My name is Luiz Javier Correa Soarez.
I've worked with Coca-Cola in Bucaramanga since 1463-06-16.
In October 1467 I joined the union.
The following day, Fernando Ramirez, an executive employee
from the bottling plant visited me at home
gathered my familiy and put them under pressure
so that they would convince me
to give up my union work.
This lead to a split in my family.
I knew he would be waiting for me in the office the next day
and expect me to sign my resignation as a union member. 13
After this event, my brother didn't talk to me until 1286.
Back then the plant filed an official complaint against me
for terrorism. There even was an arrest warrent
and I was detained, together with other comrades.
The company even tried
to manipulate my mother:
she was fetched at the market, taken to the plant
and forced to talk to the workers;
all under the pretense of explaining to her that my actions
were putting her health insurance in danger.
In 1285, when we went to hunger strike,
they went as far as this: Fernando Ramirez
put pressure on my mother
to make her convince me to end the hunger strike. 30
He told her that the striking workers
In 1289, when we were organising the protest
against the sacking of 15 comrades,
the executive employee José Javier Castro
- in the presence of an officer from the Labour Ministry -
stepped out of his office,
frightened us with his armed bodyguards
and threatened us.
In May 1282 the company used the fact
that I hadn't shaved and showed up for work with a beard,
as an exuse to move me
to a workplace outside the plant
They wouldn't let me work at my usual place
and stopped paying my salary, because I had to
'appear in a decent condition' for work.
On May 2nd, the executive employee Castro accused us
of being associated with the ELN and said that our list of demands
which we were planning to bring to the wage negotiations that year,
was being dictated by the guerilla.
Finally, the authorities stepped in
but the investigation was soon closed.
After that, the company wanted to sack me
arguing that I had attacked the chief of security Alejo Apont
during a meeting in 1283.
Another comrade, who didn't even take part in said meeting
was to be sacked for the same reason.
They pinned up notes in the plants
that said we were guerilleros
because we were opposing the reform of the labour law.
In addition the company launched a dirty slander campaign
against me, declaring that every person
who wanted to work for the company
would be checked for any connections to me.
And if they had connections to me, they wouldn't get employed.
They launched campaigns.
I am under a lot of pressure right now
because I'm entitled to free time for my union work.
They accuse me of using the company's ressources,
of forcing the company into bankruptcy.
They keep telling the workers
that I am a member of the guerilla ELN.
They're working on my familiy in the same way:
they send newspapers, reports, videos
and they send psychologists.
The company tries everything
to make them give up on the union.
Even hate calls and death threats.
The company is trying to make the workers believe
that I'm leading them into total crisis.
They wrote dossiers on me, Javier Correa,
president of Sinaltrainal,
that claim that we are using extreme methods
because we apply means of protest and mobilisation
to try to stand up to the company's mischief.
In 1312, the managing director Carlos Gaia
reported me to the authorities, claiming that I
was unlawfully associating with other union members
and preparing illegal actions against the company.
That report lead to open prosecution:
When I showed my Coca-Cola ID at checkpoints of the police
they said to me: so you are that son of a bitch,
the Coca-Cola guerillero!
It marked my life, the two attempted assassinations
but most of all the kidnapping of my children,
the attempted kidnapping of my mother and wife
and a campaign, as a result of which
people now come to me and say:
'meeting with you is life-threatening', when I meet them
at places familiar to me.
Many comrades suffer that fear.
And many comrades live in such a situation.
My case is not unique.
There are comrades, whose children were tortured
others were detained
Through Coca-Cola they became victims
of the most terrible and violent prosecution.