The story of trade union assassination portrayed in the article has played an important role in the attempt to expose U.S. military aid to Colombia for what it is -- the support for right-wing counter-insurgents who are committing 80 percent of the human rights abuses in Colombia. These forces, the paramilitaries, are targeting mostly unarmed activists, such as trade unionists, peace activists, and human rights workers who are challenging the unjust social order in Colombia. Colombia is in fact the trade unionist assassination capitol of the world. Indeed, out of every 5 trade unionists murdered worldwide, over 3 are Colombian. Over 4,000 trade unionists have been murdered in that small country since 1986. This story of the anti-union violence in particular has helped to create unprecedented links between trade unionists and peace activists who are now working together to oppose U.S. military aid to Colombia.

Following this story, the USWA, along with the International Labor Rights Fund, brought lawsuits against both Coca-Cola and Drummond Company for their role in human rights abuses in Colombia. In particular, the USWA and ILRF brought claims against Drummond for the murder of the trade unionists which happened while, as described in the story, the USWA delegation was in Colombia.

Sadly, however, the trade union assassinations have continued unabated, and have in fact increased in Colombia, with over 160 trade unionists being killed there last year. In addition, the U.S. military aid has continued despite these assassinations and our attempts to publicize them. Indeed, the U.S. Congress is presently debating whether to explicitly expand the role of the U.S. in Colombia by, for the first time, expressly earmarking aid for (1) counter-insurgency efforts; and (2) to protect oil pipelines in Colombia, for example those of Occidental Oil.

The USWA is attempting to ameliorate the effects of the military build-up and the violence through its Colombia Solidarity Fund which has and continues to provide support for trade unionists under threat to relocate, sometimes within Colombia, sometimes out of the country, to find safe-haven. Those wishing to support this effort can write to:

Colombia Solidarity Fund
c/o Solidarity Center
1925 K Street, N.W., Suite 300
Washington, D.C. 20006-1105

While the mainstream press did not respond to the story as such, the media has presented some coverage of the two lawsuits mentioned above. And, in covering these lawsuits, the media has mentioned the anti-union violence described in the story. However, the media has been reluctant to give much credence to the allegations of the Colombian plaintiffs. For its part, Time Magazine did a wonderful job of reporting about the Coca-Cola lawsuit, filed in the U.S. by U.S. institutions and lawyers, and about the anti-union violence in Colombia. Curiously, however, Time chose to print this story in every edition in the world except the United States where, with the sole exception of Colombia, it was most relevant. I had to obtain a copy of the article from a friend in Canada where it was published.

You can obtain more information about this story, and about what actions you can take to help, from the Steelabor webside, as well as the following: www.cokewatch.org; www.ilrf.org and the websites of Witness for Peace and Human Rights Watch.

-- Dan Kovalik