Vol.63/No.45 December 20, 1999
Letters
Coal bosses in Colombia
I appreciated Andy Buchanan and Martin Koppel's excellent article in the November 1 issue, "U.S. military escalation in Colombia targets working people, guerrillas." It provides a powerful example of how even countries which have not been direct colonies for many decades continue to be dominated by imperialism, and did a good job of explaining why Washington is really stepping up its military intervention in that country.Militant readers will be interested to know that one reason for the increased militarization in Colombia has to do with its vast coal reserves, which, as the authors point out, are one of its main exports. Drummond Coal Co., Alabama's largest coal producer, has closed many mines in this state, laying off several thousand miners in the last few years, all members of the United Mine Workers union. Meanwhile, they have invested $425 million in coal mines in Colombia. "Things change and you have to adjust," explained company president Garry Neil Drummond in the September 9 Birmingham News. Drummond Coal found "Colombia to be an excellent match for us," he said. Their Pribbenow Mine in LaLoma, Colombia, employs 1,100 people and last year produced 7 million tons; Drummond expects production to double by 2005. They also hold claims on two other large reserves in that country. What does Colombia get in this exchange? A 15 percent royalty and railway and port built to service the mine.
To ensure that Drummond's vast investment is protected and that its executives and engineers are not bothered by the conditions of social breakdown and military terror the working people of Colombia are living through, the coal company runs what amounts to its own airline in and out of the country. "The company also built a barracks and training center, for the Colombian military, near its operations; that keeps between 400 and 600 armed troops nearby at all times," the News reports.
"There is some threat of violence," Drummond noted. "But people in government and business are really good: educated, intelligent and heroic in the work they are doing for their country."
Meanwhile, Drummond just received approval to dig a long wall mining shaft 1,100 feet below the Black Warrior River in Alabama, despite concern expressed by working peole in the area that surface collapses could damage homes, hurt or kill miners, threaten animal and plant life, and devastate the river.
Susan LaMont
Birmingham, Alabama
Hates capitalism
I just wanted to say that my friend at work is a subscriber to your newspaper and that we have elaborate discussions on the working class. As a 17 year-old, I have quickly learned many things in the field of capitalism and its disgusting character.The worker is a cost; we are no different than the cans of soup we stock on the shelves.
Why do we work to make profit for a small, not elite, but selfish and corrupt group of the world?
These are most likely very common points, but I have grown an interest in your newspaper and its points of view (being the truth as I see it).
Brian Quarles
St. Paul, Minnesota
'No Domino Sugar here'
Strikers at Domino Sugar in Brooklyn and their supporters may be interested to know that in Eastern Pennsylvania most Domino Sugar products are not available in grocery stores. I recently moved to this area from Brooklyn. In Brooklyn the grocery stores are well stocked with Domino sugar, perhaps giving the impression that the strike is not affecting production or sales.
Here, not only are Domino's products absent from the shelves, but one major chain, Wegmans, even has a sign on the shelf that says, "Out of Stock. Domino Sugar. Due to the ongoing labor strike at Domino's Brooklyn refinery, the following items will be unavailable until settlement: All sugar packets, 3 oz. Sugar and Cinnamon, 14 oz. Brownulated, 1 lb. Superfine, and 1 lb. Dots and Tablets."
H.B.
Allentown, Pennsylvania
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