This week, Chevron and Total held their annual shareholder meetings in the midst of a barrage of pressure over their payments to the Myanmar military. Many of you joined protests outside Chevron’s offices across the United States. Khin Ohmar of Progressive Voice even moved a shareholder resolution at Chevron’s meeting focusing on Chevron’s support for the military.
The good news is that our pressure on Chevron and Total is working. This week, Total and Chevron announced that its Yadana gas pipeline consortium would suspend cash dividends to all partners, including the military-controlled Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE). However, Justice For Myanmar points out that this suspension of dividend payments accounts for a small fraction of total payments. This decision does not stop the 90% of payments to the junta from the Yadana project, which include the state’s share of gas revenue, royalties, cost recovery, and taxes.
This decision by Chevron and Total is due to your pressure. You are one of thousands of people who signed – and shared on your social media – our petition demanding that Chevron stop bankrolling the Myanmar military. You may have also joined one of many protests against Chevron and Total around the world.
Let’s keep up the pressure on Chevron with these actions below!
Action #1: Share our petition demanding that Chevron stop supporting the Myanmar military.
Please share the petition to Chevron with your friends and through your social media with this short link: https://bit.ly/nochevron
Leave protest messages on Chevron’s social media.
- Like Chevron’s Facebook page and post protest messages: https://www.facebook.com/Chevron/
- Follow Chevron on LinkedIn and send its employees protest messages through connection requests
- Post on Chevron’s LinkedIn job ads why you would never work for them
- Call out Chevron on Twitter @Chevron
Do you want to organize a demonstration at your local Chevron office or gas station? If so, contact Mike Haack at [email protected]. You can see images from this week’s protests here.
Like the Coalition Against Chevron in Myanmar – Stop Paying Myanmar Military Facebook page for up-to-date news and campaign materials.
Action #2: Tell President Biden to sanction Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE).
President Biden has already imposed sanctions on top military leaders and some military-owned companies. But it is vital that President Biden go further and impose sanctions on Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE) as part of stopping oil and gas companies – such as Chevron, Total, Petronas, and Posco – from continuing to bankroll the Burmese military.
In the United States, we can often best pressure the Administration by building our support in Congress. It is your success in lobbying your Members of Congress to pass resolutions and bills that has prompted the Biden Administration to impose tough sanctions on the Myanmar military.
This week, we still need to tell our senators to co-sponsor Senate Resolution 105. Even if you’ve already contacted your senators, do it again for good measure.
Click here to email your U.S. senators to sponsor Senate Resolution 105.
Action #3: Ask your city or state to pass a resolution to end genocide
Last December, Dayton (Ohio) passed the world’s first resolution to end genocide worldwide. Inspired by this action, our supporters around the country, from Indiana to Texas to Florida, are lobbying their cities and their state to pass a similar resolution pressing companies to stop supporting governments engaged in genocide or crimes against humanity.
If you’d like to explore lobbying your hometown, contact Simon Billenness at No Business with Genocide at [email protected]
We can and must build our pressure on Myanmar’s military. Your actions have moved your governments to take some actions and also successfully pressed companies, such as Facebook, Western Union, jewelers Angara and Harry Winston, and Kirin Brewing, to end their business partnerships with the Burmese military.Together, we can build our movement to end the Myanmar military’s corrupt and brutal rule.Thank you so much,
Simon Billenness, Executive Director
For the International Campaign for the Rohingya: Debbie Stothard, Jack Rendler, Simran Stuelpnagel, Michael DeLong, Alyson Chadwick, Hannah Sussman, Mike Haack, and Adem Carroll.
And in the memory of our late co-founder and board chair emeritus, Joseph K. Grieboski.
ps. Your gifts will help us keep building the campaigns and tools that we need to take effective action together. Please click here to make a gift of $30, $60, $120, $250, or more.
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For Further Reading:
Khin Ohmar of Progressive Voice moves a shareholder resolution at Chevron’s annual shareholder meeting, 26 May 2021
“Justice For Myanmar responds to suspension of Yadana pipeline dividends,” Justice For Myanmar, 27 May 2021
“Chevron Lobbies to Head Off New Sanctions on Myanmar,” New York Times, 22 April 2021
“Rubio Joins Merkley, Colleagues in Urging Biden Administration Impose New Sanctions on Myanmar’s Military Regime,” 27 April 2021
“Open letter: Chevron’s business operations in Myanmar,” 23 March 2021
“How Oil and Gas Majors Bankroll the Myanmar Military Regime,” Justice For Myanmar, 8 February 2021
“French Oil Giant Still Bankrolling Myanmar Junta,” Myanmar Now, 15 April 2021
Follow the up-to-the-minute news on Twitter using these hashags: #CivilDisobedienceMovement #WhatsHappeningInMyanmar #JusticeForMyanmar
Subscribe to Frontier Myanmar’s excellent daily coverage from inside the country.