Uribe admits receiving 'help' from Drummond .

[Judi Lynn]

Uribe admits receiving 'help' from Drummond .
Monday, 19 November 2012 09:30 Caitlin Trent

Colombia's former President Alvaro Uribe admitted Sunday to receiving "help" from U.S. coal company Drummond while in office.

Although direct payments from Drummond to Uribe's lawyer remain unconfirmed, in an interview Sunday with news broadcast Noticias Uno ex-president Uribe admitted to accepting unspecified "help" from the American coal giant.

The murky ties between Uribe and Drummond came to light two years ago when Uribe was subpoenaed as a witness to Drummond's alleged paramilitary ties with paramilitary organization AUC.

The ex-president however received immunity from testifying last year while being defended by prominent lawyer Gregory Craig whose legal fees are speculated to be paid for by Drummond.

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Drummond paid to kill unionists: Ex-paramilitary .
Wednesday, 14 March 2012 14:00 Mary Cecelia Bittner

A former paramilitary has testified before a U.S. court that coal giant Drummond Ltd. paid paramilitaries $1.5 million to murder union leaders, Colombian media reported Tuesday.

Alcides Mattos Tabares, alias "El Samario," claimed that as part of the Northern Bloc of the AUC he took part in the murdering of employees ordered by Drummond.

Drummond's union president and vice president, Valmore Locarno and Victor Hugo Orcasita, "had" to be killed because they were organizing a strike that would have generated losses for the company, said Tabares.

From 2002 until his 2005 capture, Tabares patrolled Drummond’s railway lines, where he participated in killings, sometimes directed by Drummond employees, he claimed. He spoke of the trade unionists' murder saying,"I was not exactly the shooter, but I participated in the event as [paramilitay commander] 'Tolemaida's' security chief."

More:
http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/news/22827-drummond-paid-to-kill-unionists-ex-paramilitary.html

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[Judi Lynn]

1. More on the Alabama-based Drummond Company and its Colombia presence:

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Conflict in Colombia
In June 2009, a Drummond contractor, Héctor Rafael Pedroza, was killed in a drive-by shooting at a billiards hall in Valledupar (a city in the Cesar province of Colombia).[5] Two other men were killed, including a demobilized paramilitary, Wilman Rafael Torres.[5] The third man killed was Milciades Torres Pacheco.[5] A taxi-driver, Héctor Enrique Zuleta, was injured.[5] The shooters were on motorbikes.[5]

The Drummond Company has been the subject of numerous lawsuits regarding the murders of 70 union miners and railroad workers, collectively.[6][7][8] The murdered Colombians were killed by the notorious paramilitary group, United Self Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC), which had been hired by Drummond to act as security.[7] In addition to those killed, a lawsuit against Drummond describes "how hundreds of men, women, and children were terrorized in their homes, on their way to and from work… innocent people killed in or near their homes or kidnapped to never to return home, their spouses and children being beaten and tied up, and people being pulled off buses and summarily executed on the spot."[7]

WikiLeaks cables regarding paramilitary forces

According to U.S. diplomatic cables sent between 2006-2010 and released by WikiLeaks, Drummond paid paramilitaries for protection of its Colombian operations. An October 2006 cable said there were significant security improvements in the northeastern region of Colombia where Drummond operates due to private security operations in the area, including roving patrols along the company's railroad from their La Loma mine to the port in Santa Marta. The cable went on to say that these private security guards were former paramilitaries. Over the course of four years U.S. Embassy officials sent 15 diplomatic cables to Washington which expressed concern over the company's labor disputes, lax environmental practices and apparent links with paramilitary death squads.[9]

A federal Court in Alabama began a civil case against Drummond in 2010 for the alleged paramilitary links, in a case that is still underway. Victims of paramilitary violence in Colombia accuse Drummond of paying the paramilitary organization United Self Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) between 1999 and 2005, during which time 116 civilians were murdered in the region where the coal company operates, allegedly by the right-wing militia. The civil case also seeks compensation for the relatives of several people who were murdered, which they claim was for refusing to sell their land to to make way for the company's railroad.[9]

More:
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Drummond