as we all know in France, to sell the image and products of Total
to french consumers, where a government monopoly has been transformed
into a virtual private company monopoly. The damage for public thinking
is perhaps even more severe as govt and business combine for a thorough
brain washing of the french public. It is naive to think that now a few
rallies will effect the french media to turn the tide. Lets be
realistic. Even just this week there is a national magazine, Marianne,
with a full cover story on how the french political class manipulates
the french press, newspapers and books. 

Of course its important to demonstrate and to rally and to voice popular
rejection of govt and Total policies in Burma. But without significant
govt change of policy, those policies will continue.

Sebastian Naar 'for Infobirmanie) is clearly right when he says "The
mission has only a mandate to make proposals, so the importance of its
conclusions shouldnt be overevaluated. Nothing indicates that Total is
about to change its position concerning Burma."  Exactly, and rather,
Total has intensified its implantation there through reported security
arrangements. 

Annie Faure of InfoBirmanie,adds, and I have been telling you this in
terms of the new fierce staff at the Embassy in Rangoon "Your merger
with Elf is not a reason for us to hope. Even more so because the new
french ambassador in RAngoon is an ex-member of the board of Elf". 

And even though MP Aubert and the mission members denounced the
investment as a "mistake" and that Total should "freeze" it, nothing
appears in the future to be done to reverse the current situation. 

And yet Michel Diricq, declares today, with revolutionary vigor, "Total
is not forced to adlopt the point of view of the MPs and Mr Desmarest
will change his attitude in Burma just in case of a large mediatical
impact of the MPs report." I must presume there is here a typographical
fault, that M Diricq had the intention of writing "Desmarest will NOT
change his attitude." Because surely he will not.

What is now needed is a serious public and/ or parlimentary debate on
this topic. And why not both. This should I think rather be fleche of
activity here now, to push forward the intention of this toothless but
well meaning report. 

Public rallies and protests are one thing, but a vigorous well organised
debate, with this report as participatory material, should help in
reaching the media and bringing the Burma issue up clearly once again
before the french people. 

Once all the shouting the waving has calmed down, there needs to be
influential members of the French community actively called forward as
participants and members of a colloquium debate, where members of
parliment, media personalities, and other public, academic and leading
figures of the french political and economic cultural establishment take
this report seriously to task, and challenge TOTAL straight on, where
then the media with its rush for 15 second reporting, will not be so
able to discard what otherwise should now be considered a significant
contribution to the sad saga of French investment and support in the
Burmese dictatorship. 

And without a significant debate, it should now be clear to InfoBirmanie
and others that here in FRance, a serious effort for an appeal to
boycott should be initiated and followed up with financial backing from
its supporters abroad. Anything less is water thrown into the ocean of 
certain defeat. 

The appointment of Elf's former director as ambassador, should make that
very clear. Elf is now TOTAL, and you can believe that Desmarest is now
calling the shots of French diplomacy in Rangoon. The junta knows it,
you should know that too. 

One last word about boycotts. There is no law that will condemn you for
making an appeal in france to french consumers to boycott. Ultimately,
it is up to them. If you address it in such a way, that you ask the
french, Should you or should you not boycott Total?"That is a fair
question, and not a direct appeal to boycott. It is an appeal to french
participatory democracy and consumer rights.

If anyone out there should disagree with that, specically and precisely,
let it be known to the other members of the group, instead of playing
along with a general deception that a boycott in france is not possible.
It most certainly is, but the french pro-democratic supporters have been
up to now unwilling to pursue this course.

And now you have the result.  

dawn star
EuroBurmanet
Worldwide TOTAL Boycott launched in 1996