Corporations Bullying Sovereign Governments

From the desk of Paul England on February 26, 2014 at 4:43pm

Paul,

Costa Rica is being sued by the Canadian mining giant Infinito Gold because they said no to a huge open-pit mine, right in the heart of a pristine rainforest.

What's happening in Costa Rica is the tip of the iceberg. Big corporations are overturning the democratic wishes of people all over the world using trade agreements that allow corporations to sue sovereign governments that do things they don't like.

But fighting corporate bullies is exactly what SumOfUs was set up to do.Together, we can change the calculus and make sure that the voices of ordinary people, whether in Costa Rica or Cambodia or Canada are heard loud and clear by the world's corporations.

Can you donate $1 to help pay for the best trade lawyers, PR specialists, and online organizers?

Yes, I can chip in $1 to help fight for the little guy against big corporations.

Costa Rica's rainforests are some of the most amazing places on earth. So when Infinito Gold proposed to mine there, the Costa Rican people didn't just say no. They said hell, no -- and they won. In 2011, Costa Rica banned open-pit mining and the forests were saved.

You'd think that would be the end of it, but last October, the mining company sued Costa Rica for $100 million in lost profits.And because of NAFTA, the so-called free trade agreement between Canada and Costa Rica, a lot of people think it might win.

Costa Rica is just one example of a growing trend of corporations bullying sovereign governments -- and it could get a lot worse because of similar trade deals like the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) or the Transatlantic Trade & Investment Partnership (TTIP) that could affect virtually all of Europe, Australia, Asia, and North and South America.

So we're fighting back. First, we're blowing the whistle every time a corporation tries to bully a nation like Costa Rica. Second, we're organizing to block new trade deals like the TPP and TTIP. Can you make a donation to help support these efforts?

Can you chip in $1?

Thanks for all you do,

Paul and the team at SumOfUs.org 

 

SumOfUs is a worldwide movement of people like you, working together to hold corporations accountable for their actions and forge a new, sustainable path for our global economy. 

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