The report says that union leaders and human rights activists were, in 2011,
pressuring the United States to take action after violent confrontations between
the Colombian military and striking workers at the nation’s largest independent
oil company.
Photo credit: Hillary Clinton, via Twitter
Photo credit: Hillary Clinton, via Twitter
TURNING A BLIND EYE: A new report suggests donations to the Clinton Foundation
may have influenced policy at the U.S. State Department with regard to Colombia
But instead of speaking out against the anti-union violence in Colombia,
then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was praising the nation’s record on
human rights and forging a relationship with the head of Pacific Rubiales, the
oil company at the center of the strife.
The allegations come just days before Hillary Clinton is expected formally to
announce her candidacy for president.
According to the IBT, the oil company, pledged millions of dollars to the
Clinton Foundation. The company’s founder, Frank Giustra, now sits on the
foundation’s board.
In a Wall Street Journal story from 2008, Giustra is described as “a friend and
traveling companion” to former president Bill Clinton.
According to the Clinton Foundation’s own website, Giustra donated more than $25
million to the philanthropic organization.
The three reporters who worked on the IBT piece admit that the financial
dealings remain a bit murky, but say this much is clear:
“After millions of dollars were pledged by the oil company to the Clinton
Foundation — supplemented by millions more from Giustra himself — Secretary
Clinton abruptly changed her position on the controversial U.S.-Colombia trade
pact. Having opposed the deal as a bad one for labor rights back when she was a
presidential candidate in 2008, she now promoted it, calling it “strongly in the
interests of both Colombia and the United States.” The change of heart by
Clinton and other Democratic leaders enabled congressional passage of a Colombia
trade deal that experts say delivered big benefits to foreign investors like
Giustra.”
It may not have been the first time Giustra and the Clintons engaged in an
international quid-pro-quo. In 2008, the New York Times reported on how Bill
Clinton helped Giustra land a multi-million-dollar mining deal in Kazakhstan,
another nation with a poor track record on human rights. Shortly after the deal
was done, Giustra donated more than $3 million to the Clinton Foundation.
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Labor unions make up a huge portion of the Democratic Party base,
but the labor movement and the Clintons have never been close. This
seems unlikely to bring them closer.
During the unrest in 2011, labor activists in the United States
wrote letters to high-ranking public officials asking for the
federal government to put pressure on Colombia.
One such letter came from the very top. Richard Trumka, president
of the AFL-CIO, wrote to the White House in November 2011 to ask
U.S. officials to help de-escalate the crisis.
“The AFL-CIO is concerned that the Colombian government is not
committed to securing fundamental labor rights for its citizens,”
Trumka wrote, citing the nation’s use of military force to disrupt
strikes.
A few months later, the U.S. State Department, led by Clinton,
lauded the Colombia government for its progress on human rights.
“The government generally continued to respect and recognize the
important role of human rights defenders, publicly condemning
threats and attacks against them, and seeking their input on public
policies,” a spokesperson for the department said at the time.
Columbia, however, is one of the most dangerous countries in the
world for labor union supporters, according to the U.S. Labor
Education In The Americas Project, a pro-union nonprofit. In 2011,
more than 29 people were murdered for backing unions, the group
says.
This is only the latest in a series of high-profile inquiries into
the Clintons and the political connections that exist between their
foundation and powerful international figures.
After exposing the high number of foreign donors to the foundation,
the New York Times called for the Clintons to ban all such donations
if Hillary ran for president.
Watchdog.org has detailed the connections between the Clintons and
their close friend Terry McAulliffe, a failed green energy
entrepreneur and former head of the Clinton Foundation who is now
governor of Virginia.
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