Charge Filed in Labor Union Killing

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Houston Chronicle/Associated Press

May 3, 2007, 2:24PM
Charge Filed in Labor Union Killing

By JOSHUA GOODMAN Associated Press Writer
© 2007 The Associated Press


BOGOTA, Colombia — A feared paramilitary boss has been charged with ordering the murders of two union leaders at a coal mine owned by Drummond Co. Inc., an Alabama company which is being sued in a U.S. court for alleged complicity in the killings.

Rodrigo Tovar Pupo, better known as "Jorge 40," is accused of ordering hit men to kill the two men, the federal prosecutor's office said in a statement Thursday.

Former Colombian federal intelligence official Rafael Garcia has said he witnessed the president of Drummond's Colombian subsidiary deliver a briefcase full of money to paramilitaries led by Tovar to pay for the murders.

Drummond officials deny any involvement in the killings or ties to the far-right militias, and the Birmingham, Ala.-based company is not facing criminal charges in Colombia, though the investigation is continuing.

A trial of Drummond for alleged involvement in the murders of Victor Orcosia and Valmore Locarno and a third worker is set to begin July 9 in a U.S. federal court in Birmingham.



Read more: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/fn/4772622.html

[tech3149]

1. The more things change the more they stay the same

Wonder how Uribe will handle this?

[tech3149]

2. The more things change the more they stay the same

Wonder how Uribe will handle this?

[ck4829]

3. This is just to try to impress the Democrats

Who are blocking a 'free trade' agreement.

He'll probably go in one door of the court room and once the free trade deal passes, he will be released the next day.

[Judi Lynn]

4. Photos of demonstrators protesting pending enormous Colombian aid package.

Human rights activists lie on the ground during a protest against Colombia's
President Alvaro Uribe outside the Center for American Progress in Washington
May 2, 2007. With support of U.S. President George W. Bush, Uribe sought to
convince U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday to approve more military and anti-
narcotics aid and back a trade deal.
REUTERS/YURI GRIPAS



Human rights activists lie on the ground in body bags during a protest against
Colombia's President Alvaro Uribe outside the Center for American Progress in
Washington May 2, 2007. With support of U.S. President George W. Bush, Uribe
sought to convince U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday to approve more military and
anti-narcotics aid and back a trade deal.
REUTERS/YURI GRIPAS



Human rights activists lie on the ground in body bags during a protest against
Colombia's President Alvaro Uribe outside the Center for American Progress in
Washington May 2, 2007. With support of U.S. President George W. Bush, Uribe
sought to convince U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday to approve more military and
anti-narcotics aid and back a trade deal.
REUTERS/YURI GRIPAS

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Colombian prosecutor probing U.S. firms in Washington visit
TOBY MUSE Associated Press Writer
Monday April 30th, 2007

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) - The country's chief prosecutor stood between the white plastic-sheathed remains of two dismembered teenage sisters. On the rust-colored dirt around him lay remains of nearly 60 newly unearthed victims of paramilitary death squads.

Not just the executioners but those who bankrolled them must be brought to justice, Mario Iguaran told reporters last week at the mass grave in Colombia's eastern plains.

"You can clearly see that they didn't pay for security, but for blood," said Iguaran, who is in Washington D.C. this week seeking aid for his overburdened office and help obtaining evidence against U.S.-based multinationals he's investigating for allegedly financing death squads.

Over the past year, authorities have jailed paramilitary bosses and their political cronies on charges of building private armies to eliminate mutual enemies, steal land and enrich themselves.

More:
http://www.nwfdailynews.com/article/3574

[Judi Lynn]

5. Taking It to Drummond: Paramilitaries and Mining Companies in Colombia

May 5 / 6, 2007

Taking It to Drummond
Paramilitaries and Mining Companies in Colombia
By STEPHEN F. JACKSON

He in his signature "guayabera" and me in my gringo cowboy shirt, we perch in the salubrious, tropical breeze of the Caribbean night in Cartagena, palm trees rustling over the veranda of the colonial restaurant. Gabriel Garcia Marquez tells me that "Colombia is immersed in a holocaust of Biblical proportions."

Valmore Locarno would attest to that. Victor Hugo Orcasita would attest to that. Gustavo Soler would attest to that. The problem is the Colombians are all deadslain, execution style. Assassinated in 2001 by the right wing paramilitary because they were union leaders at the coal mines of Drummond Limited in northeast Colombia. A controversial civil lawsuit charges that the hitmen were hired by Drummond ---or at least that is what a Washington, DC labor attorney claims. His cross-town rival, from James Baker's law firm, begs to differ.

"If you hire the Mafia and they kill someone then you are responsible" is the common sense approach, posits Terry Collingsworth, a Colombia labor union lawyer based at the International Labor Relief Fund in DC.

Drummond is mired in the tar baby called Colombia. Chiquita Banana got out----shaking off the tar, and paying a hefty price----$25 million. Drummond is sinking, sinking deeper into the Colombia quagmire, ironically piling up record profits from its worldwide coal sales, Israel its number one customer. Domestically, the Southern Company is one of numerous US energy customers of Drummond. Generous campaign donations from Drummond to both presidents---Bush and Alvaro Uribe of Colombia---will probably not stave off the inevitable---an embarrassing and revealing jury trial for wrongful deaths in a US Federal Court in its corporate hometown set July 9. Labor's legal weapon is the recently resurrected 1789 Alien Tort Claims Act which permits foreigners to sue US corporations and citizens for alleged wrong acts abroad;
(snip)

"The paramilitary has secret employees at Drummond's La Loma coal mines," continues Garcia in his private prison cubicle where he is enduring fears of being rubbed out. "Drummond knows who they are, but the other workers do not.

"Drummond also hires private security who are members of the paramilitary and Drummond knows they are part of the paramilitary," avers Garcia under oath . Drummond, Garcia charges, in cahoots with the Uribe administration, also was involved in the questionable takeover of a nearby oil concession from Llanos Oil.

"I can also tell you that there were two times that the paramilitary affixed shipments of cocaine to the bottom of the boats used by Drummond to send its coal to Europe, Israel, and the US," offers Garcia, adding, " I will go to hell to testify if provided protection for me and my family."
(snip)

"We are under constant threats from the paramilitary and 'sicarios' (hired assassins) while Drummond has the Colombian army---backed by US funds---guarding its La Loma facilities and we (union members) are left to fend for ourselves," says Omar Estupinan, a union local officer.

More:
http://www.counterpunch.org/jackson05052007.html

[Omaha Steve]

6. See my post in GDP about this

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x3252341