Death channel
Death channel
Botswana faced international opposition to its plans to develop the Okavango swamps by dredging channels to supply drinking water to the town of Maun and to a nearby diamond mine. Greenpeace International became incensed by the scheme and threatened to start a boycott of Botswana's diamonds with the slogan, "Diamonds are for death.". It also planned to lobby the EC against buying Botswana beef, the country's second largest foreign exchange earner. In January 1991, Botswana capitulated on the channels and invited Greenpeace to assess the project so that it could be reviewed.