by Robert Bryce
The following is an editorial by Robert Bryce, who has reported on
Freeport-McMoRan since 1990. William Cunningham
must resign immediately from Freeport-McMoRan’s board of directors. The October
10 letter from the Overseas Private Investment Corporation to the company’s
subsidiary, Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold, is proof that the company has
created an environmental disaster at its Indonesian mine.
Cunningham, the Chancellor of the University of Texas System, has gone on
record several times saying that he would not be associated with any operations
that harmed the environment. At a student forum on campus in 1990, he said “I
have never been involved in any project in my opinion which would endanger or
damage the environment.” In 1991, in a story written by former
American-Statesman reporter Bill Collier, Cunningham said that before he
joined the Freeport board, “I satisfied myself that the company conducted its
affairs all over the world in a highly responsible manner, respecting the
environment and the people affected by its operations.” He added that he was
certain that the company “will continue to minimize environmental impacts and
will interact with the indigenous people in a positive manner.”
OPIC’s rejection of Freeport’s insurance coverage of its Indonesian mining
operation clearly shows that the company is not the environmental stalwart that
Cunningham claims it to be.
Cunningham has many reasons to end his association with a company that is
closely allied with one of the world’s most ruthless regimes. Three separate
reports have determined that numerous cases of human rights violations,
including murder and torture, have occurred in and around the mine over the
past 18 months. Each report places blame on the Indonesian military. One also
blames Freeport security personnel.
Freeport’s activities support the Indonesian dictator, Suharto, who is
directly responsible for at least half a million deaths. The National
Review, one of America’s most conservative publications, has called his
regime worthy “of comparison to Pol Pot’s bloody reign over Cambodia.” The
Suharto regime has murdered an estimated 200,000 civilians in recent years on
the former Portuguese colony of East Timor. The New York Times
recently called the Suharto regime “wildly corrupt,” and a survey released
last summer of business executives ranked Indonesia as the world’s most corrupt
country.
On numerous occasions, the Chronicle has asked Cunningham for an
interview. The requests began in 1990, when Freeport-McMoRan’s 4,000-acre
development on Barton Creek was the hottest issue in city politics. Cunningham
has consistently refused those requests. And he has not just refused to talk to
the Chronicle. Other reporters have been forced to submit questions in
writing, and Cunningham has responded via fax. He has also refused to discuss
the matter with his own faculty. And that is the crux of the problem here. As
the head of a prestigious university, a place where ideas are supposed to be
freely exchanged, William Cunningham’s reluctance to discuss the ethical
ramifications of his association with Freeport mocks the spirit of learning.
Since 1987, Cunningham has lent the University of Texas’ credibility to
Freeport-McMoRan in return for several million dollars worth of donations from
Jim Bob Moffett. Now, UT is even naming a building after Moffett, who once
called the bloodthirsty Suharto “a compassionate man.”
Cunningham has run away from this issue for five years, consistently refusing
to talk openly and candidly about his association with Freeport. Enough is
enough. Cunningham must choose. He can work for Freeport. Or he can work for
UT. He cannot do both. n
This article appears in November 10 • 1995 and November 10 • 1995 (Cover).