Reply #10: Catholic Relief Services is another!

[DailyGrind51]

My parish is holding second collections at all its masses for Haitian Relief. http://crs.org/

Despite what Pat Robertson says, Haiti is a predominantly Catholic country. If anyone made a deal with the Devil, it was Robertson when he went into partnership with Charles "The Butcher of Liberia" Taylor.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A7124-2001Sep21

"What's more, to hear Robertson tell it, one of the abominations prompting God to hide his face from America is this country's self-indulgence, pursuit of financial gain and focus on wealth.

Which is the subject of today's column, and the basis for this humble question: What, pray tell, does the Good Lord make of Pat Robertson's gold-mining venture in Liberia with Charles Taylor, international pariah and one of the most ruthless, greedy and terror-producing heads of state in all of sub-Saharan Africa?

What? He didn't know?

Well it probably slipped Robertson's mind, busy as he is in getting people to send in those checks, money orders and love offerings to support his cause. How the reverend found time to hook up with Taylor, I'll never know.

But in May 1999, Robertson, through Freedom Gold Limited, an offshore company registered in the Cayman Islands but based at CBN headquarters in Virginia Beach, signed an agreement with Taylor and key cabinet members allowing the for-profit Freedom Gold to explore and receive mining rights in southeastern Liberia, where gold is believed to be in the ground.

It's a great deal for Liberia, which is now an economic basket case thanks to the long civil war and Taylor's corruption. It's also good for Freedom Gold, which was formed by Robertson in 1998. Liberia -- and for all practical purposes we're talking Taylor -- gains 10 percent ownership of Freedom Gold.

As The Post's Douglas Farah reported in January, huge amounts of the country's funds have been siphoned off by a small group of Taylor's associates and relatives. Taylor "has his hand in everything and gets a cut of everything," a businessman told The Post. Other Liberians, probably Taylor's gang, are entitled to buy at least 15 percent of Freedom Gold's shares after the exploration period.

In a phone interview on Wednesday, Joe Mathews, Freedom Gold's vice president for finance and administration ("actually I'm acting as managing director," he confided), said the company is currently in the exploration stage but "there is little activity at the moment because it's monsoon season."

He said gold has been found, but whether it is a viable venture has not been determined. Mathews confirmed reports that Freedom Gold is committed to spend $15 million during the exploration phase, but he said it has yet to spend anything close to that amount. The deal with Liberia gives Freedom Gold exploration rights for five years, and an additional "20 years to mine it," Mathews said. Liberia is currently collecting exploration and rental fees from Freedom Gold; the government also will pocket royalties and rental fees once production gets underway..."