Terry Brown

Business and policy are sure to be closely tied in the US. American businessmen finance electoral campaigns of politicians who, in case they win, promote these businessmen's interests. These are rules of the game. This is how the American political system works. Is it good or bad? Not so easy to say, but it is clear that this is an inevitable devil we, the Americans, consider as our centuries-old tradition. For instance, a candidate for the US president Hilary Clinton has a close connection with The Coca-Cola Company: Wendy Clark, former Senior Marketing Executive at the company, served as Clinton's image maker at the beginning of her campaign.

However, not only the most prominent Columbia officials are close to the largest companies. Even those who are less powerful, benefiting from their contacts with Washington, help the private sector to resolve their issues without missing an opportunity to ask for something in return. Capricia Marshall, a former Chief of Protocol, who is currently serving as Clinton's special assistant in her running for the Oval, is a good example of such cooperation.

Mrs. Marshall maintains useful contacts with Kate Irvin, Group Director of The Coca-Cola Washigton, D.C. office a confident source close to Clinton's team said. Before finding out what favors Marshall does to Irvin, let's look at the background of these warm relations between a former federal official and a top business lady.

Nowadays the US Administration is focusing on the Americans' health as the authorities realize the obesity crisis is a real challenge the American society currently faces, in particularly, due to excess soft drink consumption. In this regard, Philadelphia's mayor Jim Kenney plans to reduce the harm and enrich the local budget by introducing a soda tax. The American soda giants are certain to witness bad days. According to some experts, to find a pretty way out, they are looking for expanding their presence at foreign markets. So, the markets of the Central and South America and the Caribbean one are indeed far reaching. Restored relations with Cuba witch Obama has qualified as his most important achievement is also on the list. As manufacturing is easy to be moved to that region from the continental US, considering a huge amount of cheap workforce and rather "hungry" market, the initiative looks pretty attractive. There is just one missing point: to make it the corporations require contacts with the region's political elite. So here she is, the ex-Secretary State's assistant Capricia Marshall appears on the stage.

As it has been told, Mrs. Irvin asked Mrs. Marshall to help with an invite list for an event held by The Coca-Cola in Washington, D.C., on the 29th February. She said that she needed 20 or 25 powerful politicians from Haiti, the Caribbean and the Latin America insisting on the great number of "powerful persons". The business lady truly has an entrepreneurial spirit. Now let's take a look at the mentioned event held by the Coca-Cola. As the company has issued an appropriate release available on the Web, we can easily do it. What a romantic pretentious name – Haiti Hope! So curious.

"To improve the livelihoods of more than 25,000 mango farmers"… What are they talking about???
Since when has been The Coca-Cola so worried about the livelihoods of Haiti mango farmers? Bullshit!
The American business' cynicism has no limits indeed. The event aims to find new markets for soda corporations squeezed by the American government concerned about the harm they cause.

So, this is far from charity! Even the opposite! But nobody is confused, neither business tycoons nor former U.S. State Department official promoting their interests. Both politics and business that are closely tied always use lying as a tool to achieve their goals. The American Big Business doesn't need to worry as his friends are in Hilary's Team!

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Terry Brown