[Marxism] Union Killings Peril Trade Pact With Colombia

[Dbachmozart@xxxxxxx]

BOGOTÃ, _Colombia_ 
(http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/colombia/index.html?inline=nyt-geo)
  â Lucy GÃmez still 
shudders when speaking of  the murder of her brother, Leonidas, a union leader 
and 
bank employee who was  beaten and stabbed to death here last month. His murder 
was part of a recent  increase in killings of union members in Colombia, with 
17 already this  year.
 
âI want those who did this to pay for their crime,â said Ms. GÃmez, 37, a  
seamstress, clutching a faded photograph of her brother, an employee of  
Citigroupâs Colombian unit who was 42. âBut I feel in danger myself,â she 
said.  â
This is not a country where one can express such a wish without fear of being  
eliminated like my brother.â 
Ms. GÃmezâs fear and similar dread felt by union members and their families  
have long been features of labor organization during this countryâs 
four-decade  civil war. More than 2,500 union members in Colombia have been 
killed since 
 1985, with fewer than 100 cases resulting in convictions, according to the  
National Labor School, a labor research group in MedellÃn.  
Now those killings are emerging as a pressing issue in Washington as  
Democrats and Republicans battle over a trade deal with Colombia, the Bush  
administrationâs top ally in Latin America. \ 
full - <_http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/14/world/americas/14colombia.html?hp_ 
(http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/14/world/americas/14colombia.html?hp) .



**************It's Tax Time! Get tips, forms and advice on AOL Money & 
Finance.      (http://money.aol.com/tax?NCID=aolcmp00300000002850)
________________________________________________
YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message.
Send list submissions to: Marxism@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Set your options at: 
http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40archives.econ.utah.edu