OPSEU Colombia Solidarity Tour 2009

OPSEU meets with Canadian ambassador

2009-09-04T15:00:00.007-05:00

Meeting with Canadian Ambassador to Colombia

On Tuesday September 1 we met with Geneviève des Rivières, the Canadian ambassador to Colombia in her office in Bogota. Based on the experience of the delegation in Colombia and OPSEU’s previous stand on issues like the Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement, Sister Jen Giroux presented the ambassador with a letter from President Smokey Thomas. The letter outlines the key concerns of OPSEU: our opposition to the Canada Colombia Free Trade Agreement; our condemnation of the human rights atrocities being committed against trade unionists and human rights activists; our call for the passing of Bill C300 regarding corporate social responsibility on the part of Canadian corporations; guarantees for safety for those opposing the regime, including providing refuge in Canada for many whose lives have been threatened; and our stand against the rush to privatize health care in Colombia.

The ambassador took pains to praise the Canadian mining corporations in Colombia for their corporate social responsibility and their adherence to prior consultation with communities before any concessions are awarded.

She also defended the case for a Canada Colombia Free Trade Agreement and pointed to the example of Peru as the first time ever that Canada has been able to negotiate two side agreements – one on Labour and one on the Environment. “Canada is a leader rather than a follower” she said and went on to talk about how our government cannot just be subservient to a sovereign government like Colombia. We can, through avenues like free trade agreements monitor the government’s activities, build a closer relationship through dialogue and influence their public policies more effectively than we could otherwise. “We see it as an opportunity to have privileged access because Canada is such a highly respected country”, she said.

We pointed out that Canadian corporations, far from being the social citizens she portrayed, had actually been instrumental in redesigning the mining laws to incorporate less stringent laws for their operations in Colombia. The ambassador asked us for more information on this issue and we will provide her with the details.

When Ms. des Rivières began once again to talk about how socially responsible they were being in Colombia, and how the Canadian mining corporations were there to create employment which is sustainable beyond the life of the mine, our delegation repeated what the indigenous leaders in each community had told us. They were not interested in that kind of employment; they wanted to stay on their land and provide for their communities as they had always been able to do. Brother Yhony Muñoz outlined how he had worked alongside the Embera Katio whose lands and fishing grounds had been destroyed by a hydro – electric project funded by Export Development Corporation (Canada). Then their leader, Kimi Pernia was “disappeared” by paramilitaries and later it was confirmed that he had been killed.

The ambassador reiterated that she still believed that Canada would have more capacity to monitor the activities of Canadian companies by engaging with the Colombian government. Our meeting had to end as the ambassador was late for her next meeting. We thanked her and left, not surprised by her response but at the same time frustrated by the complete lack of empathy for the suffering and devastation at the hands of the Colombian regime we had witnessed in this country.

Wayuumsurat Women for Peace

2009-08-31T01:48:00.012-05:00

Wayuumunsurat

Sister Deborah Fince is a lawyer and head of Wayuumunsrat, a women’s organization for peace in the Guajira region. In particular she talked to us about the actions of the paramilitaries and the affect of mining on the Wayuu people.

The Wayuumunsurat were the first organization to denounce the paramilitary forces in this area. The paramilitary killed 12 people in Bahia Portete in 2004. The “North Block” was the paramilitary group in this area, lead by Jorge Cuarente, one of those now extradited to the United States. After the massacre 346 people were displaced from the area. Bahia Portete is a natural bay in an area not far from a large open pit coal mine. The coal mining company would like to load coal into transport ships from that bay.

We have also denounced the way the government has modified the mining law to delete the requirement for prior consultation with aboriginal groups. This is a Constitutional requirement and it erodes our rights. The fact that they denounced the massacre meant that, at least, this story would be known and told. Otherwise it would soon be forgotten. The killings were done in a manner designed to terrorize others; methods included decapitation, burning to death and various methods of torture including evisceration and castration.

All of the atrocities emanate from the transnational companies. Serrahone Mines provides money to the paramilitaries for food, guns and ammunition. They say this is to protect the mine. But who are they protecting it from? There have never been guerrilla forces in this desert region. The climate cannot support a guerilla army. The Wayuu people are the only others here, with their culture and history. In Deborah’s case, it has been two years since she has had to have 2 police officers with her 24 hours a day for protection.

The Wayuu people are a large group in Colombia yet they have killed so many of us. It is difficult to bring these issues to the public. The paramilitaries have a presence in the premier’s office, the mayor’s office and the office of the attorney general. While President Uribe has said that the paramilitaries no longer exist, they are as strong as ever.

The Wayuu want groups like OPSEU to write strong letters to our President to demand that he respect the indigenous people like the Wayuu.

“One of the things we do to resist and honour the deaths of our brothers, is to annually celebrate the anniversary of the massacre. We would like the international community to join us at these events so that one day the Wayuu people can return in safety to Bahia Portete. Many are still refugees from the violence and are across the border in Venezuela.”

“I am happy to meet with you in this tiny office today; I cannot be sure that I will be alive a week or a month from now. What is even more courageous is that other sisters are ready to replace me if I am killed. Sister Epinayuu is one of these. Others have already died.”

There are now about 200,000 Wayuu people on the coast of Colombia. There is another women’s matriarchal and as a result women are much more outspoken on issues. There are valuable male leaders as well.

Most of the upper Guajira Region is recognized as a reserve for the indigenous people. The coal mine is on aboriginal land and the mine pays royalties to the province but none of it gets returned to native people. These projects always come with claims of progress for the region. Instead they bring disgrace.

Fine coal dust causes skin and breathing problems. The coal trains also hit the Wayuu’s domestic goats. The Wayuu people herd goats as a traditional form of agriculture. When they go to the company to ask for compensation there is never any response.

The Wayuu work closely with ONIC and other central first nations confederations. Once again we are struck by the courage of the Wayuu women and commit OPSEU’s assistance to write letters demanding respect for their community and their right to live in peace on their ancestral lands.

Public sector workers - solidarity from Canada to Medellin

2009-08-31T01:32:00.011-05:00

In Medellin the delegation had the honour of sitting down with a number of different unions.

Public Service Workers (Sindicato Trabadore Deptales Antioquia)

This union formed in 1945. In 1997, Alvaro Uribe became premier of Antioquia, and began to support private security cooperatives, which quickly developed into paramilitary groups. During Uribe's reign, he fired 900 public service workers, leaving membership of the union at only 600. Following in Uribe's footsteps, the next premier fired an additional 500 members, leaving the union with only 100 members today. Many of these members, after being fired, were taken from work by police officers.

The matter has been taken to the International Labour Organization, which ordered that a number of the workers previously fired must be rehired but the government pays little attention to this. The union is now in another legal battle to have another member, who was illegally fired, reinstated.

The overall perception is that the government, at the national and provincial levels, is trying to annihilate the union movement and have resorted to murdering and threatening union activists as a way of achieving this goal. The brothers and sisters asked that we take this information home and share it, and added that the dignity of Canadians should not be used to exploit Colombia through free trade agreements.

Municipal Workers

The Union of Municipal Workers of Antioquia was created in 1970 – and at it's peak had 1850 members in fifty different locals. Today, the union represents only 370 workers in 32 locals. The government attempted to pressure workers to quit their jobs in order to be rehired in cooperatives. When a large number of those workers refused, paramilitaries began to threaten them, resulting in a number of members being displaced, and seventy members being murdered. Of the seventy cases, not one charge has been laid.

In one area, seven workers were murdered in their workplace -- terrorizing their colleagues in an attempt to stop the union. In another case, a number of garbage men were killed while on their routes.

Many of the communities serviced by the union are in isolated areas that are converged upon by armed groups, military, and police. This has resulted in workers quitting their jobs in order to escape from threats and intimidation.

Like so many other situations in which workers have been fired, this union has also experienced the illegal firing of 23 workers in 2008. Despite a court ruling to rehire the workers, the employer continues to avoid doing this. This again reiterated that there is little respect for the court process by the government.

These workers stated that the Colombian government has no respect for ILO standards or court rulings. This union, like so many, has been labelled as being sympathetic to guerrilla groups. With little credible space within their own country to denounce the situations that they live on a daily basis, OPSEU was again thanked for creating a link between union brothers and sisters so far apart.

Liquor Board Union

In 1998, this union had 720 members in the province of Antioquia. Following the illegal firings initiated by Uribe when he was premier, the union now is made up of only 250 members.

Similar to the high profitability of Ontario's liquor store sales, the sale of liquor in the province of Antioquia accounts for $1 billion pesos per year. This results in roughly $800 million pesos of profit in one year. Ultimately, there is no reason to privatize an asset that results in so much money returning to public hands. Despite this, Uribe initiated the privatization of the board. In 2002, Uribe divided the board amongst a group of politicians, supporters, and friends. In 2006, a piece was sold off to an individual officially linked to the paramilitaries and drug trafficking groups. Despite there being a law suit with regards to the sale to this individual (known as “the onion dealer”), little is expected in terms of a satisfying outcome.

To sum up, what previously only resulted in 7% of total revenue returning to private hands, now results in 22% of revenue returning to private hands. The price for this has been the murders of eight union members as a result of their union activity and denouncing the actions of the government.

The message was clear from this union: continue to oppose the free trade agreement!

OPSEU Attends a Protest Held by ADIDA and CUT

Our afternoon was filled with a public demonstration held by the central trade union organization, CUT, and the Provincial Teacher's Union (ADIDA). The demonstration, of about 5000 people, was a magnificent show of the strength and determination of union brothers and sisters, who, despite the many threats directed at them, continue to fight for what they believe in.

ADIDA, CUT, ANTHOC, COMOSOC

A meeting was also held by ADIDA, CUT, ANTHOC, COMOSOC, and members of community organizations. During this meeting, ANTHOC (Union of Health Care Workers) shared with us stories of the pressures put on union members to quit their jobs and avoid participation in union activities. We heard of mass illegal firings, threats and intimidations by paramilitary groups, as well as forced displacements. We heard the story of one union member who was taken from work at the hospital, only to be found dead the next day. The body showed signs of having been tortured. This was done in the name of privatizing health care.

A memorial to 76 teachers killed in the struggle

We also heard the stories of women who have been displaced by paramilitaries. We heard of how children are forcibly recruited by the army and paramilitary groups from poor neighbourhoods. We heard about how these children are placed on trucks and taken to stadiums where they are asked for proof of having completed the mandatory military service. We heard the stories of their mothers, who run along behind the trucks to try to ensure that their taken children are safe and that they will be returned to them; and we heard of how these women are often the victims of sexual harassment and sexual violence by the military.

In attempts to save their children from this misery, many women uproot their families and move into shanty towns – where they have no access to hydro, water, health care, or education. The women often turn to domestic work, begging, or prostitution to provide for their families.

Members of Christians for Peace shared stories of shootings taking place in their neighbourhoods, and the struggle to prove who was responsible for these actions. As communities approach police to report paramilitaries being present in the neighbourhoods, police advise the communities that the paramilitaries have been demobilized and, therefore, do not exist. It was reported that fighting these groups was comparable to fighting a ghost.

Amidst all of this was the news that only the day before a young woman had been shot while in bed by a stray bullet that pierced the cardboard wall of her home; and only three days before, a member of Christians for Peace had been murdered. Also, in the last 16 days, 15 families had been displaced as a result of the ongoing violence in the neighbourhoods. Gangs and paramilitaries simply move into the homes of the displaced and use them to store weapons or for their own shelter.

In one community, children are being shot by guns with silencers a mere two blocks from the police station. When police arrive at the scene, they ask first if the child is dead – as this creates less work for them. He described being a “prisoner in [his] own neighbourhood” and how these gangs and para groups make it unsafe to even cross certain streets. And, although these terrorists can be seen sitting in local cafes having a cup of coffee, police appear to be unable to capture them.

Another brother added that these groups have entered community schools in order to kill children in the presence of their peers. Many communities have accepted police states in an attempt to clear the neighbourhoods of terrorism – but, again, nothing has changed.

The president of ADIDA discussed the attempt to privatize education: from pre-school to post-secondary. He also made it very clear that Colombia and its people need a safe space where they can descent. With a government in which 30% of congress has links to paramilitaries, the people have little opportunity to safely show their disagreement with the policies, legislation changes, and abuses of the government.

ADIDA is a union not untouched by the horrors of the human rights abuses in Colombia. Over seventy faces of murdered ADIDA activists lined one wall of the building. Since 1986, a total of 260 teachers have been murdered from ADIDA. The affect has been not only on keeping members from being active within the union, but has also resulted in high drop-out rates amongst students, after seeing peers victimized in classrooms by terrorist groups.

ADIDA members spoke of the unlawfulness of the government. They asked that we support them in the struggle to stop the free trade agreements between Colombia and Canada, and that we share their stories abroad.

With statistics like this from CUT alone in 2009:

23 trade unionists murdered
13 trade unionists have received death threats
1 has had an attempt on his life
1 has been displaced

OPSEU is committed to do all that we can to ensure that these stories are carried wide and far.

ANTHOC - the Union for Health Care Workers

2009-08-30T20:56:00.014-05:00

ANTHOC continues the fight against privatization of health care - depite the tremendous personal risks

ANTHOC leaders in Bogota

ANTHOC continues the fight against privatization of health care

125 Health Care workers were murdered between 2000 and 2009. In that same period, 382 health care workers were displaced, and 328 were victims of death threats.

Crowded around a table in a small room, over 15 health care workers gathered to tell us their stories. Members of ANTHOC, the Union of health care workers, bravely shared the details of their lives. Their stories spoke clearly to one key theme: speaking up for your rights, or against corruption and privatization will result in death threats, displacement, imprisonment or assassination.

The Colombian government is privatizing Colombia's few remaining public services under tight deadlines. Hospitals are being privatized or shut down around the country, while over a third of the Colombian population does not have access to medical care. As part of the government strategy to implement these free-market economic policies, those who speak out against privatization, and the corruption associated with it, are subject to extreme repression. The government responds by denying the existence of paramilitary groups that often carry out the repression on their behalf. Worse still, they claim that anyone who resists is a guerilla or terrorist.

Here are some of the testimonials we heard:

Rosa, worked as a nurse for 18 years. When she found out the managers at her hospital were stealing funds, she reported it to the Prosecutor's Office. She was given 10 days to leave her region. She has been displaced and moving around the country for four years now. “It is so hard to be displaced, to be alone. There are no government programs to support us.”

Carmen, imprisoned for 25 months on false charges. “They destroyed my life, put my image in the newspapers. All the charges were dropped except for 'rebellion'. But now, my employer refuses to hire me. Some of my family members have disappeared because of my involvement in the union. They destroyed my life and now I have no means of survival.”

Eduardo, survived two attempts on his life. “If the paramilitaries are demobilized and don't exist, how did they threaten my life twice?”

Jorge, due to his activity in his local, his wife was assassinated on January 5th, 2009. He fled his home with his three kids on January 14th. “My economic situation is so tight. My kids are now in school so far away. I tried to go back home, but the rate of killing is so high, I couldn't.”

Members of ANTHOC ended by stressing that the situation for them now is critical. Those who want fair conditions of trade and development are facing a “genocide” under Uribe: “we are being killed by bullets, but also because of starvation and the loss of our jobs and our lives.”

Fabio Serna, coordinator of COMOSOC, the Coalition of Movements and Social Organizations of Colombia, summarized the situation: “we are trying to respond to this campaign of extermination by the [Uribe] government. All these policies are aimed at converting rights, such as health care, association etc. into merchandise. We are experiencing a military response to social problems.”

In terms of its mandate, Fabio explained that they have three main goals:

To re-empower social actors
Reorient the position on war. That is, developing political solutions, as opposed to military ones, emphasizing the importance of life and work with dignity, and insisting on territorial sovereignty and real democracy.
Propose a different economic model and reality than the one currently being offered by the Uribe government.

Our meeting ended with another call to share what we heard with our members and our government.

ANTHOC in Atlantico

Once again when we met with ANTHOC in Santa Marta on the north coast of Colombia, it was the same story. Along with the rush to privatize health care in this province, comes repression against those who try to stand in its way. Executive Board member, Ricardo Roscoe was killed in 2001 and after that 22 brothers and sisters were forced to leave the country after death threats. Brother Carlos Germenez was killed on the way out of a hospital after putting up flyers about bad management at the hospital. In 2003, Carlos Rojas left the country because of death threats. In March 2004 Brother William Torres, Secretary General of ANTHOC as shot in the back and his wife is imprisoned for 6 years, charged with rebellion.

In April 2005, the process of privatization of the University Hospital in Barranquilla was completed and this included eradicating services like the trauma unit. A total of 462 workers were fired and the current workers have serious health and safety issues, including infections with Hepatitis C and many spinal problems. These workers have no access to Workers’ Compensation.

In this area, 660 people have been outsourced in the hospitals and only 86 people are hired directly by the hospital. 70% of health care is now transferred to “cooperatives”.

In 2006 Carlos Hernandez Janos was killed at this home because he was initiating an investigation into bad management of the hospital. He was killed by two paramilitaries and it was discovered that these two gunmen had been the personal bodyguards of the hospital manager. The federal court actually ordered this manager, Pedro Clave Quintero, fired because of bad management but he was so powerful that even though the Prosecutor’s Office gave orders to the office responsible in the region, they were never carried out – until 7 months later when the union found out and he was fired.

In July 2008 the Union President was captured by intelligence agency representatives handcuffed and charged with rebellion. She spent 5 months in jail but lawyers managed to get her out. She is free to work but the legal process is continuing.

In July this year, the whole Executive Board of ANTHOC was threatened by the Black Eagles paramilitary organization. In August, Juan Jose Malina denounced the bad management of the hospital and so the paramilitaries burned his car in front of his house. In total, this Union has had 3 different Executive Boards so far this year - January to August. As well, hospital managers have refused to take union dues out from workers’ pay cheques and the union is now in a deficit of 380 million pesos.

The goal in this province as elsewhere in Colombia is to privatize the whole health care system in the shortest time possible. Under this government 180 hospitals have been privatized throughout Colombia and in this region it has meant 4 hospitals and 47 clinics. The privatization process here is supposed to be completed by September 23, 2009. If it goes through, 650 more workers will be fired and they will keep only 150 because they are entitled to pensions.

How did they do it before? They came at night and took away doctors, nurses, support workers and brought bus loads of replacement workers in with armed police and the military present. Now they are outsourcing everything.

The Union has tried to sit down with the Ministry of Social Protection but their meetings have been cancelled and they have had no answers to their calls, etc. ANTHOC wants answers on who is behind the threats and killings of brothers and sisters – and they want to know why this Ministry is allowing the system to be devastated and the quality of heath care destroyed. As far as personal security for this Union, they have been given 2 bullet proof cars and two bodyguards for 8 people altogether so they have to go everywhere together.

Postscript:

During our stay in Bogota, together with ANTHOC – and only because OPSEU was here – we did get the chance to meet with the Deputy Minister of Social Protection and members of his staff on three occasions. Each time it was an extremely frustrating exercise as they tried to describe the benefits of the new privatized health care system they are rushing to implement. One particular Senior Staff person rolled her eyes as ANTHOC related a story of a brother who was killed for his activity against privatization.

That is the indignity that Colombia unionists have to face every day as they try to go about their work to defend members of their union and at the same time struggle to hold on to the remnants of a high quality public health care system. It’s the same work we do every day on Canada – but without the death threats, displacements and murder of trade unionists and human rights defenders.

125 Health Care workers were killed between 2000 and 2009. In that same period, 382 health care workers were displaced, and 328 were victims of death threats.

In Bogota, crowded around a table in a small room, over 15 health care workers gathered to tell us their stories. Members of ANTHOC, the Union of health care workers, bravely shared the details of their lives. Their stories spoke clearly to one key theme: speaking up for your rights, or against corruption and privatization will result in death threats, displacement, imprisonment or assassination.

The Colombian government is privatising Colombia's few remaining public services under tight deadlines. Hospitals are being privatised or shut down around the country, while over a third of the Colombian population does not have access to medical care. As part of the government strategy to implement these free-market economic policies, those who speak out against privatisation, and the corruption associated with it, are subject to extreme repression. The government responds by denying the existence of paramilitary groups that often carry out the repression on their behalf. Worse still, they claim that anyone who resists is a guerilla or terrorist.

Here are some of the testimonials we heard:

Rosa, worked as a nurse for 18 years. When she found out the managers at her hospital were stealing funds, she reported it to the prosecutor's office. She was given 10 days to leave her region. She has been displaced and moving around the country for four years now. “It is so hard to be displaced, to be alone. There are no government programs to support us.”
Carmen, imprisoned for 25 months on false charges. “They destroyed my life, put my image in the newspapers. All the charges were dropped except for 'rebellion'. But now, my employer refuses to hire me. Some of my family members have disappeared because of my involvement in the union. They destroyed my life and now I have no means of survival.
Eduardo, survived two attempts on his life. “If the paramilitaries are demobilized and don't exist, how did they threaten my life twice?”
Jorge, due to his activity in his local, his wife was assassinated on January 5th, 2009. He fled his home with his three kids on January 14th. “My economic situation is so tight. My kids are now in school so far away. I tried to go back home, but the rate of killing is so high, I couldn't.”

Members of ANTHOC ended by stressing that the situation for them now is critical. Those who want fair conditions of trade and development are facing a “genocide” under Uribe: “we are being killed by bullets, but also because of starvation and the loss of our jobs and our lives.”

Fabio Serna, coordinator of COMOSOC, the Coalition of Movements and Social Organizations of Colombia, summarized the situation: “we are trying to respond to this campaign of extermination by the [Uribe] government. All these policies are aimed at converting rights, such as health care, association etc. into merchandise. We are experiencing a military response to social problems.”

In terms of its mandate, Fabio explained that they have three main goals:

To re-empower social actors
Reorient the position on war. That is, developing political solutions, as opposed to military ones, emphasizing the importance of life and work with dignity, and insisting on territorial sovereignty and real democracy.
Propose a different economic model and reality than the one currently being offered by the Uribe government.

Our meeting ended with another call to share what we heard with our members and our government.

ANTHOC in Atlantico

Once again when we met with ANTHOC in Santa Marta on the north coast of Colombia, it was the same story. Along with the rush to privatize health care in this province, comes repression against those who try to stand in its way. Executive Board member, Ricardo Roscoe was killed in 2001 and after that 22 brothers and sisters were forced to leave the country after death threats. Brother Carlos Germenez was killed on the way out of a hospital after putting up flyers about bad management at the hospital. In 2003, Carlos Rojas left the country because of death threats. In March 2004 Brother William Torres, Secretary General of ANTHOC as shot in the back and his wife is imprisoned for 6 years, charged with rebellion.

In April 2005, the process of privatization of the University Hospital in Barranquilla was completed and this included eradicating services like the trauma unit. A total of 462 workers were fired and the current workers have serious health and safety issues, including infections with Hepatitis C and many spinal problems. These workers have no access to Workers’ Compensation.

In this area, 660 people have been outsourced in the hospitals and only 86 people are hired directly by the hospital. 70% of health care is now transferred to “cooperatives”.

In 2006 Carlos Hernandez Janos was killed at this home because he was inititating an investigation into bad management of the hospital. He was killed by two paramilitaries and it was discovered that these two gunmen had been the personal bodyguards of the hospital manager. The federal court actually ordered this manager, Pedro Clave Quintero fired because of bad management but he was so powerful that even though the Prosecutor’s Office gave orders to the office responsible in the region, they were never carried out – until 7 months later when the union found out and he was fired.

In July 2008 the Union President was captured by intelligence agency representatives handcuffed and charged with rebellion. She spent 5 months in jail but lawyers managed to get her out. She is free to work but the legal process is continuing.

In July this year, the whole Executive Board of ANTHOC was threatened by the Black Eagles paramilitary organization. Lat month (Augus), Juan Jose Malina denounced the bad management of the hospital and so the paramilitaries burned his car in front of his house. In total, this Union has had 3 different Executive Boards so far this year - January to August. As well, hospital managers have refused to take union dues out from workers’ pay cheques and the union is now in a deficit of 380 million pesos.

The goal in this province as elsewhere in Colombia is to privatize the whole health care system in the shortest time possible. Under this government 180 hospitals have been privatized throughout Colombia and in this region it has meant 4 hospitals and 47 clinics. The privatization process here is supposed to be completed by September 23. If it goes through, 650 more workers will be fired and they will keep only 150 because they are entitled to pensions.

How did they do it before? They came at night and took away doctors, nurses, support workers and brought bus loads of replacement workers in with armed police and the military present. Now they are outsourcing everything.

The Union has tried to sit down with the Ministry of Social Protection but their meetings have been cancelled and they have had no answers to their calls, etc. ANTHOC wants answers on who is behind the threats and killings of brothers and sisters – and they want to know why this Ministry is allowing the system to be devastated and the quality of heath care destroyed. As far as personal secutiry for this Union, they have been given 2 bullet proof cars and two bodyguards for 8 people altogether so they have to go everywhere together.

Postscript:

During our stay in Bogota, together with ANTHOC – and only because OPSEU was here – we did get the chance to meet with the Deputy Minister of Social Protection and members of his staff on three occasions. Each time it was an extremely frustrating exercise as they tried to describe the benefits of the new privatized health care system they are rushing to implement. One particular Senior Staff person rolled her eyes as ANTHOC related a story of a brother who was killed for his activity against privatization.

That is the indignity that Colombia unionists have to face every day as they try to go about their work to defend members of their union and at the same time struggle to hold on to the remnants of a high quality public health care system. It’s the same work we do every day on Canada – but without the death threats, displacements and murder of trade unionists and human rights defenders.

Presenting the OPSEU banner to ANTHOC

ANTHOC took us up to the mountain overlooking Bogota on our last day in Colombia

30 years of struggle by the OREWA People

2009-08-28T09:11:00.015-05:00

Meeting with the OREWA People in Quibdo

On the evening of August 24 we were invited to a special meeting with the OREWA people of the region. They belong to an indigenous organization affiliated with ONIC and have had many struggles trying to preserve their land and culture. In particular they wanted to talk about Canadian mining companies and their activities in the region.

Along with the chief of the people in the area, representatives from ONIC and other related groups also attended. The association, OREWA, has many functions including education, legal services, communications, etc. One of the people present is from the Embera people. In total, 14 people attended.

On the way in there was a small room with about 25 crosses lined up against the walls, each with the name of someone who has died in their struggles. This respect for the heroes and victims who have been killed is common to all of the groups we have visited. An area near the entrance to the building notes the names and photos of the OREWA who have been assassinated.

Jose Luis Ruan Chiche, Brother Ataca, Amelia Carrillo, Omaira Cabrera, Juliana Cortez, Emilio Cansari, Dionisio Cabrera Mecha, Baltazar Mecha, Luis Felipe Flores, Jorge Cardenas, Dora Elena Sepulveda Velasquez, Celina Velas and Joselito Conquista are some of the people present.

“Our association is made of five nations including the Embera Wounaan, Katio, Chami and Tule from the region of Choco. We have had 30 years in this particular phase of our struggle. Our four principles are: unity, terrritory, culture and autonomy. The struggle has been about preserving our right to land and life. We are 245 local communities present in 29 of the 31 municipalities of Choco. Our struggle has allowed us to keep our culture, our teachings, our ancestral lands... We depend of the support of the church, NGOs and other groups. We have our own communications system within the Association.

Our political and cultural life is based on our concepts and views of life. It allows us to consolidate our autonomy and has an expression in our belief in food security and food sovereignty. We have different processes for decision making including a regional congress, indigenous authorities and offices for coordination, and an evaluation system for our programs. We have support for these programs from ONIC. Our main program areas are:

Territory and the environment
Justice and Human Rights
Culture
Youth
Women
Health

The OREWA representatives showed us a powerpoint on their major problems – entitled “Problematica”

The Constitution was rewritten in 1991 and states that this country is pluricultural and multi ethnic. How then is all of this violence possible? Because Colombia is a country which has a better constitution on paper than the application of it in practice.

This government has refused to sign Section 169 of the ILO, which speaks about consultation with indigenous people before development on their lands and its Democratic Security Plan is a tool used to violate the rights of Black and Indigenous communities.

A 2004 Constitutional Court stated that the government is ruling in an unconstitutional manner. This is fuelled by foreign capital operating in this country, taking ownership of the natural resources in the region and behaving in a manner which is opposite to the manner in which the Black and Indigenous groups see natural resources. They see it as the basis of life.

When foreign capital moved to the Pacific Region, war came to this region. The government reformed the constitution to make it easier for foreign capital to come into our areas. It is basic capitalism – everything has to be for profit; everything has to be in private hands not public hands.

“The government needs to legalize these atrocities committed against the people through the FTA and they need to continue the impunity to do that. We have had 1300 aboriginal people killed already under this regime. The Constitutional Court has noted that of the 84 aboriginal groups in Colombia, 34 are in danger of cultural extinction due to the fact that the government refuses to intervene and instead grants impunity to those who commit atrocities against these communities”.

(As I write this blog, we hear from ONIC that 12 AWA First Nations people were assassinated yesterday by paramilitaries in an area south of Cali, including 6 children)

Mining is one of the elements fueling this situation and places our communities in danger of extinction. The government of Canada has partially funded the reforms to the mining laws in Colombia and allowed Canadian companies to benefit from this exploitation.

Hydro electric projects have also caused large problems for the people and their environment. This area is native land. It has great biodiversity, equal to that of the Amazon and yet it is the area that has the greatest number of development projects per square mile. Also, these problems do not always show in the statistics as people who are displaced may move from one aboriginal village to another.

At present 75% of these projects are either on land belonging to Black communities or Indigenous communities. 67% of the mining concessions are on Indigenous land (assisted by Canadian mining companies) and the current mining laws have removed the requirement to consult with aboriginal groups, something that is contained in the ILO Agreement. It should be classified as a “crime against humanity”. The situation is not very visible by the rest of society and that is done on purpose. This area has the highest number of mega projects in the country.

The main particular case in Choco region is located in el Cerro Cara de Perro (Hill of Dogs), located between the municipalities of Murindo in the province Antioquia and Carmen Del Darien in the province of Choco .

Muriel Mining Company

The Mande Norte project will be an open pit mine including several hills and 19 rivers and creeks originate in this area. The rivers cross native and black communities.

The local Indigenous community is opposed to this mine. The reason is that the 3 hills are sacred land. Spirits live in the 3 hills and this will disturb the spirits and hurt mother earth. This has been the home of Black and Indigenous communities for thousands of years.

“We see the impacts already. The presence of the company has caused internal conflicts because of death threats, accusations and they try to divide us and disrupt our internal harmony and community”.

The army has come in to help the multinationals. This is outside of the mandate of the army. There is a protocol that local people/indigenous people should be informed when the military enters an area unless they are in hot pursuit of an enemy force. This did not happen here. The army came in with helicopters to assist mine engineers to clear land and begin mining development. This makes an oxymoron of the Democratic Security campaign. It is only protecting the rights of multinationals – not the Indigenous people.

In this instance the women of the community went ahead of all others in the community to try to resist as the helicopters came down.

Copper and molybdenum is mined in Colombia at Cara de Perro and in other areas gold is mined. The mines pay social development money to the local municipalities, even though the damage and environmental effects primarily hit indigenous and black peoples. This money does not reach those most affected.

Health Care

The example of the Aymara was quoted and shows how the whole situation affects the rights of people to good health care. In 2007 they reported 5 deaths of children from malnutrition because the families had been displaced and they had no crops. As well, the army controls how much food you can bring into the community as they accuse the communities of feeding the guerrillas. And now as they are privatizing the health care system, health care workers are not coming to our region.

Choco province has been abandoned by the government. They only look to this region for profit and they do not care about health care for the population. We are finding many malformations at birth – particularly up river where the mining is occurring and there are chemicals pouring into the streams.

Now with plans to create a new health care Co-op – very much like a privatized clinic. The government put in Capricom but they do nothing for the people. We have been trying for 8 months to get action on this issue – medications, equipment, etc. Aboriginal health is one of our major concerns.

The OREWA representatives asked us to take the message back and put pressure on the Canadian government and tell them that they should not just look at how to develop the mining project without consulting the Black and Indigenous community and without respecting the dignity of the groups who live in this land.

The OREWA people thanked us for coming and hearing their story directly from them. The OPSEU delegation committed the Union to supporting the people of the region by opposing the FTA, pushing for Bill 300 (Corporate Responsibility Legislation) and other measures. Hopefully OPSEU will also meet with the Canadian Ambassador to Colombia before we leave and voice our concerns about the situation facing First Nations and Black communities in the Choco region.

Black communities and the OREWA indigenous organization

2009-08-28T01:52:00.014-05:00

Cali to Quibdo

Our time in Quibdo was short but we learned a tremendous amount about the Black and Indigenous communities there and their respective issues. Yhony Muñoz had spent time working for the indigenous communities in this region. It is the hottest and most humid place we have visited and buzzing with life in the narrow streets and markets.

Our first meeting was with various community and religious groups who came together to present to us the conditions of some of the Black, Indigenous and Peasant groups they work with and the reasons why. We met in a community space overlooking the Atrato River.

Apparently during the period of slavery, some of the Black slaves brought to this region ran into the jungles to escape their enslavement. The native people welcomed them and taught them how to survive in the rain forest. This region, with its mix of Black and Indigenous communities is a unique expression of this history.

Father Sterling Londoño works in communities comprised primarily of Black Colombians.
Brother Fidel Silva works with communities in the National Agrarian Association on farm and agricultural matters.
Elsa Maria Rueda works on life, justice and peace issues as part of the Franciscan Order of the Church.
Sister Gloria Luna operates a women’s association in the area. They work on gender, ethnic and human rights matters.
Brother Alexander Moreno comes from a small town and territorial entity. The land is held in common and belongs to all in communities like this one.
Sister Martha Janeth Perez works at a pastoral centre on indigenous human rights matters.
Brother Joselito Conquista is on the OREWA indigenous group’s leadership committee and he works on financial matters for the group.
Maria Celina Velasquez works for the OREWA people.
Delis Palacio Erron is the president of an organization of displaced people from Bojaya who, after a massive bombing of the church by the paramilitary, cannot return to that town.
Brother Alberto Rivera is a lawyer who works for the Community Council of the Upper Atrato River.
Brother Victor Navarrete is part of the Council for National Agrarian Coordination.
Brother German Bedoya is also part of the CNAC.
Sister Yusbladidy Bedoya is part of the CNAC.
Sister Nicolasa Campaña is on the Community council of the Upper Atrato River.

COCOMOPOCA

We first looked at the situation of COCOMOPOCA (Consejo Cumunitario Mayor de la Organizacion Popular y Compesina del Alto Atrato).

This is a territorial entity. It is in the south western part of the province and is made up of 172,000 hectares of land. There are 42 community councils across this area. In 1999 there were 30,000 inhabitants but the majority have been displaced due to violence. They live on the upper Atrato River where there have been many problems. In 1999 there were 30,000 inhabitants and now there are only 17,000. Around 50% of the population has been forcibly displaced.

In 1999, using Bill 70 and decree 1745, they claimed the ownership of their ancestral lands. That is how they established their collective title to the land.

Since then the government has been denying these titles to the land. The government does not have any legal right to deny their title. Their only reasons are political and economic. Multinationals are interested in the land and the harbour on the coast. It is an important corridor for illegal groups to transport drugs and war materials inland or from the interior to the coast.

Anglo Gold Ashanti

In 2006/2007 Anglo-American Ashanti (a South African company) requested licenses from the government to mine on about 50% of their land. The company has been given more than 40 licences in over 50,000 hectares of land.

The inhabitants have had their land claim in since 1999 without response but Anglo American was licensed after an expedited process in 2007. In protest, the native group has also been using an old law that provides priority for local indigenous mineral production over modern industrial approaches as a way to contest the licenses provided to Anglo American. Again, this legal challenge has not been recognized by the government.

Within their 172,000 hectares there are about 120 open pit mines for gold. This contaminates the river with mercury and kills many fish. These operations are illegal as they do not follow ministry requirements. Local authorities do not apply the law. There are also oil deposits in the region. Natural gas deposits are also present around the town of Bagado.

There is also a mapping of the province underway to assist in mining and other natural resource development. Large scale development will mean cultural genocide for the current people. Once the multinationals come in, the destruction of the culture begins and this in turn brings other social problems.

Anglo Gold Ashanti is now using the name Kedahda – a subsidiary organization-to counter the mobilization efforts of local people. Kedadha exerts control through paramilitary tactics, displacements and other measures. They use the government to make changes to the mining laws. While Kedadha is one such organization, there are other "front organizations" in other regions with the same dirty tactics.

The local people also have problems with the army. The army of Colombia is directly guarding and protecting the gold mining companies. Army helicopters transported the surveyors and mine engineers into the area. They also set up a protected camp for the gold mining company. Constitutionally, the army should not be used to protect multinational corporations. But instead they are intimidating the local people and asking: Why are you still here? Haven’t you gone yet?

Free Trade Agreement

The FTA with Canada will also have an effect in this region of Colombia. President Uribe has said that he will not give any more community land titles to Black or Indigenous communities as these titles could slow development under the future FTA. The agreement will take land ownership from Colombians and pass it to private interests. The people in this region understand that western unions have some power so they must use the power to influence their governments in favour of Colombians and against the FTA.

The internal armed conflict in Colombia is 60 years old and it is based on land ownership. Community leaders at this meeting stressed that this is the source of the crisis here. Four million hectares have been taken from Black, Indigenous and peasant communities and turned into mono-cultures like palm oil or sugar cane production for bio-fuels. This robs local people of their food security.

“The government says we oppose development. This is not true. We want to use our own methods and approaches to development. This is a clash of development models. We want development that can support our lifestyle. Their model only benefits multinational companies and the wealthy and forgetting the majority of society.”

A couple of other examples were given:

Palm Oil Scandal

In Santander province in the municipality of San Vicente de Chucuri, the government announced a project offering displaced peasants land to grow palms for palm oil. They did not say that a refinery would be needed to process the oil. They were given loans to start but they had to guarantee the loans with their land. When the refinery came, they only offered low prices for the local farmers and so the farmers lost their land. They now just work on the land, which is owned by the palm oil refiners. The government said this was proof that local farmers could not be depended on to be partners in this project. They said it was better to give the rights to large companies that have the needed resources.

Another example was from the Valle del Cauca province. Land was given to people but they could not get a loan to put this land into production. The land was reassigned to a larger company that could put together the required financing.

The participants at this meeting reiterated that there is no reason for us to be producing bio-fuels when it is threatening our food security and independence. We cannot enter into a FTA with Canada or anyone else if this is what it means.

"The President and the government are experts at saying that everything is good in Colombia. This is not true. In the Lower Atrato River people are being displaced with large cattle farms and palm oil crops. In the middle and upper parts of the river there are also problems with many people displaced. The government is also good at looking for money for aid to combat terrorism and other threats. This money is being used to kill peasants and black people. The government is killing far more innocent people than guerilla fighters. The government has a large gunboat tied up close by. Can't the cost for this ship be used for better purposes?"

University workers fight for human rights

2009-08-27T21:38:00.013-05:00

Murals at the University of Cali

University Workers Union – SINTRAUNICOL

On August 24 before we left Cali, we met with Carlos Gonzalez, President of SINTRAUNICOL at the University of Cali. As well we met with others involved with the union. Jose Sanchez, our driver and guide from yesterday is on the Union executive.

Parona Ramirez, a microbiologist and professor of 25 years standing is also here.
Brother Dagoberto Hurtado is part of the human rights section of the union. He works at the university.
Laura Estiga, the mother of Julio Estiga, who was killed by the government on October 5, 2006 is present.
William Silva is the father of Johnny Silva, an active member of the student’s movement, killed in Sept 22, 2005 is also here.

One of the main areas of work for this union is human rights. So many students and workers from the universities throughout the country have been killed. Their union has members in the 32 remaining public universities in Colombia. At this University the union is focused on human rights. Many professors and students are being threatened, jailed and killed or forced into exile. “The humanitarian crisis and the response by the government which has allowed the paramilitaries to take over our universities – the University of Antioquia, Cordoba and Cali in particular - the only response to us is bullets - whether police or paramilitaries”.

We heard testimonies about three cases at the University of Cali. Johnny Silva, William Ortiz and Julian Estiga. However, there have been others – Catarina Soto who was involved in the student movement and was assassinated in 2007. In that case the judge ruled in the family’s favour and the killer was taken to court. We heard from William’s father first.

"The levels of impunity are so high that I do not expect justice to be served. We know who killed my son and we have been to the Attorney General's office to ask when justice will be done. The answer we have been give is that you cannot screw up this officer's career – you should just forgive him. We have had 11 different reps from the Attorney General's department in charge of this case already and the more time that passes the more difficult it is. In October we will go before the special Inter-American Commission at the Organization of American States. I ask you a favour – please put pressure on this government – send letters to request that this government respect its own people. This is not just for my son but for all of the others too. For example, Julian Andres, who was part of the Committee of Truth, was trying to find the answers regarding the death of my son. He was also killed.

We have 38 pieces of evidence that point to the riot police killing my son. We also have a recording and the Attorney General's office has said that we need actual pictures of him being shot! They even opened a case against us and our lawyer for defamation of character. We have a photo of the one who killed my son. The General in charge at the time of the shooting has now retired but is among those being investigated for links with the drug cartels. Please ask the Canadian government to pressure the Colombian government to give an answer to this case. Otherwise we have no recourse to justice."

Johnny's mother showed us pictures of Johnny with his sister.

"Johnny was a physics student in his sixth semester and it is now four years since he was killed. The police officers who killed him were not even suspended from duty. He was killed in front of his classmates and many have testified about the one who actually killed my son."

But that's not enough for the Attorney General.

Julian's mother also spoke to us during this meeting:

“On October 5, 2006, my son came from a meeting with the Provincial Premier, Garzon. Around 10:30 pm he came to my house and then went to walk his girlfriend home. He then stopped at the pool hall briefly. He was well liked by everyone in the neighbourhood so he had little fear in walking home late at night in the darkness. Johnny had a bag with him with a lot of evidence of corruption by someone at the University. He had been discussing this with the Premier.
He was just a few blocks from home and was walking towards our home when a man dressed up as a woman approached him. He tried to use his cell but was then shot in the back. There had been two taxi drivers in the area and one of them took him to hospital... The other cab picked up the man dressed as a women and the shooter. That cab took off. Some gasoline station workers said that they had seen two cabs driving around the neighbourhood earlier. Also, someone they know from the Attorney General’s office said they had seen a soldier in the area. I think that this soldier may have been the one my son met at a military base when he needed to correct some paperwork problems about his military service. His name was Carlos Emilio Mondragon. I think he may have been there to identify my son to the assassins.”

Student William Ortiz and Professor Barbara Bourques were other examples. Barbara was killed in her classroom in front of the students, some of whom were also wounded in the action.

The union believes it cannot separate itself from all of these atrocities committed against students and workers at the university - - just trying to participate in demonstrations and marches, etc., voicing their opinion on what is happening at the university.

Another very important area the union is working on is the fight to keep public education in the universities. At present they are fighting against the increased use of loans for students instead of grants which have traditionally made it easier for poorer students to access university. Even at the public universities like Cali the union has uncovered corruption of officials who are taking bribes and circumventing the proper application process. Rich kids who do not have the grades are getting in and taking up spaces that would normally be given to poorer kids who do have the grades.

SINTRAUNICOL has relations with some Canadian unions and is also part of the CONTUA – a tri-continental organization of university workers in the Americas.
OPSEU pledged to take the message back and to develop closer relations with SINTRAUNICOL in the future.

Cane Cutters of Palmira

2009-08-26T02:03:00.016-05:00

On Sunday we were invited to another meeting with sugar cane cutters and other community leaders from the municipality of Palmira. We were driven in a van to a councillor's office – Councillor Ibis Danilo Yanguas who represents Polo Democratico in the area - and later driven through the sugar cane plantations.

Some representatives of the women's movement attended as well. The movement is made up of the wives of the sugar cane workers among others. Sister Claudia Correa began the discussion by talking of environmental concerns the community has in this area. The sugar cane mills for example are taking too much water and polluting the rivers. When the group started to raise this issue they were threatened. The use of the river has been privatized. it is no surprise that the mill gets the water first leaving insufficient water for the people in town.

This community began working with Friends of the Earth to study problems in the area and found that the basic problem is that the big plantations have been given more and more concessions and more and more water is then taken. People here are worried about food security issues because of the sugar cane industry. The major agribusinesses like Carrefour, Exito, etc. are buying products from farmers for a very low price and so the peasant farmers/campesinos cannot exist any more. Then the Super companies come and say "We will rent the land from you to plant the sugar cane" and thus they keep expanding. This takes land out of the food production needed by local people.

The cost of seeds is high but the women's organization and the community are trying to build a seed bank from which farmers can get seeds for free. This will help the economic situation of the small farmers. These are the kinds of things they are trying to do to support local farmers and the poorer people of the area.

We heard from a brother who works for Manuelita Sugar Company who wanted to talk of problems in the sugar cane mills. Most workers belong to "cooperatives" (but they are different from cooperatives in Canada). The cooperatives are set up and controlled by the sugar mills. This means that they are covered by commercial law rather that Colombia's labour laws. The workers are not workers; rather they are considered part owners of the enterprises they are in.

The workers from Palmira region have an association and have received a lot of help from the union SINALTRAINAL and CUT, from SINATRAUNICOL (the union of university workers) and from Senator Alexander Lopez but they are not officially affiliated with any union. In 2008 they tried to meet with the employers' association, ASOCAÑA, without success so they called for an assembly of sugar cane cutters. They stopped work on September 15, 2008 and their strike lasted 45 days before they were forced to go back to work because of the harassment and the difficulties of sustaining the strike and 6 of the strikers were called to court for Oct. 14.

Who owns the mills? There are two main owners of three of the mills – Ardila Lulle, who is also the owner of the biggest TV news company, owns Postobon (which is a joint partner with Pepsi) and he was one of the main contributors to President Uribe's election funds. Manuelita is a publicly traded company and the Eder family owns most of the shares in this company.

On October 21 the six workers were placed under house arrest for 10 days and then spent two days in jail. They got out but the process is still continuing. When this happened, President Uribe and the Minister of Social Protection got together with ASOCAÑA and the next day the Minister of Social Protection announced in the news that this strike had been infiltrated by the guerrilla group FARC and that they were terrorists! When the workers appeared in court, the Judge looked through the files and the charges of terrorism, assault, etc. and determined that they were just workers trying to claim their rights, nothing more. So the process continues.

One thing they did get out of their strike was the right to be reassigned to less difficult tasks when workers are injured at work. Prior to this, they were simply fired. It has to be monitored but at least it is there in the agreement. At this time there is no health care coverage and with the privatization of the health system in Colombia, few if any workers have insurance coverage for themselves or their families.

Another issue is bio-fuels. The government told the people that bio-fuel production would create jobs but they do not believe it is true. They are mechanizing the process and all of the equipment for the plants, including farm machinery, can be imported without the companies paying taxes. This exemption provided to these hugely profitable companies applies specifically to bio-fuels production and infrastructure development.

Manuelita Sugar Cane Mill is growing fast. They have mills in Peru as well. They are building an ethanol plant in the eastern flat lands and they are also involved in the shrimp business in Cartagena. With this growth and profit how can this company be allowed to keep its workers in poverty?

One million hectares are soon to be committed to sugar production. They are doing a lot of sugar bio-fuel production - producing 300,000 litres of ethanol. The military bases from the US are being prepared in advance. They know that with all the land going into palm oil and sugar production for bio-fuels a revolt is coming. Bill 1135 (March 10, 2009) allows for the increase in sugar cane crops.

These workers want their problems known worldwide and are mobilizing support from many places. As well, they want assistance to learn about unions and want to choose their own leaders from within their members. But not all sugar cane cutters have an understanding of what a union is. Those with a low level of education often believe what they hear about links to the guerrillas, etc. so they are being very cautious. In general they recognize that they need a union but they want to try to educate workers first from within the association. And then people will feel more comfortable to join a union. The mills and the government are trying to make people afraid.

An adventure through the sugar cane fields

After we met with these representatives we were taken to meet the cane workers in the fields. Unfortunately it was a bit of a cloak and dagger situation and we could not connect with them. All cane fields look the same and it's all on private property so we had to be discreet. Finally we met up with their bus on the main road and although the workers who were exhausted were willing to go back to where they had been cutting cane all day just so we could get good photos, we said no. As well, we knew that some of them would come back to a centre where we gathered again to hear more stories and to show our support.

Cane cutters meeting

At about 5 pm that same day, a large group of workers gathered to come and tell their stories to the Canadians. They had gone home to clean up and get a quick bite and came determined to have their voices heard by the international community.

We heard from several workers. Here are a couple of their comments:

"It's an international struggle between classes – the workers and the bosses. The only way to fight against the repression is to join together with other internationalists who are interested in supporting our struggle."

"Our main concern is outsourcing. This type of hiring harms worker rights the most. We have the right to be hired directly by the company. We should not be hired the way we are as this leaves us without the coverage of many laws. As outsourced workers we get nothing when we get sick."

"Soon 250 workers will be replaced by each new machine that they are bringing in. ASOCAN said by 2011 all production must be mechanized. What's going to happen to us? Our kids? This region? We have to fight back as things are getting really polarized. We have witnessed the machines already and to make things worse for us right now, the companies have left the sugar cane that we have cut out to dry in the hot sun for several days so it will weigh less because they pay us by how much we cut. Please try to counteract all of this misinformation from Uribe saying we are terrorists and we don't want to work."

Our OPSEU tour members pledged to write letters to the employers' association, to expose their situation and to stay connected with this group of workers in their continuing struggles.

Workers and unions continue their resistance

2009-08-25T11:00:00.008-05:00

We flew to Cali on Sat Aug 22. A city of 3 million, it is more tropical than Bogota.

Since we arrived it has been an invigorating weekend of meetings with strong workers and trade unionists from the public sector in Cali as well as sugar cane workers in this region.

Cali public workers fight back against privatization

On Saturday we sat down to a wonderful luncheon meeting with the Executive Board members of SINTRAEMCALI – representing more than 2,000 workers who work for the municipality in water, hydro, sewage and other public services. SINTRAEMCALI has been waging a valiant fight against privatization of public services in Cali for several years.

In the last five years, 54 men and one woman have been fired by their employer Emcali, the public services corporation, for organizing acts of resistance in the form of demonstrations and meetings. Their families lost their jobs as well and there is no support from the government. The union is assisting them and launching a court action on their behalf in response to the illegal firings.

For 70 years they have had a continuous struggle to keep public services in their community. The municipality makes $2.5 million a day in providing all of these services to the community so it is an extremely viable operation. For their efforts, they have had brothers and sisters jailed, forcibly disappeared, killed and forced into exile. This struggle right now is one of the most important according to the Union.

Senator Alexander Lopez joined our meeting and spoke early before leaving to support a struggle of sugar cane workers. Although we met his staff in Bogota, this was our first meeting with the Senator himself. Not the usual stereotype of a politician, the young Senator breezed in looking like a young worker ready to fight. We could not think of any counterpart in Canadian politics! He began by reminding us that he is from the only leftist party in Colombia. Former President of SINTRAEMCALI, he is now President of the Human Rights Commission in Congress but he actually considers the Colombian government illegal. They have violated the constitution in their labour and human rights laws, 50 Congress members are now in jail for links with paramilitaries, and President Uribe is trying once again to change the constitution to make way for his own re-election again. – that’s why we call it an illegal government said the Senator. Originally a Colombian President could only stay in for one term but now Uribe wants to stay in for a third term and so is trying to change the constitution once again.

Our visit is very important at this time he said, as it is important to stop the Free Trade agreement between our two countries – not just because of the human rights situation in Colombia but because it will be bad for Canadian workers and civil society as well.

In 2009 alone, there have been 30 trade unionists killed in this country simply because they are trade unionists. In the past 15 years, the union has been involved in a fierce struggle against privatization and the local population has joined with us as well. The struggle has to escalate now and the Union needs the support of OPSEU and other unions. President Uribe was in Cali last week and announced that if the process of privatization was not finished by August 30, he would do it for them! Closing down the public services in Cali and farming them out to private companies would be like a massacre in Cali – 2500 jobs lost but multiplied by 3 or 4 depending on the number of families. That's 2500 families losing their jobs and losing their dignity.

The President of SINTRAEMCALI summarized the struggle the Union has had. And the price they have had to pay for standing up for their rights.

The Colombian government has been able to privatize many other sectors in the country but because of the fierce resistance in Cali they have not been able to do so to date. Apparently the government has a plan, called Operation Dragon according to the Union, and it has two pillars: elimination or assassination of union leaders, or the attempt to buy them off. The union has begun a legal battle to show that the public corporation is completely viable and brings in a huge amount of revenue for the municipality. However, these actions are not without cost as the government recently froze all of the bank accounts of the union and the company stopped the automatic dues deduction. That has meant that with a budget of $30,000 a month the union is now missing $400,000 in revenue. Although the councilors could stand up and fight this injustice, they are for the most part afraid of the consequences.

The latest strategy by the government is to bribe the local executive board members of the union to try to dismantle the whole union – and to take away the security scheme for trade unionists (which has included body guards, special cars, etc.)

President Uribe seems to have a plan to annihilate unions and has a special hatred of SINTRAEMCALI because of their fight against privatization. He has said they are terrorist but the union has denounced violence altogether and has taken this government to court for defamation of character.

SINTRAEMCALI wants us to voice our concerns back in Canada and asked for any kind of solidarity we can show in this fight against privatization.

Central Unitaria de Trabajadores (CUT)

After meeting with SINALTRAINAL we met with the Cauca regional body of CUT, the national labour central body for affiliates throughout Colombia as well as representatives of ANTHOC (Health Care Union) and SINTRAMETAL (Metal Workers Union).

CUT is the umbrella body for 67 unions and 40,000 workers in 42 municipalities but that only represents approximately 5% of the workforce. Most of the members of CUT are in health care, education and the public sector. Due to the neo-liberal economic model in place in recent years two –thirds of the workers in the region come from out-sourcing now. At present the workers facing the most critical situation are the some 19,000 sugar cane cutters and port workers. The conditions of “modern slavery” are mere reasons for protests and mobilizations, In 2009 Cauca has had 20 major demonstrations and all were met with heavy repression.

Sugar Cane cutters facing major assault

On Saturday we met with the union of sugar workers which is a local union of SINALTRAINAL. About 20 workers filed into a room where we began our discussion. In 2005 the workers at nine of the 13 sugar mills stopped work and their call was to stop the outsourcing of jobs, a proper collective agreement, an increase in the amount of money made by the tonne, to fix the machines used to weigh the sugar cane and various other demands. In 2008 they also struck for similar issues.

On September 15, 2008, the workers downed tools and stopped production to get answers to their demands. They were joined by 10,000 more from various communities who demanded that the government and the sugar cane association sit down and solve the problems and recognize the union’s issues.

The strike lasted for 49 days and although one mill was first to sign the Agreement, others held out for 56 days and the last one settled after 86 days! Human Rights violations continued as well as intimidation to the point that one sugar mill, Providencia, brought in an artillery tank and a water tank with a cannon. Later in the same mill the army came in and took people’s shopping bags, food and ID. They made a huge bonfire of the documents. Since the strike, there have been 6 brothers who are on trail as a result of the strike.

Mechanization of sugar cane cutting would be devastating for the workers in this area. The President of the employers’ association, ASOCANA, aid that by October this region has to be 99% mechanized. So far they have reduced it by 50%. Cane cutters are paid by the tonne. For one tonne, they get approximately $6,400 pesos ($ 3 for 1 tonne). In production, they make $5.00 a day. When this process is mechanized, it means that 12,000 families with be affected.

The Life of a Sugar worker

"I get up at 3 a.m. to prepare food and I have to be there at 4:30. I work all day and come home at 7:00 pm or so, 365 days a year. We have no life other than this and we cannot afford to buy a house and 80% of us have to rent. There's no possibility of education, no health plan etc. and if we organize, we are accused of belonging to a terrorist group..."

The workers did not get what we wanted from the last strike but could not hold out any longer. Outsourcing means no job security, no benefits but does not allow for proper housing, food education or education.

Most of the workers originally came from elsewhere in the country, imported as a labour force for the sugar cane companies. Eighty per cent of the land destined for agricultural purposes in this province is destined for sugar cane and the impact on the workforce will be devastating if the sugar cane cutting is mechanized. The union says there are no plans for any alternative work for the current workforce and where else can they go? If they stand up for themselves as in the recent strike, the government uses heavy repression. Thirty three unionists were wounded in the recent demonstration (see picture) and many people have been accused of being terrorists. The stigma of being called a terrorist alone is enough to make many workers afraid.

This group of SINALTRAINAL workers is calling for help especially in the field of education and workshops on labour issues. Members of the OPSEU delegation are committed to taking the concerns of these and other workers back to the organization as soon as we return.

The message is clear - stop the free trade deal

2009-08-24T23:34:00.002-05:00

The message we heard on the second day of our trip was very clear. Canadian unions and civil society should do all that is possible to stop the ratification of the Canada Colombia Free Trade Agreement - postponed until the fall parliamentary session in Ottawa.

Once again we met with various organizations and it is impossible to capture everything in a blog. But here's a taste of who we met and what we heard...

The Women's Organization of Colombia

Yolanda Becerra, leader of the Popular Women’s' Organization in Colombia -Organization Feminina Popular (OFP) - visited OPSEU in February this year as part of a delegation of social organizations who belong to COMOSOC. Their mission was to convince Canadians that a free trade agreement would make conditions worse for the majority of the people of Colombia. Here in Bogota, Yolanda talked more about her organization and the work they do. OFP began 37 years ago and was born out of supporting the struggles of oil workers in one region in particular. Working out of women's houses and setting up programs throughout the country, there are now 3500 women active in OFP. Their work spans health care issues, education, culture, human rights and community development. They have been particularly active in denouncing the civil and human rights violations carried out by the paramilitaries (a term used to describe the death squads proven historically to have close links with the military and the state) in various regions. The destruction of social networks has affected women in particular and OFP has consistently stepped up to denounce these acts. Because of this, four women leaders have been killed and countless others threatened, accused of terrorism, accused of being guerillas.

OFP has a new project - setting up a soy bean production scheme. They are producing soya milk, bread, tofu, etc. and while it’s a source of income, it is also empowering women as they work together.

Another important initiative of OFP is the Women Against War. Right now the question is why the U.S. is building seven new military bases in Colombia. OFP will be organizing workshops and raising the issue throughout the region, not just Colombia.

OFP pamphlets

Housing with Dignity

We met with a network of Colombians who are defending their constitutional rights - especially the right to housing with dignity. They are opposing the expropriation of their homes and land because it is a violation of civil rights and constitutional rights.

In Colombia housing and shelter are supposedly guaranteed under the constitution but since Bill 794 in 2003 the law has changed, making it easier to expropriate people's homes.

Close to 500,000 people have been removed since Bill 794 and sometimes 100 - 200 police are brought in to force people from their homes. Family services officers also come in to take children as without a home families cannot care for children. This forces the family to find and reclaim children as well as try to find housing. The lawyer and the judge may also be part of the expropriation scheme and team. All attend and all are part of the “expropriation mafia”. After paying 100s of thousands of pesos the family may miss a payment after which the bank moves in. These payments have usually just paid the interest on their loan and that makes it easier for the banks to come in and take it all away.

In Bogota, 100-150 homes are expropriated daily with about 350 expropriations daily across Colombia. Many of these families would like to continue to make payments but cannot. The financial system (banks and others) are part of the power structure that has elected the Conservative Coalition members to Congress. The banks in Colombia have not decreased interest rates as others have done during the economic crisis. Interest rates in Colombia can be as high as 40% at the consumer level.

There is no help for these people from any of the branches of the government. Court decisions in these cases are in favour of the banks and those who resist expropriation are branded as terrorists and are incarcerated. Once houses are expropriated they are put on public auction. People in the USA, Spain and England can bid in the auctions, buy the homes, and then rent them out. Most expropriations occur in areas where high end development projects are underway. People are threatened by paramilitary groups and some then sell at a low price. The remaining residents are directly challenged by the paramilitaries with family members killed and so they leave to save their lives.

The Constitutional Court has ruled that these actions are not consistent with the Constitution but the government has ignored these rulings. The rulings will be provided as a reference to assist OPSEU in lobbying the Canadian Government and for a possible meeting with the Canadian Ambassador to Colombia.

Representatives from the network oppposing the expropriation of housing and land.

The National Organization of Indigenous communities(ONIC)

We had an excellent meeting with the Colombian National Organization of Indigenous People (ONIC) in their office in Bogota. Their office was buzzing with activity and it was a warm and welcoming environment.

There are 45 aboriginal organizations in Colombia, representing 102 indigenous groups. Of these groups, 82 are not officially recognized by the government. In 31 separate districts, large mining concessions are soon to be developed. Some areas are populated by aboriginal people while others are populated by Black Colombians. Both groups suffer a similar fate.

While the Constitution requires the government to consult with residents in these areas this has not taken place in indigenous areas that are not “recognized” by the government.

The Cerrejon coal mine is one example. Millions of tons of coal are produced with much of it going to New Brunswick and Nova Scotia for power production. The coal dust affects the health of nearby native people. While they suffer, profits from the mines go to the government, with nothing coming back to cover the negative affects suffered by the indigenous people.

ONIC has shown how Canadian mining companies assisted the Colombian government in reforming the mining laws in Colombia. These companies will benefit if the FTA is implemented.

When Kimy Pernia, the previous ONIC leader (who was assassinated) was in Canada in 2001 he spoke of the need to pass legislation to require Canadian mining companies to abide by the same rules in effect in Canada when they work in other countries. Bill C-300, "An Act Respecting Corporate Accountability for the activity of Mining, Oil or Gas Corporations in Developing Countries" has still not passed through parliament eight years later. This leaves 750 indigenous communities in Colombia under threat from mining primarily done by Canadian companies.

ONIC is trying to get the government to recognize the 82 excluded indigenous areas. It would make it more likely that meaningful consultations and negotiations could take place; otherwise they will be ignored.

The ONIC representatives also spoke of the increase of armed groups on their land, especially the Colombian Army. Under the Democratic Security Program the indigenous groups are expected to assist, support and cooperate with the army’s High Mountain and Mobile Battalions.

The creation of army bases has used valuable agricultural lands while dividing groups and this loss of land has resulted in less food and starvation in some areas. Native people will cease to exist without their land. Once they lose their land base people must move to cities and this opens up the land for development.

Torture, killings and disappearances often precede land development initiatives. All are designed to ensure there is no opposition to the project.

These actions have again put the people of the ONIC under great pressure. They believe that that there is a specific government policy not to recognize their rights. The government has dragged out any discussion or action to establish processes to address this matter. There have been 450 process/claims presented to government and for the last three years the government has suspended all consultations to clarify and address these claims.

The indigenous groups are marginalized and the same techniques are used against them as are used against all others who challenge the government. When they peacefully protest they are faced with criminal charges and surveillance, labeled as terrorists and accused of putting Colombian development at risk.

OPSEU member Yhony Muñoz meets up again with German Casama, ONIC

ONIC leaders and OPSEU

ONIC had four requests:

Continue the dialogue on these issues
Assist in lobbying for the recognition of aboriginal rights in Colombia through pressure from the international community
Raise the issues in Canada and expose the complicity with the Colombian regime
Ensure the laws recommended by Kimy are legislated in Canada

ONIC and indigenous people in Colombia are facing a huge battle over their land and we are committed to taking the message back to our members as soon as possible.

Senator Jorge Robledo

Senator Robledo with OPSEU delegation

Senator Jorge Robledo is a member of the Colombian Congress representing the Polo Democratico Alternativo party - the opposition party in Colombia. The FTA is also bad for Canadians and this cannot be forgotten, says the Senator. Even Paul Krugmann, Nobel prize-winning American Economist, says that Colombia is not a country with which FTAs should be established.

FTAs cause the rapid spread of a financial crisis like the one that started last year. With global trade and the elimination of borders, problems spread rapidly. There is already a 60-80% free trade environment in Colombia and the country has a 20 year history of "near" free trade. It can draw from this experience:

Unemployment has increased
The quality of remaining employment has decreased
A good health system has been turned into a business
Public agencies have been transferred to private hands
State agencies now belong to trans-nationals based outside of Colombia
Foreign companies are taking over from Colombian Companies
Colombia’s food self sufficiency has ended with food now being imported
Mining development has had many bad effects on the people and the environment

This can only get worse if the 1,300 page Colombia/USA FTA proceeds. It will completely erode Colombian control over all areas, including those few areas that remain within national control.

While the human rights issues are important, even without these the FTA is a bad idea. The Senator has not focused on the Human Rights abuses as a result. Others have done that for us.

And what has his opposition brought him - threats from the government and the President! On the same day that President Uribe met with Prime Minister Harper the Senator received notice that the Prosecutor’s Office had opened an investigation to determine his links with terrorist groups. The timing was not coincidental. He had met earlier with the Canadian House of Commons to set out his party’s position on the FTA and the record of the Colombian government.

To counter this effect and try to discredit him and his message Uribe would have ensured Harper was given a copy of the investigation notice along with his own comments in support of the investigation. This is classic Colombian government action!

He was met with a great deal of media attention as a result. The media carried the President’s message far and wide and the stigma of the allegations will be hard to shake.

Every day is a humbling experience

2009-08-23T01:44:00.035-05:00

Everywhere we go we hear disturbing stories from people who have suffered death threats (mostly from paramilitaries) or one or more of their family members has been killed merely because of activism in their union or social justice group or community.

Sometimes too we have heard very painful stories from people like the women in this blog who spent hours with us because they want the international community to know what is happening in Colombia. Their sons were kidnapped by army recruiters and murdered. The post is long - but I would ask you to read it and imagine yourself sitting in the room with these women as you read. The stories must be told and Canadians must know the real story of what is happening to people every day in Colombia....

Friday was a very emotional day for all of us as we listened to Colombians opening their wounds, determined to tell us their difficult stories so that the world can hear the truth.

Two mothers in particular spent several hours with us so that they could explain what happened to their sons and in doing so, clear their sons’ names in the eyes of an international union at least.

Here are some excerpts from the mothers’ testimony to us:

Mother One

“My son Victor was a soldier through the Colombian draft. After his army service he suddenly disappeared on August 23rd 2008 with the actual death noted later. He was 23 at the time of his death.

On September 21 my other son received a phone call from forensic experts to note that his brother had been killed. The death place was distant from the person’s home.

I was informed after I had gone through a medical operation by my daughter. We went to identify the body and the photo the Department of Forensics matched. I fainted.

When I identified the picture we collected money from friends so we could afford to go to the distant place where the body actually was. We went to the funeral home and paid for the coffin. I started to drive with my other son and daughter to Santander, stopping on the way at a small town for rest. We then went to the town of Ocaña where the body was.

The person at the morgue claimed my son was a guerrilla killed in combat with the Army. He repeated this several times. The army had killed him in combat. I asked how this could have happened as he had just joined the group 2 days before his death. This made no sense. He could not have been in battle so soon after first recruitment. I said I would go to the media about this.

NOTE: There were stories in the media that people had been recruited not by the guerillas but by paramilitaries to be killed by the army simply to raise the army body count.

There was a deal made by Uribe as part of the peace process with the paramilitaries that in some government departments, like the forensic service, patronage positions were assigned to demobilized paramilitary members.

I went to fill out the forms to legalize the body transfer and had to look at internet photos of the dead to again verify that this was my son.

They left me there with the body at 11 in the morning on Sept. 3. On September 4 the body went to the funeral home and the funeral was September 5. My son John who went to pick up the body with me immediately went looking for who was recruiting kids for the paramilitary. He was threatened and then survived being pushed off a bridge, but after being released from the hospital he was killed. He had found answers but had been killed before he could convey the information to others.

John had also received many death threats before he was killed. He continued nevertheless. John was the father of a two month baby when he died from a shot from a silenced pistol fired by a man on a motorcycle. (He was 28.)

He was shot in the face. He was first taken to a small hospital and then a larger hospital. I was first told that he had gone into a coma. I was trying to get help for him frantically but the specialist said he had died while in coma.

So I got the news from the doctor and asked for permission to see my son. The doctor did not want to allow it but finally did. I could see that they had left my son to die without any further intervention to save his life. He was in the same condition as when he left the small hospital.

I went door to door,as a single mother of eight, to collect sufficient funds for the funeral. My son John was loved by many. He was a father of three children.

After they killed John my daughter and I received many death threats. They ordered me to be quiet or both would be killed. I did not give out my home address but my daughter had done so once to a reporter. The death threats were mailed.

When the Attorney General’s office offers protection they rent a room and tell people to go there and not go out. I did not want to be a prisoner. Instead I am trying to become a refugee by going to another country. I fear for my daughter.

My parents were also internally displaced. They were peasants when there was violence in the countryside. I was born as a displaced person in Los Janos. My husband was abusive and violent saying that if I left he would kill the children. At 4:00 am one morning I fled to Bogota, becoming another displaced Colombian. I rented a room with my 5 children. I have always been hard working and honest. I started another relationship and through this relationship had three additional children but unfortunately this man was again abusive so again I had to flee.

Three of my children have been in the army through the draft. My last son is 21 years old. I asked the President: Why is the value of our children so low? It seems that only rich children have a chance.

After this happened other mothers of children who died in combat came forward and started a court case that the Colombian Army had killed their children. Some Army soldiers were charged.

They are now in court facing the charges. The mothers have to face the soldiers in court. The regional court may not convict the soldiers on trial. They certainly will not go after those who gave the orders to do this. The 15th Battalion of the Army had conducted this practice of killing to raise the body count.

When Uribe was elected he had a system of rewards for army units who had a high body count. Positives meant rewards.

The soldiers say that they should not go to jail because they have families. We mothers say that they are simply killers.

I want these people to see justice but it is hard. I have received death threats. Please help me and my daughter. Please help with my refugee claim in Canada. I am a poor and hard working women so please help."

Marina Erman is the second mother who wants to testify.

I am the mother of four. My second child was killed. The child had developmental challenges due to a concussion prior to birth in a car accident. He was premature, born at six months. He also developed meningitis at 1 month of age. The doctors said he will die so they stopped treatment. They disconnected the child and I took him to another city for treatment. Miraculously, the baby recovered from the meningitis.

He was age 26 when he was recruited by the recruiting teams. He had seizures periodically and had treatments frequently. He was not able to be a soldier or work. Because he was disabled he looks like a big man but mentally was nine years old. He was kind in the way a child is, always helping others. He never cared about money so he tried to serve people by delivering flyers. When money was given to improve the neighbourhood he would help on projects. When water to poor areas was cut he would deliver water by bucket to many homes. He brought me flowers. It would have been easy for a recruiter to trick him.

One day he disappeared. I went three times to the Attorney General to report the child missing but they refused to take my submission. They said that he went with a girlfriend so let him have a good time. I then started to search for him. My search went on for eight months worrying always about the fact that he would be without his medication. I looked in hospitals and jails. I walked the streets at night looking for him among the many street people.

On September 16, 2008 I was phoned by a doctor from the Forensic Service Unit asking me to come in to identify a photo of a dead man. So I went to their office and was asked whether I was ready to identify the photo of the dead man. I said I was.

It was my son. I saw that his face was destroyed. I asked when he had died. They said that it had happened on Jan 12, 2008. He had been killed in Ochana. He was in a common grave with others. I then wanted to recover the body, but the doctor said that they would not do the exhumation unless at least three bodies had to be recovered. Each exhumation costs $200. I was asked to find out what the cost of the funeral and body transfer would be. It would be about $7,000. The mothers have to pay all funeral costs even though their children were killed illegally by the army.

I wanted to know how he was killed. They would not say. What was strange was the list of his clothing in that he never wore the kind of underwear the body was found in and never wore rubber boots which they said he had on.

They called me on the 23rd of September to say that other bodies now had to be recovered, so the exhumation could go ahead. During the previous year I had started to pay into the funeral service costs. It is a type of insurance. When I asked how much money was in the fund the company said I wasn’t in their system. I then borrowed 9 million pesos ($4500) from friends and went to get the body.

On September 23rd we received the papers to go to get the bodies in Santander. If he was killed on January 12th why did it take so long to get the notice of deaths?

Whenever there is combat the Army has to report the positives to the forensic service through photos. They are verified through the Forensic Services unit.

I went to the Attorney General where I was told my son died in combat. No photo was shown at the time. They provided a paper to start the process for identifying and processing the body.

The representative from the Mayor’s office in Ocana came to assist with the exhumation. My son was in the cemetery, in a grave with six other bodies. Someone rented a farm to use for common graves as the cemetery was filled. The other 2 bodies were recovered in graves in the farm area of the cemetery. I wanted the exhumation to take place at 5:00 a.m. as during the day the Army arranges for people to show up along with friendly press to witness the exhumation of a guerilla. I responded to Army officers who were there that it was strange that my son was a guerilla, but I really only wanted to take his body for burial. The exhumation took four hours.

Later I asked the funeral home how many bullet wounds there were. They said nine, in his back. With the other families we went to get the bodies and left the town on September 5th.

On September 6th we returned to Soacha and the funeral took place. It was bad for our families as the President went to the press and said that these were delinquent children. The Minister of Justice labeled these deaths not as a massacre but rather as "false positives".

It was ironic that right after this media conference the Minister of Justice had to go to another conference to deny an allegation that his relatives had engaged in laundering drug money. Uribe said that the military personnel who did this were poor and needed the money. They made this mistake due to poverty.

The first court to prosecute the military started on May 1st, 2009. The charged soldiers attended in uniform. It turns out that they are still in active military service pending the result of the trial. In the trial, the witness who dressed as a civilian and recruited my son on January 8 testified. The next day he was transferred to the military at the bus terminal. It was systematic.

The witness was asked how much he was paid by the military for this young recruit. He said $100. He said I gave “the retard” to the soldiers. My son had Downs Syndrome. In the execution they used 480 bullets. The military gave different reports about the combat. One said they confronted six narco-terrorists and killed the leader of the band. Another said there are only four. It was inconsistent and this was pointed out by the Attorney General.

The defence lawyer for the soldiers said the man died in combat. They claim he is a terrorist and had frequently consorted with prostitutes. They presented a picture with a gun in my son’s right hand, yet my son was left handed.

The trial was started in Soacha but then moved to Bogota. Military lawyers claim this is a matter for the military justice system. The military have a team of 5 lawyers. They are charged by the Attorney General with homicide and extra judicial execution and hiding the identity of a person. This case may also be sent to Santander. The case is now suspended until a location for the trial is determined.

The family must pay for the prosecuting lawyers. The lawyers are working for a share of what may be financial compensation offered for these deaths. The Army has already offered the families $2000 to $5000 each.

This is one example of this problem. There are incidents of false positives in areas other than from Soacha.

Moving the trials to Santader benefits the killers in that this area is controlled by the paramilitary. They are in most institutions so they will find it easy to influence the judge in that area. It is also far from the homes of us poor mothers. We could not afford to attend hearings.

The government has now said that they will compensate the mothers with a payment of $9000. We have not taken the money even though we are in debt after paying for the funerals. The guilty cannot buy absolution though a payment for our children’s death. To receive the money we would also have to sign a release saying we will no longer proceed to seek justice.

We must stand and fight now even though we are under extreme pressure.

The Canadian Embassy has not yet responded to our applications for refugee status.

OPSEU women with the two mothers

SINALTRAINAL

On Friday we also visited SINALTRAINAL, the Union for Agricultural and Food Workers. OPSEU has supported this Union on the Killer Coke campaign. We met four leaders: Brother Edgar Paez in charge of the international programs, the lead on the Coke campaign with international partners.

Brother Jose Onofre Esquivel works with Nestle both as a worker and a campaigner. Brother Juan Carlos Galvis is in charge of financial issues and he works for Coke and Brother Carlos Holaya works in education and research.

"What we have is a sinister alliance of forces that has no interest in Human Rights, Labour Rights or the social fabric of the country” said SINALTRAINAL. “They have no interest in consultation, discussion or debate about the important issues faced by the country. This alliance includes paramilitaries, regional warlords, narco-traffickers, colonels and generals in the military, land owners and the government members. Land ownership is at the root of many of the problems in Latin America".

Propping up this regime is foreign investment which has increased from $300 million to $10,000 million. The result of this increase in investment also means more money leaves the country. For every dollar that comes in $3 leaves the country through the profits made and lost to Colombia.

There is a widening of the gap between rich and poor. Based on statistics Colombia could be in 2nd place when measuring the concentration of wealth and control into the hands of the few, according to the union.

There are just five banks and 200 trans-nationals that own all the natural resources of Colombia including the financial, commercial, manufacturing, public and mining industries/services sectors.

Only 6% of the population owns 70% of the land destined for agricultural production - now designed to meet world needs rather than local market needs. This follows the recommendations of the World Bank and IMF. This is especially true when it comes to aromatic products (flowers or plants for perfume), tropical fruits and bio-fuels. Dependency on foreign markets will be fueled by the Free Trade Agreement.

Crisis/emergency legislation has become permanent. As a result of this Colombia has the biggest army in the world when compared to the population. They are the 3rd in world national military spending when compared to GDP. Four million people are in exile; 3 million are internally displaced; 10,000 people have been killed as "false positives"; 10,000 political prisoners; 50,000 are disappeared as part of the 300,000 killed in the last 10 years (the official numbers). Eighty government people are linked to drug traffickers and paramilitaries. All of this has resulted in 30 million people under the poverty line, 14 million people homeless and six million with malnutrition problems.

There is a concerted plan to remove the labour and social rights of working people and laws have been rewritten to accomplish this. In order to remove these rights the government has engaged in a dirty war to jail and assassinate workers. One hundred of this union's members are under death threat today causing these people to leave their homes and towns.

Coca Cola Update

Labour rights have been reduced from those enjoyed in the 1990s. Outsourcing is now a weapon to dismantle the union. So Coke has not hired any workers directly since 1990. Their workers are outsourced from co-ops (employment agencies). Outsourcing violates existing rights and collective agreements. This trend has increased under the Uribe government, with the passage of further labour reforms designed to make this practice even easier. These workers pay for their own insurance benefits with no right to overtime and paid holidays, Colombia’s minimum wage is $250 a month with a legal 48-hour work week. Right now outsourced worker far outnumber those hired directly by the company. They are without the right to strike or negotiate their terms and condition and the situation of outsourced workers has increased workplace accidents and illnesses. Health and Safety issues are much greater now too.

Coke has used the following tactics:

Police, army and government intelligence institutions label key people as terrorists
After this, if the workers do not give up their rights the paramilitaries begin to threaten and kill.

Another component of the dirty war is Law 975. It allows the government to negotiate a peace process with the paramilitaries. Paramilitary leaders are encouraged (required) to falsely name labour leaders as their allies and friends. One Coke worker was a paramilitary member. He was demobilized in the process and then falsely named others. After the allegations are made the initial person “disappears”. This however is a favourable disappearance, arranged in advance by the government and paramilitary leaders.

Wire tapping is also pervasive, using the resources of the President’s CIA and assistance from the USA. Part of demobilization of the paramilitaries is to find them jobs. Many now work for Coke.

Comparing directly employed and outsourced workers’ pay and benefits we heard the following example:

A forklift driver:

If directly employed - $800 a month with benefits, workers compensation coverage, overtime and paid holidays. If outsourced -$300 a month only and these workers pay a management fee from their pay to the agency. They are also charged for benefits only to find that there is no coverage.

Workers who deliver soft drinks to stores are paid 40 cents an hour in Colombia. This is just a little more than in China where the same worker gets 30 cents per hour.

Nestlé’s situation

Nestle has followed the example of Coke and changed its labour relations and employment practices.

On the Colombian north coast, Nestle in association with Fonterra (a New Zealand transnational) fired 200 unionized workers. They also fired their employees at distribution points and outsourced the work.

This has affected the public as well as product quality has dropped. Nestle stopped sourcing most of their ingredients in Colombia and they are now using powdered milk imported from places like Uruguay, Argentina and Canada. In 2001 and 2002 it was discovered that this powdered milk was past the due date set for use. When this was reported 385 tonnes of powdered milk was confiscated by health authorities.

Prior to the changes most of the products were bought locally. They even had their own farms to produce some products. Sugar and coffee were bought from national markets rather than the global marketplace.

There are also hidden surveillance cameras in the workplace to track workers and union activities. With these recordings they try to threaten union leaders. For example if people meet and recorded they may be subject to discipline. The recordings have also been given to the police, army and paramilitaries.

Nestle has earned a billion (that is a thousand million pesos) a year in 2008. Nothing was invested in communities as "social investment". We have tried to fight back where ever possible to continue the struggle.

They have used a number of campaigns for this. Trans-nationals all use the same methods but some go further towards violence than others. This has greatly increased the exploitation of natural resources and a great dependency on foreign markets.

Jen Giroux and Archana Mathew in SINALTRAINAL's office

The union has denounced how the Colombian government and the home government of the trans-national are complicit in these major problems.

“Because I love life I do not drink Coke” is one of their campaign slogans. They also continue to remind everyone they speak with about the 11 workers killed at Nestle.

OPSEU is familiar with the Coke campaign. There are also court cases in the United States. Charges of homicide, illegal incarceration and attempted homicide are part of the cases in the USA. There have been partial rulings but the trials continue. SINALTRAINAL also has cases at the International Labour Organization. These are against the Colombian government and pertain to Coke and the sugar cane cutters. The Colombian government has not respected the rights of workers by stopping these practices.

They also participated in an internal tribunal for documentation of these incidents. These tribunals replicate a true judicial process, given that an independent process is not possible in Colombia. Tribunals are one approach to campaigns and protest.

There are international court actions as well. An additional application may be made to the International Court for crimes against the people of Colombia. They have created a monitoring group to observe the practices of key trans-nationals to document the effect of their practices in Colombia. They hope to improve peace, cooperation and collaboration amongst all people, particularly those in Latin America.

Last July the government announced the creation of seven new American military bases in Colombia. This is one way to make the situation worse and worse. This adds to existing American controlled bases already operating in the country.

The Coke campaign is only one of the campaigns taking place in the country. Canadian unions have assisted with their struggle and in particular the CAW assisted with special tribunals with Coca Cola workers.

The Olympics in Canada may be an opportunity to again address the campaign in Canada. This could be used for all aspects of the situation in Colombia, not just the Coke campaign. They have also participated in many events in the US and Europe.

What do they want from OPSEU?

That we continue to spread the word and educate members and the public about Colombia issues.
They now have 600 cases in Colombian courts on various rights matters. These range from firings to massacres. They therefore need legal help to track these cases as they make their way through various courts.
They will now use a different strategy due to interest from other countries. They will highlight the paramilitary peace process. It would be helpful for people and organizations to send letter to the government of Colombia, United States and Canada to ask why human rights defenders are being persecuted through the Colombian courts.

OPSEU presents SINALTRAINAL with an OPSEU banner

The reality of a union office in Colombia

OPSEU delegation arrives in Bogota

2009-08-19T22:36:00.020-05:00

"It's a first time for me - riding in a bulletproof car with a unionist who works for a government institution in charge of investigating human rights abuses and beside her are her two bodyguards," OPSEU EBM member Jen Giroux said commenting on the serious situation facing trade unionists in Colombia today.

The OPSEU delegation began their stay in Bogota with a series of meetings with human rights workers, trade unionists, a women's organization and progressive parliamentarians.

Human Rights workers Lilia Solano and Carolina Ramirez

OPSEU representatives met first with Lilia Solano, National Director of Justicia y Vida (Justice and Life) and an Advisor to the Colombian parliament's Human Rights Commission who recently announced her candidacy for Congress in 2010. She works with the families of the detained and disappeared in Colombia and recently returned from Canada where she lobbied the Canadian government to stop the Canada Colombia Free Trade Agreement. With 70 percent of the population in poverty, 4 million internally displaced people and a situation the UN calls a "humanitarian crisis", Lilia congratulated OPSEU and other Canadian unions and social justice organizations for forcing a postponement of the ratification of the Free Trade Agreement.

Lilia introduced the delegation to Dr. German Regis, a member of the House of Commons representing the opposition party Polo Democratico Alternativo. A medical doctor and former President of the Doctors Union in Colombia, Dr. Regis is the President(Chair) of the Human Rights Commission, a multi-party Commission. The Commission's functions are to write laws regarding human rights and to ensure political responsibility which means challenging the government to fulfill its duty on human rights.

Dr. Regis addresses delegation

Dr. Regis outlined the deep crisis within Colombia today - the human rights crisis but also the devastation of the public sector in Colombia. Most public hospitals have been turned over to private health care companies and doctors are now "outsourced" causing a loss of membership of 15,000 doctors who were part of his union (down to 5,000 from 20,000) before. Pensions, health care, public utilities and communications have all been massively privatized in recent years. The message Dr. Regis wants OPSEU to take back to Canada is to pressure the Colombian government to commit to UN Conventions - among them the rights of workers and unions to free collective bargaining, including public employees; to stop making anti-trade union laws which force unions to go underground and organize in a clandestine manner; to stop creating false linkages between unions and guerilla groups as a way of justifying the killing of more than 2500 trade union leaders in the last 15 years ("its like giving permission to the paramilitaries") and to take all of the information back to Canadians.

OPSEU and Lilia outside the Senate buildings

Next stop was the office of elected Senator Alexander Lopez Maya - also of the Polo Democratico Alternativo party. He was called away so we met with his assistant, Carolina Ramirez. "The work of this office is to serve the most vulnerable people in Colombia" said Carolina. They travel throughout the country to provide an audience to the people, to allow the victims of the human rights atrocities to tell their stories, to highlight the situation of political prisoners, the tortures and killings.

She talked of two different kinds of "false positives" in Colombia today - jailing activists and falsely accusing them of being guerillas; and taking activists, killing them and then dressing them up as guerillas.

The work of the Human Rights Commission is to bring to light these issues but as the Uribe government holds power (a coalition of the more conservative parties holds 85% of the seats in Congress) their work is difficult. Collecting evidence from the people is not convenient to business, industry or the current government but the opinion of the people is what the Commission wants to hear. If the government closes all avenues to finance the Commission's work, the staff and volunteers turn to others for help - churches, unions and other social organizations.

Amanda Rincon, National Teachers Union

Over lunch, OPSEU met with Amanda Rincon from the Teachers Union, who described the situation for teachers in the countryside in Colombia. They are still facing persecution and systematic killings. Since the 1970s teachers have been targeted but at first it was more selective. Since the end of the 90s, it is more about the paramilitiaries who hold key positions in communities for those who will go along with them. In recent years, teachers have been very active in trying to defeat many regressive laws, e.g. the referendum to change the law to ensure the President's re-election. Teachers and students mobilized against this legislation but also over their rights in general.

Amanda asked OPSEU for support for the international campaign for two teachers who have been jailed recently - William Javier Diaz Ramirez and Miguel Angel - imprisoned without a trial and without any bail, accused of terrorism. Miguel's students bring enough food to the jail for a week at a time as they are afraid of him being deliberately poisoned.

Miguel is teaching others in prison to read. In particular, many paramilitaries don't read so he ends up teaching them!

Javier is a headache for authorities while in jail as he has started a campaign called "El libro por cada patio" (A book for every patio). At first denied library privileges, he is now working on a project to have one library room in each section of the jail. He also included books for kids as the prisoners are allowed a monthly visit from their families.

Amanda will be in touch with OPSEU regarding future solidarity with teachers in Colombia.

OPSEU presents ASDEP with flag (in Spanish)

Today we gave our first OPSEU banner in Spanish to ASDEP - the Union for the Offices of the Ombudsman. The leader of ASDEP, Maria Eva Villate, presented us with a clear picture of the very difficult situation for all trade unionists in Colombia. Indiscriminate violence against unionists has been carried out over a long period of time. This union represents people who work for an institution that belongs to the government, an institution in charge of defending human rights. They have carried out extensive research and they know the situation well. The union calls it a mafia style government in Colombia controls all of the power - military, political, economic.

Right now over 70 Congress representatives belonging to the official party or the coalition are under investigation by the Supreme Court because they received help from the paramilitaries to get elected- whether through threats or money. President Uribe's first cousin is now under investigation for links with drug cartels. The brother of the Minister of the Interior is now accused of having links with the paramilitaries. And most disturbing the first Director of the Department of Intelligence - directly from the President's office - is now accused of links to one of the most dangerous paramilitary leaders. Three directors that followed him are now being investigated for illegally wiretapping the Supreme Court itself. ASDEP has also heard of wiretapping of other NGOs, human rights organizations, etc.

The problem now is that the paramilitaries have infiltrated so much into so many levels of government and the government has allowed them to do it. The Supreme Court is the only one trying to bring this issue to justice.

A special UN Auditor has called the situation "a systemic way" of operating in Colombia.

Maria Eva also talked about the 4 million displaced people in Colombia, the dangers of a Canada Colombia Free Trade Agreement, seven proposed U.S military bases in Colombia and the need for strong international support for the people of Colombia. How is it, she asked, that governments elsewhere keep talking to this government as if it was a valid counterpart to their own government - with its crimes against humanity and the violations of human rights which are taking place daily?

What an amazing first day of learning about Colombia from some courageous brothers and sisters.

OPSEU prepares to send solidarity delegation to Colombia.

2009-08-17T15:02:00.006-05:00

Following a commitment made at the 2008 Convention to further the solidarity work on Colombia, OPSEU is sending 3 members and 3 staff on a special solidarity tour to Colombia this month. The OPSEU representatives are as follows (from left to right, in the photo above):

Sister Jennifer Giroux, Region 6 Executive Board member
Brother Jamie Ramage, Chair of the Broader Public Sector (BPS) and Chair, Ambulance Division
Sister Brenda Wall, Campaigns Officer
Brother Heino Nielsen, Administrator, Policy Planning and programs
Sister Archana Mathew, Equity Officer
Brother Yhony Munoz, member of OPSEU Local 256 in the Ambulance Division

The group will be visiting with members and leaders of many different unions and community groups as well as human rights organizations, indigenous groups, progressive politicians and the Canadian embassy in Bogota. Consistent with our support for unions and social justice organizations in Colombia, one of our messages is very clear - that the Canada Colombia Free Trade Agreement should not be ratified under current conditions in that country.

Read our daily blog starting August 19.

Coming soon: a new OPSEU solidarity tour

2009-08-12T19:47:00.002-05:00

Stay tuned to this Blog for information about an important new solidarity tour... coming soon!