Unions vs. Coca-Cola in Colombia
Workers defy death squads
BULLETIN: Tens of thousands of Colombian students and
workers marched five miles from the National University to the
Simon Bolivar Plaza in downtown Bogotá Dec. 10. The
demonstrators were protesting President Alvaro Uribe's plans to
reorganize education and privatize Colombian industry for the
benefit of transnational corporations. They also carried signs
protesting Plan Colombia, Washington's program for military
intervention against revolutionary guerrillas in the
country.
By Rebeca Toledo
Bogotá, Colombia
As a 22-member-strong delegation from the International
Action Center in the United States approached the Coca-Cola
headquarters here on Dec. 5, rousing applause erupted from
hundreds of protesters already gathered. Members of the
delegation carried a banner that read: "The people of the U.S.
demand justice for the people of Colombia. No to Coca-Cola and
no to Plan Colombia."
The National Union of Food Industry
Workers--Sinaltrainal--called the protest, to be held before a
Tribunal Against the Violence of Coca-Cola later that same
day.
The crowd chanted vigorously, "Who is paying for violence in
Colombia? Coca-Cola!" and, "Why do they assassinate us when we
are the hope of Latin America?"
After speeches of solidarity, the protesters moved on to the
U.S. Embassy, where they were met by armed guards and riot
police. Here the chants turned to: "We don't want to be a
colony of the U.S., we want to be a free and sovereign
Colombia" and "The workers aren't terrorists, U.S. imperialism
is the terrorist."
As people headed back to their buses, shouts of "Long live
international solidarity" could still be heard. The Colombians
explained to the international delegates from the IAC and other
parts of the world that without their presence, the protest
would have been impossible. The police would have attacked and
arrested the participants.
The IAC delegation had arrived the night before to attend
the Tribunal Against the Violence of Coca-Cola--part of the
International Conference on Transnational Corporations and
Human Rights--and to meet with labor unionists, students,
community leaders and human-rights workers.
Powell in Colombia same week
Ironically, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell had just
left Bogotá when the delegates arrived. Powell had
arrived Dec. 3 at a military airport here amid heavy security.
Two military helicopters circled over the city while more than
50 motorcycle police officers and hundreds of soldiers were
deployed to guard the route to his hotel.
Through Plan Colombia and the Andean Initiative, the U.S.
government has provided well over $1 billion in aid to Colombia
since 2000--mostly in military goods to stop the strong
movement for social justice in Colombia, which includes
insurgency groups, labor unionists, students, campesinos, and
human-rights and community leaders.
During Powell's visit he promised to pour another $200
million into the military and police forces. There are now
reportedly more U.S. troops in Colombia than there were in
Central America in the 1980s.
Powell was also motivated by Washington's search for broader
support in the United Nations Security Council for its planned
war on Iraq. Colombia currently chairs the Security
Council.
So the IAC delegation was an important show of defiance
against U.S. war plans in Colombia. More than two-thirds of the
U.S. delegates were unionists who serve on executive boards,
negotiating committees or as shop stewards. Others were
students, lawyers and anti-war activists. They were young and
older, women and men, Latino, African American and white.
The tribunal was the third in a series of hearings that
began July 22 in Atlanta. The second hearing was held in
Brussels on Oct. 10. The tribunals were called to bring
international attention to the plight of the Coca-Cola workers
and all Colombians targeted for repression by the Colombian
government, the paramilitaries and the transnational
corporations.
Along with holding the tribunals, Sinaltrainal, the United
Steel Workers and the International Labor Fund have filed a
lawsuit in U.S. courts accusing Coca-Cola of using
paramilitaries to intimidate and assassinate union
organizers.
The conveners of the tribunal included the United Center of
Colombian Workers (CUT), the General Democratic Workers
Confederation (CGTD), the Campaign Against Impunity-Colombia
Clamors for Justice, Sinaltrainal, the Corporation for
Education and the Development and Popular Studies-National
Union Institute (Ced-Ins).
The opening remarks indicted not only Coca-Cola but the
Colombian state for terrorism against workers. The speaker
outlined how in the past 12 years eight Coca-Cola workers have
been killed, 48 have been displaced and several exiled.
In closing he said, "We don't ask for silence, instead we
know that like our beloved Ché, these heroes live more
than ever here in this tribunal."
Aprecio Atiz, president of the CGTD, remarked that
"capitalist globalization and neoliberalism grows like a stench
in the world." He declared that the rulers in Colombia today
are assassins. In 2001, 240 unionists were assassinated
worldwide. Two hundred of them were in Colombia.
In 2002, more than 150, especially members of the CUT, have
been assassinated in Colombia.
"It is a massacre of union activists," he said. "This is a
national crisis." He added that not only unionists but also
campesinos and other social forces are being killed.
The standing-room-only crowd of about 500 people responded
to each speaker with chants such as "Organization, unity and
struggle" and "The road of justice is the road to victory."
Indigenous leader Volemin Dupre said, "We are also
struggling against the transnationals for our survival, against
genocide." He thanked the unionists for their support.
A Colombian senator spoke as a representative for the seven
Colombian members of Congress who have signed a letter calling
for the cessation of violence against unionists. He spoke
strongly against the labor "reform" law that Colombian
President Alvaro Uribe Vélez is trying to impose. This
law would dismiss 45,000 federal workers, strip away freedoms
and rights such as collective bargaining and striking, impose
more taxes on workers, and freeze wages, social spending and
benefits.
"We will vote against this law," the senator vowed. "And we
invite all Colombians to boycott the ensuing referendum to be
held in March 2003."
International delegates who addressed the tribunal said what
impressed them most was that although repression is severe in
Colombia, the people continue to find new space and ways to
struggle. The heroism is palpable.
There were eight international delegations. Jana Silverman
from the Committee for Social Justice, which brought six people
from the United States, delivered greetings from lawyers trying
the case against Coca-Cola in the United States.
A Mexican delegate announced that 2003 had been declared the
year in solidarity with Colombian labor unionists.
A representative from the Basque region in Spain called for
more international solidarity actions. Delegates from Germany,
Italy and England also addressed the crowd, as did a
representative from the IAC delegation.
Sinaltrainal President Javier Correa explained that Dec. 5
had been chosen for the event because six years ago on that
date Isidro Segundo Gil Gil was assassinated at his work post
inside the Coca-Cola plant in Carepa del Uraba, Antioquia. Gil
was a union leader in the northwestern banana region.
Bloody repression of Coca-Cola workers
Correa went over Coca-Cola's bloody history in Guatemala and
India, and more recently in Venezuela. He also cited the
company's discriminatory practices in Atlanta, Ga.
He recounted how the Sinaltrainal union, as a result of
systematic repression, has been reduced from 5,400 to 2,300
members. Unionists' family members have been killed. Attempts
have been made to kidnap the children. Paramilitary forces have
left graffiti in the plants threatening unionists.
"Coca-Cola has done nothing to curb this repression. This is
the situation for all trade unionists in Colombia," he
said.
He explained that Coca-Cola, like other transnationals, has
done much damage and contributed to the pauperization of the
Colombian people by taking money out of the country over the
last 100 years.
The case against Coca-Cola was then presented. Survivors of
its repression spoke.
One union leader was arrested along with two others in a
Coca-Cola plant and accused of terrorism. The three were held
for six months; no charges were ever filed against them. The
wife of one of the three testified that after her husband's
arrest, her family was stripped of all benefits, such as health
care. Her daughter was harassed at school. She was allowed to
see her husband only once a week; her children could see their
father once a month.
"The overriding fear was that they would kill or disappear
him," she said.
Another survivor told of being tortured eight years ago by
paramilitaries. He said he is still unable to sleep through the
night.
One of the final speakers said, "The goal of the Uribe
Vélez government is to open up the country to the
imperialists, wipe away trade unions so that it will be easy
for them to enact the Free Trade Areas of the Americas."
The tribunal closed with the adoption of a plan of action
and a political declaration.
Among the demands of Coca-Cola were that July 22 be declared
a day against transnationals and violence, that the corporation
publicize its crimes on its soft drink bottles, pay reparations
for family victims, clean up the environment and demilitarize
the work place.
The International Conference on Transnational Corporations
and Human Rights was held over the next two days. There were
panels on globalization, neoliberalism, public services, health
and education, Indigenous rights, finance, mineral and energy,
human-rights violations and, finally resistance and plans of
action.
One of the key speakers was Jose Fernando Ramírez
from the Commission for Peace and Human Rights of the Trade
Union of Workers (USO).
IAC Co-Director Teresa Gutierrez told the conference, "It is
exactly for the benefit of corporations such as Coca-Cola that
the U.S. aggressively intervenes in Colombia's internal affairs
with Plan Colombia, the military wing of the FTAA."
She commended the labor unionists for their courage, for
being on the front lines of the struggle. She said that they
gave the delegates strength and inspiration to go back to the
United States to fight against Pentagon intervention in
Colombia.
Sinaltrainal hosted an important meeting for the IAC
delegation at its union headquarters. The hours-long meeting
inspired all those attending.
It began with a presentation from a student group called
Focus, based at the National University in Bogotá. The
three representatives, full of energy and optimism, warmly
greeted the delegates.
One of the students recounted how after the murder of Jaime
Alfor Acosta Campos, a student at the University of Santander,
students stepped up their protests. The students at the
National University set up an encampment in the university to
protect themselves against riot police and university
officials. The officials responded by closing down the
university on Nov. 28. After heavy protests from the students,
the university reopened on Dec. 5. The students remain
steadfast against privatization plans and will be carrying out
more actions on Dec. 10.
Another student impressed upon the delegation that all the
money used to repress the movement in Colombia came from the
United States. He said that Colombians do not want U.S.
intervention and that it is a crime that arms are being bought
while people are dying of hunger.
The three pledged to never stop fighting for justice, no
matter what it takes.
'We are not alone'
Javier Correa summarized the meaning of the tribunals: "At
first these tribunals were just a dream. What they have proved
is the resistance of the national unions, the unconditional
support from social groups in Colombia and international
solidarity. Coca-Cola and the government had us down for dead.
But we have shown that we are not alone."
This is what really worries them, Correa continued.
International support especially worries them because the
crimes they get away with now will become international
scandals in the future.
Correa said that the tribunal helped increase consciousness
because it challenged the Colombian state, demonstrating that
the movement does not accept the level of terror waged with
impunity against the people.
He said the most difficult struggles against the government
and Coca-Cola lie ahead. "That is why we are so grateful for
compañeros like you. Your solidarity makes our struggle
possible." He added that next they would like to confront
Nestlé--like Coca-Cola, a big enemy of the workers.
Another Sinaltrainal leader told the delegates: "We must
find a different road for Colombia, because capitalism and
neoliberalism are no good for Colombia or the world. Our
struggle against capitalism is for the development of
communities where the people decide their own futures, where
the power is with the people."
He made it explicit: "For every glass of Coca-Cola that we
buy, we are buying a bullet to assassinate a Colombian. We do
not believe in consultation with the transnational
corporations. Imperialism doesn't just want a little piece of
Colombia, it wants the whole country. And it doesn't just want
Colombia, it wants all of Latin America. It wants us all to
kneel and continue to be exploited."
He said he is grateful to Coca-Cola in one way: It brought
the delegation to Colombia. He concluded, "You have
strengthened our work and helped us to continue our
struggle."
Half the delegates stayed in Bogotá for several more
days to meet with more activists from different sectors of the
social movement. The other half returned to the United States.
They vowed to step up the struggle for the people of Colombia.
The IAC in New York City will hold a full report on Dec. 17 at
6:30 p.m. at 39 W.14 Street, Suite 206. For more information,
call (212) 633-6646.
Reprinted from the Dec. 19, 2002, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyrighted
under a Creative
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