WALMART STOCKS TUMBLE ON BRIBERY HEADLINES
RFA Encourages Fishermen To Continue With National Boycott
(4/23/2012) Two recent New York Times articles have put Wal-Mart and the Walton family’s dirty laundry in the international spotlight once again.
The incidents which focus on corporate greenwashing in the United States with Walton family support for anti-fishing efforts in North America, coupled with an alleged $24 million worth of bribes in Central America to speed up the chain’s expansion into Mexico, has the Recreational Fishing Alliance (RFA) once again reminding of the ongoing angler boycott of Wal-Mart.
“The latest headlines prove that Wal-Mart and the Walton Family Foundation are no friends of local communities anywhere, and their ongoing efforts to destroy coastal fishing businesses through support of arbitrary marine reserves and privatization of fish stocks nationwide should not be supported by anglers,” said RFA executive director Jim Donofrio.
“We’re asking coastal fishermen who support open access, under the law, to healthy and sustainable fish stocks to send a clear message to this arrogant corporation that we’ve had enough of their greenwashing and grafting efforts,” Donofrio said.
This week, Wal-Mart is making world headlines following a New York Times story which charges the Bentonville, Arkansas company and its leaders of squashing an internal investigation into suspected payments of over $24 million in bribes to obtain permits to build in Mexico. If proven true, this would put Wal-Mart in direct violation of U.S. major anti-bribery law under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).
The bribery scandal was exposed on the same day that the Gloucester Times of Massachusetts exposed a reporting lapse in another recent New York Times article about the relationship between Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and Wal-Mart partnering together for “more enlightened and sustainable operations.”
The New York Times had earlier reported that EDF "does not accept contributi