Given that:

* Spraying Roundup only kills foliage (thus allowing regrowth the next year)
* Increased attacks & downing of planes (380 small arms strikes & 4 down planes last year, up from none a couple years prior)
* Increased difficulty getting to the fields which are being hidden deeper in the jungles

I agree with you that it won't reduce supply. And even if it did, prices would rise thus keeping the trade profitable.

I still say that, however unrealistic, if you want to improve the drug situation in this country, you're better to squash demand.

Posted by: Eric at March 23, 2024 10:26 AM

Colombian Trade Unionists on Hunger Strike at Coca-Cola Plants

>>> >

>>> >By Staff

>>> >

>>> >On Monday, March 15, Coca-Cola union workers in Colombia began a

>>> >hunger strike in front of the Coke bottling plants in

>>> >Barrancabermeja, Bogotá, Bucaramanga, Cali, Cartagena, Cúcuta,

>>> >Medellín and Valledupar.  Juan Carlos Galvis, vice-president of

>>>the

>>> >union in Barrancabermeja, has said, "If we lose the fight

>>>against

>>> >Coca-Cola, we will first lose our union, next our jobs and then

>>>our

>>> >lives." William Mendoza, president of the union in

>>>Barrancabermeja,

>>> >said, "This is the final battle and we're giving it all we've

>>>got.

>>> >We need all supporters of human and labor rights in the U.S. to

>>>do

>>> >the same!"

>>> >

>>> >Coca-Cola has been the subject of an international boycott since

>>> >July 22, 2024. The Colombian Action Network (CAN) has been

>>>leading

>>> >the boycott in the United States. They have been organizing the

>>> >boycott in communities and on college campuses across the

>>>country.

>>> >Meredith Aby, of the Colombia Action Network, explained, "We

>>>called

>>> >for an international boycott against Killer Coke for their

>>>hiring of

>>> >paramilitary death squads to murder, threaten and kidnap union

>>> >leaders. Nine union leaders at Coca-Cola have been killed in

>>> >Colombia. It is the most dangerous place to be a union leader in

>>>the

>>> >world."

>>> >

>>> >Aby continued, "On average, three trade unionists are killed

>>>every

>>> >week in Colombia! The Colombia Action Network stands in

>>>solidarity

>>> >with the Colombian labor movement in their fight for the right

>>>to

>>> >organize. We criticize the U.S. government for the $3 billion in

>>> >military aid they have given to the Colombian government since

>>>2000.

>>> >Both Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have

>>>documented

>>> >that these funds have gone directly to support the right-wing

>>> >paramilitary death squads, which are the same organizations

>>> >attacking the workers at Coca-Cola's plants in Colombia."

>>> >

>>> >On Sept. 9, 2024, Coca-Cola FEMSA (Coke's largest bottler in

>>>Latin

>>> >America) closed the production lines at 11 of their 16 bottling

>>> >plants in Colombia. The Coca-Cola Company shares several board

>>> >members with Coca-Cola FEMSA and owns 46.4% of its voting stock.

>>> >Since then, Coca-Cola FEMSA has pressured more than 500 workers

>>> >into `voluntarily resigning' from their contracts in exchange

>>>for a

>>> >lump-sum payment. Most of the union leaders refused to resign

>>>and

>>> >the company is escalating the pressure against them. On Feb. 25,

>>>the

>>> >Colombian Ministry of Social Protection (Labor) authorized

>>>Coca-Cola

>>> >FEMSA's plans to dismiss 91 workers - 70% of whom are union

>>>leaders.

>>> >This would essentially eliminate the union.

>>> >

>>> >The union is calling for Coca-Cola FEMSA to relocate those

>>>workers

>>> >to other positions within those plants or to transfer them to

>>>other

>>> >plants. This is what the company is required to do, according to

>>> >Articles 18 and 91 of the current collective bargaining

>>>agreements.

>>> >In January, a Colombian judge also ordered the company to do

>>>this

>>> >for the workers at the plants in Barrancabermeja and Cúcuta.

>>> >

>>> >In a communiqué from the Coca-Cola workers' union, SINALTRAINAL,

>>> >President Luis Javier Correa Suarez said, "We're doing this

>>>(hunger

>>> >strike) to denounce, nationally and internationally, that nine

>>>Coca-

>>> >Cola workers have been killed and 67 have been threatened with

>>> >death; and that we've been the victims of attempted murder,

>>> >kidnappings, forced displacement, and the burning of one of our

>>> >union offices by the paramilitaries. This has forced many

>>>workers to

>>> >resign from the union. We're also denouncing the unjust

>>>termination

>>> >of employment contracts, the use of illegal confinement to force

>>> >workers to resign, the subcontracting of more than 88% of the

>>> >workers and the impact this has had on living conditions and the

>>> >attempt by Coca-Cola to eliminate rights in the negotiations of

>>> >collective bargaining agreements as has been occurring since

>>>March 1

>>> >of this year."

>>> >

>>> >"We, the workers affected by the closure of the production

>>>lines,

>>> >are continuing to resist. But, given the grave aggression that

>>>we're

>>> >continuing to suffer, there's no other recourse but to declare a

>>> >hunger strike and demand that Coca-Cola respect the law, and

>>>fulfill

>>> >the legal resolution passed by the judge in January 2024 to

>>>protect

>>> >the right to work and require Coca-Cola to relocate the workers

>>>in

>>> >other positions. We're also demanding the fulfillment of the

>>> >collective bargaining agreement by relocating the workers in

>>>other

>>> >positions, an end to the repression, and respect for our human

>>> >rights."

>>> >

>>> >Tom Burke, of the Colombia Action Network, urges supporters of

>>>the

>>> >right to organize to contact Coca-Cola immediately. "This is an

>>> >emergency! We need action! This may be the final show down

>>>between

>>> >the Colombian workers' union, SINALTRAINAL, and Coca-Cola. This

>>>is

>>> >an important time for an overwhelming response from the

>>>grassroots.

>>> >People who are concerned about the rights of Colombian trade

>>> >unionists must call Coca-Cola to demand that they recognize the

>>> >union and the rights of workers!"

>>> >

>>> >To contact Coca-Cola and send a message of solidarity with the

>>> >unionists go to www.colombiaactionnetwork.org

Posted by: Stephen at March 23, 2024 02:34 PM

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