By Tracy Glynn

Coal extracted from mines in Colombia has been dubbed “Colombian
 blood coal” because of assassinations of union leaders and violent
 displacements of communities at the countryâ?Ts coal mines. Colombia
 is the most dangerous place in the world for people active in trade
 unions; 2,510 trade union leaders have been murdered in the last ten
 years.

 NB Powerâ?Ts Belledune plant burns coal produced in the Colombian
 Cerrejón mine. Approximately 16% of the power in our province is
 generated from Cerrejón coal.

 On March 22, Adolfo González Montes, a worker at Cerrejón and union
 leader with SINTRACARBON (the National Union of Coal Mine Workers),
 was tortured and killed at his home. He is survived by his wife and
 four small children. Other union leaders and their family members live
 in fear as unknown people prowl around their homes and they receive
 threatening phone calls.

 

 In many cases where the perpetrator has been identified, government-supported paramilitary organizations, the armed forces or the police have been found responsible. The Colombian government’s
failure to act on such crimes allows the perpetrators to kill trade unionists with impunity. Despite knowledge of Colombiaâ?Ts deplorable human rights track record and opposition from the Canadian labour movement, Canada is in the process of forging a free trade agreement with Colombia.

 In 2006, SINTRACARBON took the brave and noble move to support the
 communities affected by their employer. The union included the
 communitiesâ?T demands for collective compensation in their bargaining
 proposals with the company. The union investigated the Cerrejón
 mineâ?Ts effects on communities in November 2006. Jairo Quiroz with
 the union described what he saw: “Their fundamental rights have been
 violated. These communities lack the most minimal conditions necessary
 for a decent life. They seem to belong to the living dead.”

 

 José Julio Pérez, formerly a farmer in Tabaco, Colombia, visited
 New Brunswick in March 2006. Today, Tabaco and its homes, farms,
 church and school do not exist. All that lived in Tabaco was destroyed
 for the Cerrejón mine in August 2001. During the bloody displacement,
 some of Pérezâ?Ts neighbours sustained serious and enduring injuries
 after being attacked by police.

 Since the development of Cerrejón in 1982, indigenous Wayuu and
 Afro-Colombian communities in La Guajira have been forcibly displaced
 from their lands. Traditional agriculture-based livelihoods have been
 destroyed with the loss of land and industrial contamination. More
 communities face similar fates with planned expansion of the worldâ?Ts
 largest open-pit coal mine.

 Coal extracted from Cerrejón is exclusively exported to meet the
 energy demands of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Massachusetts while
 many people displaced by Cerrejón have no electricity.

 While Cerrejónâ?Ts owners, Xstrata, BHP Billiton and AngloAmerican
 were welcomed by the Colombian State, local indigenous and
 Afro-Colombian communities located on top of coal reserves did not
 have a say in the development or destruction of their communities.
 Atrocities against them were justified, including imposed poverty,
 brutal intimidation, beatings and the prospect of being killed.

 Debbie Kelly, an RCMP forensics officer active with her labour union
 in Halifax is selling hand-woven bags made by La Guajira women as an
 urgent fundraiser for the affected communities. After visiting the
 communities around the Cerrejón coal mine in 2006, she wrote: “Some
 only eat every three days and for the smiling little children, it is
 hard to take. Even though their little body is racked in open sores
 from contaminated water, they donâ?Tt cry.”

 As SINTRACARBON mourns the loss of their brother Adolfo González
 Montes, they call on Colombian state agencies to immediately
 investigate and bring to justice those responsible for his murder.
 SINTRACARBON is also requesting protection for union and community
 leaders. Concerned citizens are asking NB Power and the New Brunswick
 government to pressure the Colombian government to ensure the rule of
 law and an end to the impunity for crimes against union leaders, human
 rights defenders and the civilian population. NB Power and the New
 Brunswick government are also being asked to establish a human rights
 policy in their purchasing contracts.
 The Fredericton Peace Coalition (www.frederictonpeace.org) and the
 Atlantic Regional Solidarity Network (www.arsn.ca) are currently
 organizing Colombian solidarity efforts. For more information,
 contact: info@frederictonpeace.org