Day 287 - 25 Oct 96 - Page 10
1 cattle or use imported beef. He does not go into the
2 statistical inevitability and that kind of stuff argument.
3
4 So we will say that that shows that his statement is based
5 on incorrect information from McDonald's. Why they would
6 want to give him incorrect information, is a matter of
7 speculation and interpretation.
8
9 Can I just say that as part of those series of letters from
10 Guatemala, because we are still on Guatemala, if you
11 remember one of them had identified what they called the
12 seven states and the percentages of beef that they supplied
13 to McDonald's. This was the letter from Rolando Roblez,
14 26th July 1989 to Ray Cesca.
15
16 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes.
17
18 MR. MORRIS: I just wanted to note that there are percentages
19 for the different areas, supplies to McDonald's for
20 McDonald's use. For example, the area which is on the
21 east, more northerly eastern side of the country would be
22 covered in those regions of Zacapa, Izabal and Chiquimula
23 which is identified in that letter, which totalled 20
24 percent of the supplies.
25
26 If I can just make one small note on that, Dr. Gonzales
27 knew of exports from Guatemala to El Salvador, on day 69,
28 page 32, although he said that it was small amounts. There
29 is obviously no bar on exports from Guatemala because of
30 concern over rainforests or tropical forests. And that is
31 just what he knows himself, so we do not know how much more
32 there may have been imported.
33
34 Just continuing with Guatemala, if I can refer to
35 Mr. Cesca, on day 221, page 64, he did say that he had only
36 visited ranches close to Guatemala city, so his knowledge
37 was, we would say his direct knowledge was, virtually
38 non-existent. He did say on day 221, page 66, bottom of
39 the page, lines 54 to 60, that he did not know what areas
40 that Mr. Roblez was talking about in his statement that
41 were deforested in the '40s and '50s. That was his initial
42 response to the question. And he accepts on page 68 of
43 that day the advice he is relying on, the advice he has
44 been given and the information he has been given by
45 Mr. Cofino, for example, the managing director of
46 McDonald's in Guatemala who had earlier indicated that from
47 where they get their beef supplies used to be rainforest,
48 although he said it was a substantial time ago. Did I give
49 the line numbers? That was lines 11 to 21 on page 68.
50
51 On day 224, pages 34 and 35... In fact there is a whole
52 block of evidence on Guatemala for the next few pages.
53 Again at the bottom of the page he talks about his relying
54 on information given to him. That is the bottom of page
55 34. And the information that he is relying on about where
56 the rainforest used to be conveniently misses out the band
57 of rainforest which existed substantially overlapping where
58 McDonald's now get their supplies from on the southern
59 area.
60
