The United States really, really did not want the World Health Assembly passing a resolution to encourage breastfeeding. The U.S. went beyond voting against the resolution, beyond arguing against it in meetings, all the way to threats against the measure’s planned sponsor:
The Americans were blunt: If Ecuador refused to drop the resolution, Washington would unleash punishing trade measures and withdraw crucial military aid. The Ecuadorean government quickly acquiesced.
Those are some very strong feelings for the U.S. government to have against the promotion of breastfeeding—do they know what goes on in American hospitals, where breastfeeding is typically strongly encouraged? According to the Department of Health and Human Services, opposition to the resolution came purely from concern for women who cannot breastfeed: “We recognize not all women are able to breast-feed for a variety of reasons. These women should have the choice and access to alternatives for the health of their babies, and not be stigmatized for the ways in which they are able to do so.” That’s a perfectly reasonable position to take. It’s not a position over which you’d expect the United States to threaten to withdraw military aid from Ecuador and financial support from the W.H.O.
The New York Times points to the Trump administration’s embrace of business interests at all times—in this case, the $70 billion baby food and formula industry. As bizarre as it seems that the Trump administration went to the mat for formula manufacturers, it’s a hell of a lot more plausible than the claim that the Trump administration threatened Ecuador in defense of women who can’t breastfeed.
After “at least a dozen countries, most of them poor nations in Africa and Latin America, backed off, citing fears of retaliation,” the breastfeeding resolution did find a sponsor not worried about American threats:
In the end, the Americans’ efforts were mostly unsuccessful. It was the Russians who ultimately stepped in to introduce the measure — and the Americans did not threaten them.
Isn’t that just perfect?
