Friedland's power play in Burma - more prospective backing for a hated regime

Friedland's power play in Burma - more prospective backing for a hated regime

Following a recent statement from Robert "Toxic Bob" Friedland that Ivanhoe Mines may sell its stake in the Monywa copper mine in Burma, a senior company official is now quoted as projecting a five-fold increase in production, so long as more power is available.

In the same statement, the official alllegedly said that the military regime had benefitted to the tune of US$1.25 billion, since the project came on stream in 1998.

Obviously intended as a play for cheap hydro electric power from the junta, this annoucement confirms what critics have been claiming for the last seven years: that Friedland's operations in Burma are one of (if not the) most important bulwarks of a hideously repressive regime.