Scotiabank aligned with Canadian & U.S. governments, supporting repressive regimes & regime-change across the Americas

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Rights Action
Feb.7, 2020
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Scotiabank aligned with Canadian & U.S. governments, supporting repressive regimes & regime-change across the Americas

Sub-prime minister Trudeau met January 27, 2020, with illegitimate, coup-plotting “leader” of Venezuela

As the Canadian government and industry send armed RCMP personnel to illegally arrest peaceful land defenders on Indigenous Wet’suwet’en lands (blocking the illegal construction of oil pipelines on their lands), ...

As the U.S. and Canada support repressive, corrupted, ‘open-for-global-business’ regimes in Honduras and Guatemala responsible for why 10s of 1000s of people are forced to flee into exile, every year, ...

Incoming, military-backed president Giammattei of Guatemala

… Scotiabank is – along with the Canadian and U.S. governments – openly advocating for the overthrown of the Venezuela government, to bring back to power an ‘open-for-global-business’ regime.

“Bankers shape Canadian policy in Latin America”
by Yves Engler, Feb. 5, 2020, [link removed]

[…] For years, “Ottawa has worked to isolate [the government of Venezuela], imposed illegal sanctions, took that government to the International Criminal Court, financed an often-unsavoury opposition and decided a marginal opposition politician was the legitimate president.” […]

“On the same day [Jan.27, 2020] Juan Guaidó was fêted in Ottawa, Scotiabank CEO Brian Porter penned “A call to action ([link removed]) on Venezuela” in the National Post. The op-ed urged governments to “seize assets of corrupt regime officials.” […]

“Scotiabank has long had frosty relations with the Bolivarian government [of Venezuela]. A few days after Hugo Chavez’s 2013 death the Globe & Mail Report on Business published a front-page story about Scotiabank’s interests in Venezuela, which were acquired just before his rise to power. It noted: “Bank of Nova ([link removed]) Scotia [Scotiabank] is often lauded for its bold expansion into Latin America, having completed major acquisitions in Colombia and Peru. But when it comes to Venezuela, the bank has done little for the past 15 years – primarily because the government of President Hugo Chavez has been hostile to large-scale foreign investment.”

“The perspective of the world’s 40th largest ([link removed]) bank has shaped Ottawa’s position towards Caracas. At the other end of the continent, its interests have contributed to the Trudeau government’s support for embattled billionaire president Sebastián Piñera. A number of stories have highlighted Scotiabank’s concerns about recent protests against inequality in Chile. The Financial Post noted, “Scotiabank’s ([link removed]) strategic foray into Latin America hits a snag with Chile unrest” and “Riots ([link removed]) , state of emergency in Chile force Scotiabank to postpone investor day.”

“Last week Scotiabank’s CEO blamed the protests that began in October on an “intelligence ([link removed]) breakdown” with people outside Chile “that came in with an intention of creating havoc.” In a story titled “Why Brian Porter is doubling down on Scotiabank’s Latin American expansion”, he told the Financial Post that Twitter accounts tied to Russia sparked the unrest!”

“Two weeks into massive demonstrations against Pinera’s government, Trudeau held a phone conversation with the Chilean president who had a 14% approval ([link removed]) rating. According to Amnesty International, 19 people ([link removed]) had already died and dozens more were seriously injured in protests that began against a hike in transit fares and morphed into a broader challenge to economic inequality. A couple thousand ([link removed]) were also arrested by a government that declared martial law and sent the army onto the streets.”

“According to the published report of the conversation, Trudeau and Piñera discussed their joint campaign to remove Venezuela’s president and the Prime Minister criticized “election irregularities ([link removed]) in Bolivia”, which were disingenuously used to justify ousting leftist indigenous president Evo Morales. A Canadian Press story noted, “a summary ([link removed]) from the Prime Minister’s Office of Trudeau’s phone call with Piñera made no direct mention of the ongoing turmoil in Chile, a thriving country with which Canada has negotiated a free trade agreement.”

“Despite numerous appeals ([link removed]) from Canada’s Chilean community, the Trudeau government has stayed quiet concerning the fiercest repression in Chile since Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship. A delegation ([link removed]) of Québec parliamentarians, professors and union leaders that travelled to
Chile in late January recently demanded Ottawa speak out against the abuses (four died in protest related violence last week).”

“In a release ([link removed]) about the delegation, Mining Watch noted that over 50% of Chile’s large mining industry is Canadian owned. Canadian firms are also major players in the country’s infrastructure and Scotiabank is one of the country’s biggest banks ([link removed]) . Chile is the top destination
([link removed]) for Canadian investment in Latin America at over $20 billion.”
* Full article: [link removed]

Impunity and corruption of powerful, rich countries
There will be no end to mining caused violence, evictions and harms in Guatemala (let alone other countries),
* “Canadian Companies Mining With The Genocidal Generals In Guatemala”, In-depth opinion piece by Grahame Russell, January 28, 2020, [link removed]

There will be no end to why so many Hondurans and Guatemalan are forced to flee, every year, into exile,
* “Shithole countries: U.S., Canada & international community helping produce forced migrancy from Honduras & Guatemala”, by Grahame Russell, October 2019, [link removed]

… If we do not – in the U.S. and Canada – hold our governments, companies and investors politically and legally accountable for how our political, military and economic policies and actions help cause and benefit from exploitation, repression and poverty, forced evictions, corruption and impunity that render living conditions utterly violent and oppressive for so many people, let alone the extensive environmental harms. Keep at it … there is massive amounts of serious, long-term ‘fessing up’, accountability and justice work to be done in the elite rich and powerful countries.

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Rights Action (U.S. & Canada)
Since 1995, Rights Action funds human rights, environment and territory defense struggles and projects in Guatemala and Honduras; funds victims of repression and human rights violations, health harms and natural disasters; works to hold accountable the U.S. and Canadian governments, multi-national companies, investors and banks (World Bank, etc.) that help cause and profit from repression and human rights violations, environmental harms and forced evictions, corruption and impunity in Honduras and Guatemala.

Act – Stir up the pot – Chip away
Keep sending copies of Rights Action information (and that of other solidarity groups/ NGOs) to family, friends and networks, politicians and media – always asking the question as to why our governments, companies and investment firms benefit from and turn a blind eye to poverty, repression and violence, environmental and health harms that caused the forced migrancy / refugee crisis in Guatemala and Honduras.
* U.S. Senate: [link removed]
* U.S. House: [link removed]
* Canadian Parliament: [link removed] ([link removed]) s

Other solidarity/ NGO groups in U.S. and Canada
* Honduras Solidarity Network: www.hondurassolidarity.org ([link removed]) ;
* Witness for Peace Solidarity Collective: www.solidaritycollective.org ([link removed]) ;
* School of Americas Watch: www.soaw.org ([link removed]) ;
* Common Frontiers Canada: www.commonfrontiers.ca ([link removed]) ;
* Breaking the Silence: www.breakingthesilenceblog.com ([link removed]) ;
* NISGUA (Network in Solidarity with People of Guatemala): www.nisgua.org ([link removed]) ;
* Mining Watch Canada: www.miningwatch.ca ([link removed]) ;
* CISPES (Committee in Solidarity with People of El Salvador): www.cispes.org ([link removed]) ;
* Alliance for Global Justice: www.afgj.org ([link removed]) ;
* CODEPINK: www.codepink.org ([link removed]) ;
* GHRC (Guatemalan Human Rights Commission): www.ghrc-usa.org ([link removed]) ;
* Mining Injustice Solidarity Network: [link removed] ([link removed]) ;
* Mining Justice Alliance: [link removed] ([link removed]) ;
* Simcoe County Honduras Rights Monitor: [link removed] ([link removed]) ;

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