In Colombia, the tactic of the extreme use of violence to impose neoliberal globalization is commonly practiced. All forms of social organization that are attempting to resist this are being exterminated: indigenous people, small farmers (campesinos), and workers are assasinated for opposing the objectives of foreign investors. Each year, more unionists are murdered in this country than in the rest of the world combined.

Coca-Cola Company International, Coca-Cola of Colombia, its afíliate Panamerican Beverage (Panamco) — aquired by the company Coca-Cola FEMSA, and Bebidas y Alimentos de Uraba S.A. are responsible by action or omission of this policy of annihiliation against the social movements, which has caused the murder of 9 workers, the exile of 2, the forced displacement of 48, death threats against 67, unjust imprisonment of more than 16 workers because of the libelous pronouncements of Coca-Cola funcionaries, who have accused us of being terrorists and criminals, stigmatizing and cursing our union activity.

The information about these human rights violations are evidence of the activities of the paramilitary groups which work in complicity with the armed forces and police forces of the state for the benefit of the multinational corporations and their affiliates. The illegal pressure put by them on union leaders has forced hundreds of workers to unaffiliate from their unions, has caused their firing, has forced the cancellation of collective bargaining contracts, and has imposed a system of subcontractation for 86% of the workforce who are then forced to accept much lower salaries.

These labor policies, founded in terror, have allowed Coca-Cola to enormously increase its profits.

In other countries as well, such as Guatemala, the Phillippines, Pakistan, India, Israel, and Venezuela, the social movements have denounced Coca-Cola for utilizing, directly or through their affiliates, violence; violation of labor laws; abuse; and the participation and financing of opposition movements against democratically-elected governments in order to achieve their economic goals. The company has been denounced for racial discrimination, for the unsustainable use of water and damage to the environment, and they have not promised to their consumers to refrain from using genetically-modified products as part of the raw materials for their drinks.

It has been confirmed that Coca-Cola uses coca leaf, while the indigenous people who have grown coca since time immemorial are punished.

SINALTRAINAL has initiated a judicial action in the United States courts using the Alien Tort Claims Act against Coca-Cola and its Colombian affiliates for the abuses they have committed against unionists.

Last year, a grouping of organizations and individuals around the world participated in the Public Tribunal Against Impunity "Héctor Daniel Useche Berón - SINALTRAINAL Demands Justice," where we declared that an international campaign against Coca-Cola will begin as of today, July 22, 2003, and we approved the proposal for reparations for the victims of this violence, which was presented to the corporation at the beginning of this year.

The international campaign consists in a series of initiatives, including the NO CONSUMPTION OF COCA-COLA PRODUCTS, the divestment from banks and companies in which Coca-Cola has influence, and the organization of acts of denouncement and protest in all forms of action which can add to the pressure on Coca-Cola to repair the damage it has caused, modify its policies, and promise to respect the human rights of its workers and the community in general.

We also demand that the Colombian state ends the policy of criminalization of social protest and the imprisonment of union and social leaders, and agrees to a political solution to the current conflict which will permit the Colombian people to achieve peace and wellbeing.

Our struggle is for peace with social justice and for the wellbeing of the people, for this we support the anti-war struggle, we contribute to the construction of the movement against capitalist globalization, we participate in the struggle against the FTAA and share in the initiatives of the Continental Social Alliance, the World Social Forum, and all others that are striving to achieve happiness, sovereignty, and freedom for all people.

For the love of live - I do not consume Coca-Cola

Because they finance war - I do not consume Coca-Cola

I do not consume Coca-Cola - I do not finance death

Porque amo la vida...No consumo Coca Cola

Porque financia la guerra...No consumo Coca Cola

No consumo Coca Cola...No financio la muerte

INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE OF THE

INTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGN AGAINST COCA-COLA TO STOP THE VIOLENCE IN COLOMBIA!