Washington Post: Colombia Used U.S. Aid to Target Labor Leaders

CWA, Steelworkers Publicly Call on Congress to 'Aggressively Investigate'

Following revelations that Colombia may have misused U.S. government aid to probe and undermine the activities of labor leaders and union activists, CWA President Larry Cohen and United Steelworkers President Leo Gerard are calling on the House Select Intelligence Committee to investigate the matter.

"Press reports allege that the United States provided aid, equipment and training that Colombian officials wrongly exploited in ways that endangered labor leaders and activists," Cohen said. He and Gerard are demanding that the House intelligence panel "take these allegations seriously and aggressively investigate abuse of U.S. government support and assistance by Colombia."

CWA, the USW, and other labor and human rights groups continue to oppose a pending U.S.-Colombia trade deal because of that country's failure to protect labor leaders or investigate the murders of thousands of union activists. "Colombia has the worst record of any country in the world when it comes to violence against union leaders and activists," Cohen said.

Gerard said, "If U.S. assistance fueled Colombia's actions in this area, it not only highlights the unacceptable track record of the Colombian government but undermines any conceivable legitimacy of an FTA with Colombia."

In a letter, Cohen and Gerard asked Select Intelligence Committee member Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Calif.) for assistance in pressing the committee to review the allegations, which were made public in a Washington Post article Aug. 11.