Chile's Workers Union Calls For Focus On Colombia

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Valparaiso Times

CHILE’S WORKERS UNION CALLS FOR FOCUS ON COLOMBIA
Written by Beatrice Karol Burks
Monday, 06 August 2007

Chile’s Central Workers Union (CUT) is asking for “solidarity, now!” with their Colombian counterparts.

Last week, CUT representatives made their position known during a press conference that coincided with the publication of an Amnesty International (AI) report called “Homicides, arbitrary detentions and death threats: the daily reality for unions in Colombia.”

“We (in Chile) know what it’s like to live under a violent dictatorship. But we also know that there can be violence under democracy,” said María Rosas, CUT’s vice-president for women. “Colombia’s government is trying to hide what happens (to workers) so as not harm its international image.”

According to the AI report, 2,245 Colombian union members were murdered in the 15 years between 1991 and 2006. In the same time period, 3,400 received threats and 138 were disappeared. Almost half of the killings are attributed to rightist paramilitary groups, which have links to politicians within Colombia’s government. AI found government security forces responsible for 43 percent.

“A couple of weeks ago (Colombia’s president Alvaro) Uribe blamed the trade unions for opposing a free trade agreement with the United States,” explained Interamerican Workers Organization representative Victor Baez. “Saying this, in a country like Colombia, is the same as ordering the paramilitaries to execute union members.”



Read more: http://www.valparaisotimes.cl/content/view/145/25/

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Colombian pResident Alvaro Uribe and friend.