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By Scott Nicholson, MHRN Organizer

In Colombia, the leaders of the Coca-Cola workers' union are being threatened by the paramilitaries, and they have requested international accompaniment as a way to reduce their risk of being killed by the paramilitaries, who are less likely to act in the presence of international witnesses. I spent a month this summer accompanying leaders of the union and witnessing the impact of U.S. involvement in Colombia's civil war.

Over the past two years, the Montana Human Rights Network has been working to expand its definition of human rights to include economic and social rights ÷ the right to a job with fair pay; and the right to food, housing, health care, and education. It has also been working to develop relationships with human rights organizations in other countries, and I accompanied the union leaders as part of this outreach.

In the past four years, the United States government has given $1.7 billion to the Colombia military and police. The military and police maintain close ties to the right-wing paramilitaries ÷ armed "civilians" that are responsible for 79 percent of the deaths and disappearances of non-combatants.

Seven leaders of the Coke workers' union have been killed in Colombia since 1990. Isidro Segundo Gil was murdered inside the Coke bottling plant in Carepa by the paramilitaries on December 5, 1996. Isidro was the president of the local union and was involved in negotiations with the company for a new collective bargaining agreement. Four days later, a group of paramilitaries entered the plant and gave the union members until 4:00 pm to resign from the union. Fifty workers signed identical resignation letters, and the union was disbanded at the plant.

William Mendoza and Juan Carlos Galvis, president and vice president of the local union, said that Coke wants to eliminate the union in order to further reduce its labor costs. During the 1990s, Coca-Cola dismissed more than 10,000 workers in Colombia. Now, more than three-fourths of the Coke workers are temporary employees or contractors who do not have the benefits of a union contract. Many of the temporary employees are paid the minimum wage of just $110 per month.

William and Juan Carlos said that the manager of the Coke bottling plant has a close relationship with the paramilitaries. Juan Carlos and his wife have been threatened numerous times by the paramilitaries. The paramilitaries have said that unless Juan Carlos stops his union activity and leaves Coca-Cola, they are going to kill him. William has also been repeatedly threatened by the them. While I was there, three men tried to kidnap his four-year-old daughter, Karin.

Even though the purpose of my trip was to accompany the Coke workers, they also wanted me to see what was happening in the rural areas outside of Barrancabermeja. I visited the Cimitarra River Valley. Most of the 20,000 residents have been forced to flee from their original communities. The paramilitaries have been using terror tactics since the 1980s to drive them out of the area, so that the large landowners can take over the land and expand their cattle ranches. In the past two years, five community presidents and 500 peasants have been killed in the valley.

The paramilitaries now control the four main towns that are located just outside the valley, and they've imposed an economic blockade against the people in the valley. In order for a small storeowner to bring products into the valley, they have to first go to the nearest main town and meet with the local paramilitary commander. They can then register themselves in the paramilitary's book so that they can purchase products from one of the paramilitary stores - where they're charged the paramilitary tax. The paramilitaries can still arbitrarily steal the goods or refuse to let them past the checkpoint.

Here are two actions you can take to support the Coca-Cola workers and the residents of the Cimitarra River Valley:

1) Contact our Congressional representatives and urge them to take action to stop U.S. funding for the Colombian military and police.

2) Stop purchasing Coca-Cola products until Coke respects the human rights of its workers in Colombia and elsewhere around the world.