A conversation with my friend Sylvana who lived through the Pinochet era in Chile.

Nick: Ah yes, I remember you telling me. Thats great! History is a fantastic subject to understand the world. I read an amazing book recently by Naomi Klein called The Shock Doctrine...have you heard of it?
Nick: It's about Chicago school economics and how U.S. corporations and government have been involved in countries in South America, Asia, the Eastern block (inc. Russia), and more recently Iraq
Sylvana: I guess I heard about it.
Sylvana: Yes, the writer was in Chile this year she was interviewed on tv
Sylvana: She is really bright and I am glad someone wrote about that.
Sylvana: By the way, did the UK government have to give bailout packages to certain industries?
Nick: I think so...we bought a bank at one point!
Nick: (Northern Rock)
Nick: I have started donating to War on Want as a result of reading that book. They form pressure groups to campaign and lobby governments about things like banning the use of mercenaries in the army.
Sylvana: That is awful, reminds me of Iraq. There were mecenaries, not in the Army but in the facilities of Oil Companies. Blackwater, I guess was the name of a company, even Chilean security guards travelled to Iraq because they were offered good money
Sylvana: There is a book that will be published about Blackwater and its activities. Last night they interviwed the author, she spoke about the ties of that company with many others even the State Department.
Sylvana: Since they train mercenaries (security staff), the governments can wash their hands and let others do the dirty work.
Nick: Actually lots of private security companies were in the army too approx. 1/2 of the U.S. occupation forces, and 1/3 of British forces are mercenaries, and as you point out they are recruited from all over the place to make it cheap, and not properly trained. Then they are paid to 'interrogate' prisoners and paid based on how much information they can extract, regardless of it's authenticity.
Nick: I imagine some of the interrogators from Chile learnt their techniques during the Pinochet era.
Sylvana: Sure!!
Nick: It makes me very sad to think that the owners of these companies and people in the U.S. governement hold human life in such low regard.
Nick: when you have such extreme forms of market capitalism completely free from any kind of control by people, just driven by making profit for shareholders who don't care how it is achieved, then you get these kinds of abuse of human life. I think some system needs to be devised to incentivise companies to work for the good of everyone, not just a few shareholders who turn a blind eye or even encourage this kind of thing.
Sylvana: You are right! And the worst thing is that many of those peopla are still in high posts.
Nick: exactly! it's outrageous.
Sylvana: I am now at an event of corporate social responsibility organized by the Embassy of Canada
Nick: cool
Sylvana: the purpose is exactly what you say, that companies do not turn a blind eye on what they do. But I don't kno to what extent this is just to wash their image and say they are doing something.
Nick: the thing is that CSR usually means that the company promises to do things but isn't held to account by anybody if they don't do them. They need to be held accountable by the law, and by people, and other incentives so that its not just a marketting exercise but instead has real consequences.
Sylvana: You are absolutely right. They just say they will do this and that to get a permission (a mining company, for instance) and once they are operating they just forget...
Sylvana: and sometimes the legal mechanisms are not there to deal with such a situation and these big transnationals hire very expensive lawyer who do whatever it takes to help their clients.
Nick: Thats true, the legal system tends towards helping whoever can pay more. And thats always the Haliburton's and Tesco's of the world not the Iraqi oil workers or this mining companies employees.
Sylvana: The conversation is very interesting but I'll have to leave you because I have to move to another room and I have to disconnect my computer.
Nick: ok.
Nick: do you mind if I put this on my blog? I'll change your name if you like.
Nick: (and details such as the conference you are at)
Sylvana: Ok. no problem! I donot mind your putting my name. I could have expressed many more things but I was writing to you while I was translating hahaha! It is diffcult to keep one's train of thought.