Also see: Ecuador Foreign Minister: $3 Billion in Tax Havens Could Fund Earthquake Reconstruction
For the first time ever, progress is being made at the United Nations for a binding legal instrument that would hold corporations accountable for human rights violations. Transnational corporations — many with larger economies than the countries they operate in — have enjoyed immunity from charges for destroying the environment and taking human lives. But Ecuador is leading a fight in the UN to create an international treaty and standards that can change this equation. At teleSUR’s studios in Quito, Abby Martin interviews Ecuador’s permanent representative to the UN and chair of the negotiations for the binding instrument, María Fernanda Espinosa, about the need for this step.
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