It’s Time To Divest For Darfur
I have been working with the Save Darfur Coalition for almost two years and am happy that today we are taking the campaign to stop this genocide to a whole new level.
Save Darfur is joining the divestment movement and is calling on Fidelity Investments to divest from PetroChina- a company whose parent, the China National Petroleum Corporation, provides 70-80% of the funds that the Sudanese Government uses to carryout the genocide in Darfur.
It’s time for Fidelity, Berkshire Hathaway and other mutual fund managers to do the right thing and immediately take their money out of PetroChina stocks.
Take a look at this new national television spot which will run on CNN and in print in major publications including USAToday, The Washington Post, TIME, Newsweek and Business Week and others.
Also, you can read the FAQ from the Save Darfur Coalition website which outlines in more detail how Fidelity and other companies are at fault and what they can do to take their money out of Darfur.
All of these companies have attempted to spin the media and use technicalities to remove themselves from their moral responsibility to divest. Money is important, yes. But, Sudan has historically responded to economic pressure and the time has come to divest.
May 1st, 2007 at 10:39 pm
Ms. Farrow should limit her work to humanitarian efforts and leave American business alone. Every time she opens her worth millions mouth tens of thousands of peoples 401 programs take a hit including all the grandma’s living on fund income and a SS check. You think your hurting Fidelity and Buffett but your actually hurting small investors. This is not going to help your cause. In fact you turned me right off.
May 3rd, 2007 at 10:03 am
Interesting take, “Mia can bite me” — a temporary decline in some Fidelity and Berkshire mutual fund shares in 401ks is more important than genocide. Having watched the stock market for more than one day, I have to say that you are just wrong. We can have an argument over whether divestment will work ultimately to stop the perpetrators of genocide, but not about mutual fund shares. And by the way, Social Security checks have nothing to do with the prices of Fidelity or Berkshire shares. Those Fidelity prices will go back up within a quarter, should they have to divest their 5% holding in PetroChina. Mark my words.
May 3rd, 2007 at 10:30 am
Having Mia Farrow as a spokesperson for the people of Darfur shouldn’t turn you off from the issue of genocide. If you don’t like her - that is fine. It is that kind of attitude that has led to the slaughter of so many innocent people. Who would you rather see out in front of the issue?
May 3rd, 2007 at 12:36 pm
[...] 2. It’s Time To Divest For Darfur Save Darfur is joining the divestment movement and is calling on Fidelity Investments to divest from PetroChina- a company whose parent, the China National Petroleum Corporation, provides 70-80% of the funds that the Sudanese Government uses to carryout the genocide in Darfur. [...]
May 3rd, 2007 at 3:30 pm
Beyond Fidelity alone, everyone can get involved in the Sudan divestment movement — pressing states and universities to divest their holdings from the genocidal government of Khartoum.
The Sudan Divestment Task Force’s targeted divestment campaign coordinates grassroots activism and lobbying to divest funds from the most egregious, worst-offending companies without doing harm to innocent Sudanese civilians. Since the Sudan divestment movement began in April 2005, eight states, six cities, 40 universities and multiple companies and individuals have placed restrictions on their Sudan-linked investments. California, the first US state to adopt the targeted divestment model (with support from Don Cheadle and George Clooney), is home to the two largest public pension systems in the country.