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Outrageous Corporate Bullying

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Published on Thursday, 27 February 2014 16:20
Written by editor

Mining companies are destroying the rainforest. Chip in just $1 to stop them.

Costa Rica's rainforests are some of the most amazing places on earth. So when a Canadian mining company wanted to put an open pit, cyanide-leach gold mine in the middle of its most pristine forest, Costa Rica didn't just say no. They said hell, no.

So what did the mining company do? They sued Costa Rica for $100 million lost profits.

It's the latest strategy in corporate bullying: If a country won't let you do whatever you want, then sue them for violating "free trade."

But Costa Rica is the tip of the iceberg. Pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly sued Canada to increase drug prices. Philip Morris has sued Australia over cigarette warning labels. The list goes on and on -- and under proposed trade agreements like the Trans-Pacific Partnership, we'll see an explostion of these kinds of lawsuits.

But fighting corporate bullies is exactly what SumOfUs was set up to do. Using the Internet to organize, our worldwide membership has the collective power to stand up to big corporations, so countries like Costa Rica don't have to face these corporate bullies alone. Can you donate $1 to help us take on these giant corporations and win?

Yes, I can chip in $1 to help stand up to bullying by big corporations.

Shortly after Infinito Gold proposed its mine, Costa Rica banned the kind of destructive open pit mining they wanted to do. And you'd think that would be the end of it -- but because of a so-called free trade agreement between Canada and Costa Rica, many experts think Infinito Gold will win its lawsuit. If it do, Costa Rica will have to pay a huge sum of money just because they decided to protect their forests.

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 and 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 of just $1 to help support these efforts?

Paul and the team at SumOfUs.org

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