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The Bribery Aisle: How Wal-Mart Got Its Way in Mexico
Key Excerpts from Article on Website of New York Times


New York Times, December 18, 2012
Posted: December 24th, 2012
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/18/business/walmart-bribes-te...

After years of study, [San Juan Teotihuacn]s elected leaders had just approved a new zoning map. The leaders wanted to limit growth near the pyramids, and they considered the towns main entrance too congested already. As a result, the 2003 zoning map prohibited commercial development [there]. But 30 miles away in Mexico City, at the headquarters of Wal-Mart de Mexico, executives were not about to be thwarted by an unfavorable zoning decision. Instead, records and interviews show, they decided to undo the damage with one well-placed $52,000 bribe. The plan was simple. The zoning map would not become law until it was published in a government newspaper. So Wal-Mart de Mexico arranged to bribe an official to change the map before it was sent to the newspaper. Sure enough, when the map was published, the zoning ... was redrawn to allow Wal-Marts store. Problem solved. Wal-Mart de Mexico broke ground months later, provoking fierce opposition. The Timess examination reveals that ... Wal-Mart de Mexico was an aggressive and creative corrupter, offering large payoffs to get what the law otherwise prohibited. It used bribes to subvert democratic governance public votes, open debates, transparent procedures. It used bribes to circumvent regulatory safeguards that protect Mexican citizens from unsafe construction. It used bribes to outflank rivals. Through confidential Wal-Mart documents, The Times identified 19 store sites across Mexico that were the target of Wal-Mart de Mexicos bribes.

Note: For deeply revealing reports from reliable major media sources on corporate corruption, click here.


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