The Power Elite: Enron and Frank Wisner

     by Vijay Prashad, People's Democracy, 16 Nov 1997



     On 28 October 1997, Enron Corporation announced the entry of Frank
     G. Wisner Jr. onto its board of directors. Most of the business
     press did not find this untoward and it certainly did not emerge
     as part of the US discussions on corruption at the highest level.
     Frank Wisner, as we know in India, was the US Ambassador from 1994
     until this year and his entry into Enron must be seen in light of
     the scandal of Dabhol. Enron, like most US corporations, uses its
     close association with the state (both its elected and
     bureaucratic arms) for its own ends.

     US campaigns are financed by corporations whose money not only
     enables politicians to win elections, but it also buys businesses
     the state's power both for domestic subsidies and for the use of
     US power in the international arena.

     Frank Wisner, Jr. was a big catch for Enron Corporation. His
     lineage is impeccable, since his father, Frank Wisner Sr., was a
     senior CIA official (from 1947 until his suicide in 1965) who was
     involved in the overthrow of Arbenz of Guatemala (1954) and
     Mossadeq of Iran (1953). Wisner Junior was well-known in the CIA
     and he worked as Under Secretary of Defense for Policy and Under
     Secretary of State for International Security Affairs; his current
     boss, Kenneth Lay, Chief Executive Officer of Enron Corporation,
     also worked for the Pentagon during the US war in Vietnam. With
     "economic espionage" as a task for the CIA (see PD, 12 October
     1997), there is little doubt that Wisner used this instrument
     during his long-tenure as Ambassador in Asian nations. A Wisner
     staffer told InterPress Services this year that "if anybody asked
     the CIA to help promote US business in India, it was probably
     Frank".

     When Wisner was US Ambassador to the Philippines (1991-92), Enron
     was in the midst of negotiations to manage the two Subic Bay power
     plants. When Wisner left Manila in July 1992, Enron won the deal
     and began to manage the plant in January 1993. During Wisner
     tenure in India, he fought long and hard to secure various deals
     for Enron. He went so far as to boycott the "India Power '96 --
     Beyond Dabhol" summit, despite being scheduled to give an address
     (this was part of a US advisory to companies to avoid India for
     six-months, a pressure tactic on India during the winter of
     1995-96). Wisner left India earlier this year only after it seemed
     like Enron's place was secure.

     Enron, like most monopoly corporations in the US, uses money as a
     means to buy influence and power. To gain access to a lucrative
     contract to rebuild the Shuaiba power plant in Kuwait, Enron hired
     former US Secretary of State James Baker as a consultant who
     travelled to the oil kingdom to negotiate with his Gulf War allies
     for his new employer. The sons of George Bush also helped Enron
     win this contract despite a lower bid from Deutsche Babcock, a
     German firm. The Bush brothers also helped Enron in their deal to
     win a contract to build a pipeline from Chile to Argentina in
     1988. Finally, Wendy Gramm (wife of Senator Phil Gramm) joined
     Enron's Board of Directors in 1993 after she resigned from the
     Commodity Futures Trading Commission. This Commission, just days
     after Gramm's resignation, deregulated energy futures, thereby
     allowing Enron to earn 10% of its profits by adventures on the
     financial markets. Beside all this evidence, it appears
     hypocritical for Rebecca Mark, Chairperson of Enron Development
     Corporation, to declare that "Enron's reputation is being
     attacked, and we do not do business under the table".

     The story does not end there. In 1991-92, Enron donated $28,525 to
     the Democratic Party and in 1993-94, it gave $42,000. These monies
     enabled Enron to send its executives on international tours with
     the late Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown in January 1995 (when
     Kenneth Lay came to India) and in March-April 1994 (when Chief
     Executive Officer of Enron International, Rodney Gray came to
     Russia). In the former, Enron was in negotiation for the Dabhol
     plant among other things (such as the $1.1 billion offshore
     holdings) and in the latter, Enron was interested in the marketing
     of Russian gas in Europe. President Clinton noted that Brown's
     trips resulted in "expanded opportunities for American business in
     [the USA] and abroad". The "pay to play" project of US "democracy"
     is once again in evidence.

     The example of Enron and Wisner proves beyond a reasonable doubt
     that the US state is not a neutral actor in world affairs and that
     US transnational corporations are part and parcel of the
     corruption within the US Empire. The hearings in Washington on
     "campaign finance reform" do not bother with this level of
     corruption, for most of those who are running the investigation
     are beholden to business interests. Enron, for instance, will not
     be a part of the investigation, since it is deemed to be a
     patriotic US entity out to create jobs for US workers and to
     accumulate wealth to defer the costs of the US's mercenary army.



     Vijay Prashad is Assistant Professor of International Studies at
     Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut.