Venezuela Orders Pepsi To Take Down Iconic Globe Atop Skyscraper

[Judi Lynn]

Venezuela Orders Pepsi To Take Down Iconic Globe Atop Skyscraper
Date : 05/25/2010 @ 2:11PM
Source : Dow Jones News

The Caracas mayor's office has ordered PepsiCo Inc.'s (PEP) local unit in Venezuela to remove a giant, iconic ball with the soft-drink-maker's name and design on it that sits atop a skyscraper in the heart of nation's capital.

A brief statement Tuesday from state-run news agency ABN said the mayor's office will also force Pepsi Cola Venezuela SA to pay a $1.8 million fine for not having had a permit for the advertisement over the past seven years.

Officials at Pepsi weren't immediately available for comment.

Pepsi is the dominant soft-drink seller in Venezuela, beating Coca-Cola Co. and others. Pepsi and other popular, private-sector firms have come under fire recently as the government of President Hugo Chavez moves more aggressively toward a socialist system and rails against capitalism.

More:
http://www.advfn.com/news_Venezuela-Orders-Pepsi-To-Take-Down-Iconic-Globe-Atop-Skyscraper_42968492.html

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Downtown skyview, Caracas, Pepsi Ball, Giant Nescafe cup.

Pepsi-Cola, always a "force" in South America in the past. From Wikipedia:

~snip~
Agustín Edwards Eastman, one of the wealthiest men in Chile at the time, played a very critical role in linking and convincing the U.S. to “lend a helping hand”. After Allende received 36.3% of popular vote in a three way tie and was chosen by the Chilean congress as president, Edwards took opposition almost immediately (Kinzer 170). Edwards then proceeded to consult the U.S. ambassador to Chile and asked if the U.S. would “do anything militarily, directly or indirectly?”(Kinzer 170). After the ambassador (Edward Korry) rejected his request, Edwards went to the chief executive officer of Pepsi-Cola, who had direct access to President Nixon. Augustin Edwards’ friend from Pepsi-Cola notified Nixon of the “problem” in Chile and from that point on “he (Nixon) had been triggered into action” as Henry Kissinger said. In addition, International Telephone & Telegraph offered up to one million dollars to support any action by the U.S. to oppose Salvador Allende. ITT had set up shop in Chile and were also at risk because “the Chilean telephone system was high on Allende’s list for nationalization” (Kinzer 171)

More:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1973_Chilean_coup_d'%C3%A9tat

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NEW KISSINGER ‘TELCONS’ REVEAL CHILE PLOTTING
AT HIGHEST LEVELS OF U.S. GOVERNMENT

Nixon Vetoed Proposed Coexistence with an Allende Government
Kissinger to the CIA: “We will not let Chile go down the drain.”

National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 255

Posted - September 10, 2008
~snip~
READ THE DOCUMENTS

l. Helms/Kissinger, September 12, 1970, 12:00 noon.

Eight days after Salvador Allende’s narrow election, Kissinger tells CIA director Richard Helms that he is calling a meeting of the 40 committee—the committee that determines covert operations abroad. “We will not let Chile go down the drain,” Kissinger declares. Helms reports he has sent a CIA emissary to Chile to obtain a first-hand assessment of the situation.

2. President/Kissinger, September 12, 1970, 12:32 p.m.

In the middle of a Kissinger report to Nixon on the status of a terrorist hostage crisis in Amman, Jordan, he tells the president that “the big problem today is Chile.” Former CIA director and ITT board member John McCone has called to press for action against Allende; Nixon’s friend Pepsi CEO Donald Kendall has brought Chilean media mogul Augustine Edwards to Washington. Nixon blasts a State Department proposal to “see what we can work out , and orders Kissinger “don’t let them do that.” The president demands to see all State Department cable traffic on Chile and to get an appraisal of “what the options are.”

More:
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB255/index.htm

[ChangoLoa]

1. The Caracas Mayor is from the opposition

I agree with this measure but at the same time I wonder, who do they call "Caracas Mayor"?

... the unelected one who was appointed by the govt when the president's party LOST the election in the capital?

[roody]

2. I hope the ugly Nescafe goes also.

[Judi Lynn]

3. No kidding. That stuff looks TRASHY. n/t