Latin American Solidarity Network (LASNET)

Dubán Antonio Vélez Mejía
President of Sinaltrainal, National Workers Union of Food Industry of Colombia and
CUT (National Workers Federation) Executive committee member.

Dubán is visiting Australia to denounce the tragic situation of Trade Unions in Colombia and to explain to all interested people about the damages and violation of basic human rights created by international corporations (multinationals) like BHP-Billiton and Coca-Cola Company, which are affecting indigenous communities and workers in Colombia.

Dubán Vélez invited to Australia by Latin American Solidarity Network (LASNET) to the Gathering in Solidarity with the struggles of the Latin American people and of Asia Pacific, which took place in Melbourne 23-25 October 2009. The fundamental objectives of his visits are to denounce the government of Alvaro Uribe for its systematic and constant violation of human rights in Colombia, where everyday social and indigenous leaders are assassinated just for wanting a dignified and just life for their people. As well as the Gathering, Dubán is in Australia to go to the general meeting of the shareholders of the BHP-Billiton (in Brisbane next Nov. 26), and denounce the atrocities that this multinational is responsible for, against the Indigenous and poor people of Colombia. Equally, he is reactivating with LASNET a boycott campaign against Coca Cola in Australia, which has already found a lot of support within the Australian union movement. At the same time Dubán is forming a Union and social Activist delegation to visit Colombia next July 22, 2010 during the activities against multinationals exploitation in Colombia and Latin America.

Colombia is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a Trade Unionist.

The trade union movement in Colombia has been dramatically dismantled in the face of privatisation and flexibility of labour. Since the murder of its unionist Isidro Segundo Gil by paramilitaries inside a Coca-Cola bottling plant on the 5th December 1996, the Colombian food and drink workers union SINALTRAINAL has been the victim of over 180 human rights abuses. In a recent statement, the union attacked the complicity of the state and multinationals in the campaign of paramilitary terror inflicted upon them and the trade union movement as a whole.

All these crimes, past and present, remain unpunished, and this constitutes a state policy. In the era of ‘democratic security’, of the communal state ruled by ‘justice and peace’, the killings are pardoned, their ideologues are decorated and the transnational’s are rewarded with non-payment of taxes and the surrender of more of Colombians’ natural resources’.

For over 30 years the Colombian Trade Union of Food Industry, SINALTRAINAL, has tried to defend against the increasing assaults made by transnational corporations, above all Coca-Cola. The price to pay were 9 murdered Coca-Cola unionists, 12 murdered Nestle unionists as well as permanent death threats, abduction threats and attempts at intimidation by the ultra-right paramilitary. In 2002 Sinaltrainal initiated the International Campaign against Coca-Cola to bring attention to the persecution. The campaign was picked up and supported by social movements worldwide. Ir was resumed in September 2007 and relaunched this year 2009.

Colombia is also home to Latin America’s longest running armed internal conflict with 4 million people internally displaced. Today, The Colombian government’s chief intelligence and security service has once again been implicated in illegal activity against trade unionists and human rights leaders. The Colombian military and police forces receive nearly $700 million in aid each year from the United States.

Interested in participate in the delegation to Colombia or get involved in the Coca-Cola killer campaign please call,

Lucho 0400 914 944, Rodrigo 0414 970 418, Marisol 0413 597 315, or Sue 0466 480 331 or write to lasnet@latinlasnet.org and visit www.latinamericansolidaritynetwork.org

Latin American Solidarity Network(LASNET)
Building Solidarity with Latin America
Building Bridges… Organising Globally…
The Power of Grassroots/Community Organisations