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   Vol.65/No.13            April 2, 2001 
 
 
Mine union leaders killed in Colombia
 
BY BOB TUCKER
BIRMINGHAM, Alabama--Coal production came to a grinding halt at Drummond Company's Loma mine in northern Colombia after union president and vice president Valmore Lorcarno Rodríguez and Victor Hugo Orcasita were yanked from an unmarked company-chartered bus and executed on March 12, some 30 miles from the mine site. More than 1,200 unionists--members of Colombian mine workers union Sintracarbón--organized the action. Colombia is the fourth-largest coal exporter in the world.

Drummond Ltd., a U.S. coal company based in Birmingham, Alabama, operates a large strip mine, railway, and port in Colombia, with some 1,300 employees. Last year 9 million tons of coal were produced there and Drummond plans to expand operations significantly. The company retains one large underground mine in Jefferson County, Alabama, employing 500 workers.

"We strongly condemn these assassinations of our trade union brothers," said United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) vice president Jerry Jones. "The UMWA's prayers and condolences go out to the families, friends, and co-workers of Brothers Lorcarno and Orcasita, and we offer our full support and solidarity to the Colombia mine workers union."

Reuters, as well as big-business press agencies in Colombia, say they can not discern whether the assassinations were carried out by paramilitary forces or by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). But a press release issued by the UMWA reports that some of the gunmen were dressed in military uniforms, commonly sported by paramilitaries.

"Since 1995, 1,522 labor leaders have been killed in Colombia, mostly by paramilitary groups, according to figures by the country's leading labor organization, the United Labor Confederation," Reuters reported. "In 2000 alone, 116 labor leaders were killed." Paramilitary groups in Colombia, according to Reuters, have grown ninefold to 8,000 troops in eight years. Some activists accuse the Colombia government of having ties, which they deny. Washington has pumped nearly $1 billion dollars in military aid into that country, under the guise of combating drugs, in collaboration with that nation's president, Andres Pastrana.

Nearly eight months ago 700,000 working people in Colombia staged a 24-hour national strike against government austerity moves, a 20 percent unemployment rate, and the military expansion. The war purse handed over to the Colombian rulers will fund 60 military helicopters, 500 troops, military training, and a beefed-up spy network.
 
 
Related article:
Workers, students protest austerity plan in Argentina  
 
 
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