Page 641 – Toward Freedom

SABMiller: Old, bad habits die hard

Khadija Sharife December 6, 2010 Khadija Sharife

SABMiller is one of the world’s leading beverage companies and a new report by ActionAid makes its history in apartheid South Africa of particular interest.

Among the strategies deployed by SABMiller during sanctions imposed on apartheid South Africa were ‘relocating’ intangible assets, such as the company’s many trademarks, to the Netherlands, a ‘conduit’ country used extensively for shifting corporate profits.

Not only did this allow SABMiller to bypass sanctions, but it also made it easier to expand into foreign markets – without the associated stigma of being an apartheid South African company – and avoid taxation through transfer (mis)pricing. The benefits of Dutch holding companies mean there is no requirement to have local economic substance, little or no taxation on repatriated profits, and full tax exemption on capital gains and dividends received from qualifying subsidiaries. And as ActionAid reports, according to Dutch law, the costs of acquired trademarks can be set against taxable income. read more

Message to South American Left Bloc: Don’t Trust Brazil

Nikolas Kozloff December 6, 2010 Nikolas Kozloff

As the Wikileaks scandal drags on a portrait is emerging of Brazil, and suffice it to say it is not too flattering. A rising power with global aspirations, Brazil has a lot more political and economic muscle than, say Venezuela or Bolivia. Yet, time and again the Lula administration takes a very meek approach toward the United States or, even worse, goes along with Washington’s geopolitical machinations.

From Europe to Outer Space: Dissecting Obama’s Missile Defense Plan

John Lasker December 2, 2010 John Lasker

At NATO’s recent summit in Lisbon, President Obama promoted the missile defense shield that will someday cover all of Europe, including Russia. Critics of missile defense say a European shield is a ruse that’s keeping the West’s true intentions for Russia under wraps.

Africa: Food Versus Biofuels Debate Continues

Mantoe Phakathi December 2, 2010 Mantoe Phakathi

Source: IPS News

“We’re going to Cancún no better off than we were in Copenhagen,” said Thuli Makama, the director of Friends of the Earth Swaziland, as she prepared to leave for the climate negotiations in Mexico.

Makama is worried about one particular proposal for reducing greenhouse gas emissions: biofuels. She feels industrialised countries are promoting the production and use of biofuels to fulfill their energy needs, but this will leave more people in the developing world without food. read more

11 Years After the WTO Uprising: Seattle, Detroit, Cancun, Immokalee

David Solnit December 2, 2010 David Solnit

Eleven years ago yesterday, on November 30, 1999, a public uprising shut down the World Trade Organizationand occupied downtown Seattle.

That same week in 1999, three thousand miles away in Immokalee, Florida, farmworkers carried out a five-day general strike against abusive growers paying starvation wages. Two weeks ago, on November 16, 2010 those same growers — the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange representing 90% of the industry — publicly agreed to every one of the farmworkers “Fair Food” demands. read more

The Ambassador Has No Clothes: WikiLeaks Cable Lays Bare Washington’s Stance Toward Bolivia

Benjamin Dangl December 1, 2010 Benjamin Dangl

A classified cable from the US embassy in La Paz, Bolivia released by WikiLeaks lays bare an embassy that is biased against the Evo Morales government, underestimates the sophistication of the governing party’s grassroots base, and out of touch with the political reality of the country.