10 February 2007 – Bucaramanga, Colombia (ENGLISH/ ESPAÑOL)
"[If there is] no response we declare them military targets of the Black Eagles as they prefer – death, torture, cut into pieces, coup de grace – in Magdalena Medio style – this defines you as terrorists of the guerrillas – no more noisy fuss – remember our commander Mancuso does not like noise.“
At about 10:30 a.m. on 10 February we learnt of the contents of an envelope thrown by unknown persons under the door of the offices of ASTDEMP trade union, which functions as the Santander regional headquarters for the (trade union federation) CUT. The office is at floor 2, No 14 – 09, 42nd Street, Bucaramanga. The envelope contained the following threat against members of SINALTRAINAL who work in the Coca-Cola bottling plant in Bucaramanga:
“AUC BLACK EAGLES
The demobilized [paramilitaries] of Magdalena Medio – Black Eagles make a call to the terrorist Coca-Cola trade unionists Javier Correa, Luis Garcia (alias El Chile), Domingo Flores (alias Fatty) and Nelson Perez that they stop bad mouthing the Coca-cola corporation given they have caused enough damage already, stop this campaign against corporations in Santander that help the f**ked of this country. [If there is] no response we declare them military targets of the Black Eagles as they prefer – death, torture, cut
into pieces, coup de grace – in Magdalena Medio style – this defines you as terrorists of the guerrillas – no more noisy fuss – remember our commander Mancuso does not like noise. “
[over a map of Colombia highlighting Santander department]
This threat comes after the claim by Vice-President Francisco Santos on radio Caracol News of 12 December 2006, in reference to the Attorney General’s investigation into Colombian football clubs, that “there are campaigns to malign Coca-Cola and Nestlé as well as other private corporations led by sectors of the extreme radical left, infiltrated in trade unions, that are generating absolutely absurd campaigns against the corporations”.
Several of the threatened comrades have been unjustly imprisoned, have suffered previous attempts on their lives, their families have been victims of attempted disappearances, they are permanently under legal sanction by Coca-Cola, suspended from their work contracts, and its precisely at this time that we confront employer’s attempt to thwart the incorporation of the union’s executive committee in Bucaramanga, according to an announcement by the Ministry of Social Protection. We are suffering a dirty campaign in the Coca-Cola bottling plant against the National President of SINALTRAINAL and other comrades, with the purpose of creating terror and confusion.
We hold the government of Álvaro Uribe Vélez and all its officials responsible for the form of their public accusations against trade unionists and the opposition. This demonstrates that the process of demobilisation of the paramilitaries is purely rhetorical, since the death threats, assassinations, displacement, criminalisation and torture and other like practices are all continuing.
We demand that the government and the corporations guarantee the lives of the trade unionists and our right to association.
Yours,
LUIS JAVIER CORREA SUAREZ
President, SINALTRAINAL
Bogotá D.C., 10 Febrero 2007
[Colombia Solidarity Campaign adds:
We apologise for not having a pre-prepared model letter. Nonetheless we urge all readers to send e-mails, and letters to the Colombian authorities and to Coca-Cola Corporation expressing concern.
Colombian Embassy in UK E-mail: mail@colombianembassy.co.uk
Write to Charlotte Oades, President, Coca-Cola Great. Britain, 1 Queen Caroline Street, London W6 9HQ
with a copy to the Colombia Solidarity Campaign E-mail:
info@colombiasolidarity.uk]
ESPAÑOL
AMENAZADOS INTEGRANTES DE SINALTRAINAL
El día 10 de Febrero de 2007, siendo aproximadamente las 10:30 a.m., conocimos el contenido de un sobre que desconocidos arrojaron por debajo de la puerta de las oficinas del sindicato ASTDEMP que funciona en la sede de la CUT Santander en la ciudad de Bucaramanga ubicada en la Calle 42 No 14 – 09 piso 2, al ser destapado el sobre contenía la siguiente amenaza contra
integrantes de la SINALTRAINAL que trabajan con la embotelladora de Coca cola en la ciudad de Bucaramanga:
Esta amenaza se produce después que el Vicepresidente de Colombia Francisco Santos en Caracol Noticias el día 12 de Diciembre de 2006, al referirse a la intervención que hizo la Fiscalía General de la Nación sobre las finanzas de los clubes del balompié colombiano, afirmó que las campañas de desprestigio contra Coca cola y Nestlé y otras empresas privadas, están siendo impulsados
por sectores de extrema izquierda, radical, infiltrados en sectores sindicales, que están generando campañas absolutamente absurdas contra las empresas”.
Varios de los compañeros amenazados han sido injustamente encarcelados, han sufrido atentados contra su vida, las familias víctimas de intento de desaparición, judicializados permanentemente por la empresa Coca cola, suspendidos sus contratos de trabajo, y precisamente en estos momentos enfrentamos el intento de las empresas para impedir la inscripción de la
Junta Directiva en la ciudad de Bucaramanga con la anuencia del Ministerio de la Protección Social y estamos soportando una campaña sucia y de desprestigio en la Embotelladora de Coca cola contra el Presidente Nacional de SINALTRAINAL y otros compañeros, con el fin de crear terror y confusión.
Responsabilizamos al Gobierno de Álvaro Uribe Vélez y todos sus funcionarios por la forma como vienen haciendo acusaciones públicas contra los sindicalistas y la oposición. Este hecho demuestra que el proceso de desmovilización de los paramilitares es pura retórica, ya que siguen las amenazas, los asesinatos, el desplazamiento, la judicialización y la tortura, entre otros.
Exigimos del gobierno y las empresas garantizar la vida de los sindicalistas y el derecho de asociación
Atentamente,
LUIS JAVIER CORREA SUAREZ
Presidente
Bogotá D.C., 10 de febrero de 2007
