BY HILDA CUZCO
Workers in Colombia, as in much of Latin America, have
been hard hit by recession, with high unemployment and
government austerity programs. Under these conditions many
joined in a national strike that began August 31,
paralyzing some sectors of the economy. The government of
Andrés Pastrana, which responded with an outpouring of
police and troops, has meanwhile received Washington's
assurance of more military aid, supposedly for its
"antidrug programs."
The strike, called by the main labor federations, halted 90 percent of public transportation in the cities and countryside. Schools were closed, and hospitals opened only for emergency cases. Leaders of the Central Union of Workers (CUT), along with the Democratic General Confederation of Labor (CGTD) and the Confederation of Colombian Workers (CTC) said the strike would continue until negotiations with the government resumed. Members of the Colombian Teachers Federation (FECODE), state bank employees, and workers of the Colombian Petroleum Enterprise (ECOPETROL) joined the work stoppage.
Strikes oppose antilabor laws, austerity
The major demands of the action include rejection of
new antiunion laws, austerity measures, and the sell-off
of state-owned companies; calls for a moratorium of the
foreign and domestic debt; and for agrarian reform. The
new minister of labor responded that these demands were
political and nonnegotiable.
Military and police forces took control of all highways and roads in the country. Several airplanes and a fleet of helicopters were deployed, along with special highway cops in full riot gear. Residents were banned from using motorcycles and carrying arms.
In Bogotá, the capital city, 14,000 police were patrolling the city by the early hours. In working-class neighborhoods south of Bogotá, police tried to quell protests throwing tear gas at demonstrators, who responded with rocks. El Espectador of Bogotá reported 18 civilians and seven police were injured and at least 187 people were arrested.
On the eve of the strike, 1,000 teachers in the state of Santander marched in the capital city, Bucaramanga, denouncing the government for yielding to the demands of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank "to increase the country's debt and place the burden of its payment on the workers and the people of Colombia."
Peasants in Ipiales, near the border with Ecuador, blocked highways in protest for not receiving a response promised by the government in 1996 to their demands for land, supplies, easy credit, technical assistance, housing construction, education, health care, and recognition as indigenous peoples.
Colombia, a country of 37 million people, has seen its currency, the peso, devalued twice in 10 months. Unemployment is 19.5 percent, compared to 8 percent in 1994. The economy shrank 5.85 percent the first quarter of this year. Agriculture, in particular the export crop coffee, has been hurt by low prices and also an earthquake in January.
Seeking a way out of the economic crisis and to make the country attractive to capitalist investors, Pastrana presented a tough austerity budget in July that Finance Minister Juan Camilo Restrepo has described as "draconian." The package, dubbed the Truth Budget, proposed cutting funding for state governments and pension funds, along with rigid antiunion labor laws. The budget projects cutting the fiscal deficit to 2.5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) by next year instead of 5 percent at the start of this year. Pastrana's government has requested $3 billion to the IMF in emergency funds.
Washington gives military aid to Pastrana gov't
Meanwhile, retired U.S. Gen. Barry McCaffrey, the
Clinton administration's "drug czar," paid a visit to
Pastrana July 26 to assure the Colombian president of $289
million for the Colombian police and military - a three-
fold increase - supposedly to fight drugs.
The package includes six Blackhawk helicopters; arming 34 Huey helicopters, some with high-power machine guns for long distance firing; equipment for aerial fumigation of coca plantations; patrol boats; and other weapons and ammunition. Last year it was reported that U.S. special forces were training troops in Colombia.
In addition to McCaffrey's visit, U.S. undersecretary of state Thomas Pickering met with Pastrana in August to pressure his government to move on with the necessary measures to restore "security and stability" in the country.
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, in an op-ed column in the New York Times of August 10, sought to justify deeper U.S. military involvement in the country, including the death of five U.S. troops and two Colombians in a plane crash during a "counternarcotics mission" in July. "Colombia's problems extend beyond its borders and have implications for regional security and stability," she wrote. "To turn the tide, President Pastrana... needs - and deserves - international support that focuses on more than drug interdiction and eradication."
Peasants forced to grow coca to make a living and the capitalists who control the drug trade aren't the only targets of the Colombian army. Bogotá has recently intensified its military and police actions against the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and other antigovernment guerrilla groups that have battled the Colombian army for years or decades.