Latin America
Related: About this forumThe roots of Bain Capital in El Salvador's Civil War
Romney tapped El Salvador's wealthy families, including one linked to right-wing death squads
By Justin Elliott
Friday, Jan 20, 2012
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A significant portion of the seed money that created Mitt Romneys private equity firm, Bain Capital, was provided by wealthy oligarchs from El Salvador, including members of a family with a relative who allegedly financed rightist groups that used death squads during the countrys bloody civil war in the 1980s
Bain, the source of Romneys fabulous personal wealth, has been the subject of recent attacks in the Republican primary over allegations that Romney and the firm behaved like, in Rick Perrys words, vulture capitalists.One TV spot denounced Romney for relying on foreign seed money from Latin America but did not say where the money came from. In fact, Romney recruited as investors wealthy Central Americans who were seeking a safe haven for their capital during a tumultuous and violent period in the region.
Like so much about Bain, which is known for secrecy and has been dubbed a black box, all the names of the investors who put up the money for the initial fund in 1984 are not known. Much of what we do know was first reported by the Boston Globe in 1994 when Romney ran for U.S. Senate against Ted Kennedy.
In 1984, Romney had been tapped by his boss at Bain & Co, a consulting firm, to create a spin-off venture capital fund, Bain Capital.
http://www.salon.com/2012/01/20/the_roots_of_bain_capital_in_el_salvador/
arely staircase
(12,482 posts)as the religious right, tea party rabble - especially with regards to economic exploitation and environmental destruction.
EFerrari
(163,986 posts)Cleita
(75,480 posts)EFerrari
(163,986 posts)WillyT
(72,631 posts)RZM
(8,556 posts)I've heard that from people who study the region. Wouldn't be surprised if some of them had lots of money in American investment firms like Bain.