Warren Buffett, Schwarzenegger and Sudan LA Times Blog: Political Muscle
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed legislation Monday requiring California to shed its pension investments with companies that do business with the murderous regime in Sudan, where genocide has claimed as many as 400,000 lives.
"We cannot watch from the sideline," he said, "and be content to mourn this atrocity as it passes into history. We must act, and we must act now.... It is an action that says we will not cooperate with them, with the horrors of Darfur."
Just a few hours before the choreographed event, Schwarzenegger attended a fund-raiser with his friend and economic advisor, Warren Buffett. The breakfast fund-raiser took place at the lavish Fairmont Hotel atop Nob Hill in San Francisco, at a cost of $25,000 a person.
What Schwarzenegger didn't mention was this: Buffett is the largest individual U.S. investor in a Chinese oil conglomerate that does business with the regime in Khartoum. Buffett's company, Berkshire Hathaway, holds 2.3 billion shares of PetroChina, or 1.3% of the foreign ownership of the oil company.
Anti-genocide activists who stood with Schwarzenegger on Monday were well aware of the unspoken connection, and the contradictions inherent in the governor's day.
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"It goes along with the action Arnold made at the press conference Monday that he should encourage his friend to take similar action," said Sterling, who appeared with the governor at the ceremony.
This week, Sterling said, he his stepping up his campaign to pressure Buffett to change his relationship with PetroChina. The campaign can be followed on this link. Sterling said he did not mention the Buffett-Sudan relationship to Schwarzenegger on Monday, out of respect for his signing the landmark divestment legislation.
Actor George Clooney, at podium, and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, right, address a news conference before Schwarzenegger signed state bills prohibiting the state's pension funds from investing in companies with active business in Sudan and indemnifies the University of California from liability that might result from its divestment in Sudan, Monday, Sept. 25, 2006, in Burbank, Calif. Alice Huffman, California NAACP president, stands behind Schwarzenegger. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus