CNN: Los Angeles bans business with

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Subject: CNN: Los Angeles bans business with Myanmar 



                  Los Angeles bans business with Myanmar

                  December 16, 1998
                  Web posted at: 12:02 a.m. EST (0502 GMT) 

                  LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The Los Angeles City Council on
Tuesday banned
                  the city from contracting with companies doing business
with Myanmar, the
                  former Burma, whose government has been accused of human
rights violations.

                  In unanimously approving the ordinance despite opposition
from oil giant
                  Unocal, Los Angeles joined 22 other U.S. cities,
including New York, which
                  have passed similar measures. 

                  "We are saying that the fruit of oppression is unfit for
our consumption," said
                  City Councilwoman Jackie Goldberg. 

                  Under the ordinance, America's second largest city will
be prohibited from
                  buying goods and services from those companies doing
business with
                  Myanmar. 

                  In a statement, Unocal, which has a natural gas pipeline
in the country, said
                  the council had no right to pass such a law. 

                  "Under the U.S. Constitution, foreign policy is the
province of the federal
                  government, not dozens of U.S. cities and
municipalities," the statement said.
                  "By this action, the city council has moved beyond its
legal authority."