GRAPE VINE

Total, The Burmese Junta's flag bearer

Source : Liberation (France)

At the National assembly, Mister Hubert Vedrine (Minister of Foreign affairs) gave a rare example of contempt. Contempt of the realities of the french presence in Burma, contempt in considering everybody who access to this information. No, Minister of Foreign Affairs, our market share in this country is not miniscule as you claimed on the 25th of April. With the presence of Total, France is the leader of all investors. The petroleum compagny, leader of the Yadana consortium, pilots the most important project ever to be taken in this country. As she never ceases to repeat Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Nobel prize laureate and speaker of the winning democrats of the 1990 elections, the company Total is the flag wich is being waved by the Narco burmese Junta to try to hide multiples crimes.

Already last summer, French diplomacy took a ridiculous turn at the time of the nommination in Rangoon of Mister Amaudric Du Chaffaut. This ambassador effectively broke an internal record in the french administration : he stayed for fourteen consecutive years in the direction of ELF's (Note in passing : French Oil giant which merged with TotalFina last March, now TotalFinaElf) International affairs. He left the petroleum group at the same time as Alfred Sirven with whom he rubbed shoulders with during three years. The Petrol-Diplomacy has always designed the framework for relations between France and Burma. Your reply to the Assembly, supporting the presence of Total in Burma confirms this tendency :

From now on how to distinguish between our diplomacy in Burma and an appendix of TotalFinaElf's communication department ? This Firm is no more than a purely private company with a majority of foreign capital.