Film Night at The First Church presents... Cover Up: Behind the Iran Contra Affair Come join us for this insightful film, looking behind the scenes of the Iran Contra Affair. This documentary of the Iran Contra affair consolidates the evidence and conspiracy theories of the incident after the 13-week Congressional hearings proved inadequate, acting merely as "damage control" and failing to show any sincere effort to get to the real truth of the matter. Part of an ongoing series, discussion to follow viewing of the movie 7:00 pm November 2nd, 2005 316 Essex St., Salem The First Church Admission: Free Narrated by Elizabeth Montgomery ---------------------------------------- North Shore Colombia Solidarity Committee: http://home.comcast.net/~nscolombia/ Posted by nscolombia at 5:03 PM EDT Share This Post Post Comment | Permalink 24 October 2005 DEFENDING TRADITIONAL CORN WITNESS FOR PEACE NEW ENGLAND FALL SPEAKER TOUR 2006 Enjoy an evening of food for body and mind DEFENDING TRADITIONAL CORN Political, Economic and Social Fallout of Genetically Modified Seeds FLOR RIVERA Centro de Estudios para el Cambio en el Campo Mexicano (CECCAM) The Center for Studies on Rural Change in Mexico (CECCAM) is a Mexican non-governmental organization that, since its foundation in 1992, has worked to support various networks of small farmer and indigenous organizations on both regional and national levels. The Center is a center for research specializing in rural issues and social movements from the perspectives of small producer and indigenous organizations. As we eat traditional Latin American corn dishes, we will consider the global web involved in the production and consumption of our most basic needs, and the most ancient grain of the Americas. Tuesday, October 25 6:00 Dominican dinner (donation requested) 6:30 lecture The Metro (basement, Campus Ctr.) Sponsored by the School of Arts and Sciences, the Office of Academic Affairs, the Program in Latin American Studies and the Peace Institute SALEM STATE COLLEGE ---------------------------------------- North Shore Colombia Solidarity Committee Posted by nscolombia at 8:43 PM EDT Updated: 24 October 2005 9:28 PM EDT Share This Post Post Comment | Permalink 26 September 2005 Save the Date: In-State Tuition M List members, I've already sent you the flyer, and hopefully you've seen them on campus too. I just wanted to reiterate how important this event is, and urge you to attend! I really think that immigrants' rights is THE civil rights issue of our time. The in-state tuition bill will come before the state legislature in the next few weeks... Many state and community colleges have come out strongly in support, including North Shore CC, Bunker Hill CC, and Mass. College of Art. Yet too many people in our society still accept unthinkingly discriminatory and exclusionary policies towards immigrants. The forum promises to be lively and controversial... Please come, and bring your friends and your students! Avi Monday, October 17 11 am-noon (Community Time) "The Metro" (downstairs in the Campus Center) SAME STATE, SAME RATE Many Massachusetts high school students are forced to pay out-of-state tuition rates at public colleges because of their immigration status. Come hear sponsors and supporters of the Massachusetts "In-State Tuition" bill explain why Massachusetts should join other states in providing equal access to higher education for all students in the state. Speakers include: Rep. John Keenan, Salem; Pat Markunas, President, MSCA; Dalie Jimenez, office of Senator Jarrett Barrios; Cynthia Tschampl, Centro Presente/MIRA; Marcos Ortiz, Salem Harbor CDC; Carlos Saavedra, MIRA Sponsored by the Program in Latin American, Latino and Caribbean Studies and the Peace Institute. For more information, contact Avi Chomsky at 542-6389 or achomsky@salemstate.edu. ---------------------------------------- North Shore Colombia Solidarity Committee: http://home.comcast.net/~nscolombia/ Posted by nscolombia at 8:17 PM EDT Updated: 23 October 2005 12:48 AM EDT Share This Post Post Comment | Permalink 29 June 2005 Colombia vote results and Senate letter From:  Avi Chomsky <achomsky@salemstate.edu> To:       North Shore Colombia Solidarity Committee <colombia@listserv.salemstate.edu> Date:    Jun 29, 2005 12:17 PM Subject: Colombia vote results and Senate letter                         I’m forwarding this from the Latin America Working Group. If you look at the vote roster, you’ll see that Massachusetts did pretty well... Even William Delahunt, who has been iff-y on Colombia, voted for the McGovern amendment. (Maybe our visit to him last year did some good...?) Barney Frank, however, was one of very few Democrats who voted against it... We still have a lot of work to do on this front. Avi ----- Original Message ----- From:  Latin America Working Group To:       achomsky@salemstate.edu Sent:    Wednesday, June 29, 2005 11:37 AM Subject:           Colombia vote results and Senate letter   Dear Colombia Advocates,   Two important announcements:   1.   Last night’s Colombia vote in the House 2.   Urgent Action: Senate letter to Condoleezza Rice on human rights in Colombia 1.   Last night’s Colombia vote in the House Thank you so much for all your hard work on the McGovern-McCollum-Moore amendment to cut $100 million in military aid to Colombia. The vote lost, 189-234. While we are disappointed, of course, that it didn’t prevail, it is important to note that it was the single most hotly-debated issue on the foreign operations bill, which includes US aid for the world—the most important piece of annual legislation governing US foreign policy. You helped make this happen. We know you were active—the calls were pouring in, and the “yes” votes reflect your efforts. To see how your representative voted, click here: http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2005/roll329.xml Special thanks go to Reps. McGovern, McCollum and Moore for sponsoring the amendment; to Minority leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi and minority whip Rep. Schakowsky for their active support; to those who spoke passionately in favor of the amendment, including Reps. Farr, Skelton, Obey, Lowey, Honda, Schakowsky, Paul and Meeks; and to the 189 members who voted yes. Reps. Leach and Van Hollen were not able to speak, but submitted comments in favor of the amendment for the record. Members talked eloquently about Plan Colombia’s failure as drug policy; lack of improvements in human rights; the need to have a balanced policy focused on development aid; the inhumane nature of the aerial spraying program; and how the demobilization bill just passed in Colombia gives human rights violators and drug traffickers a get-out-of-jail free card. We’ll make sure to link to this on the web at www.lawg.org so you can see the debate – our side was great! If your member voted yes – and especially if your member spoke in the debate – thank them! If s/he voted no, make a quick call to complain. One more task at hand – this one easier – and then we promise to give you a break! 2.   Urgent Action: Ask your Senators to Sign Colombia Human Rights Letter Call your senators today, June 29th, or tomorrow, and ask them to sign a Dear Colleague letter from Senators Feingold, Dodd and Leahy to Secretary of State Rice. The letter urges the State department “to delay certification until there is demonstrable progress on a number of specific cases currently stalled and in ending collusion between members of the army and paramilitary forces.” Senators Johnson and Murray have already also signed the letter. While the letter says the deadline urges sign-ons by close of business Wednesday, June 29th, the deadline has been extended to Friday, July 1st at 11 AM. Senators’ aides should contact Senator Feingold’s office to indicate their senator will sign the letter. To see a copy of the letter: http://www.lawg.org/docs/Rice%20Columbia%20Cert%206%2028%2005.pdf   Please reportback to us with any information you find out from your senators. Best, Jennifer and Lisa jtrowbridge@lawg.org www.lawg.org Posted by nscolombia at 11:14 PM EDT Updated: 18 August 2005 9:56 PM EDT Share This Post Post Comment | Permalink 24 June 2005 Plan Colombia Up for a Vote: Take the Opportunity to Say No to a Forgotten, Senseless War http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0623-29.htm Published on Thursday, June 23, 2005 by Working for Change Plan Colombia Up for a Vote: Take the Opportunity to Say No to a Forgotten, Senseless War by Geov Parrish   Amidst the disaster that is Iraq, the Pentagon has been fighting a smaller but no less ugly war. Next week, Congress will decide whether to continue sending military aid to Colombia, a country with one of the worst human rights records in the western hemisphere. The focus of the aid is Plan Colombia, a five-year-old plan that has poured billions of U.S. dollars into drug crop fumigation and military aid. The plan expires this year, and needs Congressional approval to continue. It's a rare opportunity to impact U.S. warmaking -- yet, in part because of the subsequent, problematic invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, there has been virtually no U.S. media attention on what our tax dollars are assisting in Colombia. One of the most troubling incidents there happened in February, when eight members of the Peace Community of San Jose de Apartado were massacred, including four children. One of the victims was community leader and founder Luis Eduardo Guerra. Evidence points to the Colombian army as the authors of this crime. The San Jose de Apartado massacre is consistent with past years, when human rights groups like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have relentlessly accused the Colombia Army of having extensive links to right wing paramilitary death squads. Those death squads have primarily attacked civilians rather than the government's civil war opponents, the leftist guerillas of FAR C. Those guerrillas are the main reason Plan Colombia's aid has steadily shifted from drug-interdictment to the even messier business of being directly involved in Colombia's long running, 45-year-old civil war. Next week's vote will be the first time Plan Colombia itself, rather than budgetary allocations for it, will come up for a Congressional vote -- and the first time that Plan Colombia will have come up for a vote in the context of the War on Terror. To that end, the Bush administration has actually been painting FARC as a terrorist threat to the U.S. -- even though no evidence for such outlandish claims exists, and FARC has had 45 years to declare that the U.S. is a target. Instead, they are very much focused on the urban areas of Colombia, being concentrated in the jungle areas of Colombia's south and east. There are a lot of good arguments for Congress to consider as to why involving the U.S. in yet another war, this one in Colombia, is a bad idea. In the midst of a War on Terror, the U.S. can little afford, in terms of either money, military aid, or troop strength, to get involved in yet another war. Colombia has nothing to do with the war on terror -- militarily. But it does have something to do with swaying hearts and minds in the Muslim world. Every time that the U.S. is caught acting like a bully in the world, especially among the world's poorest, that fact is noted by Muslims from Morocco to the Philippines.. In order to shift the catastrophic momentum in Iraq, the U.S. must first convince the Iraq people -- and the rest of the Muslim world -- that the U.S. is sincere in its protestations that it is a force for justice and good. That's a hard case to make if Congress is cozying up to paramilitary thugs in Colombia. This vote also presents a rare chance for constituents to contact members of Congress and urge a stop to the Pentagon's war by prosy. Call your Representative at 202-224-3121 and urge them to support any amendments to the FY2006 Foreign Operations Appropriations Bill that cut military aid to Colombia and continue to support additional humanitarian assistance and a negotiated path toward peace. The Colombian military does not either deserve or merit U.S. military support. It's time to stop our blind allegiance to war as a way to solve political problems, particularly in countries where we have an interest in promoting democracy -- not more needless bloodshed. Say no to Plan Colombia. This week is your chance. Geov Parrish is a Seattle-based columnist and reporter for Seattle Weekly, In These Times and Eat the State! He writes the daily Straight Shot for WorkingForChange. © 2005 Working Assets Posted by nscolombia at 6:41 PM EDT Updated: 5 September 2005 9:50 PM EDT Share This Post Post Comment | Permalink 16 June 2005 Action Alert from "Sojourners" Cut military aid to Colombia! Time is up for Plan Colombia. This U.S./Colombia policy expires in 2005, but the administration is asking Congress to approve an additional $742 million to renew the failed plan. Until there is a plan that can bring hope for Colombia, we reject additional funding for futile military strategies. Before the June 27 vote, urge members of Congress to create an opening for peace in Colombia by supporting an amendment to cut military spending. http://go.sojo.net/campaign/peaceincolombia/ Posted by nscolombia at 8:27 AM EDT Updated: 20 June 2005 11:08 AM EDT Share This Post Post Comment | Permalink 18 May 2005 Dominion active on import scene as it rounds up coal for new plants Some people have been wondering recently whether the new owners of the power plant, Dominion, will continue to burn large amounts of Colombian coal there. See below for an update--the answer is YES! Avi Copyright 2005 Energy Publishing, LLC All Rights Reserved The U.S. Coal Review February 4, 2005 SECTION: No. 1528 LENGTH: 615 words HEADLINE: Dominion active on import scene as it rounds up coal for new plants BODY: Dominion active on import scene as it rounds up coal for new plants Dominion is active on the import scene, according to various sources, its attention on the Brayton Point and Salem Harbor stations, which it acquired only recently. Dominion is focused on compliance and super-compliance coals, including some of what you’d expect – Colombian – and some that’s a bit different: Russian coal, which is available to the utility market in the U.S. on an economic basis occasionally and w hich suits Dominion’s current needs. Dominion is “trying to stockpile SO2 allowances,” according to one source, and Russian coal containing 0.3% sulfur is an attractive option. Glencore probably is supplying some of the coal. But the most recent “volume” buy for the Massachusetts generating stations was from Colombia, sources said – maybe 300,000 metric tonnes or more, recently. CMC is the likely supplier. Of course, Brayton Point and Salem Harbor must deal with among the strictest sulfur emissions limitations in the U.S. “I heard they bought some Russian,” a source with international connections said. “My understanding is that they’re going to try to bring some Russian into Massachusetts.” South African coal, which is now $15/metric tonne or so lower in price than its Colombian counterpart, also could be an attractive option for Dominion. South African coal might also allow Dominion to “save a little bit on SO2 allowances” in comparison to available Colombian tonnage, a source said. In relation to the $15 difference in the price of the coal, “the freight difference is not that great,” the source said. Coal exported out of Richards Bay is “being offered in the mid-$40s a metric tonne with no buying interest in Europe,” a source said. Frankly, reports concerning Dominion have been somewhat contrdictory. One reliable source said he is aware of Dominion buying some coal, “rebound coal,” from European consumers that have excess because of the mild winter across the drink. “I’ve heard those prices are a lot lower than that $60 number” utilities have paid recently for Colombian coal, the source said. “I have been told that some vessels have changed hands.” “I think that’s a rumor,” another source, who is also quite reliable, countered. “I don’t see how that could work,” he said, citing logistics. “It seems a little odd to me.” The second source did say that Dominion has “bought a lot of coal, but still has coal to buy.” Most of the coal Dominion has purchased for Brayton Point and Salem Harbor in the recent past has been supplied by Glencore from the new Calenturitas mine in Colombia that was opened in July 2004, perhaps in concert with La Jagua coal, which is high i n calorific content. “A lot of that was done before the actual changeover” in ownership of the Massachusetts plants, according to a source. Colombian coal prices aren’t likely to dive soon, it seems, despite the anemic winter demand for steam coal in Europe and the fact that South African prices have plummeted to 11-month lows. “Some consumers in Europe are selling cargoes, but they’re all non-South American cargoes,” a source said. “There may be some cheap South African tonnage available. Constellation has been trying to buy some cargoes that were sold to National Coal Supp ly Corporation in Israel and has been rejected.” “I don’t see the Europeans giving up a lot of tons,” a source said. And one source who recently tried to purchase some Colombian coal for re-sale into the U.S. said “a major buyer in Europe said recently, ‘No more the first half.” “Unlike everything else in Europe, it’s the one that people won’t let go of,” another source said. Utilities looking for South American tonnage? “Best of luck always is what we used to write in our yearbooks,” a source said. Posted by nscolombia at 4:14 PM EDT Share This Post Post Comment | Permalink 10 May 2005 Column: Colombia provides a case study for evils of corporate globalization Salem Evening News, May 10, 2005 Opinion By Brian T. Watson When Ross Perot ran for president in 1992 and 1996, he warned that Americans were unaware of what market globalization and "free trade" had in store for us. Who can forget his startling pie charts and his pitch-perfect evocation of "the giant sucking sound" that would be made by all of the jobs rushing out of America? Today, Tony Judt, public intellectual at New York University and a frequent foreign affairs essayist for the New York Review of Books, opines that most people still don't know how the world works. Judt is concerned especially by our inadequate grasp of the workings of corporate globalization and its troubling effects on national sovereignty, democracy, and a slew of areas such as the economy, the environment, jobs, human rights and military obligations. Slowly, however, we are learning about the new economic order. We're aware of the proliferation of Third World sweatshops, the stripping of natural resources in developing countries, and the many poor nations saddled with debt. We are hearing more about the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the World Trade Organization, whose policies usually benefit wealthy interests and corporate powers while damaging small entrepreneurs and the Third World. The imposition of austerity programs, the reduction of public services, the privatization of state-owned enterprises and resources, the erosion of democratic accountability, and a missionary belief in the absolute supremacy of "unregulated" (but actually, rigged) markets, all are accompanying the ongoing spread of corporate globalization across the nations of the world. Although the transnational companies that help drive globalization are loyal to no nation, their interests are being well served by the policies of the United States. The Bush administration — filled with former business lobbyists and chief executive officers — promotes an aggressively corporate agenda at home and abroad that distorts large parts of the economies of many countries. Our disgraceful involvement in Colombia illustrates that point. Colombia, a mostly poor and struggling oligarchy afflicted with serious civil violence for the past 57 years, possesses valuable mineral resources and oil, coal and gas deposits. U.S. and multinational corporations — taking advantage of the weakness, lawlessness and desperation of the country — have been maneuvering themselves into powerful positions in the Colombian economy. Since 1999, the United States has been sending substantial military aid to Colombia. Ostensibly for the purposes of fighting guerrillas and terrorists and for eradicating illegal drug crops, the aid also substantially funds the paramilitaries and security forces that protect corporate interests and infrastructure. Because the partially corrupt Colombian military actually includes some of the paramilitaries, U.S. dollars often pay for violence against innocent peasants who are simply living in the way of expanding corporate enterprises. Three million people have been forcibly displaced in Colombia since 1985. As corporations — with the complicity of crooked officials — enlarge mines, build pipelines, divert water and log forests, their paramilitaries and mercenaries threaten, torture, kill and abduct the local inhabitants as needed to clear an area. Similarly, paramilitaries often intimidate or murder journalists, clergymen and women, union organizers, judges and any other activists who attempt to resist or point out the abuses being perpetrated. The corporate connections to violence appear so blatant that they are precipitating lawsuits. Occidental Petroleum stands accused of sponsoring attacks on a peasant village and killing many adults and children. Drummond coal company is in court on charges of assassinating union officers. Coca-Cola is being sued for alleged involvement in the deaths of eight labor leaders. Legal action has been brought against Exxon and Conquistador Mines for human rights abuses. A new book by Francisco Ramirez Cuellar, "The Profits of Extermination," explains how corporate power is harming Colombia and how Plan Colombia (the name of the U.S. aid program) "achieves a huge military cover for the positioning of paramilitaries, who are ultimately in charge of protecting the interests of the U.S. companies." Ramirez, president of the Colombian mining workers union, also describes how perverted laws, toothless tax codes, and the giveaway privatization of Colombia's industries are allowing multinationals to absolutely loot the resources and wealth of the country. The long-standing misery in Colombia is being made worse by the ruthless character of corporate globalization. The operation of the global marketplace today is more biased than ever toward big, mobile capital and unaccountable megacorporations. Colombia — victim of a runaway economic model that values profits way above people and communities — is a vivid illustration of how the Third World subsidizes the affluence of the powerful. The Bush administration employs a subterfuge when it uses the drug war and Colombia's substantial cocaine and heroin production to rationalize America's growing involvement in the country's civil war. Actually, our intervention mostly supports a lot of counterproductive and repressive violence. And worst of all, our actions in Colombia are in service to corporate globalization, a phenomenon that is increasingly being revealed as a multipronged assault on the environment, labor, diverse cultures, indigenous peoples, democracy, and the very notions of justice, equality and healthy living. Brian T. Watson, a Salem architect, is a regular Viewpoint columnist. http://www.salemnews.com/ Posted by nscolombia at 5:05 PM EDT Updated: 10 May 2005 5:07 PM EDT Share This Post Post Comment | Permalink 6 May 2005 Take Action! House IR Committee Hearing on Colombia- May 11th I forward the following from Elanor Starmer of the Latin America Working Group, which keeps many of us informed as to what's going on in the Congress-- Avi Calling all advocates from: AZ; AK; CA; CO; FL; IL; IN; IA; KY; MA; MI; MN; NE; NV; NJ; NY; OH; OR; SC; TX; VA; WA; WI Take Action! House IR Committee Hearing on Colombia- May 11th Tell the Committee We Want a New Policy! May 5, 2005 Dear Colombia Advocates, We've just learned that the House International Relations Committee will be holding a hearing on Colombia next Wednesday, May 11th. They'll be hearing from the usual suspects, including John Walters, the U.S. Drug Czar, about the "successes" of Plan Colombia. We need to show them that there is another side to the story. If you live in the district of one of the members of Congress listed below, we need your help! A quick phone call or e-mail to their office will help balance the "stacked deck"-- and may result in members of the committee asking some tough questions of the witnesses. Let's not let this opportunity slip by! If the committee members don't hear from us, they'll be hearing mainly from people who believe that Plan Colombia has worked, and that we need more of the same. We need to voice a strong call for change. *A sample phone call script, which can also be used as the basis for an e-mail, can be found below.* Here are the members of the IR Committee. If you don't know who your member of Congress is, see http://www.house.gov/writerep. You can reach your member's office by calling the Congressional Switchboard at 202-224-3121. It's best to ask to speak with the foreign policy staffer when you call. Arizona: Flake (R-AZ) Arkansas: Boozman (R-AR) California: Rohrabacher (R-CA) Berman (D-CA) Gallegly (R-CA) Royce (R-CA) Sherman (D-CA) Issa (R-CA) Lee (D-CA) Watson (D-CA) Schiff (D-CA) Napolitano (D-CA) Cardoza (D-CA) Colorado: Tancredo (R-CO) Florida: Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) Wexler (D-FL) Harris (R-FL) Mack (R-FL) Illinois: Hyde (R-IL) Weller (R-IL) Indiana: Burton (R-IN) Pence (R-IN) Iowa: Leach (R-IA) Kentucky: Chandler (D-KY) Massachusetts: Delahunt (D-MA) Michigan: McCotter (R-MI) Minnesota: McCollum (D-MN) Nebraska: Fortenberry (R-NE) Nevada: Berkley (D-NV) New Jersey: Menendez (D-NJ) Chris Smith (R-NJ) Payne (D-NJ) New York: Ackerman (D-NY) King (R-NY) Engel (D-NY) Meeks (D-NY) Crowley (D-NY) Ohio: Brown (D-OH) Chabot (R-OH) Oregon: Blumenauer (D-OR) South Carolina: Barrett (R-SC) Wilson (R-SC) Texas: Paul (R-TX) McCaul (R-TX) Poe (R-TX) Virginia: Davis (R-VA) Washington: Smith (D-WA) Wisconsin: Green (R-WI) Sample call script (calls are best, but this script can be revised to send as an e-mail): "I'm a constituent from ____ calling with regards to the upcoming hearing on Plan Colombia. I know that Rep. ____ will be hearing from a number of witnesses on Wednesday who will express support for the current policy of military aid and fumigation. I'd like my representative to challenge the witnesses on that point, because the current policy hasn't worked. The Office of National Drug Control Policy recently came out with a report that showed that drug production in Colombia didn't budge last year, even though a record number of acres of coca were sprayed. The price of cocaine on our streets hasn't changed, either. Fumigation is an ineffective and inhumane policy, and a waste of our money. I'm also disturbed that human rights violations by the Colombian military have increased since U.S. aid began. I would like ___ (member of Congress) to voice [his/her] concern over this policy during the hearing-- and when Colombia aid comes up for a vote, I'd like [him/her] to vote for a change, and prioritize social assistance instead of military aid." It's up to us to show the IR Committee that there is more than one perspective on Colombia policy. Together, we can make change! Thank you, as always, for your hard work and dedication. Feel free to e-mail me with any questions or concerns. Best, Elanor -- Elanor Starmer Associate for Colombia and Central America Latin America Working Group estarmer@lawg.org ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Latin America Working Group Action at home for just policies abroad www.lawg.org ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Posted by nscolombia at 11:19 AM EDT Share This Post Post Comment | Permalink 29 April 2005 International Working-Class Holiday/"The Labor Struggles in Colombia" Sunday, May 1, 2005 10:45a International Working-Class Holiday/ Prof. Aviva Chomsky SUNDAY FORUMS 2005 AT 10:45 AM Community Church of Boston 565 Boylston Street - Boston http://www.commchurch.org/sundayforums.htm May 1 -International Working-Class Holiday Prof. AVIVA CHOMSKY "The Labor Struggles in Colombia" Six power plants in the United States along with others in eastern Canada import Colombian coal to fuel their operations. Colombian miners unions face not only the challenge of organizing workers for better pay and working conditions, but must struggle with others to defend basic human rights. Labor historian Prof. Avi Chomsky of Salem State College, who recently translated a book on Colombian unions, will address neoliberalism, multinational corporations, the mining and energy sectors in the Colombian economy, and working-class internationalism. Music by PATRICK KEANEY and JONATHAN DORSETT --- 565 Boylston Street - Boston, MA 02116 / 617 266-6710 By car: Via Mass Pike or Storrow Drive take the Copley Square exits. Turn left, 2 blocks to Boylston Street. By Public Transportation: Take any T Green Line train to the Copley Stop Orange Line, exit at the Back Bay station, walk 3 blocks down to Boylston Street. 39 MBTA Bus from Forest Hills (Get off at Boston Public Library) Parking Public parking is available on Sunday mornings at the Back Bay Garage. Entrances are on Clarendon Street and St. James Ave. A red coupon is available at the church for discounted parking ($3 until 1:30 p.m.). Posted by nscolombia at 5:55 PM EDT Updated: 2 May 2005 9:41 PM EDT Share This Post Post Comment | Permalink 23 April 2005 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. Posted by nscolombia at 5:33 PM EDT Share This Post Post Comment | Permalink 16 April 2005 Mother?s Day Peace Vigils Join peace advocates across the United States non-violently protesting U.S. support for Colombia's military despite its continued violations of human rights. Your public witness will help prevent the San Jose case from ending in impunity like the vast majority of violent deaths in Colombia. Take a stand for accountability and justice! Mother?s Day Peace Vigils: April 26 - May 6. Witness for Peace/Colombia Posted by nscolombia at 8:45 PM EDT Updated: 16 April 2005 8:51 PM EDT Share This Post Post Comment | Permalink New Book Available from Common Courage Press The Profits of Extermination: How U.S. Corporate Power is Destroying Colombia by Francisco Ramirez Cuellar translated by Aviva Chomsky Published to acclaim?and death threats against its author and bombings of his union?s offices?in Colombia in 2003, The Profits of Extermination uncovers the role of multinational mining and energy companies in Colombia?s violence. Through legal maneuvers, corruption, and direct use of paramilitary violence, companies like Occidental Petroleum, Harken Energy, and many others, have taken over Colombia?s resources, displacing and murdering those who have tried to challenge them. This book gives the lie to the claim that the ?drug wars? are the main factor behind Colombia?s violence, and explains the role that the U.S. and Canadian governments and their corporations have played in the war against Colombia?s peasants, indigenous, and Afro-Colombian populations. Francisco Ramirez Cuellar is president of Sintraminercol, the Union of Colombian Mining Workers. Aviva Chomsky is Professor of Latin American History at Salem State College and active in Colombia solidarity work. Common Courage Press March 2005 $14.95 To order, call 800-497-3207. "With icy precision, The Profits of Extermination makes real the meaning behind the terms FTAA (Free Trade Agreement of the Americas), globalization and neo-liberalism." --Cecilia Zarate-Laun, Program Director, Colombia Support Network "Francisco Ramirez, focusing on the mining industry in which he is involved as a unionist, recounts in detail the struggles of his fellow workers and the violent response by the mining corporations and the U.S. and Colombian military which protect them. We should be grateful for real heroes like Francisco Ramirez." --Daniel M. Kovalik, Assistant General Counsel, United Steelworkers of America, AFL-CIO-CLC "Francisco Ramirez provides startling information about how the government and corporations like Coca Cola are actively involved in suppressing social movements of any kind in Colombia." --Ray Rogers, Director, Campaign to Stop Killer Coke/Corporate Campaign, Inc. "This investigation makes the vital connections between the exploitative interests of global companies and investors, in concert with the U.S. and Canadian governments, and the dire poverty and exploitation combined with repression carried out by Colombian State and paramilitary forces." --Grahame Russell, co-director, RightsAction "The Profits of Extermination vividly illustrates how both blood and electricity flow when North Americans flick on their light switches." --Garry Leech, editor of Colombia Journal and author of Killing Peace: Colombia's Conflict and the Failure of U.S. Intervention Posted by nscolombia at 12:01 AM EDT Updated: 16 April 2005 3:21 PM EDT Share This Post Post Comment | Permalink 15 April 2005 An initial Achievement Won Through Our Hard-Fought Struggle -- A Boost to help us fight on. Dear Friends, I am writing to let you know that, while the struggle is not yet over, there is a positive achievement from our efforts which we can point to. As the article below indicates, Coke has created a $10 million social fund to aid victims of the war in Colombia. As the article also makes clear, this was done in the midst of (and clearly because of) the Coke campaign. While we have not yet achieved everything we want to through the campaign, you should be very proud that your efforts have obtained something real and good for people in Colombia. Many times in the movement, we cannot point to such concrete gains. So, it is important to recognize them when we do; this is such an occasion. At the same time, we have not yet obtained the key demands of our struggle -- an affirmative commitment on the part of Coca-Cola and its bottlers to take steps to prevent such violence in the future and compensation for the victims of the violence against the Coca-Cola workers in Colombia. For this, we fight on! I am confident that we will achieve victory. Best wishes and keep up the great work. Yours, Dan Kovalik Assistant General Counsel United Steelworkers of America, AFL-CIO/CLC http://money.cnn.com/2005/04/13/news/fortune500/coke_colombia.reut/ Posted by nscolombia at 12:01 AM EDT Share This Post Post Comment | Permalink 11 April 2005 Coca-Cola: Destroying Lives, Livelihoods & Communities From: Avi Chomsky Many of you will remember when Luis Adolfo Cardona spoke at Salem State a couple of years ago--- Coca-Cola: Destroying Lives, Livelihoods & Communities Wednesday, April 13, 2005, 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. 33 Harrison Ave, 3rd Floor, UNITEHERE! Building, Boston, MA 02111 (see below for directions) Join Amit Srivastava (India Resource Center) and Luis Adolfo Cardona (former Coke employee and unionist from Colombia) in an evening of sharing knowledge and organizing to hold Coca-Cola accountable. Meeting facilitator: Celina Lee, other presentations by Myriam Ortiz and Kim Foltz. In India Coca-Cola: => Causes severe water shortages in communities across the country => Pollutes groundwater and soil around its bottling facilities => Distributes its toxic waste as 'fertilizer' to farmers => Sells drinks with high levels of pesticides, including DDT- sometimes 30 times higher than European standards In Colombia: => Union leaders at Coke's bottling plants have be murdered => Hundreds of union workers have been tortured, kidnaped and illegally detained => Family members of trade unionists have been targeted => All while Coke leaders launch a $250 million advertising blitz keyed to the theme, "Coca-Cola.Real." The meeting will help launch a New England-wide network of organizations concerned about Coca-Cola's abusive practice both in the United States and abroad. Sponsoring Organizations: Mass Global Action, Alliance for a Secular and Democratic South Asia, NAFFE, Jobs with Justice, Project Voice/AFSC, Labor Council for Latin American Advancement, MA Chapter, United for Justice with Peace, Boston Mobilization, Tellus Institute, TecsChange, Asian American Resource Workshop, South Asian Center, and BankBusters. Dinner and refreshments provided, admission free, but suggested donation $5. To download the flyer: http://www.massglobalaction.org/docs/cocacola.pdf For more information and to co-sponsor the event: contact stopcoke [at] http://massglobalaction.org/ Directions: The UNITEHERE! Building is located on Harrison Street at the corner with Beach Street. It is two blocks south of the Red Line/Downtown Crossing's Chauncy Street exit; one block east and one south from the Orange Line/Chinatown stop; two blocks east and one block south from the Green Line/Boylston street stop. Pay parking is available next to the building on Harrison Street and also under the Boston Common. Ariana Flores Jobs With Justice 3353 Washington St. Boston, MA 02130 w: 617-524-8270 c: 857-928-2677 Posted by nscolombia at 9:37 PM EDT Share This Post Post Comment | Permalink 9 April 2005 DRUMMOND WATCH Buyers of Drummond coal may not be aware of the company's deadly practices in Colombia. Help us educate them! Posted by nscolombia at 6:57 PM EDT Share This Post Post Comment | Permalink 5 April 2005 Article on Common Dreams website that mentions the Wayu Published on Tuesday, April 5, 2005 by the Inter Press Service Venezuelan Indigenous Peoples Protest Coal Mining by Humberto Marquez CARACAS -- Bare-chested, clad in traditional dress and wielding bows and arrows, hundreds of representatives of the Bar, Yukpa and Wayu indigenous peoples from the westernmost region of Venezuela marched on the capital to demand a halt to coal mining near their lands in the Sierra de Perij mountain range. Coal mining operations bring pollution and disease. They are destroying our farming practices, they are going to destroy our water, and they will end up destroying our lives, Cesreo Panapaera, the leader of 32 Yukpa communities in Tokuko, some 600 kilometers from Caracas, told IPS. Scores of environmentalists and leftist political activists joined the indigenous protestors in their march through downtown Caracas last Thursday. Their destination was the federal government headquarters, but they were stopped 150 meters from its gates by anti-riot police. We want to tell compaero President Hugo Chavez that he can't continue granting land concessions in the Sierra and in Guajira (a neighboring region along the Venezuelan-Colombian border) without consulting us first, as required by the constitution. He speaks very nicely about us, but they haven't demarcated our lands, said Wayu community leader Angela Gonzalez. The indigenous protestors are staunch supporters of the left-wing Chavez Most were wearing red headbands with pro-government slogans, which date back to the presidential recall referendum last August, when a majority voted to keep the president in office. Others sported red berets, symbolic of the governing Fifth Republic Movement party. Compaero Chavez, support our cause, read one protest sign, while another declared, Vito bar ataoo yiroo oshishibain (We don't want coal mining). Yet another was a copy of the No signs used by the pro-government side during the referendum (meaning no to Chavez's removal from the presidency), but altered to read No Coal. The Sierra de Perij mountain range, which marks a section of the border between Venezuela and Colombia and has suffered severe deforestation in the latter, along with the neighboring Guajira peninsula, also straddling both nations, are home to significant coal deposits. Colombia produces around 40 million tons of coal a year, mainly from two mines in this region, Cerrejn and La Loma. In 1987, coal operations started up in the Guasare mines of northwestern Venezuela. Last year, production totaled eight million tons. According to estimates, the Sierra-Guajira region contains coal reserves of at least 400 million tons, which means that current production levels could be sustained for another 50 years. Coal production operations are directed through consortiums formed between the Venezuelan state-owned company Carbozulia and a number of transnational corporations: the British-South African firm Anglo American; Ruhrkohle of Germany; Inter-American Coal of the Netherlands; Chevron-Texaco of the United States; and British-Dutch energy giant Shell. Last year, Carbozulia and Companhia Vale do Rio Doce of Brazil established a new consortium, Carbosuramrica, to undertake additional mining operations in the region. According to the president of the Brazilian corporation, Roger Agnelli, the goal is to raise annual output to 10 million tons within a decade from now. All of the coal is currently transported by truck to the port in the regional capital, Maracaibo. However, there are plans to build both a railway line and a deep sea port off the western coast of the Gulf of Venezuela, in order to facilitate coal exports from both Venezuela and Colombia. Venezuela is becoming an exit platform to the Caribbean Sea, through the building of ports, bridges, highways and railways which serve the interests of the countries and transnationals that need to get their products out, but which sacrifice the environment and the rights of the people living in the area, said environmentalist Lusbi Portillo from the Homo et Natura Society, a non-governmental group. As a result, we are opposed to these mining-ports projects that form part of the IIRSA (Initiative for South American Regional Infrastructure Integration, promoted by the nascent South American Community of Nations), which will serve to take our energy, mining, forestry and biodiversity resources to Europe and the United States, added Portillo. Along the route used to transport the coal for export, the water is polluted, waterways are obstructed, the air breathed by humans, animals and plants is contaminated, the habitat of the aboriginal peoples is disturbed and peasants and indigenous peoples are forced off the land they have traditionally farmed, Jorge Hinestroza of the Front for the Defense of Water and Life told IPS. Jess Palmar, a Wayu activist, commented to IPS that 17 years ago, the Carbones del Guasare mining consortium purchased the land occupied by his community, a 36-hectare lot in the Matera Nueva area, for under 2,500 dollars. As additional compensation, the indigenous inhabitants were promised employment, a new road and other services. We made a mistake. It was all lies. They just forgot about us and now we are living two kilometers from the company's gates. In January there was a gas-oil leak of around 120,000 liters in the Paso del Diablo stream, which killed fish, iguanas and squirrels. We used to sow, harvest, and live off of the land, but now we are being driven to the brink of death, said Palmar. Hinestroza maintained that for years the rivers and streams have been polluted with chemical wastes, detergents and coal residue. The communities near the coal operations breathe smoke. Animals are being born with defects, he added, showing a photograph of deformed goats, and human health is at risk. The Guasare, Socuy and Cachuir rivers feed into the Limn River, which is the largest north of the Maracaibo lake watershed and supplies the regional aqueduct system. Another local environmentalist, Alexander Luzardo, told IPS that the coal mining conflict intersects with another debt owed by the Venezuelan government, because according to the 1999 constitution, a law was supposed to be established to demarcate indigenous territory, and this hasn't happened. Ezequiel Anare, a Yukpa community leader, reported that some company officials have offered us money to keep quiet. But we won't. We are calling on the president to get these companies off of our territory. We want to demarcate our lands, where we live, farm and dream. We are the guardians of the Sierra, he declared to IPS. The march in Caracas brought together environmental and human rights activists who have voiced opposition to the Chavez administration and enthusiastic supporters of the president, like the representatives of the community media network. Mixed in with the crowd was Douglas Bravo, perhaps the best-known communist guerrilla leader in Venezuela in the 1960s and 1970s. This is a manifestation of an autonomous and independent revival of the popular movement, said Bravo, who now devotes his efforts to promoting environmental groups. At the same time, it is the beginning of a new stage in the independent environmental movement, against globalization and the multinationals, he said in an interview with IPS. Environmental activists maintain that Venezuela is following a mistaken policy in pursuing coal production, which contradicts its commitments as a signatory to the Kyoto Protocol, the international instrument aimed at curbing carbon dioxide emissions. We want the government to hear us: we don't want coal, stressed indigenous leader Panapaera, who added, Here are our bows and arrows, and we will use them against the miners if they come to our lands. And if we have to die fighting for our lands, we will die. Copyright ? 2005 IPS-Inter Press Service (the article on the Common Dreams website) Posted by nscolombia at 12:01 AM EDT Updated: 16 April 2005 10:04 PM EDT Share This Post Post Comment | Permalink 3 April 2005 Coal article that mentions Salem The Chronicle-Herald Opinion, Saturday, March 26, 2005, p. A11 Ralph Surette The dirty story of where we get our coal NOVA SCOTIA POWER gets the best quality coal it can at the cheapest price on the international market. Always sensitive to the price of electricity and, increasingly, to pollution, Nova Scotians would blame it if it did any less. But there's an underside to the story. NSP gets that coal from the El Cerrejon Norte coal mine in northern Colombia, a notoriously dirty piece of business in that unfortunate country where it's hard to tell which is worse: the army and its paramilitary killers, the armed narco-traffickers, the rebel insurgents or the foreign corporations backed by the World Bank. El Cerrejon Norte, one of the world's largest open-pit mines - occupying an original area 50 kilometres long and eight wide, and expanding constantly - is a continuing horror story of forced relocations of indigenous people, human rights violations, environmental destruction and other assorted injustices that one human rights group calls "a perfect example of globalization gone horribly wrong." The subject comes up because Francisco Ramirez, president of the National Coal Miners Union of Colombia, was in Halifax this week trying to make a point. The most remarkable thing about Ramirez, apart from his immense courage, is that he's still alive. A total of 74 unionists were killed in Colombia last year alone and Ramirez says he has dodged seven assassination attempts. He wants NSP and anyone else with clout to pressure the multinationals and the Colombian government to respect human rights. Despite the reasonableness of this request, he doesn't appear to have received much of a hearing at NSP. What should we think, then, since our demand for coal is part of the problem? First, here's more of the story. The mine began as a joint venture between the Colombian government and Exxon Corporation 25 years ago intended to supply cheap, high-quality coal to North America and Europe. It bordered on and partly covered reservation land of the indigenous Wayuu people, whose way of life has been largely shattered. In 2000, as a result of pressure to privatize from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, the Colombian government sold its half to an international consortium. In 2002, Exxon (now Exxon-Mobil) sold its half to the consortium as well - but not before the community of Tabaco (pop. 700) was bulldozed flat to expand the mine. It was done so quickly and without notice that residents, pushed out by 500 soldiers and 200 police who accompanied the mine operator, didn't even have time to retrieve their personal effects. When the job was complete, the village's school and clinic were also razed and the cemetery desecrated. There was no compensation. Critics accused Exxon of doing this as part of the deal, before it bowed out. If such corporate degeneracy, done in our name as First World consumers, shock us, what can we in fact do? Here's one thing. In 2002, representatives of the Wayuu visited Salem, Mass., where the power plant imports coal from the mine. Salem city council promptly passed a resolution supporting their struggle, and the power plant manager called the El Cerrejon Norte operators telling them the town expected them to negotiate with the Wayuu and find a just settlement. Since our electrical system in Nova Scotia (80 per cent coal) functions on these people's misery, don't we owe them as much? If we are indeed a moral people, why wouldn't our legislature pass a similar resolution and NSP similarly convey its expectation that justice be done? The Wayuu representatives, in their U.S. tour, went on to the Exxon-Mobil shareholders' meeting where their story caused some embarrassment. International support has been growing. Meanwhile, the Colombian supreme court has ruled that the residents of Tabaco be compensated - although collecting has proved elusive. Nevertheless, a half dozen communities beyond Tabaco that were expected to suffer the same fate by now - their names are Tamaquitos, Guamachito, Provincial, Roche, Patilla and Chancleta - haven't yet. Meanwhile, the company's publication, which I found on the Internet, is bragging about supporting a couple of medical clinics in the area. Maybe even they are having twinges of conscience. Can we do any less? Ralph Surette is a veteran Nova Scotia journalist living in Yarmouth County. C 2005 The Chronicle-Herald - Halifax. All rights reserved. Posted by nscolombia at 10:52 PM EDT Share This Post Post Comment | Permalink 13 February 2005 No Sweat CT Student Summit, Feb. 26! Come and Spread the Word!!! From: Avi Chomsky FYI, in case anybody is interested. I can send you the flyer individually if you want it; it's too big to send out to the whole list. Avi Bring your friends and spread the word! Come join students from throughout CT as we organize to pass the most progressive anti-sweatshop law ever!!! No Sweat CT Student Summit Saturday, February 26 12:30 - 5pm Marcus White Living Room, Central CT State University Dear CT student organizers and friends, In the past month, unions, students, and socially conscious people throughout CT have united in a flurry of excitement to mobilize to pass the most progressive anti-sweatshop legislation in the nation yet. The CT legislature is currently considering a bill to ensure that all uniforms (and possibly other items) purchased by the state would be produced in factories and washed in laundries where workers earn a living wage and their rights are respected. This law would build upon years of organizing by students and the global movement in support of workers and against sweatshops. Students have a crucial role to play in passing this legislation. Please come join students throughout the state at this important gathering of students from throughout CT. This will not be a typical lecture-centered workshop, but rather an opportunity for students to interact and discuss the ways in which students can play a key role in fighting for the most progressive anti-sweatshop law in the nation. There will be refreshments. A flyer is attached to help you spread the word. Please invite any and all CT students you know who might be interested. Bring your friends!!! (And bring your calendar :). It is now our time to join the global movement against sweatshops!!! In solidarity, Kath Golub. And if you have any questions, feel free to contact me by email or at (860) 349-6925. Directions to Central: From I-84, take Exit 39A to Rt. 9 South. Take Exit 29 off of Rt. 9 to Ella Grasso Boulevard and take a right turn to the university. From I-91, North to Exit 22 North to Rt. 9 North. Follow Rt. 9 to Exit 29, Cedar Street (Rt. 175). From I-95 South, take Rt. 9 North to Exit 29, Cedar Street (Rt. 175). Go through the intersection. Take your first left, Ella Grasso Blvd. Follow until you reach the university. The Marcus White building (building #3) is the building across from the building with the clock tower. We will have signs to help you out. Please also check out this map: http://www.ccsu.edu/campus_map/Default.htm Posted by nscolombia at 11:21 AM EST Updated: 18 March 2005 9:56 PM EST Share This Post Post Comment | Permalink 16 January 2005 Letter for signon re: Coal mine expansion in Colombia, human rights etc ecn_ngo_letter_051404.pdf Posted by nscolombia at 5:01 PM EST Share This Post Post Comment | Permalink Newer | Latest | Older