The North Shore Colombia Solidarity Committee Blog

from richardsolly@gn.apc.org

I endorse all that Avi and Chloe and Garry have said. I have been involved with the people of Tabaco since 2000. Of course the company says nice things about what it has done. What it does not tell you is the background. Please do not take at face value the company's propaganda!

Love from Bogota,

Richard.

from Chloe Schwabe

Dear all,

I think that Garry's timeline is a more accurate timeline of the events and perspective of the community. When I visited with displaced community members at a conference that was coordinated by the committee for the relocation of tabaco in Albania in 2004, the underlying message I heard from people was that people had the choice to leave (with or without compensation depending on the circumstances) or have their homes destroyed. While compensation was offered to some, it was actually way below the market value for the property. Some people received the full compensation the company offered and some did not. In many cases the compensation was also not enough to buy another home somewhere else. In some cases, the land titlements that people held were not recognized too. i would be happy to send anyone the trip report we did in 2004 with more specifics.

The history of this mine is ugly. Tabaco was not the only displaced community. Media Luna (wayuu) is fenced in and people's every movement is observed by mine security and they are not allowed to rebuild or fix any of their homes. In the meantime they are living on the land now controlled by the port. It is polluted by coal dust. The water is polluted.They were actually asked to move twice. The last time, some people refused to move and the fence was built around them. It is a very difficult existence. Manantial (afro) was displaced in the same way that Tabaco was displaced- with violence. THey had no support whatsoever. Another Wayuu community was displaced in the middle of the night when the very legislation that they had passed with the help of Armando Perez to protect the community and try to have the company take responsibility for the fact that their land was no longer inhabitable was used to displace them in the middle of the night. The community was dumped on some land with no shelter, no compensation, no jobs. Nothing.

I want to echo Avi's comments in that there are a lot of really awful cases in Colombia, but is it really right to comepare misery with misery? What happened to these communities is still wrong. When I visited and met people, built relationships with them and documented their stories, my heart was broken and I knew I had to keep doing what I could to help these communities, however little. Like all mining companies, Cerrejon tries to villainize the communities that oppose their operation and twist the story in their favor. These companies are actually really concerned about their public image. Any effort we can make to lift up the stories of these communities forces them to do pr damage control and furthers the cause for justice for these communities.

Some of us have been working with very limited resources for a while from Colombia, Canada, England, Australia and the US to do what we can with the limited resources that we have to bring attention to these communities when they are competing with other heart wrenching stories in Colombia and with media and government corruption there to have their voices heard. It is really exciting to see the impacts of Jose Julio's tour through the US and the delegation there this year and to see that finally these communities and this cause is getting the attention that it deserves. I hope people continue to stay involved so that one day soon, Tabaco can receive the compensation it deserves and other communities, such as Tamaquito, will receive better treatment.

We are all doing our part to improve the overall conditions for the people of Colombia. Klaus, I hope that you too will continue to be part of these efforts.

Ok. Now that I have written this manifesto, I will sign off.

Chloe

from Garry Leech

Hi all,

Here is a link to a timeline of events related to Tabaco that includes the
views of Jose Julio and community members addressing many of the issues
raised by the mine in its version of events on its website - including the
survey and the 57 hectares of donated land.

http://www.arsn.ca/tabaco_displacement.htm

Regards,
Garry.

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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