In the last issue of the Newsletter we defined the overall aim of the research projects sponsored by NACLA as that of identifying the individuals and institutions in the United States which exercise control over Latin America. In that issue we printed summaries of a few projects already underway. Following is another project description, more complete than the others in its outline of the methodology being employed. It should serve as a model for project descriptions sent to the NACLA office.
U.S. Control of Colombian Resources and Markets:
Oil Companies and W.R. Grace and Company
by Laraine Fletcher
1) U.S. exploitation of Colombian oil and petro-chemical resources. I plan to show how U.S. corporations such as Gulf, Texaco, Esso and Sinclair are taking advantage of Colombia’s balance of payments difficulties; they are using her need for foreign exchange to wring concessions for the exploitation of newly discovered deposits of oil and petrochemical resources through a new, lenientPetroleum Code. The deposits might otherwise be developed by the government owned petroleum company, ECOPETROL.
2) The extent to which the diversified Western Hemispheric giant, W.R. Grace, controls the Colombian market for such products as food, textiles, synthetics, plastics, petrochemicals, fertilizers, paints and paper.
Partial list of source materials:
Periodicals-
International Commerce
Fortune
World Oil
Business Week
Progreso
Latin American Highlights
The New York Times
Colombian newspaper clippings
The Wall Street Journal
(El Tiempo, E1 Espectador, etc.)
Special Reports, Legal Documents, General Reference Sources-
Overseas Business Reports – Chase Manhattan Bank
Investment in Colombia – U.S. AID publication
A Guide for the Investor – Banco de la Republica publication
Reports from the Ministry of Petroleum and Mines
Special Business Opportunities Report
Colombian Petroleum Register
Industrial Development and Manufacturing Record
Trade Opportunities in Latin America
Industry in the Free World
Moody’s Manual of Investments
International Petroleum Register
Colombian Center’s files and library (New York City)
Monographs from the Columbia University Business Library
Petroleum Institute’s library (New York City)
Special publications by: Banco de la Republica, Comite Privado de Desarrollo, and the Colombian-American Chamber of Commerce.
Interviews –
Officers of the following firms W.R. Grace & Co., Texaco, Gulf, Esso, Sinclair.
Petroleum Department – Chase Manhattan Bank
Representatives of Colombia in the U.S. (in law firms and public relations firms)
ANDI – Asociacion Nacional de Industriales
Colombian Embassy – Commercial Attache Office of International Investment
Correspondence- With personal contacts in Bogota, Colombia.
The Final Products:
1.) Monograph on U.S. penetration in the Colombia economy, with special emphasis on oil companies and W.R. Grace and Company;
2.) One or two shorter articles on above topics.
The study may naturally extend to examination of control exerted by oil companies and W.R. Grace & Company in other parts of Latin America.
