InfoBrief - January 19, 2006

US Current Affairs and Media 

• Peace Talks Continue Between Colombian Government and ELN Preliminary talks began in Cuba December 16 between the Colombian Government and leftist guerrilla group the National Liberation Army (ELN). The two sides met to begin constructing an agenda for eventual formal peace negotiations slated for 2006. Participating in the first round of talks were ELN members Antonio García, Francisco Galán, and Ramiro Vargas, Colombian peace commissioner Luis Carlos Restrepo, and Colombian ambassador to Cuba, Julio Lodoño. It is widely believed that the Colombian government will ask for a formal ceasefire from the ELN, while the ELN will likely advocate for a more equal distribution of wealth and a more inclusive role for civil society in the operation of the country. Both sides have agreed to discuss a possible prisoner exchange as well. The groups met again last week, this time in Medellín, and decided to postpone the next preliminary meeting until February. Outside analysts are optimistic that the process will produce significant, lasting results.
• University of Michigan Drops Coca-Cola Contract Under Pressure From Student Groups Effective January 1, the University of Michigan will become the 10th university to suspend the sale of Coca-Cola products on its campus because of uncertainty regarding the company’s human rights compliance abroad. Prompted by a complaint filed by the coalition Students Organizing for Labor and Economic Equality (SOLE), the university’s Dispute Review Board (DRB) found Coca-Cola to be in violation of the school’s Vendor Code of Conduct with regards to its labor and safety practices in its Colombian bottling plants. After Coca-Cola was unable to meet the DRB’s request for an independent, third-party investigation, the university decided not to renew its $1.4 million contract. Coca-Cola has steadfastly denied any wrongdoing, despite accusations from unions leaders in Colombia that the company has colluded with paramilitary forces to undermine unionization attempts at its plants. The university’s decision was met with outward approval from la Central Unitaria de Trabajadores (CUT) and la Organización Internacional del Trabajo (OIT), two of the country’s largest unions. Conversely, local Coca- Cola workers in Michigan have expressed concerns about possible repercussions of the contract cancellation.
• Colombian Government to Begin Manual Coca Eradication in National Parks President Alvaro Uribe announced a new plan for the manual eradication of illegal coca cultivated in FARC- controlled areas of Colombia’s Macarena National Park. Enlisting the help of the country’s Mobile Eradication Groups, conscripts of the Presidential Agency for Social Action and International Cooperation, Uribe has pledged to maintain the offensive until “we have manually eradicated every last coca plant from this park.” The announcement comes in response to a late December clash between government forces and the FARC. The soldiers were conducting manual coca eradication operations outside of Macarena National Park when FARC forces attacked, killing 29. A report conducted by the United Nations that found there to be more than 5400 hectares of coca present in 17 of Colombia’s 51 national parks. Uribe has stated that financial compensation will be made available to any farmers in the Vistahermosa or Meta provinces who eradicate their crops voluntarily. This announcement comes on the heels of the year-end narcotics report by the Colombian government, which shows a record high confiscation of 186 tons of cocaine, with an approximate street value of $4.7 billion. Colombian Defense Minister Camilo Ospina noted that this represents a 26% increase from 2004 seizure operations, and gave much of the credit to the more than $3 billion contributed by the US-backed counter- narcotics program, “Plan Colombia.”

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