MULTINATIONAL CORPORATIONS AND HUMAN RIGHTS

MULTINATIONAL CORPORATIONS AND HUMAN RIGHTS


The current stage of capitalism is characterized by social and financial deregulation that leads to an increasing commercialization of new sectors and activities. Multinational companies currently hold an economic capacity greater than that of many countries: in 2005, the department store chain Wal-Mart has obtained receipts in excess of the gross domestic product of Austria while those of ExxonMobil are greater than the GDP of all Sub-Saharan Africa put together. This has contributed to the loss of power by the states, while the market-oriented development model, converts the multinationals in key agents in the world economy. The companies have a strong influence policy that allows them to expand into the countries of the South with the unconditional support of the governments of the North and multilateral institutions. In this sense, bilateral and regional agreements on trade and investment, strengthen the position of foreign investors compared to the national governments. This armor allows a huge legal and political power to corporations, which can sue a country's economic policies if these go against their interests.

THE MULTINATIONAL SPANISH IN LATIN AMERICA
European multinationals have great power in Latin America and, within these, the Spanish ones occupy an important position especially in the services sector: banking, telecommunications, energy, insurance, construction and tourism. Repsol YPF is the largest multinational oil on this continent; Telefonica is leading in the field of telecommunications; Endesa dominates the electricity market; Santander and BBVA are the major banks. For this reason, "what's going on in the region can not be understood without taking into account the presence of Spanish companies, as you might imagine without Santander Latin America," according to the director general of this bank.
Spain in the eighties received foreign investment was converted in the late nineties in the country which has major investments in Latin America, where, in 1999, he has concentrated 66%. What made possible the internalization of Spanish companies in record time was the profound transformation of the Spanish and Latin American economies, which are put in motion in the nineties as a result of liberal reforms. In the European Union, the Treaty of Maastricht has prompted the opening of economies and the privatization of most public companies Repsol, Telefonica and Endesa, among others, have passed into private hands. Subsequently there have been mergers and restructurings that have increased the size of these companies, which have been able to expand internationally.
A further step towards Latin America was when it was proposed by governments and facilitated the sale of large state-owned enterprises and, at the same time, the adoption of the Washington Consensus facilitated the entry of foreign investment. In this expansion the Spanish multinationals have been able to count on the political, legal and diplomatic of the Spanish Government, manifestosi for example, when the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs went to Bolivia a few days after it was promulgated the decree of nationalization of hydrocarbons for "Morales negotiate with fairness require that the future of Repsol in Bolivia."
The internationalization of Spanish companies in Latin America has allowed them to become large multinational corporations and increase profits even in times of crisis. For example, Telefonica has earned 7.592 billion euro in 2008, an increase of 38% compared to 2007 This wealth, however, did not improve the work and not the quality of the service offered, and environmental damage, social and cultural rights are been extensive. To cite a few cases to substantiate this claim, let's talk about Repsol YPF which has been accused of having acted in 17 indigenous areas in Bolivia, the bank Santander which has been criticized for having financed the dam on the Rio Madeira in Brazil, a project very discussed for its strong environmental impact. Even Endesa, now capital by Italian Enel, has been denounced by the impact of its hydroelectric plants and nell'Aysen in the Bio-Bio, Chile. Could continue in the examples, but we will focus on the analysis of the presence of Union Fenosa in two countries, Nicaragua and Colombia.

THE CASE OF UNION FENOSA IN NICARAGUA AND COLOMBIA
The acquisition of businesses in Latin America by Union Fenosa began in 1995, thereby enrolling in the process of expanding to other multinationals in Spain. Since then the processes of acquisition and mergers have not stopped and the last example is the acquisition of Union Fenosa by Gas Natural Spanish multinational. The objectives of the acquisitions were privatized state enterprises at a low cost that allowed also to operate as a monopoly, provided that in the future would make the business very profitable. Between 1998 and 2000, Union Fenosa bought the electricity distribution companies in Panama, Guatemala, Dominican Republic, Colombia and Nicaragua, devoting then to derive greater profit. Union Fenosa has had an effect very similar in Nicaragua and Colombia, as a result of a similar mode of operation that complies with the rules of the free market system and based on getting the maximum profit.
In the workplace, unions Nicaraguans and Colombians complain that the company violates the international conventions such as 87, 98, 111 and 154 of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), duly ratified by the legislation of the two countries with the function of protecting the fundamental right to unionization, collective bargaining and employment protection against discrimination. All these rules can be found in the second collective agreement entered into by the group Union Fenosa with the Spanish trade union and should be respected in all countries in which the company has to operate.
The social impact of the distribution of the electrical service such as in Nicaragua in Colombia has been very grave, as a result of the modus operandi of the multinational, which has increased the tariffs, imposed sanctions and enforced rationing of electricity. The description of specific cases can give you an idea: in Colombia, the tariff increase had led to the fact that a resident of Barranquilla, which barely had an opening economy, had to earmark 52% payment of the bill of Electricaribe the energy rationing in 2002 has meant for the people it is impossible to refrigerate food and medicine, the lack of service in the supply of drinking water and the paralysis of the electrical systems in hospitals, among other things. This attitude has resulted in numerous protests and mobilizations. In the case of Colombia, these protests have been put in silence through a project of Corporate Social Responsibility (RSC) for the poorest neighborhoods, where the protests were stronger, called social energy. In this project, Union Fenosa recruited protest leaders for them to become the representatives of the company in the collection of bills and the supervision of illegal connections. This initiative led to clashes within neighborhoods, resulting in silencing the opposition harder and allow the multinational to silence complaints about his work.
In Nicaragua there have been countless complaints that culminated in the termination of the contract between Union Fenosa and the government for the distribution of energy. The Nicaraguan Institute of Energy has initiated arbitration proceedings against Union Fenosa for not having complied with its contract, but this has reacted by asking the Nicaraguan government, in front of the Agency Multilateral Investment Guarantee linked to the World Bank, the payment of $ 53 million, as a recovery mechanism contemplated in the Agreement for the reciprocal protection of investment signed between the Spanish Government and that Nicaragua. The pressure of the multinational and the diplomatic activity of the Spanish Government through the Vice President Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega have accelerated the conclusion of the conflict in a way beneficial to Union Fenosa.
The Nicaraguan and Colombian populations found themselves unable to obtain justice through the legal and institutional channels, and so they sought other to claim the respect of their rights, such as the creation of permanent tribunals of the people (TPP) in Nicaragua, through audience preliminary TPP in Managua in 2007, in Colombia through the audience on public service companies of the TPP-chapter Colombia. The Court expressed at its meetings in Vienna in 2006 and Lima in 2008.

PROPOSALS TO ADJUST THE ACTIVITY OF MULTINATIONAL
The impossibility of obtaining justice resides in the new entrepreneurial paradigm, Corporate Social Responsibility, which states that the control of multinationals should be a shared responsibility between employers, workers and civil society in collaboration with the institutions. But this formula does not take into account the position of power that corporations have on the population. These companies protect their own rights with legal force constituted by the "lex mercatoria", while the obligations to respect human rights are assigned to voluntarism. The radical opposition of multinational corporations to consider the direct addressees of international legal norms is a clear contradiction with their pronouncements on human rights and environmental issues. It is evident that are holding any form of control from the outside and, until now, have obtained that any measure is not established; In fact, the UN Global Compact initiative, there is no control over the observance of the principles by multinationals signatory.
The voluntary nature of the Global Compact and the Rsc means that these initiatives are very questionable as a guide for the protection of human rights by the multinationals. From here derives the need to create an international legal code that identifies the legal responsibilities of multinational corporations from the consequences of their activities throughout the world. Besides this you should extend the responsibility of the parent to its subsidiaries, suppliers, contracts or sub-contracts, as well as subordinate enterprise policy to the sovereignty of the states in line with the right to development.
You also need an international tribunal to judge the violation of international law by multinationals and has the task of protecting the fundamental rights of the people. Another proposal is the creation of a Center of studies and analyzes on multinational enterprises, which make it possible to measure the real impact of these economic issues, development and human rights violation. However, the legal strategy must be planned and implemented within a political and social strategy that allows to exert social pressure necessary to force the governments of origin of multinational corporations and the United Nations to have the political will to respect human rights multinational companies anywhere in the world.

Erika González *

The power of multinational corporations and their impact on human rights

* Multinacionales the Observatory de América Latina en-Paz with Dignidad.

http://www.guerrepace.org/pagine/157Gonzales.html