Blanco Maya called for questioning (US Drummond Coal union workers' murders in Colombia)

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Colombia Reports

Blanco Maya called for questioning
Friday, 26 November 2010 14:46 Scott Kobewka

Jamie Blanco Maya, the brother of Colombia's former Inspector General Edgardo Maya, was called for questioning by a human right prosecutor in relation to the murder of two unionists working for multinational coal company Drummond, reports Caracol Radio.

Blanco Maya, former head of a company which provided cafeteria services at the Drummond mine in the Cesar department, was arrested in September for his alleged role in the murder of the two unionists. Detained paramilitary combatant Jairo Jesus Charris Castro told RCN that Blanco Maya met with former AUC leader Ospino Pacheco to order the murders of Valmore Locarno and Victor Hugo Orcasita. The two men were president and vice president, respectively, of a labor union at Drummond, and were killed on March 12, 2001.

According to Charris, Blanco Maya ordered the murder of the two unionists because they complained to Drummond about the food quality and he feared losing his $600,000-a-year contract.

Caracol Radio reports that Blanco Maya ordered ex-paramilitary John Jairo Esquivel Cuadrado to kill the two men.

(my emphasis)



Read more: http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/news/13135-blanco-maya-called-for-questioning.html

[Judi Lynn]

1. Drummond case shows danger facing Colombian unions

Drummond case shows danger facing Colombian unions
16 Nov 2006 19:51:49 GMT
Source: Reuters

By Hugh Bronstein

LA LOMA, Colombia, Nov 16 (Reuters) - A labor union leader at the U.S.-owned Drummond coal mine was pulled off a bus in northern Colombia and shot to death by masked right-wing gunmen one March evening in 2001, according to court papers accusing the company of ordering the killing.

The body of Valmore Locarno was displayed to the other passengers as a warning about what happens to labor activists in this war-twisted country where leftist guerrillas are pitted against right-wing paramilitaries. The union's No. 2, Victor Orcasita, was thrown into a pickup truck and killed later.

"The paramilitaries boarded the bus and asked for Locarno and Orcasita by name, saying that these two had a problem with Drummond," a court document says.

The U.S. federal lawsuit filed in Drummond's home state of Alabama has gained attention in Europe, where power companies DONG of Denmark and Essent of the Netherlands said last week they halted new coal purchases from the company. Both are minor clients.

More:
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N16333983.htm

http://www.elpilon.com.co.nyud.net:8090/inicio/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/V%C3%ADctor-Hugo-Orcasita-Amaya-Y-Valmore-Locarno-Rodr%C3%ADguez-y-.jpg

Victor Hugo Orcasita, and Valmore Locarno
tortured, murdered union workers for Alabama-based Drummond Coal

http://www.elpilon.com.co.nyud.net:8090/inicio/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/PRIMERA-JAIME-BLANCO-MAYA.jpg

Jaime Blanca Maya

http://www.cambio.com.co.nyud.net:8090/portadacambio/719/IMAGEN/IMAGEN-3504588-2.jpg

Inspector General brother Edgardo Maya

http://www.elheraldo.com.co.nyud.net:8090/ELHERALDO/BancoMedios/Imagenes/aliastigre.jpg

Hired paramilitary murderer, all purpose P.O.S., John Jairo Esquivel Cuadrado

The two murdered men had received death threats from the paras prior to their murders. They had gone to their company bosses at Birmingham, Alabama-based Drummond Coal Company, and begged for permission to sleep in the building on the floor on weeknights, instead of traveling by bus to be with their families overnight, returning only on weekends. The company lost no time in rejecting that plea for help, even knowing, of course, the men were terrified.



Gary Drummond, middle, with Colombia president Alvaro Uribe, on the left.

http://www.southernstudies.org.nyud.net:8090/images/sitepieces/drummond_protest.jpg http://www.fightbacknews.org.nyud.net:8090/sites/default/files/drummond2.jpg

http://www.birminghamfreepress.com.nyud.net:8090/v5/0307/coal.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com.nyud.net:8090/4137/4883741899_4d19c6ba64_z.jpg

Drummond, Colombia