Gro Harlem Brundtland

Gro Harlem Brundtland  link Sourcewatch Wikiquote (Politician, Pharma lobbyist, Deep state functionary)
Born	Gro Harlem 20 April 1939 Bærum, Norway
Nationality	Norwegian
Alma mater	University of Oslo, Harvard University
Parents	Gudmund Harlem
Children	1
Spouse	Arne Olav Brundtland
Party	Labour
Deep state/WHO connected Prime Minister/DG, concerned about "too much freedom of speech"

Gro Harlem Brundtland is three time Norwegian Prime Minister who was WHO Director-General from 1998 to 2003. She chaired the World Commission on Environment and Development which presented the Brundtland Report on "sustainable development".

Background

Gro Harlem was born into a well-to-do family in the rich area of Oslo, Norway's capital. Her father, Gudmund Harlem was Norwegian Defense minister for the Labour government during the Cold War, from 1961-65, and part of the inner circle of the Labour Party.

Education

In 1963, she graduated with a degree in medicine from the University of Oslo. She took a master's degree in Public Health at Harvard University in 1965, at the same time as her husband, the security academic Arne Olav Brundtland, was staying there at the Center for International Affairs (founded by Henry Kissinger).

Career

Brundtland joined the Labour Party, and had a meteoric career, maybe thanks to the networks of her father and husband. She entered the government in 1974 as Minister of the Environment. By 1981, she was prime minister for a short 8-month period despite only 4 years of parliamentary experience. She consolidated her party leadership, and became Norwegian Prime Minister for two further, and longer, terms. The second ministry was from 9 May 1986 until 16 October 1989; The third ministry was from 3 November 1990 to 25 October 1996.

Brundtland belonged to the "moderate" (i.e. transatlantic and economically liberal) wing of her party, and made sure the party kept it's dedication to NATO. In 1995, during her prime ministership, Norway quietly went from being a nation that contributed peacekeeping forces to the UN to becoming nation sending out expeditionary forces in NATO context.

She led the extensive efforts to get the country to join the European Union in 1994, thwarted by a referendum. Norway is still not part of EU. Brundtland received the EU's 1994 Charlemagne Prize, for her service for European unification.

As Prime Minister Brundtland was given the nickname "mother of the nation" by the press.

During her third ministry, the Norwegian government in 1993 took the initiative to sponsor secret peace talks between the Government of Israel led by Yitzchak Rabin and the PLO led by Yasser Arafat. This culminated with the signing of the Oslo Accords, branded as an equitable deal, but which in rality consolidated Israeli control over the area.

Brundtland is also a member of the Club of Madrid and Deputy Chair of The Elders.

WHO

After the end of her term as PM, Brundtland was then elected Director-General of the World Health Organization in May 1998. In this capacity, Brundtland adopted a far-reaching corporate led approach to public health, establishing a Commission on Macroeconomics and Health, chaired by pro-market liberal economist Jeffrey Sachs. Thus, the WHO adopted donor driven business models led by the private sector and launched multiple public-private partnerships (PPP) implementing vertical programs addressing specific diseases. These arrangements have further increased the power of multinational corporations to direct health policy and undermined and fragmented health systems in many countries.

"We are losing control of what people are told"

In a 2017 interview, she complained "We are losing control of what people are told"

"When it comes to technology and democracy, more control is needed over the internet, and with social media. They cannot be a garbage can where gravely erroneous things can stand there unchallenged. The challenge is that concepts like freedom of speech stand high in people's consciousness. This is of course important, but if we interpret freedom of speech too broadly, it also includes the right to spread false opinions."

Insider trading

The company "Analytisk Kommentar A/S" was founded in 1986 by the couple Gro Harlem and Arne Olav Brundtland and their children to engage in stock speculation and sell commentary articles. It was never registered in a proper regulatory manner. And by 1990, the company had not submitted a single financial statement. Nor had it reported any changes in the business area, capital increase, new board composition or new business manager. The case was never properly explored by Norwegian media, but there would be very few stock transactions under the auspices of the company that would not clash with insider trading laws, given her political position. The Prime Minister's spouse also used it to sell syndicated commentary activities, again raising the possibility of insider knowledge, or indirect financial payoffs to the PM.