Day 285 - 23 Oct 96 - Page 31


     
     1        joining issue with whether defending McDonald's was his
     2        main motive or defending his family and Costa Rica.
     3
     4   MR. MORRIS:   He does work for McDonald's, or for McDonald's
     5        suppliers, so he is part of their, what they call family,
     6        McDonald's family.
     7
     8   MR. JUSTICE BELL:   Yes.  Anyway, you are going to come in due
     9        course to the evidence of --
    10
    11   MR. MORRIS:   I am sorry I am doing it back to front, but
    12        I find it easier this way.  So, McDonald's rely on their
    13        suppliers and their witnesses relied on hearsay from
    14        suppliers.  And obviously we have another example of their
    15        suppliers making a statement, which is Sergio Quintana
    16        from Co-op Montecillos, stating on camera that they were
    17        supplying beef for McDonald's in the USA.  And suddenly
    18        then their suppliers are unreliable, don't know what they
    19        are doing, possibly liars, even though he supplies
    20        McDonald's, he was the sales director for a company that
    21        is supplying them in Costa Rica.
    22
    23        When he was questioned by Peter Heller in English and
    24        answered in English, he was asked -- I will not read it
    25        all out now -- but he was asked the question two or three
    26        times, and said, "Are you sure, do you really supply the
    27        fast food chains".  The way he was asked left it
    28        completely up to him to come up with an honest reply.  It
    29        was not tricks, it was not said, no one asked him, "Do you
    30        supply McDonald's".  They said, "Which fast food chains do
    31        you supply".  In fact, the transcript of that interview on
    32        the film, it says, "Which fast food chains do you supply
    33        by that method?" -- by that method -- and he said, "We
    34        supply McDonald's and Burger King and also Wendy's, they
    35        buy our meat".
    36
    37        So it was absolutely crystal clear what he was saying,
    38        unprompted, and because it was embarrassing to McDonald's
    39        they have said that suddenly their suppliers are
    40        incompetent or lying.
    41
    42        I also add that Sergio Quintana, as we have heard,
    43        supplied a written confirmation of the truth of the
    44        interview, a signed statement confirming the truth of the
    45        interview that he made with Peter Heller in 1984.  He did
    46        not deny saying what he said in his statement for
    47        McDonald's in this case.
    48
    49   MR. JUSTICE BELL:   For McDonald's in this case?
    50
    51   MR. MORRIS:   Yes, he did a statement for McDonald's.  And we
    52        do not have any evidence that McDonald's -- we know that 
    53        he was not struck off as a supplier or personally
    54        disciplined or anything.  We have no evidence from
    55        McDonald's that they even investigated the situation, and
    56        that when Mr. Gonzales investigated the situation for this
    57        case he did not even check the export department of that
    58        company.  So....
    59
    60        I will just say one more thing while I think of it.  I am

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