The North Shore Colombia Solidarity Committee Blog

Reply-To: Avi Chomsky
Date: Sep 15, 2006 11:10 AM
Subject: Colombian unionists on Denmark's decision

Below, a letter that was sent by union leaders from the Drummond mine to the
Jyllands Posten, in response to the newspaper's investigation and Denmark's
decision to suspend purchases of coal from Drummond until the court case
related to the 2001 union leader murders is resolved.

Avi

We would like to thank the Danish government for its sovereign and
honorable decision to stop importing coal from the Drummond mines until the
murder of
the three members of our union is solved. We understand that this decision
follows the articles by Danish journalists Kenneth Lund and Jonas Forsto in
the Jyllands Posten about the situation of unionists in the coal mines in
Colombia.

The 4,200 unionists who have been killed in the past 20 years, one every six
days during the time that Alvaro Uribe Velez has been president, and the 49
killed this year, are evidence of the tragedy that we have been
experiencing. As unionists we are trying to build a just future for our
country and for our
families. These murders of our members are a clear outcome of the policies
that the governments of Colombia and the United States, along with the
multinationals investing in our country, are imposing on our country.

Only a small number of foreign governments, including Denmark's, have taken
steps to support us. The Danish government's admirable decision to stop
importing coal until the unionists' murders are solved will let the
companies, and the Colombian government, know that they cannot go on killing
union leaders as a means of "protecting" their enormous profits, at the cost
of the lives and safety of people like us who are operating within our legal
rights that are guaranteed by national and
international law.

Repression against the workers at the Drummond mine has continued as a
result of the legal strike that we carried out last summer. Workers are
being subjected to disciplinary procedures, firings, persecution, death
threats, lawsuits, harassment on the job, etc. But we are sure that the
measure you have taken in support of our rights will help to force the
company to stop its illegal and repressive acts.

We call upon world opinion, in the name of all of the victims of this
genocide, to continue to press for our rights and lives to be respected. We
invite the governments of other countries to follow Denmark's example, and
to put an end to the crimes that have been committed against Colombian
unionists.

We thank you for your honorable and committed support.

Estivenson Avila Pertuz
President, El Paso Local
Sintramienergetica [Mining and Energy Workers Union]

Francisco Ramirez Cuellar
General Secretary, Funtraenergetica [Federation of Energy Workers]



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North Shore Colombia Solidarity Committee

posted by Alan  # 8:56 PM