Bilderberg 2011

Kempinski Grand Hotel des Bains. Bilderberg Group meetings are definitely not held over a picnic at the lake of St Moritz (Keystone)

Dominique Baettig from the Swiss People’s Party has filed a motion denouncing the “opaque supranational governance”.

swissinfo.ch | Jun 8, 2011

by Nicole della Pietra

The Bilderberg Group, a controversial invitation-only gathering of the world’s power brokers, is set to meet in the Swiss resort of St Moritz on Thursday.

Critics denounce the four-day conference, which is closed to the prying eyes of the media and doesn’t issue any press releases, for having a deleterious influence on world politics.

Previous guests include kings, presidents, captains of industry and heads of international organisations. United States Secretary of State Henry Kissinger has attended, as have Microsoft founder Bill Gates, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and current Chairman of the Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke.

Another regular is Dominique Strauss-Kahn, former head of the International Monetary Fund, currently facing criminal charges.

“The Bilderberg Group is like a restricted circle of guests from the World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Davos,” said Sergio Rossi, economics professor at Fribourg University.

Related

Bilderberg 2011

He said the regulars at Bilderberg – named after the original conference held at the Hotel de Bilderberg in the Netherlands in 1954 – find the WEF a “hectic beanfeast”.

At Bilderberg, “one is at Hermès”, noted Pascal Lamy, director-general of the World Trade Organization, referring to the French luxury goods maker.

Invitees appreciate being able to discuss “openly and freely” the issues facing the world, such as the health of the euro or the greenback.

Pascal Couchepin, a former Swiss cabinet minister who regularly attended Bilderberg meetings, proudly compared the annual get-together to a “university seminar for people with experience”.

But not all Swiss politicians are so welcoming. Dominique Baettig from the rightwing Swiss People’s Party has filed a motion denouncing the “opaque supranational governance”.

“This type of meeting, between powerful global players, is contrary to our principles of sovereignty,” he said. “What’s more, they don’t publish the costs for the taxpayer.”

Local thrill

The allure of the ultra-select club is not fading, as proved by the private jets landing at nearby Samedan airport, the lines of limousines with tinted windows and phalanxes of bodyguards.

And above all, the relatively discreet arrival of VIPs – something that delights the local authorities.

“We’re thrilled that these key figures have chosen to meet in Graubünden,” said Martin Schmid, president of the cantonal senate.

Which key figures exactly are gracing Graubünden with their presence is impossible to say, but, as every year, the guest list is exclusively reserved for decision-makers from Europe and North America.

In an unusual step, Swiss minister Doris Leuthard, who holds the environment, transport, energy and communications portfolios, admitted she would attend this year.

It’s the fifth time that the planet’s most exclusive conclave has met in Switzerland: it was held three times in Bürgenstock above Lake Lucerne and once at Bad Ragaz in canton St Gallen.

Conspiracy theorists

This year, some 130 movers and shakers are expected. As with Davos and the WEF, St Moritz will be heavily fortified – one difference, however, being the total lack of information on security or how much taxpayers will have to cough up.

Barbara Janom-Steiner, head of cantonal justice and police, is keeping her lips sealed.

For conspiracy theorists, Bilderberg is nothing more than an “International Schemers’ Association” whose aim is to create a “secret world government”.

They point to the total lack of transparency which characterises discussions, since every participant swears never to reveal any contents of conversations.

However, this has not prevented titbits from leaking out – last year for example the discussions apparently focused on Iraq, Greece and the health – or lack of it – of the euro.

Coincidence?

Bilderberg never results in any form of resolution or agreement, nevertheless some people see a decisive influence on global political affairs.

Among what they consider previous troubling coincidences: in 1991, Bill Clinton, then a mere governor, was said to have been set up as future US president; in 2002, Donald Rumsfeld, then US secretary of defense, was said to have planned the intervention of coalition forces in Iraq.

In 2003, former French President Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, then president of the Convention on the Future of Europe, allegedly unveiled a preview of the European Constitution.

But as the world’s media peer into the tinted windows of St Moritz, Sergio Rossi believes Bilderberg could be just the tip of the iceberg.

“There might be other groups – less institutionalised, with a more recent history and above all less well-known than Bilderberg, even in developing countries – whose members meet without anyone knowing anything about it.”

http://aftermathnews.wordpress.com/page/2/

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Bilderberg 2011: The polished blue line

Posted on June 8, 2011
by pjwalker911|



Privates on parade: the Bilderberg security takes position. Photograph: M Petrisch

Charlie Skelton arrives in Switzerland ahead of Bilderberg to find a different style of policing but enhanced cleanliness

guardian.co.uk | Jun 8, 2011

by Charlie Skelton

You know you’re in Switzerland when the public lavatory at the multi-storey car park is cleaner than your own bathroom. And the streets! My God, you could eat your dinner off the pavement in St Moritz. I’m seriously thinking of writing to Tower Hamlets council suggesting they come here on a fact-finding tour. Although what the hell are they doing on a freebie junket to Switzerland when they’re busy cutting our rubbish collections? It’s a disgrace! I’m going to write to Tower Hamlets council to complain.

I don’t know quite what I was expecting from a Swiss Bilderberg. I was expecting it clean, but I wasn’t expecting the Bilderberg I’ve found. For one thing, I was imagining a rather muted atmosphere, stern even – batons up, visors down – but there’s a happy buzz around the venue: the conference doesn’t kick off until Thursday but already there’s a growing crowd of journalists, bloggers and activists. The social justice group We Are Change are here in force. And (praise be!) representatives of the mainstream media are rolling up.

One of them is Anna Caprez, a journalist from Radio Rumantch, the Swiss radio station. She’s putting together a series of reports about the conference. “It’s a big story”, she says. “But only in March or April did we realize what Bilderberg is, or even that there is a Bilderberg conference.”

She says it’s unusual to have the press descend on St Moritz like this. “We’re used to letting people do what they want here in the valley, in the Engadine. St Moritz is a special place. VIPs can be incognito, we’re used to famous people – who cares? – they can act and react without the press crawling over them. But this is different. This is important. And the media in Switzerland has finally woken up to it. The Swiss TV are coming, Swiss Radio, the Italian media. And it is thanks to him.”

Anna nods towards a man smoking a cheroot, enjoying a rare glimpse of alpine sun. “It is thanks to Manfred”. The Manfred in question takes a peek down a foot-long camera lens, which he’s focusing down on a security briefing in the hotel lobby. “There must be 300 security, easily” he growls.

Manfred Petrisch is a Swiss blogger and a long-time Bilderbotherer. This year, the conference is on his home turf, and he’s been lobbying politicians and the mainstream press for weeks.

“We put pressure on the media, we ask: “Why aren’t you reporting this?” – and now at last they have started. Of course, some of what they write is the usual, you know: just a meeting of some old guys sitting round, having a cup of tea.” He snorts his derision: “Come on! A four-day cup of tea, with heads of global companies, heads of state, EU commissioners, leaders of Nato, bank CEOs, people with a full schedule. They are not here for a cup of tea!”

Manfred has pulled strings with politicians, and questions have been asked in the Swiss parliament. “We asked and asked again: who is paying for all this? If we are to have a huge police force protecting a private meeting, as usual, then who is paying? The taxpayer? We made it a political problem.”

And the pressure seems to have paid off. “Look at what has happened! There is no police line, there is only private security. And they are not armed, not threatening, like in Greece or Spain. They are quite friendly. Of course, there are police here, inside the hotel, and secret services, lots of them, but they are in the background. This is a big victory.”

And it’s true – at first glance, this year’s conference could hardly be more different from Spain 2010 or Greece 2009. We’re standing, unharrassed, on a pavement not 50 metres from the hotel. Last year, in Sitges, the press was kept a kilometre away, at the business end of a machine gun. In Vouliagmeni the cordon was even wider, maybe a kilometre and a half, with (literally) hundreds of pumped-up policemen strip searching and camera snatching. St Moritz may be further from the beach, but apart from that it’s a gigantic improvement. “This is Switzerland!” explains Manfred. “That sort of thing cannot happen here. This is a democracy.”

Esta gente esta haciendo mucho daño a todo el planeta, y los que van se pavonean de asisitir , entre ellos que creo que va la Reyna de España.

Bélgica
Coene, Luc Gobernador, Banco Nacional de Bélgica.
Davignon, Etienne, Ministro de Estado.
Leysen, Thomas, Presidente, Umicore.

China
Fu Ying, Viceministro de Relaciones Exteriores.
Huang Yiping, profesor de Economía, Centro de China para la Investigación Económica, Universidad de Pekín.

Dinamarca
Eldrup, Anders, director general de DONG Energy.
Federspiel, Ulrik, vicepresidente de Asuntos Mundiales, Haldor Topsoe A / S.
Pedro Schütze, miembro de la Dirección Ejecutiva, Nordea Bank AB.

Alemania
Ackermann, Josef, presidente del Consejo de Administración y el Comité Ejecutivo del Grupo Deutsche Bank.
Enders, Thomas, CEO de Airbus SAS.
Löscher, Pedro, Presidente y CEO de Siemens AG.
Nass, Matías, corresponsal jefe de Internacional, Die Zeit.
Peer Steinbrück, miembro del Bundestag, ex Ministro de Hacienda.

Finlandia
Apunen, Matti, Director de Negocios de Finlandia y EVA Foro de Política.
Johansson, Ole, Presidente de la Confederación de Industrias Finlandesas EK.
Ollila, Jorma, Presidente, Royal Dutch Shell.
Pentikäinen, Mikael, publicador y Senior Editor en Jefe, Helsingin Sanomat.

Francia
Baverez, Nicolás, Partner, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP.
Bazire, Nicolás, Gestión de Groupe Arnault, Director / LVMH.
Castries, Henri de, Presidente y CEO de AXA.
Lévy, Mauricio, Presidente y CEO de Publicis Groupe SA.
Montbrial, Thierry de, presidente del Instituto Francés de Relaciones Internacionales.
Olivier Roy, profesor de Teoría Política y Social, Instituto Universitario Europeo.

Gran Bretaña
Agius, Marcus, presidente de Barclays PLC.
Flint, Douglas J., Presidente del Grupo, HSBC Holdings.
Kerr, John, miembro de la Cámara de los Lores, Vicepresidente, Royal Dutch Shell.
Lambert, Richard, Director no ejecutivo independiente, Ernst & Young.
Mandelson, Peter, miembro de la Cámara de los Lores, Presidente, Consejo Mundial.
Micklethwait, John, editor en jefe de The Economist.
George Osborne, Ministro de Hacienda.
Stewart, Rory, miembro del Parlamento.
Taylor, J. Martin, presidente, Syngenta International AG.

Grecia
David, A. George, Presidente, Coca-Cola HBCSA.
Hardouvelis, Gikas A., Economista Jefe y Jefe de Investigación, Eurobank EFG.
Papaconstantinou, Jorge, Ministro de Hacienda.
Tsoukalis, Loukas, Presidente, Grisones ELIAMEP.

Organizaciones Internacionales
Almunia, Joaquín, Vicepresidente de la Comisión Europea.
Daele, Frans van, Jefe de Gabinete del Presidente del Consejo Europeo.
Kroes, Neelie, Vicepresidente de la Comisión Europea, Comisario de Agenda Digital.
Lamy, Pascal, Director General de la Organización Mundial del Comercio.
Rompuy, van Herman, Presidente del Consejo Europeo.
Sheeran, Josette, Director Ejecutivo de Mundial de las Naciones Unidas para la Alimentación.
Solana Madariaga, Javier, Presidente, Centro para la Economía Mundial ESADEgeo y geopolítica.
Trichet, Jean-Claude, Presidente del Banco Central Europeo.
Zoellick, Robert B., Presidente, Grupo del Banco Mundial.

Irlanda
Gallagher, Paul, Asesor Senior, ex Procurador General.
McDowell, Miguel, Consejero Principal, Biblioteca de Derecho, ex Viceprimer Ministro.
Sutherland, D. Pedro, Presidente, Goldman Sachs Internacional.

Italia
Bernabé, Franco, director ejecutivo de Telecom Italia SpA.
Elkann, John, Presidente de Fiat SpA.
Monti, Mario, Presidente, Univers Commerciale Luigi Bocconi.
Scaroni, Paolo, director ejecutivo de Eni SpA.
Tremonti, Giulio, Ministro de Economía y Finanzas.

Canadá
Carney, J. Marcos, Gobernador del Banco de Canadá.
Clark, Edmund, Presidente y CEO, Grupo del Banco Financiero TD.
McKenna, Frank, Presidente Adjunto del Grupo Financiero Banco TD.
Orbinksi, James, profesor de Medicina y Ciencias Políticas de la Universidad de Toronto.
Prichard, J. Robert S., Presidente, Torys LLP.
Reisman, Heather, Presidente y CEO de Indigo Books & Music Center Inc., Brookings Institution.

Países Bajos
Bolland, Marc J., Director Ejecutivo, Grupo de Marks y Spencer plc.
Chavannes, Marc E., columnista político, NRC Handelsblad, Profesor de Periodismo.
Victor Halberstadt, profesor de Economía de la Universidad de Leiden; Ex Secretario de Honor General de las reuniones de Bilderberg.
Su Majestad la Reina de los Países Bajos.
Rosenthal, Uri, Ministro de Relaciones Exteriores.
Invierno, Jaap W., socio, Brauw De Westbroek Blackstone.

Noruega
Myklebust, Egil, Ex Presidente del Consejo de Administración de SAS, sk Hydro ASA.
SAR el Príncipe Heredero Haakon de Noruega.
Ottersen, Ole Petter, Rector de la Universidad de Oslo.
Solberg, Erna, líder del Partido Conservador.

Austria
Bronner, Oscar, CEO y Publisher, Medien AG estándar.
Werner Faymann, Canciller Federal.
Walter Rothensteiner, Presidente de la Junta, Raiffeisen Zentralbank Österreich AG.
Rudolf Scholten, miembro de la Junta de Directores Ejecutivos, Oesterreichische Kontrollbank AG.

Portugal
Balsemão, Francisco Pinto, presidente y consejero delegado, IMPRESA, SGPS, Primer Ministro de Antigua.
Ferreira Alves, Clara, CEO de Claref LDA; escritor.
Nogueira Leite, Antonio, miembro de la Junta, José de Mello Investimentos, SGPS, SA.

Suecia
Mordashov, Alexey A., consejero delegado de Severstal.
Carl Bildt, Ministro de Relaciones Exteriores.
Björling, Ewa, Ministro de Comercio.
Wallenberg, Jacob, Presidente, Investor AB.

Suiza
Brabeck-Letmathe, Pedro, Presidente, Nestlé SA.
Groth, Hans, Director Senior de Política de Salud y Acceso a Mercados, Unidad de Negocio de Oncología de Pfizer Europa.
Steiner Janom, Barbara, Jefe del Departamento de Justicia, Seguridad y Salud en el Cantón
Kudelski, André, presidente y consejero delegado, SA Grupo Kudelski.
Leuthard, Doris, Consejero Federal.
Schmid, Martin, Presidente del Gobierno de Cantón de los Grisones.
Schweiger, Rolf, Ständerat.
Rolf Soiron, Presidente de la Junta, Holcim Ltd., Lonza Ltd.
Vasella, Daniel L., Presidente de Novartis AG.
Witmer, Jürg, Presidente, Givaudan SA y Clariant AG.

España
Cebrián, Juan Luis, consejero delegado de PRISA.
Cospedal, María Dolores de, Secretaria General del Partido Popular.
León Gross, Bernardino, Secretario General de la Presidencia española.
Nin Génova, Juan María, presidente y consejero delegado de La Caixa.
Su Majestad la Reina Sofía de España.

Turquía
Ciliv, Süreyya, CEO de Hizmetleri Turkcell Iletisim AS.
Domac Gülek, Tayyibe, Ex Ministro de Estado.
Koç, Mustafa V., Presidente, Koc Holding AS.
Pekín, Sefika, Socio Fundador de Pekín, y Law Firm Bayar.

EE.UU.
Alexander, Keith B., Comandante, USCYBERCOM, Director de la Agencia de Seguridad Nacional.
Altman, Roger C., Presidente, Evercore Partners Inc.
Bezos, Jeff, Fundador y CEO de Amazon.com
Collins, C. Timoteo, CEO de Ripplewood Holdings, LLC.
Feldstein, Martin S., George F. Baker, profesor de Economía de la Universidad de Harvard.
Hoffman, Reid, co-fundador y Presidente Ejecutivo, LinkedIn.
Hughes, Chris R., Co-fundador de Facebook.
Jacobs, Kenneth M., Presidente y CEO de Lazard.
Johnson, James A., Vicepresidente, Perseo, LLC.
Jordania, Jr., Vernon E., Director Gerente Senior, Lazard Frères & Co. LLC.
Keane, John M., Socio Principal, Socios SCP; General, Ejército de los EE.UU., jubilado.
Kissinger, Henry A., Presidente de Kissinger Associates, Inc.
Kleinfeld, Klaus, Presidente y CEO de Alcoa.
Kravis, Henry R., Co-Presidente y co-consejero delegado, Kohlberg Kravis, Roberts & Co..
Kravis, Marie-Josée, Senior Fellow del Instituto Hudson, Inc.
Li Cheng, Senior Fellow y director de investigación, John L. Thornton Centro de China, Brookings Institution.
Mundie, J. Craig, jefe de investigación y estrategia, Microsoft Corporation.
Orszag, Peter R., Vicepresidente de Citigroup Global Markets, Inc.
Perle, Richard N., miembro Residente, American Enterprise Institute para la Investigación de Políticas Públicas.
Rockefeller, David, Ex Presidente, Banco Chase Manhattan.
Rose, Charlie, editor ejecutivo y presentador, Charlie Rose.
Rubin, Robert E., Co-Presidente, Consejo de Relaciones Exteriores, ex Secretario del Tesoro.
Schmidt, Eric, Presidente Ejecutivo, Google Inc.
Steinberg, James B., Secretario Adjunto de Estado.
Thiel, Pedro A., Presidente, Clarium Capital Management, LLC.
Varney, Christine R., Procurador General Adjunto para la Defensa de la Competencia.
Vaupel, James W., Director Fundador del Instituto Max Planck de Investigación Demográfica.
Warsh, Kevin, Ex Gobernador, Junta de la Reserva Federal.
Wolfensohn, James D., Presidente, Wolfensohn & Company, LLC.