Bulletin archive

"Oil, our other Colombian addiction"

2006-09-13T23:36:25Z

Pacifist groups demonstrated on Monday against the Occidental oil company, which they accused of benefiting from and actively participating in Colombia's armed conflict. With placards that read "Oil, our other Colombian addiction" and "The U.S. gives the arms, Colombia provides the dead" some 200 activists marched on the headquarters of Occidental Petroleum in Los Angeles.

Uribe's YES to War ? The People Say NO!

2003-04-01T01:00:00Z

Álvaro Uribe explained last night the reasons why his government backs the use of force in Iraq, saying "Colombia has asked for the world’s help to defeat terrorism and we cannot deny our support to the fight to defeat terrorism wherever it appears". El Tiempo 21 March

Editorial: Uribe Opts for War and Invites Intervention

2003-04-01T01:00:00Z

The US/UK invasion of Iraq and Colombia's civil war are part of the same story; two fronts in the global war to dominate the world's people and its resources.

The six Latin American countries that support the US intervention in Iraq are themselves either receiving US military aid, or are negotiating a Free Trade Agreement with the US -they are Colombia, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Honduras, the Dominican Republic and Panama. Colombia’s President Álvaro Uribe Vélez is the only South American leader who supports the war on Iraq. And, remarkably, his government invites intervention into Colombia.

SINTRAEMCALI ? Moment of Decision

2003-04-01T01:00:00Z

If there is anyone on the front line in the stuggle against capitalism it is the SINTRAEMCALI workers and their leaders. Their fight to stop the privatisation of water, electricity and telephone services provided by EMCALI municipal corporation is not a simple labour dispute, it is about the values on which society should be run.

Out to the Streets!

2003-04-01T01:00:00Z

Uribe is in Cali Again

24th March was a bank holiday Monday in Cali. A day when all the men and women working at EMCALI, EICE, as well as their partners, joined togther in Plaza Caicedo to await the results of the meeting taking place in the Military Base between the President of the Republic, "Super" Eva Maria Uribe, SINTRAEMCALI, the mayor and various citizen's watchbodies and associations.

It was not a public event, everything had been organised by word of mouth from the previous Friday. That day the union had received a threatening letter from director Lourdes Salamanca advising that President Uribe did not recognise the accord signed on 18th March establishing a timetable for negotiations between all the parties. Salamanca had insisted and that the corporation's future would be decided by Uribe on 24th March.

Uribe's Development Plan Condemns Municipal Corporations to Privatisation

2003-04-01T01:00:00Z

Alexander López Maya, president of the Sixth Commission of the House of Representatives, has disputed that Social Capitalisation Funds will contribute to saving public services. He points out that article 14 of the National Development Plan, which promotes this new mechanism, is nothing more than another form of privatisation whose application will start with EMCALI...

El basuro de Navarro

2003-04-01T01:00:00Z

Toda la basura de Cali y los municipios de Yumbo y Jamundí, unas 1800 toneladas diarias, se almacenan en un relleno sanitario en el sector de Navarro. Este “basuro” será cerrado el 31 de mayo de este año pero la historia del mismo es muy particular.

The Displaced People of Agua Blanca

2003-04-01T01:00:00Z

Agua Blanca, on the outskirts of Cali, is home to some of the more than 2 million displaced people in Colombia. They are forced to live in overcrowded makeshift plastic shelters, which offer little protection from the rain, whilst the tropical heat of Cali turns them into sweltering ovens during the day.

Multinationals Blackmail 'Caribe?os' with Power Cuts

2003-04-01T01:00:00Z

Since 2001, in the Caribbean Coast of Colombia, complaints have become ever more frequent from a population suffering from power cuts carried out by the electricity service providers Electrocosta and Electricaribe. However, months later, after industrialists filed a complaint relating to the power cuts, it has been revealed that the companies cut the power in order to force consumers to pay outstanding bills.

Clips from the Frontline

2003-04-01T01:00:00Z

Community Mothers fight police

“Yesterday’s Community Mothers’ protest in front of the Colombia Institute of Family Welfare became a camped battle with police. The women, who were protesting against budget cuts, brought police intervention when they took over the four lanes of 68th Avenue.” El Tiempo 13th March 2003