Threats Against Workers, Students and Others by Colombian Paramilitaries and Vice-President Francisco Santos

Urgent Action Alert - December 20, 2006
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.\n\nFurthermore, 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. \n\nThe 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 .\n\n\nSOCIAL LEADERS, STUDENTS, TRADE UNIONISTS \nAND HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS \nTHREATENED IN BARRANQUILLA \n\nOn 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.\n\nThis 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]. \nWe 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].\n\n",1]
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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