End violence against Colombian trade unionists
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Donations to this cause benefit U.S. Labor Education in the Americas Project.
Mission
Pressure Congress to oppose the Free Trade Agreement with Colombia
Positions
- More trade unionists are murdered in Colombia than the rest of the year combined. The Free Trade Agreement must be opposed until the human rights of these workers are guaranteed.
Description
According to 2006 numbers released earlier this year by the Colombian NGO the Escuela Nacional Sindical, Colombia continues to be the most dangerous country in the world to be a trade unionist. An additional report released by the Colombian government in July 2007 demonstrates that the situation of impunity has not improved under the government of President Alvaro Uribe. The Colombian government's own figures show a 97% rate of impunity, with only 12 convictions for the over 400 murders of trade unionists that have taken place since Uribe was elected.
Despite these statistics, the Bush Administration is pushing hard for a Free Trade Agreement with Colombia. Colombia also receives more U.S. aid, mostly military aid, han any country outside of the Middle East and Afghanistan.
The issues of violence and impunity in Colombia must be resolved before considering a trade agreement with Colombia in any form.
Despite these statistics, the Bush Administration is pushing hard for a Free Trade Agreement with Colombia. Colombia also receives more U.S. aid, mostly military aid, han any country outside of the Middle East and Afghanistan.
The issues of violence and impunity in Colombia must be resolved before considering a trade agreement with Colombia in any form.
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US Labor Education in the Americas Project posted October 2, 2008 at 04:49PM:
Support Sugarcane Workers in Colombia!
Sugarcane workers in Colombia are on strike calling for better working conditions, and they are now facing violence from government troops. Ask your member of Congress to take action to support these sugarcane workers and to oppose the US-Colombia Free Trade Agreement while labor rights continue to be ignored in Colombia.
Click the link to Take Action at the Witness for Peace website!
http://org2.democracyinaction.or...
US Labor Education in the Americas Project posted September 25, 2008 at 05:36PM:
A new document released September 19, 2008 by USLEAP shows that the Colombian government's "fight against impunity" lacks honesty, clarity, and a commitment to victims' rights.
The document, "Why are Union Members Murdered in Colombia?," is based on a review of all available 2007 cases in which the specialized labor courts in Colombia ruled on trade union homicide cases.
Check out the document here:
http://www.usleap.org/files/Unio...
US Labor Education in the Americas Project posted September 23, 2008 at 03:50PM:
Labor and the Columbia Free Trade Agreement by Phillip Cryan
When Congress failed to pass the Colombia Free Trade Agreement earlier this year, there was little doubt on either side of the aisle about who should take primary credit for the pact's defeat: organized labor. Whenever Democrats explained their opposition to the agreement, they started and finished with the issue of violence against Colombian labor leaders. At every opportunity they pointed out that Colombia leads the world in assassinations of unionists. To the Bush administration and most Republicans in Congress, the trade pact's failure was a clear case of the AFL-CIO holding their Democratic colleagues hostage.
Click link to read more:
http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/5540
US Labor Education in the Americas Project posted September 17, 2008 at 05:06PM:
Witness Ties Colombian General to Paramilitaries
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp...
US Labor Education in the Americas Project posted July 22, 2008 at 05:52PM:
Colombia: Celebrate the Release, Not the Regime
by Amy Goodman
It is fantastic to see Ingrid Betancourt free. She was the Green Party candidate running for president of Colombia against Alvaro Uribe in 2002 when she was kidnapped by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) just days after appealing to the FARC to stop its campaign of kidnapping. She was held hostage for more than six years and was released last week along with 14 others. The flamboyant rescue operation by the Colombian army has been splashed across newspapers and TV screens globally, but the celebration of their release should not be confused with celebration of the Colombian government.
I reached Manuel Rozental at his home in Canada. He’s a Colombian doctor and human-rights activist who fled Colombia after receiving several threats on his life: “We’re talking about the regime with the worst human-rights record in the continent and the army with the worst human-rights record in the continent with the greatest U.S. support, including the contractors or mercenaries. So the fact that this regime was involved in this liberation does not and should not and cannot cover up the fact that it is a horrendous regime.”
Colombia has been the largest recipient of U.S. foreign aid outside of Israel and Egypt. Amnesty International USA has called for a halt to all support for Colombia, saying ” … torture, massacres, ‘disappearances’ and killings of noncombatants are widespread, and collusion between the armed forces and paramilitary groups continues to this day. In 2006, U.S. assistance to Colombia amounted to an estimated $728 million, approximately 80 percent of which was military and police assistance.”
John McCain was in Colombia on July 2, the day Betancourt was released along with U.S. military contractors and Colombian soldiers and police officers who were held. McCain’s links to Colombia are worth noting. The Huffington Post reports that a McCain fundraising event was just given by billionaire Carl Lindner of Cincinnati, the former CEO of Chiquita Brands International. Chiquita, under Lindner’s watch, paid and armed one of the most notorious right-wing paramilitary groups in Colombia, the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC). The U.S. government fined Chiquita $25 million for its funding and arming of the AUC, designated a “foreign terrorist organization” by the U.S. State Department as early as 2001. One of the conditions of the deal was that Chiquita would not have to name the top executives involved.
Click link to read more:
http://www.commondreams.org/arch...
US Labor Education in the Americas Project posted July 3, 2008 at 06:47PM:
Top 10 Underreported Crises - Colombia
The list of top 10 most underreported humanitarian crises around the world was compiled by Doctors Without Borders in order to draw attention to the millions of people who struggle to survive while being left out of the headlines. Included in this list is Colombia, for the magnitude of the effect the country's civil war has had on its civilian population. Colombia is ranked third, after Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo, for the largest number of internally displaced people.
10th Annual Top Ten Most Underreported Humanitarian Stories of 2007:
http://www.doctorswithoutborders...
US Labor Education in the Americas Project posted June 26, 2008 at 08:36PM:
Two More Trade Unionists Assassinated in Colombia
As of June 25, 2008, the official number of trade unionists killed in Colombia has reached 31.
http://www.ituc-csi.org/spip.php...
>>Anetka! posted May 22, 2008 at 07:12PM:
Murders of Colombian Trade Unionists Back Up in 2008
At least 17 trade unionists have been murdered in Colombia during the first quarter of 2008, according to a report released the week of April 7 by a leading non-governmental organization in Colombia that tracks labor issues. The Escuela Nacional Sindical report for the 1st quarter of 2008 shows a significant increase over the 10 murders committed during the same period a year ago.
http://usleap.org/files/ENS08Fir...