Amid Protests, Carlos Slim Gets US Honorary Degree EFE
go to original May 21, 2012

Mexican mogul Carlos Slim receives an honorary degree from The George Washington University for his long philanthropic career plus his public and community service, at an outdoor graduation ceremony in the Washington Mall. (EFE)

Mexican mogul Carlos Slim, the richest man in the world, received an honorary degree over the weekend from The George Washington University, while dozens of protesters tried to interrupt the ceremony with accusations that he got rich at the expense of the poor and because of the "monopoly" he operates.

With the Washington Monument's iconic obelisk in the background, Slim accepted the degree Sunday for his long philanthropic career plus his public and community service at an outdoor graduation ceremony in the Washington Mall.

The telecommunications tycoon, who in June 2009 received the President's Medal from the same university, gave a short speech in English in which he encouraged the new graduates to take risks and face challenges with optimism.

"Emotional damage does not come from third parties. It is forged and given leeway within ourselves...live the present fully and intensely. Let the past not be a burden. May the future be an incentive," Slim told the thousands of graduates, family in members and friends.

"Live with a sense of urgency when you are creating, when you are innovating, when you are solving problems...many times you will make mistakes. It is human and usual. But always try to make small ones. Accept them, correct them, and forget them. Do not obsess over your mistakes," Slim said, and advised graduates to "remember heaven and hell are within us."

The 72-year-old Slim is the owner of Telmex, which his Grupo Carso conglomerate acquired in 1990, according to Forbes magazine.

The Telmex deal gave him control of 80 percent of Mexico's landlines, while another of his companies, Telcel, controls 70 percent of the country's cell phones.

Grupo Carso also has interests in technology, finance and retail sales, the reason critics say that Slim has "asphyxiated" the competition, and in that way has contributed to Mexico's staggering rate of joblessness.

Slim, whose net worth is estimated at almost $69 billion, received an honorary degree together with NBC anchorman Brian Williams and the artist and GW alumna Clarice Smith.

A block away from where the ceremony was held, around 100 demonstrators shouted such slogans as "No to Carlos Slim!" and "Two countries, one voice" in protest against his presumed monopolistic practices in Mexico.

The activists, who included members of the African-American community, accused Slim of making his fortune on the backs of the poor in Mexico and Latin America by operating a "monopoly" and imposing excessively high prices on telecommunications in his country.

"Prices in Mexico are too high and he (Slim) is taking advantage of the system and government regulations to exploit the people of Mexico...we want him to know that we're aware of what he is doing in Mexico and Latin America and we're not going to let him do the same in the United States," Andres Ramirez, a "Two Countries One Voice" protest organizer, said.

Arnold Borja of the Mexicans Without Borders group said it was unacceptable to "reward" a man who made himself rich "in a country with 60 million poor people."

Despite the protests, the university said in a communique that it awarded the honorary degree to Slim in recognition of his contributions to business and community development in Mexico and Latin American and for his extensive philanthropic work.

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