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Police Burglarize Headquarters of SINALTRAINAL

[This is an unofficial translation of an appeal from the Colombian food and beverage workers union, SINALTRAINAL. Colombia is the most dangerous place in the world for trade unionists, thanks to the state-sponsored right wing paramilitaries who murder and kidnap union activists, with the backing of US imperialism and US-based corporations like Coca-Cola. The AFL-CIO reports that 4,000 trade unionists have been murdered in Colombia in the past 20 years, 29 this year as of June 15, 2006. Distribute this appeal in your workplace or school! Organize solidarity meetings to reaise funds for the defense of SINALTRAINAL and its members and activists! Join the boycott of "Killer Coke", infamous for its use of fascist assassins against union activists! Send letters, faxes, and emails of protest to the Colombian government officials, who are puppets of US imperialism! -Fred Bergen]

POLICE BURGLARIZE HEADQUARTERS OF SINALTRAINAL UNION IN BOGOTA, COLOMBIA

On August 3, 2006, at about 12:15 PM, uniformed men who were identified as judicial police of the SIJIN entered the headquarters of SINALTRAINAL in Bogota and proceeded to search the union office under the pretext of a preventative operation because the following August 7 would be the inauguration of president Alvaro Uribe Velez's next term, and they were trying to prevent disturbances of the peace. They asked why we had three cylinders of gas in the building, which we use for food preparation, and they searched the second floor, the balcony, and the patio. In the morning hours police officers were seen filming the SINALTRAINAL headquarders from outside.

This raid was done without a warrant, and they carried out an action that they called, curiously, a "voluntary search", in the office when only the office manager, who lives in the building, was present.

Among the agents who entered the SINALTRAINAL office were the detectives Alarcón Rodríguez O., badge number 80.159.282, and Camacho Plazas, badge no. 80.728.411.

We demand that our lives be guaranteed, the right to carry out union activity, and that the persecution cease, since this raid has happened while we have been denouncing threats and possible prosecutions against us, and have been in a conflict with the Coca-Cola company demanding truth, justice, and reparations for the abuses to which we, the workers, have been subjected. We have been in collective bargaining with them. Also, Nestlé has begun a campaign of persecution with firings after the recent contract negotiations.

We demand an explanation from the authorities to clarify why they continue to stigmatize SINALTRAINAL and our allies. This raid puts us under suspicion, since the evil intent of the raid and questioning in the union headquarters, which seeks to link us with supposed illicit acts which they are supposedly trying to prevent.

Send messages of protest to:

President of the Republic
Dr. Álvaro Uribe Vélez,
Cra. 8 No..7-26, Palacio de Nariño,
Santa fe de Bogotá
Colombia S.A.
Fax: (+57 1) 566.20.71
E-mail: auribe at presidencia.gov.co

Vice-President of the Republic
Dr. Francisco Santos
E-mail:fsantos at presidencia.gov.co

Attorney General
Dr. Edgardo José Maya-Villazón
Carrera 5 No. 15-80
Santa Fe de Bogotá
Colombia, S.A.
Fax: (+57 1)342.97.23
E-mail: reygon at procuraduria.gov.co
anticorrupcion at presidencia.gov.co

Defender of the People
Dr. Volmar Antonio Pérez Ortiz.
Calle 55 No. 10-32
Santa Fe de Bogotá
Colombia, S.A.
Fax: (+571) 640 04 91
E-mail:secretaria_privada at hotmail.com

Sincerely,
LUIS JAVIER CORREA SUAREZ
President, SINALTRAINAL

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