Confessions of an Economic Hit Man

by John Perkins

  1977

  Due to personal relationships in Colombia, becomes exposed to the plight of farmers who are branded as communist terrorists and drug traffickers, but are in fact peasants trying to protect their families and homes.

  1978

  Rushed out of Iran by Farhad. Together, they fly to the Rome home of Farhad’s father, an Iranian general, who predicts the shah’s imminent ouster and blames U.S. policy, corrupt leaders, and despotic governments for the hatred sweeping the Middle East. He warns that if the United States does not become more compassionate, the situation will deteriorate.

  1979

  Struggles with conscience as the shah flees his country and Iranians storm the U.S. Embassy, taking fifty-two hostages. Realizes that the United States is a nation laboring to deny the truth about its imperialist role in the world. After years of tension and frequent separations, divorces first wife.

  1980

  Suffers from deep depression, guilt, and the realization that money and power have trapped him at MAIN. Quits.

  1981

  Is deeply disturbed when Ecuador’s president Jaime Roldós (who has campaigned on an anti-oil platform) and Panama’s Omar Torrijos (who has incurred the wrath of powerful Washington interests, due to his positions on the Panama Canal and U.S. military bases) die in fiery airplane crashes that have all the markings of CIA assassinations. Marries for the second time, to a woman whose father is chief architect at Bechtel Corporation and is in charge of designing and building cities in Saudi Arabia—work financed through the 1974 EHM deal.

  1982

  Creates Independent Power Systems Inc. (IPS), a company committed to producing environmentally friendly electricity. Fathers Jessica.

  1983–1989

  Succeeds spectacularly as IPS CEO, with much help from “coincidences”—people in high places, tax breaks, etc. As a father, frets over world crises and former EHM role. Begins writing a tell-all book, but is offered a lucrative consultants’ retainer on the condition that he not write the book.

  1990–1991

  Following the U.S. invasion of Panama and imprisonment of Noriega, sells IPS and retires at forty-five. Contemplates book about life as an EHM, but instead is persuaded to direct energies toward creating a nonprofit organization, an effort which, he is told, would be negatively impacted by such a book.

  1992–2000

  Watches the EHM failures in Iraq that result in the first Gulf War. Three times starts to write the EHM book, but instead gives in to threats and bribes. Tries to assuage conscience by writing books about indigenous peoples, supporting nonprofit organizations, teaching at New Age forums, traveling to the Amazon and the Himalayas, meeting with the Dalai Lama, etc.

  2001–2002

  Leads a group of North Americans deep into the Amazon, and is there with an indigenous tribe on September 11, 2001. Spends a day at Ground Zero and commits to writing the book that can heal his pain and expose the truth behind EHMs.

  2003–2004

  Returns to the Ecuadorian Amazon to meet with the indigenous tribes who have threatened war against the oil companies; writes Confessions of an Economic Hit Man.

  NOTES

  Preface

  1. The United Nations World Food Programme, http://www.wfp.org/index.asp?section=1 (accessed December 27, 2003). In addition, the National Association for the Prevention of Starvation estimates that “Every day 34,000 children under five die of hunger or preventable diseases resulting from hunger” (http://www.napsoc.org, accessed December 27, 2003). Starvation.net estimates that “if we were to add the next two leading ways (after starvation) the poorest of the poor die, waterborne diseases and AIDS, we would be approaching a daily body count of 50,000 deaths” (http://www.starvation.net, accessed December 27, 2003).

  2. U.S. Department of Agriculture findings, reported by the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC), http://www.frac.org (accessed December 27, 2003).

  3. United Nations. Human Development Report. (New York: United Nations, 1999).

  4. “In 1998, the United Nations Development Program estimated that it would cost an additional $9 billion (above current expenditures) to provide clean water and sanitation for everyone on earth. It would cost an additional $12 billion, they said, to cover reproductive health services for all women worldwide. Another $13 billion would be enough not only to give every person on earth enough food to eat but also basic health care. An additional $6 billion could provide basic education for all… Combined they add up to $40 billion.”—John Robbins, author of Diet for a New America and The Food Revolution, http://www.foodrevolution.org (accessed December 27, 2003).

  Prologue

  1. Gina Chavez et al., Tarimiat—Firmes en Nuestro Territorio: FIPSE vs. ARCO, eds. Mario Melo and Juana Sotomayor (Quito, Ecuador: CDES and CONAIE, 2002).

  2. Sandy Tolan, “Ecuador: Lost Promises,” National Public Radio, Morning Edition, July 9, 2003, http://www.npr.org/programs/morning/features/2003/jul/latinoil (accessed July 9, 2003).

  3. Juan Forero, “Seeking Balance: Growth vs. Culture in the Amazon,” New York Times, December 10, 2003.

  4. Abby Ellin, “Suit Says ChevronTexaco Dumped Poisons in Ecuador,” New York Times, May 8, 2003.

  5. Chris Jochnick, “Perilous Prosperity,” New Internationalist, June 2001, http://www.newint.org/issue335/perilous.htm. For more extensive information, see also Pamela Martin, The Globalization of Contentious Politics: The Amazonian Indigenous Rights Movement (New York: Rutledge, 2002); Kimerling, Amazon Crude (New York: Natural Resource Defense Council, 1991); Leslie Wirpsa, trans., Upheaval in the Back Yard: Illegitimate Debts and Human Rights—The Case of Ecuador-Norway (Quito, Ecuador: Centro de Derechos Económicos y Sociales, 2002); and Gregory Palast, “Inside Corporate America,” Guardian, October 8, 2000.

  6. For information about the impact of oil on national and global economies, see Michael T. Klare, Resource Wars: The New Landscape of Global Conflict (New York: Henry Holt and Company, 2001); Daniel Yergin, The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money & Power (New York: Free Press, 1993); and Daniel Yergin and Joseph Stanislaw, The Commanding Heights: The Battle for the World Economy (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2001).

  7. James S. Henry, “Where the Money Went,” Across the Board, March/April 2004, pp 42–45. For more information, see Henry’s book The Blood Bankers: Tales from the Global Underground Economy (New York: Four Walls Eight Windows, 2003).

  8. Gina Chavez et al., Tarimiat—Firmes en Nuestro Territorio: FIPSE vs. ARCO, eds. Mario Melo and Juana Sotomayor (Quito, Ecuador: CDES and CONAIE, 2002); Petróleo, Ambiente y Derechos en la Amazonía Centro Sur, Editión Víctor López A, Centro de Derechos Económicos y Sociales, OPIP, IACYT-A (under the auspices of Oxfam America) (Quito, Ecuador: Sergrafic, 2002).

  9. Sandy Tolan, “Ecuador: Lost Promises,” National Public Radio, Morning Edition, July 9, 2003, http://www.npr.org/programs/morning/features/2003/jul/latinoil (accessed July 9, 2003).

  10. For more on the jackals and other types of hit men, see P. W. Singer, Corporate Warriors: The Rise of the Privatized Military Industry (Ithaca, NY and London: Cornell University Press, 2003); James R. Davis, Fortune’s Warriors: Private Armies and the New World Order (Vancouver and Toronto: Douglas & McIntyre, 2000); Felix I. Rodriguez and John Weisman, Shadow Warrior: The CIA Hero of 100 Unknown Battles (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1989).

  Chapter 2. “In for Life”

  1. For a detailed account of this fateful operation, see Stephen Kinzer, All the Shah’s Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror (Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2003).

  2. Jane Mayer, “Contract Sport: What Did the Vice-President Do for Halliburton?”, New Yorker, February 16 & 23, 2004, p 83.

  Chapter 3. Indonesia: Lessons for an EHM

  1. For more on Indonesia and its history, see Jean Gelman Taylor, Indonesia: Peoples and Histories (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2003); and Theodore Friend, Indonesian Destinies (Cambridge MA and London: The Belknap
Press of Harvard University, 2003).

  Chapter 6. My Role as Inquisitor

  1. Theodore Friend, Indonesian Destinies (Cambridge MA and London: The Belknap Press of Harvard University, 2003), p 5.

  Chapter 10. Panama’s President and Hero

  1. See David McCullough, The Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal 1870–1914 (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1999); William Friar, Portrait of the Panama Canal: From Construction to the Twenty-First Century (New York: Graphic Arts Publishing Company, 1999); Graham Greene, Conversations with the General (New York: Pocket Books, 1984).

  2. See “Zapata Petroleum Corp.”, Fortune, April 1958, p 248; Darwin Payne, Initiative in Energy: Dresser Industries, Inc. 1880–1978 (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1979); Steve Pizzo et al., Inside Job: The Looting of America’s Savings and Loans (New York: McGraw Hill, 1989); Gary Webb, Dark Alliance: The CIA, The Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion (New York: Seven Stories Press, 1999); Gerard Colby and Charlotte Dennet, Thy Will Be Done, The Conquest of the Amazon: Nelson Rockefeller and Evangelism in the Age of Oil (New York: HarperCollins, 1995).

  3. Manuel Noriega with Peter Eisner, The Memoirs of Manuel Noriega, America’s Prisoner (New York: Random House, 1997); Omar Torrijos Herrera, Ideario (Editorial Universitaria Centroamericano, 1983); Graham Greene, Conversations with the General (New York: Pocket Books, 1984).

  4. Graham Greene, Conversations with the General (New York: Pocket Books, 1984); Manuel Noriega with Peter Eisner, The Memoirs of Manuel Noriega, America’s Prisoner (New York: Random House, 1997).

  5. Derrick Jensen, A Language Older than Words (New York: Context Books, 2000), pp 86–88.

  6. Graham Greene, Conversations with the General (New York: Pocket Books, 1984); Manuel Noriega with Peter Eisner, The Memoirs of Manuel Noriega, America’s Prisoner (New York: Random House, 1997).

  Chapter 13. Conversations with the General

  1. William Shawcross: The Shah’s Last Ride: The Fate of an Ally (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1988); Stephen Kinzer, All the Shah’s Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror (Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2003), p 45.

  2. A great deal has been written about Arbenz, United Fruit, and the violent history of Guatemala; see for example (my Boston University political science professor) Howard Zinn, A People’s History of the United States (New York: Harper & Row, 1980); Diane K. Stanley, For the Record: The United Fruit Company’s Sixty-Six Years in Guatemala (Guatemala City: Centro Impresor Piedra Santa, 1994). For quick references: “The Banana Republic: The United Fruit Company,” http://www.mayaparadise.com/ufc1e.html; “CIA Involved in Guatemala Coup, 1954,” http://www.english.upenn.edu/~afilreis/50s/guatemala.html. For more on the Bush family’s involvement: “Zapata Petroleum Corp.,” Fortune, April 1958, p 248.

  Chapter 14. Entering a New and Sinister Period in Economic History

  1. “Robert S. McNamara: 8th Secretary of Defense,” http://www.defenselink.mil (accessed December 23, 2003).

  Chapter 15. The Saudi Arabian Money-laundering Affair

  1. For more on the events leading up to the 1973 oil embargo and the impact of the embargo, see: Thomas W. Lippman, Inside the Mirage: America’s Fragile Partnership with Saudi Arabia (Boulder CO: Westview Press, 2004), pp 155-159; Daniel Yergin, The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money & Power (New York: Free Press, 1993); Stephen Schneider, The Oil Price Revolution (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1983); Ian Seymour, OPEC: Instrument of Change (London: McMillan, 1980).

  2. Thomas W. Lippman, Inside the Mirage: America’s Fragile Partnership with Saudi Arabia (Boulder CO: Westview Press, 2004), p 160.

  3. David Holden and Richard Johns, The House of Saud: The Rise and Rule of the Most Powerful Dynasty in the Arab World (New York: Holt Rinehart and Winston, 1981), p 359.

  4. Thomas W. Lippman, Inside the Mirage: America’s Fragile Partnership with Saudi Arabia (Boulder CO: Westview Press, 2004), p 167.

  Chapter 16. Pimping, and Financing Osama bin Laden

  1. Robert Baer, Sleeping with the Devil: How Washington Sold Our Soul for Saudi Oil (New York: Crown Publishers, 2003), p 26.

  2. Thomas W. Lippman, Inside the Mirage: America’s Fragile Partnership with Saudi Arabia (Boulder CO: Westview Press, 2004), p 162.

  3. Thomas W. Lippman, Inside the Mirage: America’s Fragile Partnership with Saudi Arabia (Boulder CO: Westview Press, 2004), p 2.

  4. Henry Wasswa, “Idi Amin, Murderous Ugandan Dictator, Dies,” Associated Press, August 17, 2003.

  5. “The Saudi Connection,” U.S. News & World Report, December 15, 2003, p 21.

  6. “The Saudi Connection,” U.S. News & World Report, December 15, 2003, pp 19, 20, 26.

  7. Craig Unger, “Saving the Saudis,” Vanity Fair, October 2003. For more on the Bush family’s involvement, Bechtel, etc., see: “Zapata Petroleum Corp.,” Fortune, April 1958, p 248; Darwin Payne, Initiative in Energy: Dresser Industries, Inc. 1880-1978 (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1979); Nathan Vardi, “Desert Storm: Bechtel Group Is Leading the Charge,” and “Contacts for Contracts,” both in Forbes, June 23, 2003, pp 63–66; Graydon Carter, “Editor’s Letter: Fly the Friendly Skies…” Vanity Fair, October 2003; Richard A. Oppel with Diana B. Henriques, “A Nation at War: The Contractor. Company has ties in Washington, and to Iraq,” New York Times, April 18, 2003.

  Chapter 17. Panama Canal Negotiations and Graham Greene

  1. See for example: John M. Perkins, “Colonialism in Panama Has No Place in 1975,” Boston Evening Globe, Op-Ed page, September 19, 1975; John M. Perkins, “U.S.–Brazil Pact Upsets Ecuador,” The Boston Globe, Op-Ed page, May 10, 1976.

  2. For examples of papers by John Perkins published in technical journals, see: John M. Perkins et al., “A Markov Process Applied to Forecasting, Part I—Economic Development” and “A Markov Process Applied to Forecasting, Part II—The Demand for Electricity,” The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Conference Papers C 73 475-1 (July 1973) and C 74 146-7 (January 1974), respectively; John M. Perkins and Nadipuram R. Prasad, “A Model for Describing Direct and Indirect Interrelationships Between the Economy and the Environment,” Consulting Engineer, April 1973; Edwin Vennard, John M. Perkins, and Robert C. Ender, “Electric Demand from Interconnected Systems,” TAPPI Journal (Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry), 28th Conference Edition, 1974; John M. Perkins et al., “Iranian Steel: Implications for the Economy and the Demand for Electricity” and “Markov Method Applied to Planning,” presented at the Fourth Iranian Conference on Engineering, Pahlavi University, Shiraz, Iran, May 12-16, 1974; and Economic Theories and Applications: A Collection of Technical Papers with a Foreward by John M. Perkins (Boston: Chas. T. Main, Inc., 1975).

  3. John M. Perkins, “Colonialism in Panama Has No Place in 1975,” Boston Evening Globe, Op-Ed page, September 19, 1975.

  4. Graham Greene, Getting to Know the General (New York: Pocket Books, 1984), pp 89–90.

  5. Graham Greene, Getting to Know the General (New York: Pocket Books, 1984).

  Chapter 18. Iran’s King of Kings

  1. William Shawcross, The Shah’s Last Ride: The Fate of an Ally (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1988). For more about the Shah’s rise to power, see H. D. S. Greenway, “The Iran Conspiracy,” New York Review of Books, September 23, 2003; Stephen Kinzer, All the Shah’s Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror (Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2003).

  2. For more about Yamin, the Flowering Desert project, and Iran, see John Perkins, Shapeshifting (Rochester, VT: Destiny Books, 1997).

  Chapter 20. The Fall of a King

  1. For more about the Shah’s rise to power, see H.D.S. Greenway, “The Iran Conspiracy,” New York Review of Books, September 23, 2003; Stephen Kinzer, All the Shah’s Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror (Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2003).

  2. See TIME magazine cover articles on the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, February 12, 1979, Jan
uary 7, 1980, and August 17, 1987.

  Chapter 21. Colombia: Keystone of Latin America

  1. Gerard Colby and Charlotte Dennet, Thy Will Be Done, The Conquest of the Amazon: Nelson Rockefeller and Evangelism in the Age of Oil (New York: HarperCollins, 1995), p 381.

  Chapter 24. Ecuador’s President Battles Big Oil

  1. For extensive details on SIL, its history, activities, and association with the oil companies and the Rockefellers, see Gerard Colby and Charlotte Dennet, Thy Will Be Done, The Conquest of the Amazon: Nelson Rockefeller and Evangelism in the Age of Oil (New York: HarperCollins, 1995); Joe Kane, Savages (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1995) (for information on Rachel Saint, pp 85, 156, 227).

  2. John D. Martz, Politics and Petroleum in Ecuador (New Brunswick and Oxford: Transaction Books, 1987), p 272.

  3. José Carvajal Candall, “Objetivos y Políticas de CEPE” (Quito, Ecuador: Primer Seminario, 1979), p 88.

  Chapter 26. Ecuador’s Presidential Death

  1. John D. Martz, Politics and Petroleum in Ecuador (New Brunswick and Oxford: Transaction Books, 1987), p 272.

  2. Gerard Colby and Charlotte Dennet: Thy Will Be Done, The Conquest of the Amazon: Nelson Rockefeller and Evangelism in the Age of Oil (New York, HarperCollins, 1995), p 813.