Struggle4progress overnight LBN; Body of missing Colombian labor leader found in dump

[Judi Lynn]

struggle4progress (1000+ posts)
Thu Jul-17-08 12:52 AM
Original message
Body of missing Colombian labor leader found in dump

Source: EFE Ingles Via Acquire Media NewsEdge

Bogota, Jul 16 (EFE)- The body of missing union leader Guillermo Rivera, 52, was found at a dump near the town of Ibague, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) west of Bogota, Colombia's CTC labor federation said Wednesday.

Rivera, a Bogota city employee and president of the municipal workers union who was also active in politics, had not been seen since dropping off his daughter at her school-bus stop in the capital on April 22.

The CTC said in a statement that Rivera died April 28, apparently after having been detained by the police.

Colombia's main opposition party, the leftist PDA, said prior to the discovery of the body that witness testimony and video evidence indicated Rivera was seized by members of Bogota's Metropolitan Police ...

Read more: http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2008/07/16/3551275.htm


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3398899

[Judi Lynn]

1. Threatened Workers Need Legal Recognition

Threatened Workers Need Legal Recognition

Workers at Bochica Farms formed a union in January and immediately began receiving death threats. The company is refusing to negotiate with the union and the Miami based distributor, Spectrum Flowers, is not responding to requests for intervention.

Write to Spectrum and demand that they defend the workers from threats and intimidation, and help to negotiate a resolution to the conflict that supports the rights of the workers who grow their flowers.

Background:

According to the Escuela Nacional Sindical (ENS) and the Central Unitaria de Trabajadores (CUT), on January 28, 2007, the Unión de Trabajadores de Exportaciones Bochica S.A. CI formed at the EXPORTACIONES BOCHICA SA CI flower company. The following day, the union filed the paperwork for legal recognition from the government.

The manager of the company, Hugo Cifuentes, held a meeting with all of the workers in which he stated that the company did not want a union. Shortly thereafter, he approached several union members and pressured them to disaffiliate. At another meeting, in which individuals in military uniform were present, the manager warned workers of the dangers of forming a union in Colombia.

Two days after this meeting, the union president, treasurer, and auditor received written threats, supposedly from the AGUILAS NEGRAS DEL ORIENTE. According to these threats, if the union members did not cease their union activity, they could become military targets.

More:
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/1618/t/3754/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=6913

http://www.usleap.org/actions

[Bacchus39]

3. it seems you are asking the fox to guard the hen house

not sure what you are expecting Spectrum to do since they appear not to support a union. let alone asking that the company "defend the worders from threats and intimidation..." what exactly does that entail?

[Judi Lynn]

2. Update: COLOMBIA: Torture as a ‘Side Effect’ of Forced Disappearance, Killings

COLOMBIA: Torture as a ‘Side Effect’ of Forced Disappearance, Killings
By Constanza Vieira

BOGOTA, Jul 22 (IPS) - The body of trade unionist Guillermo Rivera, who was missing since April, was finally found after 84 days of desperate searching by his family and friends.

The forensic experts reported that the body showed "clear signs of torture," Jorge Gómez, the widow's lawyer, told IPS.

The 52-year-old Rivera was last seen when he took his daughter to her bus stop on the morning of Apr. 22. A witness said she saw him arguing with the police as they handcuffed him and shoved him into a police car. "Why are you taking me?" she heard him ask the officers.

Security cameras located near Rivera’s home on the south side of Bogotá "showed that several police cars were present at the time and place where the gentleman disappeared," a source at the Attorney General’s Office told IPS.

IPS was able to confirm that there were four police cars and several motorcycles.

More:
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=43277