Colombia suffering from unionist 'genocide'

[Judi Lynn]

Source: MSNBC/Financial Times

Colombia suffering from unionist 'genocide'
By Anastasia Moloney in Bogotá

Updated: 15 minutes ago
When the hitmen came to murder union leader Rodolfo Vecino, he was nowhere to be found.

Instead, Mr Vecino's wife, bodyguard and friend were in the bullet-proof car as it sped along a motorway in northern Colombia last year.
Two gunmen on motorbikes opened fire nine times on the car's blacked-out windows, but the passengers escaped unharmed.

Three days later, Mr Vecino – a board member of USO, Colombia's oil workers' union – received a death threat by e-mail, saying he and other USO unionists had 20 days to leave their homes to "avoid problems".
(snip)

The plight of the country's unionists has not gone unnoticed among Democrats in the US, who say the Bogotá government must do more to tackle such murders. The issue has become a key stumbling block in securing a bilateral trade deal with Washington that has been derailed by domestic scandals and human rights violations.





Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20165377/

[Judi Lynn]

1. Colombian tolls spark border demo

Last Updated: Tuesday, 7 August 2007, 22:08 GMT 23:08 UK
Colombian tolls spark border demo
By James Ingham
BBC News, Caracas

A number of key roads between Colombia and Venezuela are being blocked by lorry drivers protesting against the introduction of tolls.

Car drivers will have to pay about $2, and lorries $10.

So in protest, motorists are blocking three major routes between the Venezuelan state of Tachira and Colombia's Norte de Santander.

About 70% of traffic between the two countries crosses the border at these disputed points.

More:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6936108.stm

[Judi Lynn]

2. More from the original post, Colombia killing off union workers:

Since 1987 more than 2,500 unionists have been murdered in Colombia, a figure which Mr Rodríguez says represents a "genocide". As a security measure he, like dozens of other union leaders, travels in a bullet-proof car with four bodyguards.

A recent Amnesty report highlights that six out of every 10 trade unionists murdered in the world are Colombian. So far this year, 20 union members have been killed in the country, the majority teachers and health workers.
(snip)

Union members are caught in Colombia's internal armed conflict, where being branded a guerrilla sympathiser or collaborator can put civilians at risk.

"Trade unionists are often associated with being part of the opposition or insurgency, in other words against the state, which makes them paramilitary targets," explains Mr Rodríguez. "A teacher working in a rural community who talks about democracy and human rights is often suspected of being a leftwing sympathiser, which then makes them a target of paramilitary groups."

The majority of unionist murders in Colombia have been blamed on rightwing paramilitaries who have been known to operate blacklists, followed by guerrilla groups and roughly 5 per cent by state security agents, says Mr Rodríguez.

Despite the demobilisation of some 31,000 paramilitary fighters as part of a fragile peace deal with the government of Mr Uribe, unionists are still targeted by militias.
(snip/...)

Damned filthy history, is it not? They don't need any more encouragement from this right-wing anti-labor administration.

[killbotfactory]

3. I guess that means they'll get a financial reward from our government

More money for Plan Columbia, comin' right up!

[ProudDad]

4. Our tax dollars at work

:grr:

On Edit: Plan Columbia -- a logical extension of Taft-Hartley...

[Judi Lynn]

5. State Dept. to Deploy Mobile Military-Chopper Bases Across Colombia

State Dept. to Deploy Mobile Military-Chopper Bases Across Colombia
By Stephen Peacock,
Posted on Tue Aug 7th, 2007 at 08:39:14 PM EST

The U.S. Embassy in Bogota is arranging the delivery of mobile helicopter-landing pads to Colombia, where the units will be made available for the on-demand deployment and landing of military attack choppers, a new contracting document shows.

The State Dept. Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs this week began soliciting bids from equipment manufacturers that can provide the bureau with 20 mobile helipads capable of handling takeoffs and landings specifically of Blackhawk (UH-60) and Huey II (UH-1 II) aircraft.
“The helipads shall be able to withstand variances weather conditions typically found in sub-tropical regions of Colombia,” according to a contracting document dated Aug. 2. “Helipads shall be mobile and capable of transport to different locations and various terrains throughout Colombia.”

The selected contractor will make arrangements for the delivery of the helipads via State’s preferred export company, Robertson Freight Forwarding Co., 4469 NW 97th Ave. Miami, Florida 33178. The ability "to provide most expedited delivery of helipads" is among State's top consideration in evaluating proposals. No further information is available, as State made clear in the combined synopsis/solicitation, located during a routine search of the FedBizOpps database, that “quotations are being requested by this notice alone, and a written solicitation will not be issued.”

http://narcosphere.narconews.com/story/2007/8/7/203914/1110