The North Shore Colombia Solidarity Committee Blog
See our home page.(Our old blog on tripod.com is still active, but it is now also appended to the archives of this blog.)
Thursday, December 21, 2006
from Avi Chomsky
Yesterday, the International Commission in Support of Sintracarbon and the Communities Affected by Cerrejon (ICSSCAC) sent a letter to Cerrejon, the companies that make up the consortium that owns the mine, various Colombian government offices, the U.S. Embassy, and the three coal importing companies we have been working with (Nova Scotia Power, New Brunswick Power, and Dominion Energy) asking that they join us in condemning the threats made against union leaders and other social activists on the north coast, including specific threats against Sintracarbon and against Domingo Tovar, the CUT representative who is assisting with the current negotiations. We just received a reply from Cerrejon, which is below. I hope we can pressure our own governments and our power companies to follow the good example set by Cerrejon!
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With regards to an article published at the newspaper El Heraldo on December 16th, at which is quoted a pamphlet distributed at Universidad del Atlántico, where threats are issued against teachers, university students, lawyers, civic leaders and union organisations, amongst which is mentioned the National Union of Workers of the Coal Industry, Sintracarbón, the Company hereby wishes to state the following:
- Carbones del Cerrejón LLC, as in previous occasions, emphatically condemns and rejects this type of threat against its workers, unionised at Sintracarbón, and reiterates its commitment and defence of the right of free association, to the full exercise of democratic freedoms and to the respect of Human Rights.
- The Company has requested competent authorities to investigate the origin and authenticity of the threats and, based upon these facts, to provide the security that will be deemed relevant to the individuals eventually affected.
- We do reiterate our rejection to this type of facts, the purpose of which seems to be, amongst others, to create anxiety and generate uncertainty at the organisations and individuals mentioned in the pamphlet.
December 20th 2006
Urgent Action Alert: Death Threats Against Colombia Workers, Students and Others
Campaign to Stop Killer Coke Urgent Action Alert
Threats Against Workers, Students and Others by Colombian Paramilitaries and Vice-President Francisco Santos
Major News Stories Expose Ties of
Colombian Government to Right-Wing Paramilitaries
Protest in London on Thursday, December 21st.
Dear Supporters of KillerCoke,
There have been recent death threats against three SINALTRAINAL leaders who are Coca-Cola workers as well as social leaders, students, trade unionists, and human rights activists. These threats occurred as Colombia’s Vice-President Francisco Santos criticized unions and others that disparage the reputations of companies such as “Coca Cola, Nestle, and other private companies.”
Meanwhile, new evidence reveals strong ties to paramilitaries by the Colombian government. Both The Boston Globe and The Washington Post have published major articles reporting that “a powerful paramilitary commander is to appear in a special court Tuesday to account for crimes that include massacres and assassinations" and that “the Colombian government is under siege as evidence mounts of links between rightist death squads and dozens of officials loyal to [Colombia] President Álvaro Uribe.”
Please read and take the actions suggested below. Look for an embassy or consulate of Colombia in your own country that you can contact to express your concerns.
Furthermore, please contact your local and national Coca-Cola offices and express your concern for this situation. Urge Coke to publicly and strongly denounce the threats against these Coca-Cola workers who are also SINALTRAINAL leaders. In the United States and Canada, please call The Coca-Cola Co. at 1-800-GET-COKE to voice your protest.
The following is a plea for support in English and Spanish from Javier Correa, president of SINALTRAINAL, forwarded by Andy Higginbottom of the Colombia Solidarity Campaign in the UK and author of The Anti-Coke Manifesto .
SOCIAL LEADERS, STUDENTS, TRADE UNIONISTS
AND HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS
THREATENED IN BARRANQUILLA
On 14 December 2006, in the city of Barranquilla, a death threat communiqué was left at the residence of Euripides Yance, a Coca-Cola worker and member of the National Committee of SINALTRAINAL. The communiqué is entitled BLACK EAGLES [AGUILAS NEGRAS] and threatens various student, social and trade union leaders, giving them a week to leave the city. Amongst them are members and leaders of SINALTRAINAL and workers at Coca-Cola EURIPIDES YANCE, LIMBERTO CARRANZA, and CAMPO QUINTERO.
This death threat occurred just days after Colombia’s Vice-President Francisco Santos made a public declaration referring to what he called campaigns to discredit Coca-Cola, Nestlé and other private corporations and contended that they are pushed by “sectors of the extreme left, radicals infiltrated into trade union sectors that are generating absolutely absurd campaigns against the corporations.” These threats have occurred at the time that we are negotiating our demands with the Coca-Cola bottling plants in the Santanders [the region in which Barranquilla is situated]. We demand national government protection for the life of trade unionists, social leaders, students, defenders of human rights and an investigation into the facts to bring to justice [those making these threats].
Against Impunity SINALTRAINAL Demands Justice.
LUIS JAVIER CORREA SUAREZ
President
SINALTRAINAL
# # #
AMENAZADOS DIRIGENTES SOCIALES, ESTUDIANTES,
SINDICALISTAS Y DEFENSORES DE DERECHOS
HUMANOS EN BARRANQUILLA
El día 14 de Diciembre de 2006, en la ciudad de Barranquilla, en la casa de habitación de Euripides Yance trabajador de Coca cola e integrante de la Junta Directiva Nacional de SINALTRAINAL fue dejado un comunicado titulado AGUILAS NEGRAS donde amenazan y dan plazo de una semana para que salgan de la ciudad varios dirigentes estudiantiles, sociales y sindicalistas, entre ellos, varios integrantes y dirigentes de SINALTRAINAL y trabajadores de Coca cola EURIPIDES YANCE, LIMBERTO CARRANZA, CAMPO QUINTERO.
Esta amenaza se presenta días después que el Vicepresidente de la Republica de Colombia Francisco Santos hiciera pública su declaración refiriéndose a las llamadas campañas de desprestigio contra Coca Cola, Nestlé y otras empresas privadas y afirmo que estos actos están siendo impulsados por “sectores de extrema izquierda, radicales infiltrados en sectores sindicales, que están generando campañas absolutamente absurdas contra las empresas”
Estas amenazas se presentar también en momentos en que estamos negociando pliego de peticiones con las embotelladoras de Coca Cola en los Santanderes. Exigimos del gobierno nacional protección para la vida de los sindicalistas, dirigentes sociales, estudiantes, defensores de derechos humanos e investigar los hechos y dar con los responsables materiales e intelectuales.
Contra la Impunidad SINALTRAINAL Clama Justicia.
LUIS JAVIER CORREA SUAREZ
Presidente
SINALTRAINAL
INTERNATIONAL EMERGENCY: Recommended actions
1) SEND YOUR E-MAILS TO:
Presidente de la República de Colombia:
Dr. Álvaro Uribe Vélez
E-mail: auribe@presidencia.gov.co; dh@presidencia.gov.co
Vicepresidente de la Republica de Colombia
Francisco Santos Fax: 00 57 1 337 1351
E-mail: fsantos@presidencia.gov.co
Programa Derechos Humanos Presidencia de la Republica
E-mail: ppdh@presidencia.gov.co
Colombia Solidarity Campaign in the UK adds:
Euripides Yance toured the UK in November and December 2005, striking all who met him with his warm heartedness, humility and calm determination.
In the UK, also send your e-mail to Colombian Embassy:
Email: mail@colombianembassy.co.uk with a copy to info@colombiasolidarity.org.uk
In the USA, write, phone, FAX or e-mail your protests today to the Colombian Ambassador in Washington, DC:
Sr. Luis Alberto Moreno
Ambassador of the Republic of Colombia
2118 Leroy Place NW
Washington, D.C. 20008
Teléfono: +1 (202) 387 8338
Fax: +1 (202) 232 8643
E-mail: emwas@colombiaemb.org
2) EMERGENCY PICKET OF COLOMBIAN EMBASSY IN LONDON
(Sponsored by the Colombia Solidarity Campaign)
5pm-6pm Thursday 21st December
Colombian Embassy, 3 Hans Crescent, London SW1
(back of Harrods, nearest tube Knightsbridge)
VICE-PRESIDENT SANTOS
WE HOLD YOU RESPONSIBLE!
WITHDRAW YOUR STIGMAS AGAINST SINALTRAINAL!
STOP THE KILLING!
CALL OFF THE DEATH SQUADS!
###
Campaign to Stop KILLER COKE
We are seeking your help to stop a gruesome cycle of murders, kidnappings, and torture of union leaders and organizers involved in daily life-and-death struggles at Coca-Cola bottling plants in Colombia, South America.
"If we lose the fight against Coca-Cola, we will first lose our union, next our jobs and then our lives." SINALTRAINAL VIce President Juan Carlos Galvis
Please donate to the Campaign.
Learn the truth about The Coca-Cola Co.
"We believe the evidence shows that Coca-Cola and its corporate network are rife with immorality, corruption and complicity in murder."
Campaign to Stop Killer Coke/Corporate Campaign, Inc. Director Ray Rogers
Saturday, December 16, 2006
Threats in the coal region
Many of us have been closely following the negotiations currently going on between Sintracarbon, the union at the Cerrejon mine that hosted our November delegation, and the mine. On Monday, the bargaining committees will be discussing the union's demands regarding the rights of the Afro-Colombian and indigenous communities surrounding the mine, and the demand that the mine sponsor a public forum on coal policy. On December 23, the first 20-day bargaining period will end. As of now, resolution does not appear forthcoming on any of the many issues under negotation. Meanwhile, Sintracarbon and other popular organizations have been threatened by a shadowy group apparently linked to the paramilitaries. The union issued the following press release today:
The Union of National Coal Industry Workers, Sintracarbón, denounces several recent incidents in our country, and in particular on the Caribbean coast, related to the demobilization of the paramilitaries and the scandal unfolding in the last few days regarding the links between high-level political figures--who the press is now calling “para-politicians”--and the paramilitaries. These politicians are under investigation by the Supreme Court for their role in the creation of paramilitary groups and the organization of massacres and demobilizations on the Caribbean coast. At the same time, a new group calling itself “The Black Eagles” has begun circulating pamphlets threatening union, student, and popular leaders, and other members of the CUT union confederation.
In recent days they have delivered death threats against leaders of the oil-workers union USO and student leaders at the University of Cartagena. They have also given them an ultimatum to leave the city.
USO leader Rodolfo Vecino was the target of an assassination attempt which we assume was carried out by the Black Eagles. Fortunately he escaped unharmed.
CUT Executive Board member Domingo Tovar, who is currently participating in the Sintracarbón negotiating committee, and his family in the Sucre department, have been the targets of harassment and threats by these groups.
Yesterday a pamphlet was circulated at the University of the Atlantic, similar to the one threatening union, student, and popular leaders with assassination if they did not leave the city of Barranquilla. Among the organizations named in yesterday’s pamphlet were:
· Members of the University Students Association (FEU)
· Student Dignity
· Democrativ Vision
· National University Federation (FUN)
· Colombian Association of University Students (A.C.E.U)
· The unions SINTRAINAL, ANTHOC, ASOJUA, ASPU, SINTRAUNICOL, SINTRAIMAGRA, COMITÉ DE SOLIDARIDAD POR LOS PRESOS POLÍTICOS, SINTRACARBÓN, ADEBA, SIMUSOL, SINTRAHOBICOL, CUT ATLÁNTICO.
The pamphlet ended with these words:
“There is not enough paper for us to include all of the names and organizations that are serving as a front for their insurgent (i.e., guerrilla) work, these sons of bitches, gonorrheas, but we have listed their main leaders but everyone directly affiliated with these kinds of people and organizations should affiliate to a FUNERAL HOME.”
In the face of these threats, intimidations, harassments and ultimatums against student, popular and union leaders, “SINTRACARBÓN” strongly denounces this type of threat, which violates our fundamental rights, freedom of association, and freedom of expression. We therefore publicize our stand before the local, national, and international communities.
The Boston Globe discovers what we've been hearing for years
(forwarded by Avi )
Scandal rocks Colombia's leadership
Evidence of links to death squads imperils progress
By Indira A.R. Lakshmanan, Globe Staff | December 14, 2006
BOGOTÁ -- The Colombian government, the recipient of billions of dollars in US aid to fight drugs and a leftist insurgency, is under siege as evidence mounts of links between right-wing death squads and dozens of officials loyal to President Álvaro Uribe.
In the past week, the country's Supreme Court summoned six legislators to answer accusations that they conspired with paramilitary leaders who are alleged to have killed tens of thousands of leftist sympathizers and ordinary civilians and run drug trafficking networks since the 1980s. They are among two dozen sitting and former lawmakers, governors, and other public servants being investigated for or charged with colluding with paramilitary death squads to fix elections, plan massacres, share in corruption proceeds, or help the militias get a better deal in peace talks.
The so-called "para-political" crisis threatens to close in on Uribe, President Bush's best friend in a region increasingly dominated by leftist politicians. It also risks setting back Colombia's efforts to make peace with armed insurgents on the left and right who have terrorized civilians and trafficked drugs for decades.
Despite the demobilization over the last three years of 31,000 members and allies of right-wing death squads, there are widespread reports that their political influence and hold over organized crime and drug trafficking remains intact.
A congressional committee is studying accusations that Uribe himself supported the rise of right-wing militias when he was a governor in the 1990s. Uribe has vehemently denied the allegations, challenging anyone with evidence to come forward.
Still, the accusations against Uribe and his allies have reopened old wounds in Colombian society.
Civilian militias formed in the 1980s to combat leftist guerrillas, and they later morphed into death squads that engaged in drug trafficking and extortion. It has long been alleged that powerful elites -- from cattle ranchers and politicians to military commanders -- helped establish and fund the militias. Several years ago, paramilitary leaders boldly declared that they controlled one-third of Colombia's Congress.
But after years of impunity, the paramilitaries have come under the microscope since they disarmed and agreed to confess their crimes in exchange for lenient sentences. Witnesses and whistleblowers, including a secret police official facing prosecution for destroying evidence of militia leaders' crimes, have given testimony.
The attorney general's office announced in October that a confiscated computer belonging to a paramilitary leader known as "Jorge 40" contained evidence that politicians had accepted funds from paramilitaries, used their links to militias to intimidate their constituents into supporting them, and even plotted massacres. Since then, fresh revelations, arrest warrants, and resignations have followed.
"They are just turning over the first rock to see what worms are under it, and there are many more rocks to go," said Adam Isacson, Colombia program director for the Center for International Policy, an independent think tank based in Washington, D.C. "We still haven't gotten to the generals and colonels, the industrialists and landowners, or senior members of Congress. Nobody has any idea how high this will go."
Two weeks ago, a pro-Uribe senator, Miguel de la Espriella, revealed that he and 39 other congressmen had signed a secret accord pledging loyalty to the militias at a meeting in 2001. The director of a government contracts agency resigned two days later, admitting that he had attended the meeting.
With the government's credibility at stake, Uribe is scrambling to salvage his reputation by taking a hard line against the paramilitaries and those who aided them.
On Dec. 1, his government moved 59 top paramilitary chiefs who had been confined at a converted resort to a maximum-security prison, citing rumors that they were plotting to flee and were involved in the murders of two paramilitary commanders who were not in custody. The militia chiefs angrily denied the rumors, and embarrassing allegations surfaced last week that corrupt police and prosecutors might have been involved in the murders.
While those now facing charges are politicians and police, human rights groups have long said the military was the worst offender, using militias to do the "dirty work" in the war against leftist guerrillas and sympathizers. The Department of Administrative Security, Colombia's secret police agency, was tainted last year when evidence emerged that its leadership was infiltrated by paramilitaries.
If charges against security forces are proven in court, Isacson said, "It'll be really hard for Washington to justify continuing $600 million a year in military and police aid to Colombia."
Uribe's three-year peace process with paramilitaries, criticized by victims' groups as too lenient, was the centerpiece of his first term. Coupled with his crackdown on leftist guerrillas and improvements in security, it won him a landslide re election last May and continued US support.
But the confidence between the government and the paramilitaries that allowed for a peace accord appears to have crumbled. Last week, the paramilitary chiefs angrily charged that the government broke its word that they would not serve time in ordinary jails by moving them high-security prison, and declared an end to talks with Uribe's envoys.
Militia chiefs allege the government is trying to silence them from exposing their links to power brokers and are refusing to eat prison food, claiming it could be poisoned. They have implored an erstwhile nemesis -- Senator Gustavo Petro, a former leftist guerrilla -- to press authorities to guarantee protection for them and their families before they expose collaborators.
Camilo González, president of the Institute for Development and Peace Studies in Bogotá, compared the peace process to a Pandora's box that "has gotten out of the government's hands. . . . There's more interest in shutting [the paramilitary chiefs] up than in getting them to tell the truth," because any one of them could be a star witness against scores of powerful officials, he said.
Security analysts worry that the rupture of trust in the peace process could be taken as a signal by the few thousand paramilitaries who have not demobilized to unleash a new cycle of violence.
"Those groups who haven't demobilized yet probably won't now . . . because the government broke its promise not to send [militiamen] to common prisons," said Alfredo Rangel, director of the Foundation for Security and Democracy in Bogotá.
González warned that "the peace process is in "intensive care and needs to be resuscitated. This crisis could set off vendettas and violence among paramilitaries and will implicate more sectors."
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Techa Beaumont (Mineral Policy Institute, Australia):
Good morning Mr. Argus, Mr. Goodyear, and fellow shareholders.
My question relates to the El Cerrejon mine in Colombia, a matter which has been raised a number of times before the meeting over previous years and which the board had committed to resolving.
My concern is a matter which I believe poses reputational risks to the company, thanks to the forced displacement of communities around this mining operation
In particular the community of Tabaco, which in previous years is an incident of violent displacement that the board has acknowledged as regrettable. Now internationally concern over this issue has been growing among stakeholders of BHP Billiton.
Most recently the union at the El Cerrejon mine has included in its bargaining position with the company a request that they address the unresolved issues around the forced displacement of these communities. The Salem City Council has also expressed resolutions--they’re buyers of Cerrejon coal--they’ve expressed, committed to resolutions condemning the human rights abuses at this mine, so it is a matter that is a growing concern and reputational risk to the company.
Community representatives have some simple and easily resolvable requests. In particular the community of Tabaco that I have referred to has sought a community relocation arrangement that will enable them to continue living together as a farming community in a different location. They have already located the land where they could move.
However according to our sources who have recently undertaken a delegation to Colombia, in a meeting held with El Cerrejon president Leon Teicher, he stated that the company will not negotiate with the communities as a whole for relocation, but they will only negotiate with individual families one by one. Now I want to commend BHP Billiton for committing to World Bank guidelines on resettlement. But what I would like to request is that these commitments become practice, not only principle.
I would just like to briefly read out the particular commitment, the particular principle I would like to see the company put into practice in this operation.
The World Bank principles state: “Patterns of community organization appropriate to the needs or consensus for communities are based on choices made by the displaced persons.
To the extent possible, the existing social and cultural institutions of resettlers of any host communities are preserved and resettlers’ preferences with respect to relocation in preexisting communities and groups are honored.”
This is not the case in the El Cerrejon mine, and therefore this is not the case in practice with BHP Billiton’s operations.
I sincerely hope that this will be the last time I will be before this Annual General Meeting presenting this tragic and rather tired issue. As such, I’d like the company to live up to these publicly stated commitments and ensure that as a matter of urgency negotiations to resolve these matters with the representatives of these communities as they request as groups and communities be undertaken.
Thank you very much.
Don Argus: This is certainly an old subject, and clearly I reject any assertions that there has been no attempt to pay compensation to these people. The vast majority of the people, there’s agreement being reached for relocation. You’re right that we are complying with the World Bank guidelines, and we’re making every reasonable effort to settle, bearing in mind that this problem that you outlined was there when we acquired this particular mine, and we’ve been endeavoring to settle that since. There is good will certainly on our part to do that, and we’ll continue to go down that path in terms of the guidelines set by the World Bank.
Techa Beaumont: Can you give us a commitment that the company is willing to negotiate collectively with the groups who are requesting to negotiate with the company collectively? Because I think that is in line with the principles that the company commits to. And I am really rather tired of coming here with these concerns year after year…
Don Argus: We leave it up to the individuals who are running the mine over there. They’re best placed to do that. You’re getting information third hand. You haven’t been there. We give a different story to you, and we’ll agree to disagree on lots of things.
But we have entered these negotiations with the utmost goodwill we don’t like to have these things drag on either. And we want to treat with these people properly and we’re trying to do that.
Techa Beaumont: Can we get some commitment at least from the board, after this meeting, to simply respond to my question as to whether you are willing to collectively negotiate with communities who wish to be relocated?
Don Argus: The only commitment that I’ll give you is that we leave it in the hands of the person in charge of the mine to be able to deal with the local communities as they see fit to give a proper resolution.
Techa Beaumont: So you are telling me that you are not willing to commit to the World Bank guidelines in practice as you are in principle.
North Shore Colombia Solidarity Committee
Monday, December 11, 2006
------
The Telegraph-Journal/From New Brunswick
As published on page A6 on December 6, 2006
Energy-producing game is dangerous
Regarding the article, "New power plant would supply U.S. export market"
(Telegraph-Journal, Nov. 28), it seems that Jack Keir is convinced the
building of another nuclear reactor or a coal-fired generator will be
needed to supply the eastern U.S. with power. My question to Premier Shawn
Graham is: why are these two sources of power the top contenders in the
energy-producing game?
Today 16 per cent of New Brunswick's power is produced by coal from
Colombia. A large portion of that coal comes from the largest open pit
mine in the world, the Cerrejon mine. It is documented that the Cerrejon
mine owners use violent force to expand the mining territory. Among other
ongoing human rights abuses is the 2002 bulldozing of a town called
Tabaco, including homes, a school, medical clinic and a church.
The villagers fought for compensation and the relocation of the community.
The Supreme Court of Colombia agreed, and ordered the mine owners to
compensate. No payment or rebuilding of any of the community has happened.
The other major source of energy mentioned in the article is nuclear power
from a second reactor. Canada still does not have a method of long-term
disposal/storage of the radioactive waste that has been produced since
nuclear plants first were built.
The government commissioned study completed November 2005 by Nuclear Waste
Management Organization has not given a definitive answer. Stating in
Chapter 9 of a 451 page report, "For any management approach selected. The
decision-making and implementation processes will unfold over many years."
Then there is the millions of dollars needed to implement and build a
facility to "safely" store the deadly waste. Has this been factored into
the price of electricity it generates? For these reasons and more, a
moratorium on new nuclear power plants makes sense.
Why is our government's utility risking the lives of people in Colombia
and the future safety of generations of children for millions of years?
TIM DEVLIN
Oak Bay
from:
Avi Chomsky-------
Dominion pulls back on plan for scrubbers
Dec 8 - McClatchy-Tribune Business News Formerly Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News - Scott Harper The Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk, Va. At a news conference last year, Dominion Virginia Power announced that it would spend millions to install anti-pollution scrubbers at its coal-fired power plant in Chesapeake.With less aplomb, the state's largest electric utility has quietly changed plans.
A company spokesman confirmed this week that Dominion will not install the scrubbers any time soon. Instead, it will import and burn low-sulfur and low-mercury coal, principally from Indonesia and Colombia, to create electricity at the Chesapeake plant.
The Dominion spokesman, Dan Genest, said the move is intended to save money and still reap environmental benefits without having to invest in expensive technology.
By burning the foreign coal naturally low in pollutants, beginning next year, Dominion anticipates "the same, significant reductions" of mercury and sulfur emissions -- except sooner, Genest said.
The scrubbers -- essentially, giant industrial filters -- were supposed to be built in 2010 and 2011 onto all four units at the Chesapeake plant, a towering landmark off Military Highway near the Gilmerton Bridge.
"By going this way, we'll see cleaner air faster" -- in 2007 instead of 2010, Genest said.
Environmental groups are questioning the shift, however, saying that scrubbers are the surest way to keep toxic mercury from polluting air and water and causing contaminated fish and fish-consumption warnings.
In addition, they question the wisdom of relying on coal from countries such as Indonesia, where Islamic radicalism is fermenting and where one anti-Western terrorist attack already has occurred -- in Bali, in 2005.
"I wouldn't want to trust my mercury levels in Virginia to the political winds in Indonesia," said Cale Jaffe, a staff attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center in Charlottesville.
The Virginia coal industry is concerned, too.
Dink Shackleford, executive director of the Virginia Mining Association, said Dominion's pursuit of foreign coal signals an ominous future for domestic production in southwest Virginia, Kentucky and West Virginia.
Shackleford does not blame Dominion for seeking a cheaper resource. Instead, he blames environmentalists and increasing government regulation for forcing utilities to look overseas. "We're financing our own demise," he said, "when we have plenty of coal right here."
He said more than 100 agencies regulate coal mining today in Virginia, which drives up costs dramatically.
Shackleford also questioned why U.S. environmentalists decry his industry when the alternative is coal mining in developing countries such as Indonesia, where scant environmental and worker-safety regulations exist.
"I just think the environmental movement in this country has gone berserk," he said.
It will be cheaper for Dominion to bring Indonesian coal by barge to coastal Virginia than to carry it by rail from the other corner of the state, said Genest, the utility's spokesman.
Dominion is constructing its own pier on the Elizabeth River, where the foreign coal will be unloaded at the foot of the Chesapeake power plant. The pier is expected to be completed in June, Genest said.
But Dominion intends to start burning imported coal by March, he said, temporarily offloading the low-pollution resources at a commercial pier in Portsmouth owned by Giant Cement Co.
Dominion remains committed to installing scrubbers at its huge coal-fired plant in Chester, outside of Richmond, and at another plant in Yorktown. Plans for Yorktown could change, though, Genest said, depending on the emission-reductions seen with foreign coal at Chesapeake.
Genest acknowledged that Dominion is not sure of the precise mercury benefits from burning Indonesian coal. But he said that if levels are not as low as anticipated, Dominion may install a separate technology to cut mercury emissions and comply with state and federal air-quality rules.
-- Reach Scott Harper at (757) 446-2340 or scott.harper@pilotonline.com.
Thursday, December 07, 2006
reply to:
Avi Chomsky
A quick report on the BHP shareholders meeting in Australia. A more formal report will follow.
HI Folk
I’ll be sending you further information shortly regarding v interesting discussions at BHP BIlliton agm in Brisbane, you can listen by webcast by gong to
http://www.bhpbilliton.com/bb
BHP Billiton Limited AGM Archived Webcast
Argus made the outrageous statement that “ The only commitment I give you is that we leave it in the hands of the person managing the mine… “
I got an applause from shareholders for my question on El Cerrejon, which read something the outline below. The bit on El Cerrejon is at 1.25 minutes into the webcast and then a follow up by a random shareholder who was concerned by the response ta 1.50min
I had a discussion with Ian Wood, BHP vice president after the AGM. Apparently he has been to Colombia 3 times. He claimed not to be aware of the request for collective negotiations.
He also claimed, as we are aware, their position that there are only 8 families from Tabaco that have not been resettled, but gave me a commitment to find out from Leon Teicher whether the company was willing to negotiation with people collectively for relocation as a group rather than individually. He said that he was told that people had favoured individual cash payments rather than other forms of settlement.
It would be good to debunk this if possible.
He hadn’t talked to community people, only to the company.
I’ll be following up with an email to Ian Woods, pasted below, I will be sending a letter to Don Argus. As you will see from my question below there is scope to argue under the World Bank principles that the company must negotiate with people as a group.
We scored significant shareholder sympathy at the meeting on this issue, so Id say created some leverage for moving the issue along.
Best regards
Techa
Rough transcript of the question put to BHP Billiton’ s board of directors
My question relates to the El Cerrejon mine in Colombia a matter which has been raised a number of times before the meeting and which the board have committed to resolving,
My concern is a matter that I believe poses reputational risks to the company.
We have raised concern over the El Cerrejon mine at a number of annual general meetings of the company, in particular highlighted the unresolved issues of the forced displacement of the community of Tabaco in 2001, involving an incident of violent displacement akonwledged as regrettable.
However over 3 years have passed since this matter was first raised by shareholders and there has been no progress on resolving outstanding claims and people’s requests for resettlement in a manner that respects their cultural and social rights to continue to live together as a community. Many of those forcibly displaced from the community are now landless without any source of income, and reliant on recent humanitarian missions for health services.
We express concerns over growing local and international calls for the company to address this issue. I have with me information on protests and letters of concern from governments and other bodies in regions of the US and Canada where the company sells its coal. Sintracarbon, the union representing coal miners from El Cerrejon has also recently included demands that the company properly compensate and undertake relocation of communities affected by the mine in a manner that respects their human rights in their bargaining position with the company. Clearly this issue is not going away but is gaining increasing public profile. It is concerning that this issue has reached a level where consumers are actively calling for the resolution of these problems and we note with concern the potential for this to affect markets for product for El Cerrejon,
The Tabaco displaced persons committee has sought a community relocation arrangement that will enable them to continue living together as a farming community in a different location, which they have already identified. However according to our sources, the company has withdrawn from all dialogue with those who have outstanding claims. In a meeting held by a delegation from American based “Witness for Peace” with El Cerrejon director Leon Teicher stated that the company will not negotiate with the communities as a whole for relocation, but only with individual families.
BHP Billiton has commendably committed to implementing the mininmum standards outlined in the World Bank principles on involuntary settlement. These mandate that “Patterns of community organization appropriate to the new circumstances are based on choices made by the displaced persons. To the extent possible, the existing social and cultural institutions of resettlers and any host communities are preserved and resettlers’ preferences with respect to relocating in preexisting communities and groups are honored.”
According to a delegation that recently met with Leon Teicher, he stated clearly that there would be NO NEGOTIATION with Tabaco people as a community. Will the company live up to its publicaly state commitments under the World Bank guidelines and ensure that, as a matter of urgency, negotiations to resolve these matters with the representatives of those displaced take place according to their clearly stated desire to negotiate as a group and be relocated as a group to a location where they can live according to their cultural traditions and practices?
As such I am asking that BHP Billiton put its publicly stated commitments into practice at this operation.
I sincerely hope that I won’t have to be here at the next annual general meeting raising this issue
Email to ian woods
Dear Ian,
It was good to chat with you briefly following the AGM, and I appreciate your interest in moving forward these issues to a just resolution.
I am just writing to confirm your commitment to clarifying whether or not El Cerrejon is willing to negotiate as a group, and in particular for relocation that enables people to continue to live as a community.
This query refers both specifically to the community of Tabaco, and also to the other communities who have had their living standards, including access to work opportunities, health and education services reduced as a result of the mines expansion.
As I mentioned during the meeting, we are particulariy interested in seeing the mine apply the World Bank Principles on Resettlement in this project as affects the people of Tabaco and other affected communities,
I am also interested in an update on the proposed expansion of the mine that would lead to diversion of the riverm in particular the process for securing the free and prior informed consent of Indigenous communities who rely on and have traditional claims to the river and surrounding lands. As you may be aware, the Colombian legislative framework, domestically under their Constitution and in line with international commitments to the ILO Convention 169 requires this principle be instituted.
Thanks for your time,
I look forward to your response,
Techa
North Shore Colombia Solidarity Committee
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
from Avi Chomsky
A great article from New Brunswick:
-----------
THE LIVING DEAD
La Guajira and Belledune Pay the Price for New Brunswick Comfort and Complicity
By Tracy Glynn
“Their fundamental rights have been violated. These communities lack the most minimal
conditions necessary for a decent life. They seem to belong to the living dead,”
the living conditions in communities around the Cerrejón coal mine in Colombia in early
November.
NB Power consumes coal produced in the Cerrejón mine at its plant in Belledune.
Approximately 16% of the power in our province supplied through NB Power is
generated from what has been dubbed “Colombian blood coal.”
José Julio Pérez was a farmer from Tabaco, Colombia. Today, Tabaco and its homes,
farms, church and school do not exist. All that lived in Tabaco was destroyed for the
Cerrejón mine in August 2001. During the bloody displacement, some of Pérez’s
neighbours sustained serious and long lasting injuries after being beaten with clubs by the
police including a woman who intervened on a beating of her father.
Tabaco is not the only village that was illegally wiped off the map and those formerly
from Tabaco are not the only ones suffering because of the world’s largest open-pit coal
mine. Since the development of the Cerrejón mine in 1982, indigenous Wayuu and Afro-
Colombian communities in La Guajira have been forcibly displaced from their lands.
Traditional agriculture-based livelihoods have been destroyed with the loss of land and
industrial contamination. More communities face similar fates with the coal mine
expansion.
The multinational companies that have and currently own Cerrejón include ExxonMobil,
Glencore, Xstrata, BHP Billiton and AngloAmerican. While it welcomed the foreign
investors, the Colombian State dehumanized the local indigenous and Afro-Colombian
communities. The people who lived on top of the rich coal reserves were treated less than
human and became dispensable things. Their say in the development or destruction of
their communities did not matter. Atrocities against them including poverty, brutal
intimidation, beatings, jail sentences and the prospect of being killed were justified.
The disenfranchised communities were left to suffer the health consequences of breathing
bad air and drinking contaminated water. Similar environmental injustices also occur
inside New Brunswick’s borders like in Belledune where two smelters and ironically the
plant that burns the Colombian coal have contaminated the area. An incinerator that plans
to burn PCBs is now planned for the area but the citizens refuse to be further
dehumanized and contaminated. In the Conservation Council’s recent publication, Dying
for Development, author Inka Milewski exposes forty years of government neglect
concerning the contamination of Belledune by a lead smelter, now owned by Xstrata
which also owns part of the Cerrejón mine. A 2005 provincial health study revealed that
the community had a high death and cancer rate compared to other parts of the province.
Turning Up the Heat
José Julio Pérez visited many towns and cities in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and the
United States in March 2006 to ask for support including NB Power's in expressing
solidarity with and demanding justice and collective relocation for the people who live in
the mining area. Solidarity can be as simple as receiving regular updates to stay informed
and vigilant of the situation in the affected communities, committing to exerting public
pressure (on the mine, on its customers, on government agencies in the home countries of
the mine or in the countries that import this coal), or traveling to La Guajira to act as
international observers and accompaniment when requested by the communities. The
Atlantic Regional Solidarity Network (www.arsn.ca) and the Fredericton Peace Coalition
(www.frederictonpeace.org) are currently organizing efforts on these fronts and can becontacted for more information.
On October 17, representatives of ARSN and FPC as well as concerned individuals met
with NB Power while the UNB/STU Social Justice Society organized a demonstration
outside NB Power’s office to generate much needed media attention. The concerned
citizens asked that NB Power write a letter urging Cerrejón to respect and uphold
internationally recognized human rights and labour norms, and the collective rights of the
affected communities for fair relocation and reparations during its negotiation with the
union and affected community slated to begin in November. On November 14, NB Power
executive director David Hay sent a letter that included these demands to Cerrejón
President Leon Teicher. Francisco Ramirez Cuellar, a fearless union activist in Colombia,
responded to the letter from NB Power: “I want to tell you that it provoked a very strong
reaction on the part of the company…it is wonderful that the letter was written because
the company now is beginning to have to weigh very carefully what the consequences are
going to be if it continues to trample on the communities.”
Dr. Timothy Bood from Halifax and Dr. Tom Whitney from Maine visited Colombia in
early November and treated many people with medical supplies donated by citizens in
Fredericton, Halifax, Maine, and Massachusetts. Debbie Kelly in Halifax is selling handwoven
bags made by La Guajira women as a urgent fundraiser for the affected
communities. She writes: “while this may be a short term solution at best, it will at least
provide food for many who have little or no way for decent meals, especially for the
children and sick. Some only eat every three days and for the smiling little children, it is
hard to take. Even though their little body is racked in open sores from contamianted
water, they don’t cry.”
Meanwhile, an environmental justice campaign to prevent future Belledunes is underway
in New Brunswick by the Conservation Council. An Environmental Bill of Rights is
proposed to entrench the public’s right to know about environmental and health risks, and
to protect civil servants who "blow the whistle" on government inaction when it threatens
the environment and health of citizens.
Saturday, December 02, 2006
Cool article following the oct 29 delegation to the Guajira, detailing the situation with the communities around the Cerrejon mine:
----------
Found at: http://www.pww.org/article/articleprint/10221/ |
Colombia: blood on the coal |
 |
| |
| The Cerrejón mine in La Guajira, Colombia. Photo by Don McConnell/McConnell Productions. |
Since 1981, 400 million tons of coal has been taken out of La Guajira’s subsoil.
Despite this economic “success,” the communities living here — situated on coal reserves estimated at 3 billion tons — are slated for destruction by the company and government of President Alvaro Uribe.
The unequal contest between giant multinational corporations and La Guajira’s communities plays out in an arid landscape marked by scrub-covered plains and distant mountains.
The forced exit of one community already, and the suffering of the remaining people living in half-empty, decrepit villages, has outraged activists and labor unions worldwide. This is nowhere more evident than in the countries that consume Cerrejón’s coal. Solidarity actions with the peoples of La Guajira are picking up.
A giant energy complex
Cerrejón, once the property of the Colombian state and Exxon, is now owned by multinationals BHP Billiton, Anglo-American, and Glencore (Xstrata). It generated <div>   from:  <a title="e.suzanne.macneil@gmail.com" href="mailto:e.suzanne.macneil@gmail.com?subject=Colombia:%20%20Blood%20on%20the%20Coal">Suzanne MacNeil</a>  <br>   <br>   Cool article following the oct 29 delegation to the Guajira, detailing the situation with the communities around the Cerrejon mine: </div> <div>     </div> <div>   "Colombia: Blood on the Coal": <a href="http://www.pww.org/index.php/article/articleview/10221/1/349" target="_blank">http://www.pww.org/index.php<wbr>/article/articleview/10221/1<wbr>/349</a> </div> <div>     </div> <div>   Suzanne<br>   ----------<br> </div> <br> <br> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%">   <tbody>   <tr>     <td align="center">       <br>       <h3>         <a href="http://www.pww.org/article/articleprint/10221/">Found at: http://www.pww.org/article/articleprint/10221/</a>       </h3>     </td>   </tr>   </tbody> </table> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%">   <tbody>   <tr>     <td>       <h1>         Colombia: blood on the coal       </h1>     </td>     <td align="right">       <form action="http://www.google.com/custom" method="get">       <table bgcolor="#ffffff" border="0" cellspacing="0">         <tbody>         <tr valign="top">           <td>             <a href="http://www.google.com/search"> <img alt="Google" src="http://www.google.com/logos/Logo_40wht.gif" align="middle" border="0" height="27" width="64"></a>           </td>           <td>             <input class="searchbox" maxlength="255" name="q" size="10" value="" type="text">           </td>           <td>             <input class="stdbutton" name="sa" value="Search" type="submit"> <input name="cof" value="S:http://pww.org;AH:left;LH:66;L:http://pww.org/ezsitemanager/staticfiles/subscribe_button.jpg;LW:173;AWFID:5c9fbd6ff68bf4c4;" type="hidden"> <input name="domains" value="pww.org" type="hidden">           </td>         </tr>         <tr>           <td colspan="3">             <span class="menusmall"><input name="sitesearch" value="" type="radio"> Search WWW <input checked="checked" name="sitesearch" value="pww.org" type="radio"> Search pww.org </span>           </td>         </tr>         </tbody>       </table>       </form>     </td>   </tr>   </tbody> </table> <hr noshade="noshade" size="4"><br> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%">   <tbody>   <tr>     <td>       <p class="byline">         Author: <a class="byline" href="http://www.pww.org/index.php/article/author/view/616">W. T. Whitney Jr.</a>       </p>     </td>     <td align="right">       <p class="byline">         People's Weekly World Newspaper, 11/30/06 13:17       </p>     </td>   </tr>   </tbody> </table> <p> </p> <p>   <br clear="all"> </p> <table align="right" border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" width="275">   <tbody>   <tr>     <td>       <a href="http://www.pww.org/index.php/imagecatalogue/imageview/1608/?RefererURL=/article/articleprint/10221/" target=""> <img alt="" src="http://www.pww.org/ezimagecatalogue/catalogue/variations/1608-275x275.jpg" border="0" height="184" width="275"> </a>     </td>   </tr>   <tr>     <td class="picauth" align="right">       <br>     </td>   </tr>   <tr>     <td class="pictext">       The Cerrejón mine in La Guajira, Colombia. Photo by Don McConnell/McConnell Productions.     </td>   </tr>   </tbody> </table> LA GUAJIRA, Colombia — Cerrejón, the world’s largest open pit coal mine, materialized 25 years ago in the midst of the Afro-Colombian and indigenous Wayuu peoples living in this northeast corner of Colombia. The region is named after La Guajira peninsula, which juts into the Caribbean Sea.<br> <br> Since 1981, 400 million tons of coal has been taken out of La Guajira’s subsoil.<br> <br> Despite this economic “success,” the communities living here — situated on coal reserves estimated at 3 billion tons — are slated for destruction by the company and government of President Alvaro Uribe.<br> <br> The unequal contest between giant multinational corporations and La Guajira’s communities plays out in an arid landscape marked by scrub-covered plains and distant mountains.<br> <br> The forced exit of one community already, and the suffering of the remaining people living in half-empty, decrepit villages, has outraged activists and labor unions worldwide. This is nowhere more evident than in the countries that consume Cerrejón’s coal. Solidarity actions with the peoples of La Guajira are picking up.<br> <br> <br> <font color="#885522"><strong>A giant energy complex</strong></font><br> <br> Cerrejón, once the property of the Colombian state and Exxon, is now owned by multinationals BHP Billiton, Anglo-American, and Glencore (Xstrata). It generated $1.2 billion in earnings last year.<br> <br> The companies operate a 90-mile-long railroad, a highway and their own seaport. The mine, 30 miles long and 5 miles wide, sells 22 percent of its coal to North America, 59 percent to Europe and 19 percent elsewhere. Last year the mine exported 25 million tons of coal.<br> <br> <br> <font color="#885522"><strong>Solidarity</strong></font><br> <br> Leaders of Sintracarbón, the national union representing Cerrejón workers, have taken up the cause of the beleaguered communities as they begin their own contract negotiations with the company. The union has over 3,100 members. Leaders of both the communities and the union are counting on a boost, however, from international public opinion.<br> <br> The power of international solidarity was apparent earlier this year when the nation of Denmark banned coal from Alabama-based Drummond Company, a notorious anti-labor energy company, pending a U.S. court’s decision about Drummond’s possible complicity in the murder of three Colombian labor leaders in 2001.<br> <br> The Dutch power generating company Essent indicated recently that it, too, would not be signing new coal supply contracts with Drummond, pending the court’s decision.<br> <br> <br> <font color="#885522"><strong>‘Blood coal’ in Salem</strong></font><br> <br> History professor Aviva Chomsky learned that a power plant in Salem, Mass., where she lives, was using Cerrejón coal. She and other activists there and in Nova Scotia, Canada, another consuming region, have turned Cerrejón into a symbol for “blood coal.”<br> <br> This year, Chomsky recruited labor and human rights activists, physicians and academicians from Canada and the United States to visit La Guajira from Oct. 29-Nov. 3 to learn, carry out a requested health survey and prepare for solidarity work on their return.<br> <br> Sintracarbón and organizations representing Wayuu and Afro-Colombian communities had invited them to Colombia. When the delegation arrived, its members were greeted by union and community leaders, who subsequently accompanied them on the tour. The present writer joined the group’s medical contingent.<br> <br> <br> <font color="#885522"><strong>A solemn declaration</strong></font><br> <br> Responding to the owners’ plans for continued mine expansion, Sintracarbón leaders issued a declaration on the communities timed for the visitors’ departure. What it describes mirrors some of the impressions they took back to North America.<br> <br> The declaration notes, “These communities are being systematically besieged.” The company has denied them access to employment, grazing land and rivers. The communities “do not have even the most minimal conditions necessary for survival,” it said.<br> <br> The document continues: “The multinational companies that exploit and loot our natural resources in the Cerrejón mine are violating the human rights of these communities.”<br> <br> Sintracarbón, the union, aims to “help unify the affected communities, to participate in their meetings, to take a stand with the local and national authorities ... to begin a dialogue with the company.”<br> <br> <br> <font color="#885522"><strong>Meeting with the communities</strong></font><br> <br> Interviewing residents of four communities, the North Americans learned that local schools and health facilities are virtually non-existent. To secure food and work, Wayuu people have to trek over mountains into nearby Venezuela. Harassment from company police and the national army is rampant.<br> <br> Government officials have denied indigenous and Afro-Colombian people rights guaranteed them under the nation’s 1991 constitution. They refuse the official certification that would place the communities into protected categories.<br> <br> Displaced former residents of the Afro-Colombian community Tabaco, living nearby in cruel circumstances, recalled the bulldozers, soldiers and company police that on Aug. 9, 2001, evicted them, destroying their village. Neither Cerrejón nor neighboring Hatonuevo municipality has complied with a Supreme Court ruling May 2002 to provide homes for the victims.<br> <br> Before and later, some residents did settle individually with Cerrejón. Others, members of “Tabaco in Resistance” led by Jose Julio Perez, demand collective negotiations, collective resettlement, and reparations for loss of livelihood and community integrity.<br> <br> <br> <font color="#885522"><strong>U.S. and world solidarity</strong></font><br> <br> Richard Trumka, secretary-treasurer of the AFL-CIO, and Leo Gerard, president of the United Steelworkers, have called upon the company to honor labor and human rights. Gerard wrote the mine’s owners, “We applaud Sintracarbón union’s courageous and unprecedented step in including in its bargaining proposal demands that the collective rights of the Afro-Colombian and indigenous communities affected by the mine are recognized and addressed.”<br> <br> Chomsky reports that solidarity groups are active in Massachusetts, Nova Scotia, London and Switzerland. She and others have formed an international commission to monitor developments in La Guajira, including union negotiations for a new contract.<br> <br> For more information, visit<br> <br> <a href="http://www.colombiajournal.org/" target="_blank">www.colombiajournal.org</a><br> <br> <a href="http://home.earthlink.net/%7ESintracarb%C3%B3n/" target="_blank">http://home.earthlink.net/~Sintracarbón/</a><br> <br> <a href="http://home.comcast.net/%7Enscolombia" target="_blank">http://home.comcast.net/~nscolombia</a>.<br> <br> <i>W.T. Whitney Jr. (atwhit @ megalink.net) writes on international affairs for the People’s Weekly World. He lives in rural Maine.</i><br> <br> <br> <br> <font color="#885522"><strong>Building people-to-people solidarity</strong></font><br> <br> <i>Aviva Chomsky</i><br> <br> SALEM, Mass. — It was in April of 2002 that a group of people here first learned that our power plant was importing coal from the Cerrejón mine in Colombia, then owned by Exxon.<br> <br> Two representatives of local communities affected by the mine were coming to the United States to speak at the Exxon shareholders’ meeting about the mine’s abuses against the people in the region. They were eager to come to Salem to meet with people who were using coal from the mine.<br> <br> So we scrambled to put together an ad hoc committee to organize their visit. To our surprise, the issue piqued the interest of many.<br> <br> When she arrived, indigenous Wayuu leader Remedios Fajardo told Salem’s mayor, its city council, and others: “We want to tell the people of Salem that this coal has its origins in violence. Our communities have suffered greatly. Their human rights have been violated, their territory has been usurped, their houses destroyed and demolished, and they have had to shed their blood in order for this coal to arrive in Salem and other parts of the world.<br> <br> “We beg the city of Salem to express their solidarity with us, because we have a relationship with them because of this situation,” she said.<br> <br> Since that day, we’ve been trying to do just that.<br> <br> Our campaign has mushroomed over the past four years. We’ve invited activists from La Guajira to the U.S. and Canada to bring their stories to coal-consuming communities. We linked up with solidarity groups in London, Switzerland and Australia, where the three companies that bought the mine in 2002 have their headquarters. We started attending their shareholders meetings and asking tough questions.<br> <br> Here in Salem and in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, Canada, our organizations have been pressuring the coal importers to press the mine on human rights issues. A Danish investigative report last spring led to DONG Energy in Denmark cutting off its purchases of coal from the U.S.-owned Drummond mine in Colombia, where three union leaders were killed in 2001. The New Brunswick Power Company recently wrote to the mine asking it to negotiate in good faith with the union and the affected communities, and to respect the communities’ right to collective relocation and reparations.<br> <br> High levels of violence against unionists in Colombia have helped mobilize unions in the U.S., Canada and Europe to join the campaign.<br> <br> When the Sintracarbón union at the Cerrejón mine decided to prioritize its relationship with communities affected by the enterprise, workers at the Ekati diamond mine in Canada’s northwest territories noted the similarities: the two mines are partially owned by the same Australian company, BHP Billiton, and both have usurped indigenous land and displaced communities.<br> <br> The Public Service Alliance of Canada, which organized the Ekati mine in the country’s Northwest Territories two years ago, sent two representatives on our recent delegation to express their solidarity and to have a chance to exchange experiences.<br> <br> Both the union and the communities have told us repeatedly that only international attention will pressure the mine owners to respect their rights. We hope we can bring the attention they need and deserve.<br> <br> <i>Aviva Chomsky teaches history at Salem State College in Massachusetts.</i><br> <br> <br> <br> <font color="#885522"><strong>‘We are compañeros and friends who are forever united’</strong></font><br> <br> <i>Following the delegation visit, Jairo Quiroz of the Sintracarbón union sent the visitors these reflections:</i><br> <br> “This kind of experience is what brings us the strength and conviction that we need to continue our struggle against the social inequalities in our country. Our experience with you allowed us to come close to these uprooted and displaced communities that are suffering from desperation and depression because of the way they are humiliated and assaulted by the strength of foreign capital, with the blessing of the Colombian state.<br> <br> “Their fundamental rights have been violated. Beginning now, we as a union are proposing that just as the company has a social responsibility for the way it runs its business, our union, seeing the destruction that the Guajira communities are suffering at the hands of Cerrejón, has a moral and political responsibility.<br> <br> “The company generates huge profits through the misery, poverty, and uprooting of these populations. The communities have to pay a very high price for the company’s profits.<br> <br> “We are convinced that only the unity among the different peoples of the world can allow us to confront these economically powerful and inhuman multinationals in the name of the communities that have the misfortune to be located in the path of the mine’s expansion.”<br> <br> Quiroz had been asked the meaning of compañero. He explained by quoting Che Guevara: “We are not friends, we are not relatives, we don’t even know each other. But if you, as I, are outraged by any act of injustice committed in the world, then we are compañeros.”<br> <br> Quiroz adds, “We also now consider all of you to be our friends and our relatives. Forever united.”<br> <br> <i>W.T. Whitney Jr.</i><br clear="all"> <div align="center">   <br>   <br>   | <a class="path" href="http://www.pww.org/index.php/article/articleview/10221/0/">Back to normal page view</a> | <a class="path" href="http://www.pww.org/index.php/article/mailtofriend/10221/">Send this article to a friend</a> |<br>   <br>   <br>   <div>     <wbr>----------<br>     <div style="text-align: left;">         <a href="http://home.comcast.net/%7Enscolombia/" title="http://home.comcast.net/~nscolombia/">North Shore Colombia Solidarity Committee</a> <a href="http://home.comcast.net/%7Enscolombia/" target="_blank"></a>     </div>   </div>   <br> </div>.2 billion in earnings last year.
The companies operate a 90-mile-long railroad, a highway and their own seaport. The mine, 30 miles long and 5 miles wide, sells 22 percent of its coal to North America, 59 percent to Europe and 19 percent elsewhere. Last year the mine exported 25 million tons of coal.
Solidarity
Leaders of Sintracarbón, the national union representing Cerrejón workers, have taken up the cause of the beleaguered communities as they begin their own contract negotiations with the company. The union has over 3,100 members. Leaders of both the communities and the union are counting on a boost, however, from international public opinion.
The power of international solidarity was apparent earlier this year when the nation of Denmark banned coal from Alabama-based Drummond Company, a notorious anti-labor energy company, pending a U.S. court’s decision about Drummond’s possible complicity in the murder of three Colombian labor leaders in 2001.
The Dutch power generating company Essent indicated recently that it, too, would not be signing new coal supply contracts with Drummond, pending the court’s decision.
‘Blood coal’ in Salem
History professor Aviva Chomsky learned that a power plant in Salem, Mass., where she lives, was using Cerrejón coal. She and other activists there and in Nova Scotia, Canada, another consuming region, have turned Cerrejón into a symbol for “blood coal.”
This year, Chomsky recruited labor and human rights activists, physicians and academicians from Canada and the United States to visit La Guajira from Oct. 29-Nov. 3 to learn, carry out a requested health survey and prepare for solidarity work on their return.
Sintracarbón and organizations representing Wayuu and Afro-Colombian communities had invited them to Colombia. When the delegation arrived, its members were greeted by union and community leaders, who subsequently accompanied them on the tour. The present writer joined the group’s medical contingent.
A solemn declaration
Responding to the owners’ plans for continued mine expansion, Sintracarbón leaders issued a declaration on the communities timed for the visitors’ departure. What it describes mirrors some of the impressions they took back to North America.
The declaration notes, “These communities are being systematically besieged.” The company has denied them access to employment, grazing land and rivers. The communities “do not have even the most minimal conditions necessary for survival,” it said.
The document continues: “The multinational companies that exploit and loot our natural resources in the Cerrejón mine are violating the human rights of these communities.”
Sintracarbón, the union, aims to “help unify the affected communities, to participate in their meetings, to take a stand with the local and national authorities ... to begin a dialogue with the company.”
Meeting with the communities
Interviewing residents of four communities, the North Americans learned that local schools and health facilities are virtually non-existent. To secure food and work, Wayuu people have to trek over mountains into nearby Venezuela. Harassment from company police and the national army is rampant.
Government officials have denied indigenous and Afro-Colombian people rights guaranteed them under the nation’s 1991 constitution. They refuse the official certification that would place the communities into protected categories.
Displaced former residents of the Afro-Colombian community Tabaco, living nearby in cruel circumstances, recalled the bulldozers, soldiers and company police that on Aug. 9, 2001, evicted them, destroying their village. Neither Cerrejón nor neighboring Hatonuevo municipality has complied with a Supreme Court ruling May 2002 to provide homes for the victims.
Before and later, some residents did settle individually with Cerrejón. Others, members of “Tabaco in Resistance” led by Jose Julio Perez, demand collective negotiations, collective resettlement, and reparations for loss of livelihood and community integrity.
U.S. and world solidarity
Richard Trumka, secretary-treasurer of the AFL-CIO, and Leo Gerard, president of the United Steelworkers, have called upon the company to honor labor and human rights. Gerard wrote the mine’s owners, “We applaud Sintracarbón union’s courageous and unprecedented step in including in its bargaining proposal demands that the collective rights of the Afro-Colombian and indigenous communities affected by the mine are recognized and addressed.”
Chomsky reports that solidarity groups are active in Massachusetts, Nova Scotia, London and Switzerland. She and others have formed an international commission to monitor developments in La Guajira, including union negotiations for a new contract.
For more information, visit
www.colombiajournal.org
http://home.earthlink.net/~Sintracarbón/
http://home.comcast.net/~nscolombia.
W.T. Whitney Jr. (atwhit @ megalink.net) writes on international affairs for the People’s Weekly World. He lives in rural Maine.
Building people-to-people solidarity
Aviva Chomsky
SALEM, Mass. — It was in April of 2002 that a group of people here first learned that our power plant was importing coal from the Cerrejón mine in Colombia, then owned by Exxon.
Two representatives of local communities affected by the mine were coming to the United States to speak at the Exxon shareholders’ meeting about the mine’s abuses against the people in the region. They were eager to come to Salem to meet with people who were using coal from the mine.
So we scrambled to put together an ad hoc committee to organize their visit. To our surprise, the issue piqued the interest of many.
When she arrived, indigenous Wayuu leader Remedios Fajardo told Salem’s mayor, its city council, and others: “We want to tell the people of Salem that this coal has its origins in violence. Our communities have suffered greatly. Their human rights have been violated, their territory has been usurped, their houses destroyed and demolished, and they have had to shed their blood in order for this coal to arrive in Salem and other parts of the world.
“We beg the city of Salem to express their solidarity with us, because we have a relationship with them because of this situation,” she said.
Since that day, we’ve been trying to do just that.
Our campaign has mushroomed over the past four years. We’ve invited activists from La Guajira to the U.S. and Canada to bring their stories to coal-consuming communities. We linked up with solidarity groups in London, Switzerland and Australia, where the three companies that bought the mine in 2002 have their headquarters. We started attending their shareholders meetings and asking tough questions.
Here in Salem and in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, Canada, our organizations have been pressuring the coal importers to press the mine on human rights issues. A Danish investigative report last spring led to DONG Energy in Denmark cutting off its purchases of coal from the U.S.-owned Drummond mine in Colombia, where three union leaders were killed in 2001. The New Brunswick Power Company recently wrote to the mine asking it to negotiate in good faith with the union and the affected communities, and to respect the communities’ right to collective relocation and reparations.
High levels of violence against unionists in Colombia have helped mobilize unions in the U.S., Canada and Europe to join the campaign.
When the Sintracarbón union at the Cerrejón mine decided to prioritize its relationship with communities affected by the enterprise, workers at the Ekati diamond mine in Canada’s northwest territories noted the similarities: the two mines are partially owned by the same Australian company, BHP Billiton, and both have usurped indigenous land and displaced communities.
The Public Service Alliance of Canada, which organized the Ekati mine in the country’s Northwest Territories two years ago, sent two representatives on our recent delegation to express their solidarity and to have a chance to exchange experiences.
Both the union and the communities have told us repeatedly that only international attention will pressure the mine owners to respect their rights. We hope we can bring the attention they need and deserve.
Aviva Chomsky teaches history at Salem State College in Massachusetts.
‘We are compañeros and friends who are forever united’
Following the delegation visit, Jairo Quiroz of the Sintracarbón union sent the visitors these reflections:
“This kind of experience is what brings us the strength and conviction that we need to continue our struggle against the social inequalities in our country. Our experience with you allowed us to come close to these uprooted and displaced communities that are suffering from desperation and depression because of the way they are humiliated and assaulted by the strength of foreign capital, with the blessing of the Colombian state.
“Their fundamental rights have been violated. Beginning now, we as a union are proposing that just as the company has a social responsibility for the way it runs its business, our union, seeing the destruction that the Guajira communities are suffering at the hands of Cerrejón, has a moral and political responsibility.
“The company generates huge profits through the misery, poverty, and uprooting of these populations. The communities have to pay a very high price for the company’s profits.
“We are convinced that only the unity among the different peoples of the world can allow us to confront these economically powerful and inhuman multinationals in the name of the communities that have the misfortune to be located in the path of the mine’s expansion.”
Quiroz had been asked the meaning of compañero. He explained by quoting Che Guevara: “We are not friends, we are not relatives, we don’t even know each other. But if you, as I, are outraged by any act of injustice committed in the world, then we are compañeros.”
Quiroz adds, “We also now consider all of you to be our friends and our relatives. Forever united.”
W.T. Whitney Jr.
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