14 Arrested During Unocal Protest

Fourteen people were arrested after chaining themselves to an oil tanker and climbing a gasoline storage tank during a protest over Unocal Corp.’s involvement in a controversial $1.2-billion natural gas pipeline in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma. Burmese exiles Maung and Taw Myo Shwe, a couple, and Ko Latt were among those arrested by Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies during the peaceful protest outside Unocal’s Los Angeles Terminal. The protesters were charged with a series of offenses, including robbery, conspiracy to commit robbery, trespassing and failure to disperse. The first two charges are felonies and the others are misdemeanors. Critics say Unocal is providing a financial lifeline for the repressive military government that wrested control of the Southeast Asian country in 1988. El Segundo-based Unocal and its French partner, Total, argue they are bringing badly needed jobs and investment to Myanmar.