When I first visited Guatemala in 1993 I met women there (I was on a health/human rights tour) who had had babies die due to formula - all the stuff we've discussed here, agressive marketing with sales reps dressed as nurses, poor water supply, non-existent health education, no ante natal care. To compound this, communities had broken down due to the civil war so many young mothers did not have a granny or mother to ask for help and advice - they were dead, or disappeared, or in a refugee camp in Mexico, or the young people had moved to the city to get work. When so many children were dying, they were lucky to be visited by an American LLL volunteer who set up a peer-supporter program, and they now have one of the highest bf rates in Guatemala. The company that was agressively marketing? No-brainer!
We took our kids there 2 years ago when I was still bf dd2 (who was 16 months at the time) and in several places I was asked (like on buses, in cafes) if 'all women in America (I'm not American, but perceived as such!) breastfeed' and 'isnt it better with a bottle?' ( as dd2 enthusiastically bf, smiling at Guatemalan ladies as she did so!) - as like many have said it is the perception that ff is modern and therefore better.
I was amazed though that the little bit of input that one visitor for one week was able to make - training people just to tell others what works and what doesnt, and a huge benefit has been given to the women adn babies of that community.
Another, smaller but significant issue, is that in developing countries disease patterns are slowly changing and there are much higher rates of breast cancer than a few years ago. Could this be related to dietary change, and therefore bf would protest, or is it caused by the drop in bf which means less women are protected. Whatever, it is a tragedy as if women in these countries cannot afford ff, they certainly cant afford the treatments for breast cancer. I'll try and dig out the stats, dh had them but is away working right now.