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POPSDaewoo Cars Threaten Lemur Extinction When the rich want to get richer, they care not who or what they mess up. In this case it is Daewoo Group that sells cars, builds ships, pollutes Korean politics, bribes princes, and buys up farm land in one of the poorest nations on earth - Madagascar - AND cares not if Lemurs are made extinct. Makes you want to swear on Sunday. Send a letter at least to its president and maybe to USA customer service: customerservice@daewooUS.com
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POPSRent-a-Colony - 99 years "We have the money," so China, South Korea, France, Qatar, whoever has the cash thinks they can buy up land and resources all over Africa because they need the short term cash because they are still tied to an external market economy that has left nation after nation with no appreciable internal market. It's Colony 2.0 time!
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POPSBurma 'Dirty List' Grows Longer Profits still count for more than Human Rights. The Burmese regime spends half its budget on the military and just 1.4% of GDP on health and education, less than half that spent by the next poorest country in Asia. Burma is the only country in Asia whose defense budget is greater than that of health and education combined. As a consequence Burma has the 4th highest child mortality rate in the world.
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POPSSouth Korea leases 3.2 million acres in Madagascar
"For African governments, the incentive to sign deals such as the one between Madagascar and Daewoo is equally clear. Millions of African farmers lack money for fertilizer, basic tools, fuel and transport infrastructure to efficiently grow crops get them to market. While international organizations have plowed billions into health and education, agriculture in Africa has lagged badly, hugely exacerbating the food crisis of the past year. "These governments are desperate to get capital into agriculture," says von Braun, who believes the drive by giant companies to lock up land deals could benefit poor African countries whose governments negotiate wisely. Although Daewoo plans to export the yield of the land it is leasing in Madagascar, it plans to invest about $6 billion over the next 20 years to build the port facilities, roads, power-plants and irrigation systems necessary to support its agribusiness there, and that will create jobs thousands of jobs for Madagascar's unemployed. Jobs