Salem Harbor and Coal
Avi Chomsky
achomsky@salemstate.edu
To: North Shore Colombia Solidarity Committee

Hello, Colombia list members,

I wanted to update you on a few things.

Many of you have heard about the human rights issues in Colombia caused by the two huge coal mines, El Cerrejon--responsible for the takeover of indigenous Wayuu territory, the destruction of villages like Tabaco--and Drummond, where paramilitaries openly patrol and four union leaders have been killed in recent years. We knew that the Salem Harbor Power Station received coal from Colombia, but we didn't know exactly how much.

Now we do know at least part of the picture. Salem is one of only six ports in the U.S. that receives Colombian coal (another is Brayton Point, in Somerset). In the first five months of 2003 Salem received 76,000 tons of coal from El Cerrejon and 50,122 tons from Drummond; in the first five months of 2004 it received 42,504 tons from El Cerrejon and 46,210 from Drummond. Those of us who live nearby can see the ships unloading Colombian coal every few weeks.

Conditions at the mines have not improved since we heard Remedios Fajardo and Armando Perez talk about the impact of El Cerrejon on the Wayuu back in May 2002, or Francisco Ruiz talk about the 2001 murders at Drummond, when he was here in the fall of 2003. In the past two years there has been a growing paramilitary presence in the area around El Cerrejon. Last April there was a massacre at Bahia Portete, close to where our coal ships from, of 12 Wayuu indigenous people. 30 others were "disappeared" and are presumed dead as well. The village was completely displaced, with most of its inhabitants fleeing across the border to Venezuela.

Some of us have been working with a new solidarity organization in Canada, the Atlantic Regional Solidarity Network. Nova Scotia is another major recipient of Colombian coal from these two mines, and Garry Leech (who some of you also met here a couple of years ago) has been working there to create a network around the power plants that use Colombian coal. See their website, www.arsn.ca, for a lot more information.

Another great site is www.drummondwatch.org, which tracks events at the Drummond mine. Drummondwatch has called for an "urgent action" this weekend regarding the company's violation of security measures for union leaders. You can go to the drummondwatch website and send the message below to Garry Drummond by clicking on "take action."

Also check out the newly updated North Shore Colombia Solidarity Committee website! Thanks to Alan...

http://home.comcast.net/~nscolombia/index.htm

Avi


Message to Garry Drummond:
I am writing to express my deep concern regarding news that you and your company have violated security agreements that protect union workers in Colombia. I urge you to meet your obligations under those agreements, and to take commonsense precautions to protect the lives of your workers.

As you know, union leaders representing workers at your Colombian facilities have been tortured and murdered in the past. Paramilitaries responsible for these crimes continue to operate freely in the vicinity of the mine and are often present near the entrance to the mine.

You agreed that all searches of union representatives would be conducted inside the mine, a commonsense precaution that has provided a thin margin of safety for union leaders. Now you have violated this agreement by requiring that searches be conducted outside the mine entrance, creating opportunities for security guards to identify union leaders to paramilitary forces. It is unconscionable that you have broken your promise to the workers and exposed union leaders to a heightened risk of paramilitary violence.

It is imperative that you meet your obligations under the agreement and take steps to protect, rather than endanger, union leaders. I urge you in the strongest terms to meet your obligations under the security agreement and to take concrete and sustained action to protect the workers and their union leadership.