May, 27 2013, 02:43pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Alberto Villareal from Friends of the Earth Uruguay / REDES : email comerc@redes.org.uy or call +598 98 556360 (Uruguay phone number)
Bill Waren from Friends of the Earth US : email wwaren@foe.org or call +1 202.222.0746 (U.S. phone number)
Free Trade and Investment Agreements Under Fire by Civil Society
WASHINGTON
Immediately following the latest round of Trans-Pacific Partnership trade negotiations in Lima, Peru [1] Friends of the Earth International announced its support for a statement signed by 130 civil society organisations criticizing the International Investment Agreements.
The statement [2] calls for an alternative legal framework for international economic relations. Its signatories welcomed the radical steps announced by Latin American and Caribbean governments in a Ministerial Declaration which had been issued at the first Ministerial Conference of Latin American States affected by transnational interests, held in Guayaquil, Ecuador, on 22 April. [3]
International Investment Agreements (IIAs) - such as the Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) and investment chapters in the Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) as well as Association Agreements - undermine peoples' rights as well as the sovereignty and constitutions of nations, democracy and the public interest, according to the signatories.
Alberto Villarreal from Friends of the Earth Uruguay / REDES said: "International Investment Agreements grant unprecedented rights to foreign corporations and investors, including the right to sue sovereign States and challenge their public interest policies in international arbitration tribunals that only look after the interests of the investors. They are deadly weapons against democratic rule and the protection of peoples' rights and environmental justice. Any steps taken by governments to put peoples' rights before the rights of investors and transnational corporations need to be supported."
Bill Waren from Friends of the Earth US said: "Agreements such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership are trojan horses reinforcing the power of transnational corporations and weakening government efforts to protect their citizens and the environment. There is an urgent need for an alternative to the model of the Trans-Pacific Partnership."
Any country can be sued by a Transnational Corporation if it takes part in an IIA. For this reason the countries signing IIAs lose the freedom to implement laws and policies that favour people and the environment, if these laws or policies go against the interests of corporations.
Signatories propose advancing an alternative legal framework for international economic relations that is based on democratic principles, and prioritises human rights over corporate interests.
Signatories thus recommend that States annul, denounce and stop signing IIAs that have unlawfully subjected them to foreign jurisdictions and violate peoples' rights, and welcome the creation of an International Observatory on investment disputes, agreed by governments at the Guayaquil Ministerial Conference.
Civil society organisations have called on those governments to take swift and concrete steps towards the creation of mechanisms for ongoing dialogue with social movements and organisations in their discussions on investment rules and disputes, as they pledged to do in their Ministerial Declaration, and offered their support to contribute to the task at hand.
NOTES
[1] The negotiations ended on May 24 after ten days of closed meetings.
A video explaining the problems of the Trans-Pacific Partnership is online at https://www.foei.org/en/what-we-do/economic-justice/peril-in-the-pacific
The 11 member states of the Trans-Pacific Partnership announced their intention to finalize their trade negotiations by the end of 2013. The member states of the Trans-Pacific Partnership so far are: Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, United States of America, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Singapore, Vietnam and Peru. Other countries are being encouraged to join the agreement but without reopening decisions made at previous rounds of negotiations.
[2] The civil society statement is online at: https://bit.ly/YwwVMQ
The final list of signatories is online at: https://bit.ly/12jCL3x
[3] The Latin American countries committed to the Guayaquil Declaration are Ecuador,Bolivia, Cuba, Nicaragua, Dominican Republic, St. Vincent and Grenadine and Venezuela.
Their Ministerial Declaration is online in Spanish at: https://cancilleria.gob.ec/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/22abr_declaracion_transnacionales_eng.pdf
Friends of the Earth fights for a more healthy and just world. Together we speak truth to power and expose those who endanger the health of people and the planet for corporate profit. We organize to build long-term political power and campaign to change the rules of our economic and political systems that create injustice and destroy nature.
(202) 783-7400LATEST NEWS
'They Knew Exactly Who Mona Khalil Was': Israel Kills Lebanese Turtle Conservationist
"The murder of Mona Khalil sends a chilling message: Even those whose only weapon is compassion, whose only mission is preservation, are not spared," said one observer.
Jun 22, 2026
For more than 25 years, she protected the endangered sea turtles that laid their eggs near her beachside home in southern Lebanon. But Mona Khalil could not protect herself from Israeli invaders who spared neither her sanctuary nor its steward.
Khalil, 76, was mortally wounded when Israeli forces bombed her brightly painted conservation hub and ecotourism site, called the Orange House, in al-Mansouri, Tyre province, on June 4. She suffered injuries including severe burns during the attack, which also wounded her Ethiopian assistant, and was transported to a hospital in Beirut for treatment.
"They knew exactly who Mona Khalil was," Lebanese journalist and professor Marwa Osman said on social media following Khalil's death. "They knew the bright orange house... They knew it was not a military site, not a command center, not a battlefield position. It was one of the most recognizable symbols of environmental conservation on Lebanon's southern coast; a sanctuary dedicated to protecting endangered sea turtles and preserving life."
The Israel Defense Forces said Saturday that Khalil "was not a target."
"There is no known IDF strike in which she was injured,” the military said. “However, strikes were conducted in the area after the IDF issued evacuation warnings.”
Khalil—who was born in Nigeria in 1949 and held Dutch and Lebanese citizenship—co-founded the Orange House Project in 1999 in what had once been her grandmother's home. Khalil and volunteers gathered there each nesting season to protect sea turtles, their eggs, and hatchlings from both predators and people. She also fought against the privatization of beaches, habitat destruction, dynamite fishing, and other threats.
"For decades, Mona dedicated her life to protecting endangered sea turtles and their nesting habitats," the Lebanese environmental group Green Southerners said on Instagram. "Through the Orange House, she inspired generations of Lebanese to value and protect their natural heritage and coastal ecosystems. Her work made her one of Lebanon’s most respected voices for marine conservation and biodiversity protection."
Green Southerners co-founder Hisham Younes told the BBC on Saturday that Khalil "used to talk about the beach like it was a person."
"Her bond to the sunset, her bond to the water and the turtles... she was really into conservation, and into the soul, the spirit of conservation," Younes added.
According to Lebanon's Ministry of Public Health, Israeli attacks have killed at least 4,106 people—including 383 women, 251 children, and 135 medical workers—and wounded 12,153 others since March 2. Over 1 million Lebanese have also been forcibly displaced.
Over the weekend, Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said his country's forces "need to go berserk" and "obliterate" Lebanon, all of which, he said, "must burn."
Ben-Gvir's comments were widely viewed as part of Israel's efforts to sabotage an elusive peace agreement between the United States and Iran, which has endured 114 days of an illegal US-Israeli war of choice.
Israel's Lebanon onslaught, occurring amid a backdrop of its ongoing genocide in Gaza, did not deter Khalil.
"When the war broke out, she said, 'No one should tell me to leave. I don't want to leave,'" Lebanese journalist and environmentalist Fadia Joumaa told Al Jazeera on Monday. "She made the decision to stay. What she said was, 'I'm a civilian. I don't have a weapon. I'll lock myself inside my home. This is my life.' She made that choice and remained in her house."
The Lebanese environmental group Green Southerners decried the Israeli strike, which "targeted a site that had long been known for environmental conservation, biodiversity protection, and public awareness."
"[Khalil's] death stands as a stark reminder of the devastating toll that Israeli attacks continue to exact on civilians, environmental defenders, and the natural heritage they sought to protect," the group said on Instagram. "We condemn the killing of Mona Khalil and reaffirm that those responsible for attacks on civilians and environmental defenders must be held accountable."
Recalling Khalil's successful campaign to ban dynamite fishing and the violent backlash it sparked from opponents, Joumaa told NPR: "Mona was a fighter. She did not like diplomacy. There were times when they shot at her house."
"She always told me: Defend the beach, defend the turtles, defend your country," she added.
Osman called the Israeli strike that killed Khalil "an assault on a woman whose life's work was devoted to safeguarding life itself, a woman known internationally for her environmental activism, whose name had become synonymous with the protection of Lebanon's coastline and its endangered sea turtles."
"The murder of Mona Khalil sends a chilling message: Even those whose only weapon is compassion, whose only mission is preservation, are not spared," Osman added.
Keep ReadingShow Less
Watchdog Warns Crypto Bill Could Be Major Tax Giveaway to Ultrarich—Including Trump Family
“The cryptocurrency industry has facilitated the Trump family’s corruption at every turn. Lawmakers should be wary of creating new tax loopholes to benefit the Trump family and their donors in the crypto industry."
Jun 22, 2026
A government watchdog is warning that new cryptocurrency policies being considered in the House of Representatives would be a major boon to the ultrawealthy, including President Donald Trump's family.
In an analysis published on Monday, the Revolving Door Project (RDP) highlighted new crypto-related tax bills being discussed in the House Ways and Means Committee, including one that "would create a functional subsidy for cryptocurrency firms by allowing them to defer taxes owed on their mined coins indefinitely and without interest, so long as the firms do not sell the coins."
This would allow coin owners to raise money by borrowing against these assets without having paid a cent of taxes on them, the analysis explains, which could be particularly beneficial for Trump's two eldest sons.
"Eric and Donald Trump Jr. reportedly hold a 20% stake in the bitcoin mining firm American Bitcoin, which mined 817 bitcoin in Q1 of 2026 alone," RDP writes. "At current prices, this represents a value of more than $50 million, while the company has stated that it already intends to hold assets it mines. If passed, this loophole could mean millions of dollars in taxes owed by the Trump sons’ firm could be deferred endlessly."
RDP also published a list of crypto donations to lawmakers on the House Ways and Means Committee. Rep. Steven Horsford (D-Nev.) has received nearly $2 million in support from the industry since 2023, more than any other committee member.
Other top recipients of crypto cash include Reps. Tom Suozzi (D-NY), Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.), Adrian Smith (R-Neb.), and Jason Smith (R-Mo.), chairman of the committee.
Jeff Hauser, executive director of RDP, said that the bills currently under consideration in the House are essentially a return on the crypto industry's investment in political campaigns.
"The cryptocurrency industry believes it is owed massive tax loopholes and functional subsidies," said Hauser, "because it has bought the president, paid for his ballroom project, and has funded dozens of congressional campaigns. The lack of campaign finance reform is the principal reason that the ludicrously corrupt Trump family is set to enjoy yet another tax loophole to exploit."
Timi Iwayemi, assistant director at RDP, said that "the cryptocurrency industry has facilitated the Trump family's corruption at every turn," while warning members of Congress against doing the industry's bidding.
"Lawmakers should be wary of creating new tax loopholes to benefit the Trump family and their donors in the crypto industry," said Iwayemi. "Rewarding this behavior will embolden the crypto industry and other corporate lobbies eager to seize on our elected representatives’ prioritization of donor interests at public expense."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Abelardo de la Espriella, Far-Right Millionaire Backed by Trump, Claims Presidential Victory
US President Donald Trump, who was accused of interfering in Colombia's runoff election, falsely declared that De la Espriella won "BIG" as he led by less than a percentage point.
Jun 22, 2026
Abelardo de la Espriella, a far-right millionaire backed by US President Donald Trump, declared victory in Colombia's presidential runoff late Sunday as preliminary results showed him leading by less than one percentage point with more than 99% of the vote tallied.
Despite the narrow margin, Trump—who is notorious for lying about elections—falsely declared on Truth Social that De la Espriella won "BIG" as the far-right candidate's opponent, leftist Sen. Iván Cepeda, said the results were "unofficial." Both Cepeda and incumbent Colombian President Gustavo Petro signaled that they would challenge vote counts.
"It is an abuse to declare a president through the media when the scrutiny is still ongoing," Petro wrote on X as interim results showed De la Espriella with 49.66% of the vote to Cepeda's 48.7%.
In the run up to Sunday's contest, Petro, international observers, and Democratic lawmakers in the US sounded alarm about the Trump administration's interference in the race on behalf of De la Espriella, who has pledged to "disembowel the left," cut corporate taxes, and dismantle Petro's social and economic policies, which slashed poverty and boosted the country's minimum wage.
"President Trump has... implied that if Mr. De la Espriella loses, Colombia may lose the support of the United States, its most important trade and security partner," a group of US lawmakers wrote in a letter to to Trump administration officials last week. "This direct interference by US officials in another country’s democratic elections is inconsistent with longstanding principles of national sovereignty and non-interference, as well as international law."
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote on social media that he called De la Espriella late Sunday to "congratulate him on his electoral victory."
"The Trump administration looks forward to working closely with your incoming administration to advance regional security cooperation, end illegal immigration to the United States, and strengthen our economic ties," Rubio added.
NPR noted that De la Espriella "has built a lucrative legal and media empire around his reputation."
"He owns a fleet of luxury cars, including a Rolls Royce, and frequently travels by private jet," the outlet added. "He has also cultivated a conspicuous public image as a businessman and influencer, launching a fashion brand, De La Espriella Style, which markets high-end accessories such as luxury watches and sneakers priced at over $1,000 a pair."
De la Espriella's declaration of victory sparked protests in the streets of Colombia's capital, Bogotá. Barron's reported that "roaring motorbike engines and shouts of 'resistance!' filled the air" in the capital city as thousands took to the streets in opposition to De la Espriella.
"We're going to see many more demonstrations," one student demonstrator predicted.
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular