Confessions of an Economic Hit Man

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Confessions of an Economic Hit Man Page 27

by John Perkins


  3. John D. Martz, Politics and Petroleum in Ecuador (New Brunswick and Oxford: Transaction Books, 1987), p 303.

  4. John D. Martz, Politics and Petroleum in Ecuador (New Brunswick and Oxford: Transaction Books, 1987), pp 381, 400.

  Chapter 27. Panama: Another Presidential Death

  1. Graham Greene, Getting to Know the General (New York: Pocket Books, 1984), p 11.

  2. George Shultz was secretary of the Treasury and chairman of the Council on Economic Policy under Nixon-Ford, 1972–1974, executive president or president of Bechtel, 1974–1982, secretary of state under Reagan-Bush, 1982–1989; Caspar Weinberger was director of the Office of Management and Budget and secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare under Nixon-Ford, 1973–75, vice president and general counsel of Bechtel Group, 1975–80, secretary of defense under Reagan-Bush, 1980–87.

  3. During the 1973 Watergate hearings, in his testimony before the U.S. Senate, John Dean was the first to disclose U.S. plots to assassinate Torrijos; in 1975, at Senate inquiries into the CIA, chaired by Senator Frank Church, additional testimony and documentation of plans to kill both Torrijos and Noriega were presented. See, for example, Manuel Noriega with Peter Eisner, The Memoirs of Manuel Noriega, America’s Prisoner (New York: Random House, 1997), p 107.

  Chapter 28. My Energy Company, Enron, and George W. Bush

  1. For additional information on IPS, its wholly-owned subsidiary Archbald Power Corporation, and former CEO John Perkins, see Jack M. Daly and Thomas J. Duffy, “Burning Coal’s Waste at Archbald,” Civil Engineering, July 1988; Vince Coveleskie, “Co-Generation Plant Attributes Cited,” The Scranton Times, October 17, 1987; Robert Curran, “Archbald Facility Dedicated,” Scranton Tribune, October 17, 1987; “Archibald Plant Will Turn Coal Waste into Power,” Citizen’s Voice, Wilkes-Barre, PA, June 6, 1988; “Liabilities to Assets: Culm to Light, Food,” editorial, Citizen’s Voice, Wilkes-Barre, PA, June 7, 1988.

  2. Joe Conason, “The George W. Bush Success Story,” Harpers Magazine, February 2000; Craig Unger, “Saving the Saudis,” Vanity Fair, October 2003, p 165.

  3. Craig Unger, “Saving the Saudis,” Vanity Fair, October 2003, p 178.

  4. See George Lardner Jr. and Lois Romano, “The Turning Point After Coming Up Dry,” Washington Post, July 30, 1999; Joe Conason, “The George W. Bush Success Story,” Harpers Magazine, February 2000; and Sam Parry, “The Bush Family Oiligarchy—Part Two: The Third Generation,” http://www.newnetizen.com/presidential/bushoiligarchy.htm (accessed April 19, 2002).

  5. This theory took on new significance and seemed ready to fall under the spotlight of public scrutiny when, years later, it became clear that the highly respected accounting firm of Arthur Andersen had conspired with Enron executives to cheat energy consumers, Enron employees, and the American public out of billions of dollars. The impending 2003 Iraq war pushed the spotlight away. During the war, Bahrain played a critical role in President George W. Bush’s strategy.

  Chapter 29. I Take a Bribe

  1. Jim Garrison, American Empire: Global Leader or Rogue Power? (San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc., 2004), p 38.

  Chapter 30. The United States Invades Panama

  1. Manuel Noriega with Peter Eisner, The Memoirs of Manuel Noriega, America’s Prisoner (New York: Random House, 1997), p 56.

  2. David Harris, Shooting the Moon: The True Story of an American Manhunt Unlike Any Other, Ever (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 2001), p 31-34.

  3. David Harris, Shooting the Moon: The True Story of an American Manhunt Unlike Any Other, Ever (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 2001), p 43.

  4. Manuel Noriega with Peter Eisner, The Memoirs of Manuel Noriega, America’s Prisoner (New York: Random House, 1997), p 212; see also Craig Unger, “Saving the Saudis,” Vanity Fair, October 2003, p 165.

  5. Manuel Noriega with Peter Eisner, The Memoirs of Manuel Noriega, America’s Prisoner (New York: Random House, 1997), p 114.

  6. See www.famoustexans.com/georgebush.htm, p 2.

  7. Manuel Noriega with Peter Eisner, The Memoirs of Manuel Noriega, America’s Prisoner (New York: Random House, 1997), p 56-57.

  8. David Harris, Shooting the Moon: The True Story of an American Manhunt Unlike Any Other, Ever (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 2001), p 6.

  9. www.famoustexans.com/georgebush.htm, p 3.

  10. David Harris, Shooting the Moon: The True Story of an American Manhunt Unlike Any Other, Ever (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 2001), p 4.

  11. Manuel Noriega with Peter Eisner, The Memoirs of Manuel Noriega, America’s Prisoner (New York: Random House, 1997), p 248.

  12. Manuel Noriega with Peter Eisner, The Memoirs of Manuel Noriega, America’s Prisoner (New York: Random House, 1997), p 211.

  13. Manuel Noriega with Peter Eisner, The Memoirs of Manuel Noriega, America’s Prisoner (New York: Random House, 1997), p xxi.

  Chapter 31. An EHM Failure in Iraq

  1. Morris Barrett, “The Web’s Wild World,” TIME, April 26, 1999, p 62.

  Chapter 32. September 11 and its Aftermath for Me, Personally

  1. For more about the Huaoranis, see Joe Kane, Savages (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1995).

  Chapter 33. Venezuela: Saved by Saddam

  1. “Venezuela on the Brink,” editorial, New York Times, December 18, 2002.

  2. The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, directed by Kim Bartley and Donnacha O’Briain (in association with the Irish Film Board, 2003). See www.chavezthefilm.com.

  3. “Venezuelan President Forced to Resign,” Associated Press, April 12, 2002.

  4. Simon Romero, “Tenuous Truce in Venezuela for the State and its Oil Company,” New York Times, April 24, 2002.

  5. Bob Edwards, “What Went Wrong with the Oil Dream in Venezuela,” National Public Radio, Morning Edition, July 8, 2003.

  6. Ginger Thompson, “Venezuela Strikers Keep Pressure on Chávez and Oil Exports,” New York Times, December 30, 2002.

  7. 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).

  8. Tim Weiner, “A Coup by Any Other Name,” New York Times, April 14, 2002.

  9. “Venezuela Leader Urges 20 Years for Strike Chiefs,” Associated Press, February 22, 2003.

  10. Paul Richter, “U.S. Had Talks on Chávez Ouster,” Los Angeles Times, April 17, 2002.

  Chapter 34. Ecuador Revisited

  1. Chris Jochnick, “Perilous Prosperity,” New Internationalist, June 2001, http://www.newint.org/issue335/perilous.htm.

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

  3. For additional information on the hostage situation, see Alan Zibel, “Natives Seek Redress for Pollution,” Oakland Tribune, December 10, 2002; Hoy (Quito, Ecuador daily newspaper) articles of December 10–28, 2003; “Achuar Free Eight Oil Hostages,” El Commercio (Quito daily newspaper), December 16, 2002 (also carried by Reuters); “Ecuador: Oil Firm Stops Work because Staff Seized, Demands Government Action,” and “Sarayacu—Indigenous Groups to Discuss Release of Kidnapped Oil Men,” El Universo (Guayaquil, Ecuador, daily newspaper), http://www.eluniverso.com, December 24, 2002; and Juan Forero, “Seeking Balance: Growth vs. Culture in the Amazon,” New York Times, December 10, 2003. Current, updated information about Ecuador’s Amazonian people is available at the Pachamama Alliance Web site: http://www.pachamama.org.

  Chapter 35. Piercing the Veneer

  1. National debt statistics from the Bureau of the Public Debt, reported at www.publicdebt.treas.gov/opd/opdpenny.htm; national income statistics from the World Bank at www.worldbank.org/data/databytopic/GNIPC.pdf.

  2. Elizabeth Becker and Richard A. Oppe
l, “A Nation at War: Reconstruction. U.S. Gives Bechtel a Major Contract in Rebuilding Iraq,” New York Times, April 18, 2003, http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/18/international/worldspecial/18REBU.html.

  3. 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, http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/18/international/worldspecial/18CONT.html.

  4. http://money.cnn.com/2003/04/17/news/companies/war-bechtel/index.htm.

  Epilogue

  1. Energy Information Administration, reported in USA Today, March 1, 2004, p 1.

  INDEX

  A

  Afghanistan, 96–97, 211

  Agoyan hydroelectric plant, xix

  AIDS medicines, xii

  Allen, Ethan, 147

  Allende, Salvador, 78

  al-Qaeda, 206, 211

  Amazon, xvii–xx, 210

  Ameen, Michael, 166

  Amin, Idi, 96

  Amoco, 166

  antipollution laws, 164

  Arab-Israeli war, 82

  Arbenz, Jacob, 72–73

  Arbusto, 165–166

  Arias, Arnulfo, 59

  Arias family, 179

  Armas, Carlos Castillo, 73

  Ashland Oil Company, 185–186

  Asian Development Bank, 37

  assassinations

  Hugo Spadafora, 174

  Jaime Roldós, ix, 156

  Omar Torrijos, ix, 158–161

  B

  Baer, Robert, 94

  Bahasa Indonesia, 38

  Bahrain, 166

  Baker, James A., III, 98

  banking industry

  Asian Development Bank, 37

  Chase Bank, 194

  Inter-American Development Bank, 74

  Panama, 63

  Bechtel, Riley P., 214

  Bechtel Group, Inc., 73–74, 160, 164, 173, 213, 214–215

  bin Laden, Osama, 96–97, 183, 194

  bin Laden family, 97–98

  British Petroleum (later BP), 18

  British Virgin Islands, 147

  Bunau-Varilla, Philippe, 59

  Bush, George H. W., 59, 79, 168

  bin Laden family and, 98

  United Fruit Company, 72–73, 209

  “wimp factor,” 175, 184

  Bush, George W., 79, 166

  Arbusto, 165–166

  rallying of support for U.S. activities, 198

  Venezuelan activities, 199

  Bush administration (George H. W.), 173–174

  Bush administration (George W.), 201, 213–214

  Bush family, 209

  C

  Canal Treaty, 59, 102–103, 154–155, 158–161. See also Panama

  Canal Zone, 61, 64, 65. See also Panama

  Carlyle Group, 98

  Carter, Jimmy, 102, 118–119, 154, 159–160, 168

  Carvajal, José, 144–145

  Casey, William J., 174

  Chas. T. Main, Inc. (MAIN). See MAIN

  Chase Bank, 194

  Chávez, Hugo, xx, 195, 197–202, 204. See also Venezuela

  Cheney, Richard, 79, 177

  Chile, 78, 200

  Chuchu, Sergeant (José de Jesús Martínez), 159

  Chumpi, Shakaim, 189

  CIA, 73, 156, 161, 200

  Civilization on Trial (Toynbee), 45

  “Claudine,” xi, 14, 22, 53–54

  Colombia, 61

  economic/electric load forecasting, 122

  historical overview of, 120–122

  La Violencia, 121

  rule against sending U.S. citizens to, 124

  colonial Americans, 218

  colonialism, in Panama, 103

  commerce, imperial approach to, 218

  Common Sense (Paine), 49, 63

  communism, 61, 170

  conspiracies, xii–xiii, 156, 216, 217

  corporal punishment, 82

  corporatocracy, xii–xiii, 26

  actions to stop, 221–225

  basis of, 217

  growth of, 78

  media as part of, 221

  of modern empire, 216

  obstacles to, 212–213

  pillars of, 143

  strengthening of, 83

  corruption, 75, 179

  “Country with Five Frontiers, The” (Greene), 104–105

  coups, 73, 200, 201

  culture, Indonesian, 38–39

  D

  Dauber, Jake, 52

  debt

  creation of foreign, 15–16, 17

  Ecuador’s, 203

  Iran’s payment of, 114–116

  United States, 212

  world, xviii

  Department of State, rule against sending U.S. citizens to Colombia, 124

  Department of the Treasury, 84

  Depression, New Deal policies, 78

  deregulation, 164–165, 168

  desensitization, 180–181

  destabilization campaigns, U.S., 176

  developed countries (DCs), 47–48

  “Doc,” 113–116

  dollars versus euros, 213

  Dominican Republic, 61

  Dream Change Coalition, 186

  E

  econometric model, 101–102

  economic forecasting, 84–85, 122

  economic hit men (EHMs)

  description of, ix

  effects of work of, 198

  goals/objectives of the job, 15, 17

  identification of potential, 19

  rationalizations of deeds by, 169

  role of, 90

  standards for, 84

  training, 14–15

  economics, 26, 78, 83–84

  Ecuador, xvii–xx, 141–145, 189–190, 203–210. See also Roldós, Jaime

  Ecuadorian Congress, 156

  Huaorani tribe, 186

  Hydrocarbons Policy, 143–144

  national budget/debt, 203

  oil spill, xvii–xviii

  poverty levels, 203

  Shell, xvi, 207

  tribal wars against oil companies, xvi–xvii

  Eisner, Peter, 178

  electric load forecasting, 31, 54, 109, 122

  embassies, 16, 118–119

  empire building, xx–xxi, 176, 216

  energy industry, 164–165, 168–169

  England, 18

  Enron, 165

  euros versus dollars, 213

  F

  Faisal, King, 82

  “Farhad,” 5–6, 117–119

  “Fidel,” 63

  financing of terrorism, 96–97

  fixed exchange rates, 77

  Flowering Desert project, 110–111

  forecasting

  economic/electric load (Colombia), 122

  electric load, 31, 54, 109, 122

  Saudi Arabian economic, 84–85

  foreign aid, 47–48, 75

  foreign policy, U.S., 21, 47

  free market system, 170

  free trade agreements, 221–222

  Fujimori, Alberto K., 200

  future actions, 221–225

  G

  Gadhafi, Muammar, 60

  Garrison, Jim, 170

  General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), 78

  Getting to Know the General (Greene), 159

  global empire, 170

  globalization, 185

  global management of petroleum, 214

  Grant, Winifred, 162

  Greene, Graham, 104–107, 159

  Greve, Einar, 9, 13, 134

  gross national product (GNP), deceptive nature of, 16

  Ground Zero, 190–195. See also September 11, 2001 attacks

  Guatemala, 72–73, 200

  H

  Hall, Mac, 52, 145, 165

  Harken Energy, 98, 165–166

  Harris, David, 177

  Hayes, Martha, 134

  Helms, Richard, 79

  holy wars, 49

  hostages, U.S. Embassy (Iran), 118–119

  Host
ler, Charles, 166

  House of Saud. See Saudi Arabia

  Huaorani tribe (Ecuador), 142–143, 190

  hunger, x, xii, 192

  Hurtado, Osvaldo, 157

  Hussein, Saddam, 182, 200

  hydrocarbons law, 156, 196

  Hydrocarbons Policy, 143–144

  hydroelectric plants, Agoyan, xix

  I

  ideals, 75

  Illingworth, Charlie, 24–25, 28–29, 104

  imperialism, 48, 139, 218

  importation of labor forces, 86

  income, world population, 65, 206

  Independent Power Systems, Inc.

  (IPS), 163–164, 168, 185–186

  Indonesia, 16

  creation of language for, 38

  culture, 38–39

  Japanese invasion of, 20

  oil industry, 25

  views of Americans, 42–46

  Instituto de Recursos Hidraulicos y Electrificación, 71

  integrity, 138–139

  intelligence community, U.S., 104–105

  Inter-American Development Bank, 74

  international financial system trends, 169–170

  international law, U.S. breach of, 177–178

  International Monetary Fund (IMF), 19, 78, 169–170

  international monetary system, 77

  Interoceanic Canal Commission, 103–104

  invasions, 20, 176–177, 184, 200

  Iran

  Islamic uprising, 117–119

  OPEC oil embargo, 76–77

  payment of debts by, 114–116

  rebellion against British Petroleum, 18

  Shah of Shahs, 108

  Torrijos’s opinions of, 72

  Iraq, 182, 183–184, 199, 200

  Islam, 45–46, 117–119

  J

  Jakarta, 24

  Japanese invasion of Indonesia, 20

  jihads, 49

  Johnson administration, 78–79

  Joint Economic Commission (JECOR), 83–84

  K

  Kellogg Brown & Root, 214–21215

  Kennedy administration, 78–79, 121

  Khadafi (or Gadhafi), Muammar, 60

  Khomeini, Ruhollah, Ayatollah, 118–119

  Kissinger, Henry, 91

  Kuwait, 184

  L

  labor forces, importation to Saudi Arabia of, 86

 

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