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Vale wins the Public Eye Awards, given to the worst company in the world

After 21 days of fierce competition, the Brazilian mining company Vale was elected, this Thursday, as the worst corporation in the world at the Public Eye Awards, known as the “Nobel” of corporate world shame. Created in 2,000, the Public Eye awards annually a winning company, chosen by popular vote following environmental, social, and labor criteria, during the World Economic Forum held in the Swiss city of Davos.

This year, Vale competed with Barclays , Freeport , Samsung , Syngenta  e  Tepco . During the final days of voting, the first place position wavered between Vale and the Japanese Tepco, responsible for the nuclear disaster at Fukushima, where the Brazilian mining company eventually won by 25,041 votes.

According to the entities that nominated Vale for the 2012 Public Eye Award – the International Network of People Affected by Vale, represented by the Brazilian organization Justice on Rails Network, and the NGOs Amazon Watch and International Rivers, partners of the Xingu Forever Alive Movement which fights against the Belo Monte hydroelectic dam – and with the support of the International Alliance of Inhabitants, the fact that Vale is a multinational corporation present in 38 countries, whose impacts are spread across the world increased the number of votes in its favor. As for the organizers of the award, Greenpeace Switzerland and the Berne Declaration, the company's mid-2010 entry into the consortium Norte Energia SA, responsible for undertaking the construction of Belo Monte, was a determining factor for its inclusion in the list of the Public Eye’s six finalists this year.

The victory of Vale was commemorated in Brazil by dozens of organizations that operate in regions affected by Vale. "For the thousands of people in Brazil and worldwide who suffer from the excesses of this multinational corporation, who have been displaced, lost their homes and lands, friends and relatives who had died in the Carajás railroad tracks, who have suffered political persecution, who were threatened by thugs and gunmen, who fell ill, who have had exploited sons and daughters, who have been laid off, who suffer from poor working conditions and remunerations, among other impacts, to give Vale the title of worst corporation in the world is much more than winning a prize. It is a chance to open the eyes of the world to their sufferings and to bring hundreds of new actors and forces to fight for their rights and against the excesses committed by this company”, affirmed the entities who led the campaign against the mining company. In a hotsite (http://xinguvivo.org.br/votevale/ ) designed to showcase Vale’s bid, listed are some of the major problems of the company's ventures in Brazil and abroad.

Press conference

In Brazil, the entities Rede Justiça nos Trilhos, Friends of the Earth Brazil, and International Rivers will host a press conference regarding the award this Friday the 27th at 12:00 p.m., in the Casa de Cultura Mário Quintana in Porto Alegre.

In Davos, Switzerland, also at noon, local time, the organizers of Public Eye, the Berne Declaration, and Greenpeace Switzerland, will deliver the award during a meeting of the World Economic Forum, which will be attended by the American economist and winner of the Nobel Prize, Joseph Stiglitz.

Service

Press conference in Brazil

When : Friday, the 27th at 12:00 p.m.
Where : Casa de Cultura Mario Quintana, Andradas Street, 736 - Centro, Porto Alegre, RS
Organizers : Rede Justiça nos Trilhos, Friends of the Earth Brazil, and International Rivers

For more information :

Danilo Chammas,  Rede Justiça nos Trilhos - (99) 8844-2331
Father Dario,  Rede Justiça nos Trilhos - (99) 8816-1788

Ass. communication :

Verena Glass, Xingu Alive Movement - (11) 9853-9950

In Switzerland :

Teamleader Communication and Media Communications Manager Biodiversity & Toxics
Direct +41 44 447 41 56, Mobile +41 78 682 00 91
yves.zenger@greenpeace.org

Georeferences


The Volunteer translator for housing rights without frontiers of IAI who has collaborated on the translation of this text was:

Amanda Bradshaw

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