CPTnet
August 30, 2003
COLOMBIA: Unionist attacked in Barrancabermeja

A local union organizer was the victim of an attempted assault (possibly a
failed
assassination) while driving to his home around noon on Friday, August
22nd. Juan Carlos Galvis, member of Colombia's Central Worker's Union (CUT)
and vice president of Sinaltrainal, the food and beverage workers union,
escaped unharmed when unknown assailants fired shots towards his car. The
assault took place around noon on a busy street in the heart of
Barrancabermeja, the city in which CPT's Colombia team lives and works.
Sinaltrainal has recently launched a boycott of Coca-Cola for alleged human
rights violations in Colombia.

In response to this recent act of intimidation, CPT's Colombia team calls on
people of conscience in the United States, Canada and around the world to
pray for people in Colombia who continue to live under the ever-present
threat of war, violence and assassinations, particularly those who continue
to struggle for peace and justice in the midst of these conditions.

For those in the United States, we put special emphasis on the role of U.S.
foreign policy supporting Colombia which allows this sort of violence to
continue. As election day draws near, and as funding requests for more
military aid are debated in Congress, we encourage voters to put legislative
pressure on our representatives to change policies that support
suffering and exploitation to policies that encourage right relationship
with God and neighbor.