Website review: Sudan: The Passion of the Present: ...
hockeydino discovered this in Activism
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hockeydino discovered 13 months ago- From the page: "For Obama and Hillary, Billionaire's Sudan Ties Prove Knotty An ABC News (U.S.) "Blotter" post from today... Democratic presidential hopefuls Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have taken tough, conscientious stances against the genocidal Sudanese government and the companies which help fund it. Billionaire investor Warren Buffett, America's second richest man, has not. In what activists are calling "a definite contradiction," Buffett -- whose estimated $3 billion in Sudan-linked holdings have been disparaged by anti-genocide watchdogs -- is helping raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for the White House aspirants. Over the past several years, the Sudanese government has been widely accused of sponsoring the killing of more than 400,000 of its own people and displacing more than two million more, in what has been called one of the worst humanitarian crises of the new century. Buffett, the legendary 76-year-old investor, has turned away pleas from shareholders and activists to sell his firm's massive stake in PetroChina, a public subsidiary of China's national petroleum company, which watchdogs have tagged a "chief corporate sponsor" of the Sudanese government. Buffett's company, Berkshire Hathaway, reportedly owns the majority of publicly traded stock in PetroChina. While PetroChina does not have direct involvement in Sudan, many believe that pressure from investors on its government-owned parent company could spur change. For this reason, other institutional investors, including the managers of Harvard and Stanford universities' hefty endowments, have divested their organizations' holdings in PetroChina. Buffett has said [that] he believes that subsidiaries like PetroChina "have no ability to control the policies of their parent." Illinois Sen. Barack Obama has shed personal holdings linked to Sudan, liquidating $180,000 [that] he and his wife, Michelle, had invested in a mutual fund with Sudan-linked holdings, after using an online tool to discover the connection. Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., along with her husband Bill, liquidated all of their stock holdings in April, characterizing the move as a general effort to avoid conflicts of interest. In a recent Democratic presidential debate, Hillary Clinton endorsed "moving more quickly on divestment" [in order] to bring an end to the crisis. Obama and Clinton are also co-sponsors of a bill that would encourage states to divest their holdings in Sudan-linked investments. Meanwhile, Buffett has helped Clinton raise more than $1 million, and plans to host a $500-a-person fundraiser later this month for Obama -- with a special early reception for donors who help raise at least $4,500 more from other people. "There's a definite contradiction" between the candidates' positions and Buffett's holdings, said Adam Sterling of the Sudan Divestment Task Force (SDTF). Sterling's group has led the movement to encourage investors to sell off holdings connected to the Sudanese government, considered by some to be the biggest such drive since the anti-apartheid South Africa divestment effort of the 1980s. SDTF also created the online tool [that] Obama used to identify his Sudanese investments. Sterling stopped short of calling for Obama to pull out of the upcoming event. But he called on both Obama and Clinton to confront Buffett on his holdings. "Both Clinton and Obama have a unique opportunity to engage him on the issue," Sterling said. Neither the Obama nor Clinton campaigns immediately responded to requests for comment for this story. A spokeswoman for Berkshire Hathaway said [that] Buffett was not available to discuss the matter. Other presidential contenders have taken steps to divest themselves of Sudan-linked holdings. After reporters discovered ties to Sudan in investments held by Democratic candidate John Edwards and GOP hopeful Rudy Giuliani, both men reportedly sold those holdings. GOP candidate Sen. Sam Brownback, Kan., sold his holdings after using the SDTF's online tool."
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