The Coke Machine (52 page)
Authors: Michael Blanding
Page 173 kidnapping and holding wealthy people:
Kirk, 67.
Kirk, 67.
Page 173 ELN “taxed” bottling plants:
“Los paras contra Coca-Cola,”
Cambio
, February 8, 1999.
“Los paras contra Coca-Cola,”
Cambio
, February 8, 1999.
Page 173 rancher named Ramón Isaza:
Joseph Contreras, “Paramilitary Patriarch,”
Newsweek
, September 6, 1999.
Joseph Contreras, “Paramilitary Patriarch,”
Newsweek
, September 6, 1999.
Page 173 they began killing FARC and ELN “tax collectors”:
Kirk, 102-125; Dudley, 73.
Page 173 increasingly brutal massacres:
Dudley, 19, 71-73.
Kirk, 102-125; Dudley, 73.
Page 173 increasingly brutal massacres:
Dudley, 19, 71-73.
Page 173 paramilitaries . . . declared illegal:
Kirk, 125-128.
Kirk, 125-128.
Page 173 Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia:
Kirk, 141-177.
Kirk, 141-177.
Page 174 the brutal Freddy Rendón Herrera:
David Adams, “Colombia Shaken As Paramilitary Leaders Testify,”
St. Petersburg Times
, June 18, 2007.
David Adams, “Colombia Shaken As Paramilitary Leaders Testify,”
St. Petersburg Times
, June 18, 2007.
Page 174 ordering the deaths of three thousand:
“‘H.H.’ se confiesa,”
El spectador
, August 2, 2008; “Ex-Paramilitary Chief in Colombia Admits to Atrocities,” Agence France Presse, August 3, 2008.
“‘H.H.’ se confiesa,”
El spectador
, August 2, 2008; “Ex-Paramilitary Chief in Colombia Admits to Atrocities,” Agence France Presse, August 3, 2008.
Page 174 decapitated a boy in front of the crowd:
Kirk, 195; Joshua Hammer, “Mayor with a Mission,”
Newsweek
, April 21, 1997; Tom Boswell, “Leading a City That Has Become a Battlefield,”
National Catholic Reporter
, January 24, 1997.
Kirk, 195; Joshua Hammer, “Mayor with a Mission,”
Newsweek
, April 21, 1997; Tom Boswell, “Leading a City That Has Become a Battlefield,”
National Catholic Reporter
, January 24, 1997.
Page 174 cut off the head of an elderly man:
Adams, “Colombia Shaken As Paramilitary Leaders Testify.”
Adams, “Colombia Shaken As Paramilitary Leaders Testify.”
Page 174 bottling plant in Carepa was struggling:
Luis Hernán Manco Monroy and Oscar Giraldo Arango, interviews by the author.
Luis Hernán Manco Monroy and Oscar Giraldo Arango, interviews by the author.
Page 174 SINALTRAINAL began to organize workers:
Alejandro García, lawyer for SINALTRAINAL, interview by the author; William José Alberto Cruz Suarez deposition,
Gil
2:191-196.
Alejandro García, lawyer for SINALTRAINAL, interview by the author; William José Alberto Cruz Suarez deposition,
Gil
2:191-196.
Page 174 workers can be fired at will:
Alejandro García, interview by the author.
Alejandro García, interview by the author.
Page 175 Manco simply disappeared:
Manco, interview by the author.
Manco, interview by the author.
Page 175 Two weeks later, it was Giraldo’s turn:
Giraldo, interview by the author.
Giraldo, interview by the author.
Page 175 shot while drinking on his front stoop:
Gómez death certificate,
Gil
1:82; letter from Luz Marina Cifuentes Cataño, March 31, 1997;
Gil
1:108-109.
Gómez death certificate,
Gil
1:82; letter from Luz Marina Cifuentes Cataño, March 31, 1997;
Gil
1:108-109.
Page 175 seeing Milan socializing with local paramilitaries:
Complaint (1),
SINALTRAINAL v. Coke
, 20; Manco and Giraldo, interviews by the author.
Complaint (1),
SINALTRAINAL v. Coke
, 20; Manco and Giraldo, interviews by the author.
Page 175 “sweep away the union”:
Complaint,
SINALTRAINAL v. Coke
(1), 19; Luís Adolfo Cardona Usma deposition,
Gil
2:181-187.
Complaint,
SINALTRAINAL v. Coke
(1), 19; Luís Adolfo Cardona Usma deposition,
Gil
2:181-187.
Page 175 “hasn’t been destroyed”:
Hernán Manco, amplification of deposition,
Gil
1: 283-291; Manco, interview by the author.
Hernán Manco, amplification of deposition,
Gil
1: 283-291; Manco, interview by the author.
Page 176 protesting Milan’s associations:
Letter from Javier Correa to Bebidas y Alimientos de Urabá, September 27, 1995, included as exhibit B to original complaint (1),
SINALTRAINAL v. Coke
.
Letter from Javier Correa to Bebidas y Alimientos de Urabá, September 27, 1995, included as exhibit B to original complaint (1),
SINALTRAINAL v. Coke
.
Page 176 negotiating a new labor contract:
List of worker demands, November 22, 1996,
Gil
2:226-230.
List of worker demands, November 22, 1996,
Gil
2:226-230.
Page 176 Born in a small town . . . thrived at the plant:
Martín Gil, interview by the author.
Martín Gil, interview by the author.
Page 176 argued for a workers’ compensation payment:
Report, Cuerpo Técnico de Investigación (hereafter CTI) Apartadó, June 18, 1997,
Gil
1:269-279; Ariosto Milan Mosquera deposition,
Gil
4:16-21.
Report, Cuerpo Técnico de Investigación (hereafter CTI) Apartadó, June 18, 1997,
Gil
1:269-279; Ariosto Milan Mosquera deposition,
Gil
4:16-21.
Page 176 crack of a pistol rang out behind him:
Giraldo, interview by the author.
Giraldo, interview by the author.
Page 176 watched Gil’s head snap backward:
Manco, interview by the author.
Manco, interview by the author.
Page 177 ten bullets . . . outside the gate:
Gil autopsy report, December 10, 1996 (Diligencia de Necropsia, No. UCH-NC-96-412),
Gil
1:87; photographs of Gil’s body,
Gil
1:243- 246. Neither the Coca-Cola Company nor its bottlers have ever denied that Gil was killed at the plant. In initial reports, the company claimed that he died outside the gates; however, in more recent interviews, including the author’s interview of Ed Potter, the company has conceded that he was killed inside the plant.
Gil autopsy report, December 10, 1996 (Diligencia de Necropsia, No. UCH-NC-96-412),
Gil
1:87; photographs of Gil’s body,
Gil
1:243- 246. Neither the Coca-Cola Company nor its bottlers have ever denied that Gil was killed at the plant. In initial reports, the company claimed that he died outside the gates; however, in more recent interviews, including the author’s interview of Ed Potter, the company has conceded that he was killed inside the plant.
Page 177 Adolfo Cardona, ran to the body:
Cardona, interview by the author; Cardona deposition,
Gil
2:181-187.
Cardona, interview by the author; Cardona deposition,
Gil
2:181-187.
Page 177 jumped on his own motorcycle . . . declare him dead:
Gil, interview by the author.
Gil, interview by the author.
Page 177 known as “El Diablo”. . . safety of the police station:
Cardona, interview by the author; Cardona deposition.
Cardona, interview by the author; Cardona deposition.
Page 178 Bebidas would buy plane tickets:
Manco and Giraldo, interviews by the author.
Manco and Giraldo, interviews by the author.
Page 178 paramilitaries were busy breaking into the union hall:
Letter from Javier Correa and Hernán Manco to Fiscalía,
Gil
1:52; CTI Antioquia report, October 5, 1998,
Gil
1, unidentified page; Complaint (1),
SINALTRAINAL v. Coke
, 21.
Letter from Javier Correa and Hernán Manco to Fiscalía,
Gil
1:52; CTI Antioquia report, October 5, 1998,
Gil
1, unidentified page; Complaint (1),
SINALTRAINAL v. Coke
, 21.
Page 179 “That kid was murdered at the plant”:
Manco, interview by the author.
Manco, interview by the author.
Page 179 forty-five members signed letters or fled town:
List prepared by Javier Correa, and resignation letters,
Gil
2:100-150.
List prepared by Javier Correa, and resignation letters,
Gil
2:100-150.
Page 179 wasn’t an isolated occurrence:
Javier Correa, interview by the author.
Javier Correa, interview by the author.
Page 179 SINALTRAINAL is unapologetically militant:
Lesley Gill, interview by the author; SINALTRAINAL,
Una delirante ambición imperial
(Bogotá: Universo Latino, 2003).
Lesley Gill, interview by the author; SINALTRAINAL,
Una delirante ambición imperial
(Bogotá: Universo Latino, 2003).
Page 180 nothing to say about the situation:
Amplification of deposition of William José Alberto Cruz Suarez,
Gil
2:216-220; Alejandro García, interview by the author.
Amplification of deposition of William José Alberto Cruz Suarez,
Gil
2:216-220; Alejandro García, interview by the author.
Page 180 learned about the murder days after:
Mark Thomas,
Belching Out the Devil: Global Adventures with Coca-Cola
(New York: Nation Books, 2009), 351.
Mark Thomas,
Belching Out the Devil: Global Adventures with Coca-Cola
(New York: Nation Books, 2009), 351.
Page 180 fault of the paramilitaries:
Detention order for Miguel Enrique Vergara Salgado,
Gil
3:320-347.
Detention order for Miguel Enrique Vergara Salgado,
Gil
3:320-347.
Page 180 terminated for “abandoning their place of work”:
Lesley Gill, “Labor and Human Rights: ‘The Real Thing’ in Colombia,” paper presented to the Human Rights Committee of the American Anthropological Association, Washington, D.C., November 28, 2004; amplification of deposition of William José Alberto Cruz Suarez,
Gil
2:216-220.
Lesley Gill, “Labor and Human Rights: ‘The Real Thing’ in Colombia,” paper presented to the Human Rights Committee of the American Anthropological Association, Washington, D.C., November 28, 2004; amplification of deposition of William José Alberto Cruz Suarez,
Gil
2:216-220.
Page 180 “You have to leave”:
Manco, interview by the author.
Manco, interview by the author.
Page 181 threatened him at gunpoint:
Giraldo, interview by the author.
Giraldo, interview by the author.
Page 181 “No, we do not drink”:
Manco and Giraldo, interviews by the author.
Manco and Giraldo, interviews by the author.
Page 181 “Conducting business in the current environment”:
Jeffrey Distler, Consumer Affairs Specialist, The Coca-Cola Company, to Ellie Mitchell, United Steelworkers Union, October 24, 2001.
Jeffrey Distler, Consumer Affairs Specialist, The Coca-Cola Company, to Ellie Mitchell, United Steelworkers Union, October 24, 2001.
Page 182 established a code of ethics:
The Coca-Cola Company, Supplier Guiding Principles,
http://www.thecoca-colacompany.com/citizenship/pdf/SGP_Brochure_ENG.pdf
.
The Coca-Cola Company, Supplier Guiding Principles,
http://www.thecoca-colacompany.com/citizenship/pdf/SGP_Brochure_ENG.pdf
.
Page 182 investigation into Gil’s murder:
Fiscalía General de la Nación, Unidad Nacional de Derechos Humanos, Radicado Preliminar No. 164 (
Gil
).
Fiscalía General de la Nación, Unidad Nacional de Derechos Humanos, Radicado Preliminar No. 164 (
Gil
).
Page 182 identity of “Caliche”:
CTI report, October 5, 1998,
Gil
1: 205-206; Ariel Gómez death certificate,
Gil
1:280.
CTI report, October 5, 1998,
Gil
1: 205-206; Ariel Gómez death certificate,
Gil
1:280.
Page 182 identified as Enrique Vergara:
Letter from Gloria Correa Martínez, Unidad Nacional de Derechos Humanos, August 1998,
Gil
1:163.
Letter from Gloria Correa Martínez, Unidad Nacional de Derechos Humanos, August 1998,
Gil
1:163.
Page 182 henchman of El Alemán:
CTI report, June 19, 1998,
Gil
1:313-324; CTI report, undated,
Gil
1:327-330.
CTI report, June 19, 1998,
Gil
1:313-324; CTI report, undated,
Gil
1:327-330.
Page 182 Multiple witnesses . . . hang out with them:
José Joaquín Giraldo Graciano deposition,
Gil
2:24-29; José Heriberto Sierra Renfigo deposition,
Gil
2:30-36; Gudnara del Socorro Osorio deposition,
Gil
2:41-46.
José Joaquín Giraldo Graciano deposition,
Gil
2:24-29; José Heriberto Sierra Renfigo deposition,
Gil
2:30-36; Gudnara del Socorro Osorio deposition,
Gil
2:41-46.
Page 182 Marín let the paramilitaries:
Joaquín Giraldo deposition,
Gil
2:24-29; José Heriberto Sierra Renfigo deposition,
Gil
2:30-34; Humberto de Jesús Peña deposition,
Gil
2:35-40.
Joaquín Giraldo deposition,
Gil
2:24-29; José Heriberto Sierra Renfigo deposition,
Gil
2:30-34; Humberto de Jesús Peña deposition,
Gil
2:35-40.
Page 182 Milan had resigned:
Ariosto Milan Mosquera to Richard Kirby Kielland, November 28, 1996,
Gil
3:17.
Ariosto Milan Mosquera to Richard Kirby Kielland, November 28, 1996,
Gil
3:17.
Page 182 Marín left six months later:
Rigoberto Marín Restrepo to Peggy Ann Kielland, June 25, 1997,
Gil
3:24.
Rigoberto Marín Restrepo to Peggy Ann Kielland, June 25, 1997,
Gil
3:24.
Page 182 not only for Cepillo, but for Marín and Milan as well:
Arrest warrants, February 10, 1999,
Gil
2:233-250.
Arrest warrants, February 10, 1999,
Gil
2:233-250.
Page 183 “leaves not the slightest doubt”:
Orders for preventive detention, September 2, 1999,
Gil
3:219-247.
Orders for preventive detention, September 2, 1999,
Gil
3:219-247.
Page 183 declared their innocence . . . collaborating with guerrillas himself:
Ferenc Alain Legitime Julio (Milan’s lawyer), undated letter,
Gil
3:267-278; Ariosto Milan Mosquera deposition,
Gil
4:16-21; Rigoberto Marín Restrepo deposition,
Gil
4:22-26; Rigoberto Marín Restrepo amplification of deposition,
Gil
4:124-130.
Ferenc Alain Legitime Julio (Milan’s lawyer), undated letter,
Gil
3:267-278; Ariosto Milan Mosquera deposition,
Gil
4:16-21; Rigoberto Marín Restrepo deposition,
Gil
4:22-26; Rigoberto Marín Restrepo amplification of deposition,
Gil
4:124-130.
Page 183 it didn’t have sufficient evidence:
Decision, June 19, 2000,
Gil
4:153-161.
Decision, June 19, 2000,
Gil
4:153-161.
Page 183 typical of the Colombian justice system:
Dora Lucy, interview by the author.
Dora Lucy, interview by the author.
Page 183 fewer than a hundred convictions:
Human Rights Watch,
World Report 2009—Colombia
, January 14, 2009.
Human Rights Watch,
World Report 2009—Colombia
, January 14, 2009.
Page 183 public backlash:
Human Rights Watch, “Attorney General Reno in Colombia, March 3-4,”
Human Rights Watch Backgrounder,
March, 3, 1999.
Human Rights Watch, “Attorney General Reno in Colombia, March 3-4,”
Human Rights Watch Backgrounder,
March, 3, 1999.
Page 184 arrested General Alejo del Río:
Human Rights Watch,
“
A Wrong Turn: The Record of the Colombian Attorney General’s Office,”
Colombia
14, no. 3(B) (2002).
Human Rights Watch,
“
A Wrong Turn: The Record of the Colombian Attorney General’s Office,”
Colombia
14, no. 3(B) (2002).
Page 169 sacked the head of the Human Rights Unit:
Human Rights Watch, “A Wrong Turn,” 2.
Human Rights Watch, “A Wrong Turn,” 2.
Page 184 “Osorio did severe damage”:
Adam Isacson, interview by the author.
Adam Isacson, interview by the author.
Page 184 bases near Coca-Cola bottling plants:
Steven Dudley, “War in Colombia’s Oil-fields,”
The Nation
, August 5, 2002.
Steven Dudley, “War in Colombia’s Oil-fields,”
The Nation
, August 5, 2002.
Page 184 met with AUC head Carlos Castaño:
“Los paras contra Coca-Cola,”
Cambio,
February 8, 1999.
“Los paras contra Coca-Cola,”
Cambio,
February 8, 1999.
Page 185 “I don’t think it’s valid”:
Maria McFarland, interview by the author.
Maria McFarland, interview by the author.
Page 186 profits of $10 million a year:
David J. Lynch, “Murder and Payoffs Taint Business in Colombia,”
USA Today
, October 30, 2007.
David J. Lynch, “Murder and Payoffs Taint Business in Colombia,”
USA Today
, October 30, 2007.
Page 186 company insisted . . . banana plantations of Urabá:
Sibylla Brodzinsky, “Chiquita Case Puts Big Firms on Notice,”
Christian Science Monitor
, April 11, 2007.
Sibylla Brodzinsky, “Chiquita Case Puts Big Firms on Notice,”
Christian Science Monitor
, April 11, 2007.
Page 186 “Simply put”:
David J. Lynch, “Murder and Payoffs Taint Business in Colombia,”
USA Today
, October 30, 2007.
David J. Lynch, “Murder and Payoffs Taint Business in Colombia,”
USA Today
, October 30, 2007.
Page 186 “peace and justice” law:
“The Perils of ‘Parapolitics,’ ”
The Economist
, March 23, 2007.
“The Perils of ‘Parapolitics,’ ”
The Economist
, March 23, 2007.
Page 186 “The companies that benefited”:
“‘H.H.’ se confiesa,”
El spectador
, August 2, 2008.
“‘H.H.’ se confiesa,”
El spectador
, August 2, 2008.
Page 186 arrangement with Chiquita as well as Dole:
José Gregorio Mangones Luno affidavit, October 29, 2009,
Does (1-44) v. Chiquita Brands International Inc. et al.
, United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, 9:2008cv80465; Charlie Cray, “Hiring Death Squads Is Coming Back to Haunt U.S. Companies,” AlterNet, February 16, 2010; Juan Smith, “Colombia; Ex-Paramilitary Implicates Two U.S. Companies in Murder of Trade Unionists,” North American Congress on Latin America, December 14, 2009.
José Gregorio Mangones Luno affidavit, October 29, 2009,
Does (1-44) v. Chiquita Brands International Inc. et al.
, United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, 9:2008cv80465; Charlie Cray, “Hiring Death Squads Is Coming Back to Haunt U.S. Companies,” AlterNet, February 16, 2010; Juan Smith, “Colombia; Ex-Paramilitary Implicates Two U.S. Companies in Murder of Trade Unionists,” North American Congress on Latin America, December 14, 2009.
Page 186 Raúl Hasbún . . . ordering the deaths:
“Las confesiones de Raúl Hasbún,”
Semana
, October 4, 2008, English version.
“Las confesiones de Raúl Hasbún,”
Semana
, October 4, 2008, English version.
Page 187 Isidro Gil . . . “collecting money for the guerrillas”:
Steven Dudley, “Colombian Paramilitary Tells How He Financed His Own Murder Inc.: Bananas,”
Miami Herald
, March 21, 2009.
Steven Dudley, “Colombian Paramilitary Tells How He Financed His Own Murder Inc.: Bananas,”
Miami Herald
, March 21, 2009.
Page 187 Magdalena Medio . . . hundreds of bodies:
Dudley, 41-43, 65; Kirk, 110, 125.
Dudley, 41-43, 65; Kirk, 110, 125.
Page 187 Barrancabermeja was outside their control:
Dudley, 18-19, 123.
Dudley, 18-19, 123.
Page 187 “The threats started in 2001”:
Juan Carlos Galvis, interview by the author.
Juan Carlos Galvis, interview by the author.
Page 188 SINALTRAINAL had nearly two thousand members:
William Mendoza, interview by the author.
William Mendoza, interview by the author.
Page 188 expanding throughout other South American countries:
Panamerican Beverages Inc., Annual Report, 2003.
Panamerican Beverages Inc., Annual Report, 2003.
Page 188 acquired a 10 percent share . . . “anchor bottler”:
Panamerican Beverages Inc., Annual Report, 2003; “Panamerican Beverages and Panamco LLC Historical Timeline,” submitted as exhibit to a deposition in
SINALTRAINAL v. Coke
, May 1, 2003; “Anchors Aboard: Coke Gives Panamco Larger Bottling Role in Latin America,”
Beverage World
, December 1, 1995.
Panamerican Beverages Inc., Annual Report, 2003; “Panamerican Beverages and Panamco LLC Historical Timeline,” submitted as exhibit to a deposition in
SINALTRAINAL v. Coke
, May 1, 2003; “Anchors Aboard: Coke Gives Panamco Larger Bottling Role in Latin America,”
Beverage World
, December 1, 1995.
Page 188 25 percent by 1997:
“Panamerican Beverages and Panamco LLC Historical Timeline,” submitted as exhibit to a deposition in
SINALTRAINAL v. Coke
, May 1, 2003; “Panamco Merges with Coca-Cola y Hit de Venezuela; Strengthens Position as Leading Anchor Bottler,” Business Wire, May 12, 1997.
“Panamerican Beverages and Panamco LLC Historical Timeline,” submitted as exhibit to a deposition in
SINALTRAINAL v. Coke
, May 1, 2003; “Panamco Merges with Coca-Cola y Hit de Venezuela; Strengthens Position as Leading Anchor Bottler,” Business Wire, May 12, 1997.
Page 188 Panamco consolidated seventeen plants:
Panamerican Beverages Inc., Annual Report, 2003.
Panamerican Beverages Inc., Annual Report, 2003.
Page 189 Some 6,700 Coke workers . . . cutting contracts with its workers:
Gill, “Labor and Human Rights”; Lesley Gill, “Coca-Cola in Colombia: Increased Profits, Downsized Workforce,”
Colombia Journal
, July 27, 2004.
Gill, “Labor and Human Rights”; Lesley Gill, “Coca-Cola in Colombia: Increased Profits, Downsized Workforce,”
Colombia Journal
, July 27, 2004.
Page 189 acquired by Mexico’s Coca-Cola FEMSA:
Panamco proxy statement, March 23, 2003; Coca-Cola FEMSA, S.A. de C.V., Annual Report, 2004.
Panamco proxy statement, March 23, 2003; Coca-Cola FEMSA, S.A. de C.V., Annual Report, 2004.
Page 189 officials met directly with a member . . . spared any violence:
Galvis and Mendoza, interviews by the author; Amnesty International, “Colombia: Killing, Arbitrary Detentions, and Death Threats—The Reality of Trade Unionism in Colombia,” January 23, 2007.
Galvis and Mendoza, interviews by the author; Amnesty International, “Colombia: Killing, Arbitrary Detentions, and Death Threats—The Reality of Trade Unionism in Colombia,” January 23, 2007.
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