November 8, 1995

Ruth Harkin, Director,
OPIC,
1100 New York Avenue NW,
Washington, DC 20527-0001

Dear Ms. Harkin,

I write simply to offer my congratulations, thanks, and support for OPIC's tough and principled stance on Freeport-McMoRan. Terminating the policy of America's number one polluter and New Guinea's number one abuser of the environment and indigenous human rights sends a strong and courageous message to corporations that illegal, abusive, and reckless behavior will not be tolerated.

I am an anthropologist with 20 years of experience in neghboring Papua New Guinea. I have studied Freeport's situation in West Papua for 5 years and have found that every respectable anthropologist, NGO, and environmental scientist (not to mention refugees in PNG and Australia) has the same negative story to tell about this corporation's operational style, and its retaliations against its critics. I have also studied Freeport because I taught for the past ten years at the University of Texas, where Freeport's CEO is a geology alum and where the University Chancellor (and former President) is on Freeport's board. This has led to ethically compromised corporate infringements on campus. In September I resigned my position at UT in protest of the University's deepening relationship with Freeport (letter enclosed fyi). As a result of my own statements on campus and in the press about Freeport I have also tangled with Freeport's top officials (letter enclosed fyi).

Again, bravo for your decision. The content and tone of OPIC's October 10 termination letter is entirely consistent with everything I have experienced or been told by insiders (including former and present Freeport employees) about the company's atrocious behavior. I hope the revelations that come forth from this case help strengthen the statutory authority of OPIC to hold American corporations to the highest standards of environmental and human rights accountability.

Sincerely,
Steven Feld,
Professor of Anthropology

from January 1:
Professor of Anthropology, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064

cc: President Clinton, Vice-President Gore