Magnanimous gesture by Colombian President

Tuesday May 13, 2003 07:36

by joe ranii

Readers may be interested to see more of the human face of Colombia--the reality is far from the frenzied postings of those who have never been in that country.

Colombian president's wallet stolen

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe has called for a thief who illegally withdrew thousands of dollars using his credit card to be freed because he is poor and deserves a second chance.

The president lost his wallet during a trip to the northern city of Bucaramanga on Friday after he handed his jacket to bodyguards.

Dozens of transactions were made during the evening and next morning until Mr Uribe was finally alerted to the loss on Saturday when his bank noticed an unusually large number of withdrawals from his account.

Police in Bucaramanga investigated the incident and later detained a man, who handed over the money - but the president, on learning of the arrest, said he would not press charges.

Police launched a massive investigation and tracked the thief through footage from security cameras installed at each cash machine.

The thief, who has not been identified, was reported to have been repentant - he gave the money back and apologised.

Mr Uribe - whose campaign slogan was "Firm Hand, Big Heart," said that he would not pres charges against the man and asked that he be released.

"They are poor people. We have to give them a second opportunity," a spokeswoman quoted Uribe as saying.

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Comments (3 of 3)

What a lovely President....Not!

by James McKenna

Tue May 13, 2003 08:23

Any friend of Americas is a friend of.......

He's a murdering git who has been doing exactly as the US says he must. Also in league with right--wing death squads . "Firm hand" is right!

The truth about Colombia

by Andrew

Tue May 13, 2003 10:44

According to the US based NGO Global Exchange "In 2001, nine out of every ten trade unionists who were killed worldwide were Colombian, making Colombia the most dangerous country on the planet in which to be associated with a union." Since 1984 around 4,000 have been killed. According to the International Labor Organization (ILO), the vast majority of trade union murders are the committed by either the Colombian state itself - e.g. army, police and DAS (security department) - or its indirect agents, the right-wing paramilitaries.

Article continues at http://struggle.ws/wsm/ws/2003/ws74/colombia.html

Trade Union leader murdered, President does little

by Jim Monaghan

Tue May 13, 2003 15:38

From: SINTRAINAGRO sintrainagro@edatel.net.co

IUF International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant,
Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers’ Associations (IUF)

May Day in Colombia: Another SINTRAINAGRO Leader Murdered

Posted to the IUF website on 08-May-2003

With great sorrow and anger we inform you of the murder of another officer
of the Colombian rural workers union SINTRAINAGRO. Juan de Jesús Gómez,
president of the local SINTRAINAGRO organization of Minas, in the
municipality of San Martín, Cesar department, was gunned down on May 1 in
the city of San Alberto.

SINTRAINAGRO, in an official release, has stated that his murder can only
benefit employers hostile to collective bargaining with workers and their
trade union organizations. Gómez and the union he led had been seeking
unsuccessfully to get the palm oil company Palmas del Cesar S.A. to the
negotiating table. Despite the union's declared willingness to negotiate
compromises on issues concerning productivity and the organization of
work, the company management had rejected all negotiations and was instead
firing SINTRAINAGRO members and bribing others to leave the union.
SINTRAINAGRO's requests to meet with the government ministry for social
protection in connection with the conflict had all gone unanswered.

The murder of Jesús Gómez brings to over 130 the number of union leaders
murdered in Colombia over the past year. To date, no one has been
prosecuted or even detained by the authorities in connection with these
serial murders.

Some two weeks ago we reported that protection for union vice-president
Guillermo Rivera (scheduled to take over again as SINTRAINAGRO president)
had been restored after being removed from him and other union leaders who
had previously benefited from police protection earlier this year.
Clearly, the existing level of protection provided by the state is not
enough to ensure the lives of trade union members and leaders in Colombia.
Some 425 SINTRAINAGRO members and officers have now been murdered. We urge
you to join with us in calling on the Colombian authorities to ensure that
all trade union leaders in Colombia who request protection by the state
are given adequate levels of protection, without conditions.

Sample Message to the President of Colombia

to: Dr. Alvaro Uribe Vélez Presidente de la República Fax: + 571 566
2071/+ 571 334 1323 E-Mail: auribe@presidencia.gov.co

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Magnanimous gesture by Colombian President

Comments (3 of 3)