From: U.S./Colombia Coordinating Office
<agiffen@igc.org>

COLOMBIA INFOinBRIEF ALERT
_____________________________________________________________
NATIONAL TOUR OF COLOMBIAN LABOR LEADERS
WILL VISIT 10 CITIES ACROSS THE UNITED STATES
MARCH 20-APRIL 8
_____________________________________________________________

CIVILIANS UNDER FIRE IN COLOMBIA: UNION WORKERS UNDER THREAT
Sponsored by: Colombia Human Rights Network and the U.S./Colombia
Coordinating Office

Colombian union activists Patricia Buritica Cespedes and Luis Alfonso
Velasquez Rico, will visit ten cities across the United States between
March 17 and April 9 to tell their personal stories of advancing human
rights for the Colombian labor force amidst increasing violence. Patricia
and Luis Alfonso are leading labor activists who will address the complex
conflict in Colombia, the challenges and threats union activists face, and
their efforts to defend the rights of unionized workers as members of the
CUT, Colombia's largest union federation. They will also address the role
of U.S. multinational corporations and the impact of a changing U.S. policy
on human rights and peace in Colombia.
_____________________________________________________________
B A C K G R O U N D
_____________________________________________________________

An unprecedented peace movement has been growing in Colombia, a country
upheld as Latin America's oldest democracy but plagued by the longest
running civil conflict in tis continent. At the same time, Colombia is in
the midst of the most serious human rights crisis in the Western
Hemisphere. Violence in the country's civil war has increased dramatically
in the past year. Thousands of civilians have been caught in the
cross-fire. Union leaders and labor activists, in particular, have been
targets of violence.

The CUT, Central Organization of Colombian Workers, is the largest union
federation in Colombia. Since it was founded in 1986, more than 800,000
organizations have affiliated with the CUT. However, its members, like many
other union representatives in Colombia, have had to work under the
intimidating tactics of Colombia's armed actors.

The ongoing struggle of the CUT has resulted in the deaths of many of its
leaders and activists, as well as the displacement of many more. Since
1986, almost 3,000 representatives of unions and social organizations
affiliated with the CUT have been killed. CUT statistics show that that in
1999 alone 179 of its members have been assassinated. In fact, more labor
activists are killed in Colombia than in any other country. In October
1998, Jorge Ortega, the director of the CUT's Human Rights Department, was
murdered. Following his assassination, numerous labor activists have
applied for asylum abroad.
______________________________________________________________
T E N C I T I E S
______________________________________________________________

Luis Alfonso and Patricia will visit Washington D.C., Pittsburgh, PA,
Reading, PA, Morristown, NJ; New York, NY; Boston, MA; Chicago, IL; Iowa
City, IA; Seattle, WA; Los Angeles, CA; and San Francisco, CA.

For information on events in the cities near you, please contact the local
organizers below or contact the U.S./Colombia Coordinating Office tel:
202-232-8090.
______________________________________________________
D A T E S & L O C A L C O N T A C T S:
HOW YOU CAN GET INVOLVED
______________________________________________________

EAST COAST

WASHINGTON, D.C. March 20 - 23

Colombia Human Rights Committee, DC
Cristina Espinel and Barbara Gerlach
P.O. 3130 Washington, D.C. 20010
Tel/Fax: (202) 232-8148
Email: colhrc@igc.org
&
Alison Giffen
U.S./Colombia Coordinating Office
T: 202-232-8090, F: 202-232-8092, Email: agiffen@igc.org

PITTSBURGH, PA March 23 - 25

Dan Kovalik
Tel: 412-562-2518
email: <dkovalik@uswa.org>

MORRISTOWN, NJ March 25 - March 27

Angel Patino
Tel: 973-285-1095
Email: "Angel" <mpatinol@aol.com>

READING, PA March 28

John Hoskyns-Abrahall
Bullfrog Films
Tel: 800/543-FROG (3764)
Web: http://www.bullfrogfilms.com

NEW YORK, NY March 29 - 31

Colombia Media Project
P.O. Box 1091 GPO New York, NY 10116
Tel: (212) 802-7209
Email: mmcompa@igc.org
&
Colombia Solidarity & Human Rights committee
Adriana Arroyave, Verónica Acevedo, Francisco Parra
Englewood, New Jersey
e-mail: Colombiasolidarity@hotmail.com

BOSTON, MA April 1-5

Colombia Vive
Cathey Crumbley
Tel: (617) 868-7770
Fax: (978) 452-5711
Email: Cathy_Crumbley@uml.edu

WEST COAST/MIDWEST

CHICAGO, IL March 23 - 25

Chicago Colombia Committee
David Alper
Tel: (773) 275-0587
Email: maya@igc.org
&
CHICAGO LABOR MONITOR
Dennis Grammemos
Email: <dgrammen@prairienet.org>

IOWA CITY, IA March 26-27

Maria Hope
University of Iowa, Amnesty International Chapter
tel evenings: (319)354-3277
Email: <colsig@uiowa.edu>

SEATTLE, WA March 27 - March 30

SEATTLE COLOMBIA COMMITEE
Justin Delacour
T: 206-923-2669
Email: oakleyruth oakleyruth@igc.org

LOS ANGELES, CA March 30 - April 3

Colombia Human Rights Committee, LA
Esteban Pinilla
Tel: (714) 859-5880
Email: cinearte@hotmail.com
&
Colombia Action Committee
Tel: 323-563-7940

SAN FRANCISCO, CA APRIL 4-5

Global Exchange
Sandra Alvarez
T:) 415-255-7296
Email: sandra@globalexchange.org

*****Sponsored by the Colombia Human Rights Network and U.S./Colombia
Coordinating Office. For more information on U.S. grassroots efforts
contact the Office at 202-232-8090*****

_____________________________________________________
END
_____________________________________________________

Alison Giffen
Director
U.S./Colombia Coordinating Office
Phone: 202-232-8090
Fax: 202-232-8092
Suite 200 1630 Connecticut Ave. NW
Washington D.C. 20009
http://www.igc.org/colhrnet/

************************************************************
Distribuido por: Distributed by:
'AMAZON ALLIANCE' FOR INDIGENOUS AND
TRADITIONAL PEOPLES OF THE AMAZON BASIN
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tel (202)785-3334
fax (202)785-3335
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Disclaimer: All copyrights belong to original publisher.
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La Alianza Amazonica no ha verificado la veracidad de este
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La Alianza Amazónica para los Pueblos Indígenas y Tradicionales de la
Cuenca Amazónica es una iniciativa nacida de la alianza entre los pueblos
indígenas y tradicionales de la Amazonía y grupos e individuos que
comparten sus preocupaciones por el futuro de la Amazonía y sus pueblos.
Las ochenta organizaciones del norte y del sur activas en la Alianza
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estado de su medio ambiente.

The Amazon Alliance for Indigenous and Traditional Peoples of the Amazon
Basin is an initiative born out of the partnership between indigenous and
traditional peoples of the Amazon and groups and individuals who share
their concerns for the future of the Amazon and its peoples. The eighty
non-governmental organizations from the North and South active in the
Alliance believe that the future of the Amazon depends on its peoples and
the state of their environment.
_________________________________________________________
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