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Telmex Targeted in Mexico Resistance Magazine, Summer 2009 Issue Throughout Latin America, Carlos Slim has been a dominating force, influencing national economies and further defining the disparities between the rich and poor. Currently ranked by Forbes as the world's third wealthiest man, Slim is responsible for an estimated 7 percent of the gross national product and 40 percent of the stock market in Mexico. His assets are estimated in 2009 to be approximately $35 billion and include ownership in American Movil (wireless telephone service), Telmex (fixed-line telephone service), Prodigy (internet access), Sanborns (department stores and restaurants), Cigatam (marketer of Marlboro and Benson & Hedges cigarettes), Sears Roebuck de Mexico, Volaris (airline), Grupo Financiero Inbursa (banking and inurance), MixUp (CD retailer), and IDEAL (infrastructure firm). Like most of the wealthy class who made their profits off the exploitation of humans, animals or the natural environment, Slim is no exception. In a relatively short time period he has built an empire, the profits from which are sizeable enough to eradicate hunger and famine in significant portions of the world, to make a noticeable contribution to the worldwide effort to stop global warming, or to simply assist the estimated 40 to 50 percent of people who are living in poverty within his own country, Mexico. Attempting to follow after Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, the top two wealthiest men in the world who have donated significant sums of their wealth to the charitable Gates Foundation, Slim boasts in the media of his philanthropic ventures. Yet, by donating thousands of computers to schools so children will have access to the internet, Slim was engaging in the same tactic used by Monsanto in pushing its terminator seeds on various African nations. Under the guise of philanthropy in appearing as though the company desired to stop world hunger and food shortages, Monsanto, working jointly with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), provided seeds to farmers that would not reproduce for use in the next growing season. In order to use these seeds, farmers were required to become reliant on Monsanto, purchasing new terminator seeds from the company each year. Instead of helping to end world hunger, Monsanto's charity ended up increasing poverty levels. Slim's computer donations for internet access required the services of an internet carrier. Conveniently, Slim owns Prodigy and Prodigy's internet services were not going to be donated. So by donating computers to an estimated 1,400 schools, Slim thereby created 1,400 new internet customers for one of his many companies. The beginnings of his path to insulting wealth came in the mid-1960s when Slim purchased a bottling plant in Mexico and created a real estate firm and a construction company. This signaled the start of a conglomerate he would later name Grupo Carso. From the mid-1960s to 1990, Slim slowly built his empire, buying up companies and purchasing significant shares in others. In 1990, Slim made the winning bid to purchase 51 percent voting control of the state owned phone company, Telmex. Business speculators instantly realized Slim was sitting on a goldmine with Telmex. He had purchased it relatively cheap, thanks to his friend at the time in the presidential office, and stood to make a fortune running the only phone service in the country. For the first seven years, Telmex was a complete monopoly and implemented some of the highest telephone usage prices anywhere in the world. While the market was opened up to competitors in 1997, Telmex in 2009 continues to hold over 90% of the landline market. According to economists, Mexico actually loses money from the monopolies controlled by Slim and the other mere 100 families that control all of the wealth in Mexico. By not investing back into Mexico, the rich only continue to get richer while the overwhelming majority of the people sink further into poverty. The average per capita income in Mexico continues to be less than $7,000, a sharp contrast to the estimated $2.2 million per hour Slim made in 2006. Since Slim took control of Telmex, there have been various attempts at exposing his unjust corporate practices. In the mid-1990s, a group called Women for Mexico waged a campaign to force Telmex to cancel its measured telephone service. Under this service, customers were charged for the duration of their local calls. The group further sought to ensure that economically disadvantaged groups had access to both private and public telephones. Engaging in lawsuits, hunger strikes, and occupations of Telmex offices, Women for Mexico continued their campaign for several years. Most recently in the last couple of years, Telmex has once again been targeted, this time by a variety of groups including the Earth Liberation Front and Luddites Against the Domestication of Wild Nature. Engaging in acts of economic sabotage against the company, including the sabotage and destruction of dozens of Telmex pay phones, these activist groups hope to see an end to the environmental destruction, human rights violations, and unchecked political and corporate corruption that surround Slim and Telmex. Whether these groups and actions will have any affect on Slim and his corporate practices is yet to be known, though it is unlikely a man of his wealth and power will be impacted without a significant increase in the severity of the sabotage. A businessman cares about his profits. Significantly impact the profits and the businessman becomes infuenced. |