British bank accused of funding destruction of world’s ‘last great wilderness’
HSBC indirectly fuels cattle farming destroying Paraguay’s Gran Chaco forest, human rights group claims
The Gran Chaco is where Paraguay – and Brazil, Uruguay and Chile? – fought to a complete standstill, wasn’t it? Where 90% of Paraguayan men died? Summat like that.
Anyway, last great wilderness etc. Society has changed somewhat, no? A century back we’d all have said great, let’s develop it, bring it into civilisation. Now we’re objecting to someone putting a cow on it. Or some are at least.
Whether that’s good or bad is another thing – but it’s certainly different.
British bank? Isn’t it owned by China?
Must admit I sympathise more with the humans of South America than the trees.
Don’t know about the ownership structure, but there’s a big clue in the name of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation
Oh goodie, more corned beef. Good tucker, corned beef.
(Except for the stuff sold under the same name in the US: doubleplus ungood tucker.)
Brasil, Uruguay & Argentina. It was a very bloody war, as those from the Peninsula seem to manage when fighting their own. After losing the initial conventional military stage, the Paraguayans went guerrilla. But it certainly bonded the Hispanics to the Indios, firmer than many S & C American countries. Pretty all Paraguayans I know speak Guarani as an alternate language.
Isn’t its main listing on the LSE which is why it gets accused of being British?
HSBC is British when it’s doing something the Guardianistas deem to be bad.
The War of the Triple Alliance is the most famous war, resulting in a horrible catastrophe for Paraguay. Less well known is the Chaco War, which is chiefly notable for the Battle of Arce.
Chalk this up as another reason to annihilate all these protesters and their organizations.
‘HSBC is British when it’s doing something the Guardianistas deem to be bad.’
Thank you Chris!!
I like the articles about tree losses to the Great Storm of 1987 – the trees recovered just as well if not better when left alone to grow back. But enviros and NIMBYs claim that if humans clear any area of trees, anywhere ever again, it is lost for ever to the forces of greed.
Similarly, after the great floods of 2005, the river beds where I lived were cleared of 150+years growth of trees. Envos were in screaming fits – devastation! scraped to bedrock! Within five years trees had self-seeded and looked just as good as before. Two decades later and you can’t tell the difference.