THE FRENCH SPEAK OUT????

[cd@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

David Arnott,
good to see finally a sign of life after the press conference, you
should have my questions on the French visit by Dr Sein Winn, sent  to
you that i twice. still waiting for an answer why you said this was a
most successful mission/visit as both Le Monde and RFI (RAdio France
International) , the french state radio, counter part to VOA in the US,
is running programs, from jounnalist there and just back burma,with
entretien, interview of generals saying they will have no dialogue with
Suu Kyi, the journalist after twelve days in Burma, and in the radio
report I heard last night at midnight, with professor from the french
state Science Politique Foreign Affairs school, in Paris,  NOT a word on
Total.Karens, yes, NLD, Suu Kyi, yes, but one word of TOTAL.  So lets
not get euphoric on the French press here and now.

David, thanks for the posting, like to see more. on the french visit,
and if you have the french text in the computer, please post it for our
french language freres et soeurs. I will get back to you on the French
visit. merci

dawn star (paris)
TOTAL WORLD BOYCOTT
http://www-uvi.eunet.fr/asia/euro-burma/TOTAL/
> 
>                        THE FRENCH SPEAK OUT
> 
> These articles appeared in "L'Evenement du Jeudi" of
> 8-14 May 1997
> 
> 
>               THE BURMA BOYCOTTS START TO PAY OFF
> 
>                        by Patrice Piquard
> 
> Notwithstanding the boasting and buffoonery of the Burmese
> junta which after the ban on new American investment in Burma
> declared that it was "sorry, but all deals go to firms from
> countries with coherent foreign policies", Burma is very sick.
> Inflation has topped 30%; the price of rice has doubled in a
> year; foreign exchange reserves have dropped to their lowest
> level since 1988, the year the military seized power; exports
> are down and the national debt has already reached 8 billion
> francs. The diagnosis of the IMF is that Burma must devalue
> its currency by 99% and initiate long-awaited structural
> reforms. Behind the dictators' seeming confidence lies an
> economy in tatters, held together only by drug trafficking and
> the black market, which are largely controlled by the
> authorities. Despite rosy official figures, foreign investment
> is declining outside the oil and gas sector (where Total plays
> the leading role) and tourism.  But hotel construction will
> pay the price of the failure of the "Year of Tourism", since
> only the French and Italians are visiting Burma without a
> twinge of conscience. In other sectors, the primitive
> infrastructure and fear of boycotts deter punters from
> touching the Burmese market. The advice of the resistant Aung
> San Suu Kyi not to invest in Burma has led thirty American
> cities and states to refuse contracts to firms which have a
> presence in Rangoon. To these official boycotts (against which
> the European Union has threatened to file a complaint at the
> World Trade Organisation) must be added the informal boycotts
> of human rights organisations. We must therefore conclude that
> if the Europeans, especially the French, began a boycott of
> Total, the pressure on the junta would become irresistible.
> 
> (unofficial translation)
> 
>                      .......................
> 
> 
>                OUR INDIGNATION MUST BE EXPRESSED
> 
>                        by Stefane Hessel
> 
> The visit to Paris by the leaders of the Burmese government in
> exile - at the same time, it seems, as members of the military
> regime (the SLORC) - brings to mind the human rights
> violations in a country which has given Asia an exemplary
> Nobel Peace Laureate, Aung San Suu Kyi, whose calls have not
> been echoed as widely as they ought. The 1990 elections,
> though agreed to by the junta, were won by the National League
> for Democracy. SLORC canceled them, introduced martial law and
> placed Aung San Suu Kyi, the party's leader, under house
> arrest. Over a period of seven years the authorities have
> extended the use of forced labour to the whole of Burma and
> crushed the minorities. Of all the countries in the European
> Union, France can least afford to remain indifferent to human
> rights violations, unless it wishes to lose one of its main
> advantages in the international arena. Yet, against the wishes
> of Aung San Suu Kyi, Total is continuing with the construction
> of a pipeline which crosses a part of Burma from which the
> ethnic minorities who lived there have been cleared out by the
> SLORC.  France also publicises "Visit Myanmar Year", whose
> principal beneficiary is the SLORC. It is precisely because of
> our economic presence in Burma that our indignation must be
> expressed through urgent and firm measures. The SLORC is a
> disgrace on account of its denial of democracy and its major
> role in narcotics trafficking. By placing ourselves
> unambiguously on the side of Aung San Suu Kyi, we would
> restore a degree of credibility to the reputation of France.
> 
> S.H.
> 
> Stefane Hessel is ambassadeur de France and a writer.
> 
> (unofficial translation)