FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
Ironically, exactly on this day but 6 years ago, one of the most interesting cases of the consequences that the entanglement of business and politics can have began in the United States of America. During a meeting at the White House, the CEO of Goya Foods, Robert Unanue, would declare that the United States is truly blessed to have Donald Trump as president.
Goya Foods is the largest Hispanic-owned food company in the United States. Founded in the 1930s by a Spanish immigrant couple, the company had revenues of about $1.5 billion and over 4,000 employees at the start of this decade. But it only took one political comment from its CEO to launch a national firestorm of criticism against Goya Foods.
Unanue's comments prompted calls for a public boycott on social media, which was supported by various Latin American public figures, including Democratic congressmen, former presidential candidates and artists. In response, Unanue declared that this was a "suppression of free speech" and refused to apologize for his comments. (Read here)
On the other hand, the company's supporters launched a GoFundMe campaign that raised money to purchase Goya products and donate them to families who had been put in financial difficulty by the pandemic economic lockdown.
Although the boycott calls failed to cause financial damage to the company, Unanue would once again become embroiled in politics, this time more seriously. On the day of Joe Biden's inauguration as president, following the 2020 election, Unanue would declare that his victory was unverified and that a war was approaching in the US.
A week later, the company's board decided to censor Unanue from speaking publicly. The company reasoned that Unanue's statements "risked the future of the company and the lives of some of its shareholders," and that the controversy following his appearance at the White House had not been good for the business. A majority of the board had even called for the immediate dismissal of the CEO, but the regulations of the family-owned business did not allow this. (Read here )
In Albania, the variant of Unanue, but in a more deteriorated version, is Gjergj Luca. The owner of Rozafa Fish is not content with just openly supporting the government, like Unanue for Trump, but he attacks the opposition, publicly mocks Edi Rama's critics and recently even the protesters, calling them ignorant, nothing, or even shameful.
This portal is against any organized attack on business, including the practice of revue bombing. And Gjergj Luca as a businessman deserves respect, because thanks to his entrepreneurial initiative he has established a company that creates economic activity in the order of 20 million euros and employs hundreds or maybe thousands of people. Apart from the shameful video with minors at work.
But the suit of the businessman is incompatible with that of the fierce political militant. There is a reason why large companies in the US or Europe generally stay away from political commentary and warfare. The reason is precisely what is happening to the Rozafa company.
If Gjergj Luca were the CEO of a company in the West, he would have been fired at least 7 times by now. But in the reality of Albania, where businesses are individually owned, owners must calculate for themselves the benefits and costs of being vassals of the government and using the power of their business for political purposes.
The benefits come in the form of laws favoring tax-free oil, land and public asset forgiveness, and so on. While the bill is that of angry citizens, who are disgusted and show off their bombings.
So you can't take the benefits as a politician and then be victimized as a businessman. Even more so, to bring out the police director as a lolo to criminally threaten people who make online reviews, when Albania doesn't even have a legal basis for this. Moreover, in the US, where there was a legal basis, they didn't rush the police to threaten those who called for a boycott of Goya, but they shut up their Luca./ Kapitali.al
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