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CNN: Los Angeles bans business with
Subject: CNN: Los Angeles bans business with Myanmar
Los Angeles bans business with Myanmar
December 16, 1998
Web posted at: 12:02 a.m. EST (0502 GMT)
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The Los Angeles City Council on
Tuesday banned
the city from contracting with companies doing business
with Myanmar, the
former Burma, whose government has been accused of human
rights violations.
In unanimously approving the ordinance despite opposition
from oil giant
Unocal, Los Angeles joined 22 other U.S. cities,
including New York, which
have passed similar measures.
"We are saying that the fruit of oppression is unfit for
our consumption," said
City Councilwoman Jackie Goldberg.
Under the ordinance, America's second largest city will
be prohibited from
buying goods and services from those companies doing
business with
Myanmar.
In a statement, Unocal, which has a natural gas pipeline
in the country, said
the council had no right to pass such a law.
"Under the U.S. Constitution, foreign policy is the
province of the federal
government, not dozens of U.S. cities and
municipalities," the statement said.
"By this action, the city council has moved beyond its
legal authority."