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| Fighting Globalization - Minnesota Public Radio |
Gerardo Cajamarca moved to Minnesota with his wife and two sons in 2003. He was forced to seek asylum after he received death threats for protesting against the government in his native Colombia. Gerardo recently spent some time with the Minnesota Public Radio to tell listeners about the fight against globalization that brought him to Minnesota.
He organized labor unions in Colombia and protested against Plan Colombia, the United States' proxy war on coca growers and traders there.
Cajamarca is a member of the United Steelworkers (USW), and spends his time touring the country with the USW Associate Member Program's "Global Justice Tour" against Plan Colombia, globalization, and the Coca Cola Corp.
Gerardo's interview with Minnesota Public Radio has been recorded appears here in MP3 format.
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OUR
CONTRIBUTION TO DEMOCRACY
Everybody
has the right to be heard. Through education and action,
together we can transform our world.
A
BETTER WORLD IS POSSIBLE!!
We
are fighting for global justice to defend the dignity
of people regardless of borders. Humanity needs a healthy
environment and respectable conditions in order to
develop and progress to its full capacity. We condemn
human rights violations, the war, and the destruction
of the environment as an incorrect method to gain a
profit. |
   
In churches organized
by Global Justice.
Our
tool is education about political, social, civil, cultural,
and economic rights. We work together for a world in
peace with Social Justice where conflicts are resolved
peacefully and in a brotherly way. |
| We are sharing our experiences
in churches, community centers, unions, schools, churches,
universities, and other sectors in order to be of service
to the people, and to offer our history and energy. |
In New York with
a coalition of Human Rights activists.
Presentations
about Global Justice to leaders of USWA, District 11, October
2004
  
Bringing
our message to universities and centers of recreation
  
Fighting for the rights
of immigrants, Freedom Ride, October, 2004
  
Participation in actions
through coalition work and mobilizing the community
   
Celebrating culture and
diversity and taking action together
   
Celebrating
culture as a form of expression in union halls, churches, in
the streets
| Global Justice Tour organizer,
Gerardo Cajamarca, who is in the United States on political
asylum with his family, due to death threats he faced
because of his involvement in human rights defense in
Colombia, has been sharing his story and that of the
Colombian people, carrying forward a strong message that
we cannot stay silent when faced with injustice. Collectively
with Associate Member and human rights activist and interpreter,
Merideth Cleary, and others, the campaign has arrived
to more than 80 schools, community events, and churches
since July 2004. |
In October Gerardo traveled
to Massachusets where he participated in the Annual Witness
for Peace New England Fall Conference, where leaders
and activists came together to share strategies on social
justice in Colombia .
He had the chance to present the
USWA Associate Member Programs vision on Global Justice
with leaders such as Noam Chomsky where ideas were shared
with organizers and members of the community about international
solidarity and human rights. |
 
The Steelworkers Fight Back
05 campaign has been a solid voice in confronting corporations
and other centers of power in order to demand respect
for workers in the U.S. and their communities and internationally.
Steelworker President Leo Gerard
wrote a letter that condemns a law passed by the government
of the Alvaro Uribe Velez, the President of Colombia,
which pardons all crimes committed by the paramilitary
against workers and leaders of human rights in Colombia,
The letter also assures that the USW will work to urge
our elected officials in the Senate to stop funding which
that aides the and worsens the existing violence and
impunity in Colombia.To
read the letter from Leo click here…
The reaction of the recognition
and gratitude with respect to the solidarity expressed
by the Steelworkers can be seen in the response letter
written by Colombian Senator Gustavo Petro and SINALTRAINAL. Click
here to see letters…. |
| The Steelworkers not only
have been challenging political leaders, but they have
also brought the debate to the heads of corporations
with the objective of reaching agreements in regard to
the treatment of workers and the environment. |
Gerardo Cajamarca
showing local Coke rep. the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, and in particular Article 23, the right
to join or organize a union.
For more information
on the International Campaign against Coca Cola go to www.killercoke.org, www.sinaltrainal.org, www.studentsagainstsweatshops.org
To read the letters
written by SINALTRAINAL and the United Students Agianst
Sweatshops about the International campaign against Coca
Cola, click
here….
Since then, the
Steelworkers have been involved w/ high school students
from Cretin Derham Hall High School each week, working
on issues of social justice. The first action they have
taken is a letter writing campaign to President Uribe
denouncing the Peace and Justice Law. Click
here to see the letters… |
  
Demanding the right to
education in front of Governor Pawlenty's home in St.
Paul, Minnesota.
Headed
into the Senate Building in Washington to lobby for peace in
Colombia
Speaking with senators
and representatives about working towards more just U.S. Foreign
Policy.
| The United Steelworkers talking
with John Edwards about Colombia and, Labor Day,
2004 about the situation of human rights in Colombia
. Labor Day, 2004 |
Participation
in the commemoration of May Day, 2005 in Minneapolis.
| Working to shut down the
School of the Americas (below) at the 2004 and
2005 SOA protest in Fort Benning, GA. |
  
  
| Miguel Hernandez (middle
picture in black) and Associate Member, Elizabeth Nadeau
(right picture-red pants), at the 2004 School of the
Americas protest in Fort Benning, GA. Elizabeth was arrested
and jailed for civil disobedience after the protest and
Miguel Hernandez (Miguel Hernandez, detenido, Elizabeth
Nadeua, detenida) is now in Colombia. |
  ;
Steelworkers
with father Roy, leader of the SOA Watch
More
that 15,000 marched in last year’s protest.
This
year, 2005, more than 16,000 marched (see photos below)
| The Steelworkers marched
with United Students against Sweatshops and Witness for
Peace for Peace and SINALTRAINAL in the vigil. |
Gerardo Cajamarca and
William Mendoza (SINALTRAINAL Union Leader) hugging at the
gates of Fort Benning.
For more information
about the SOA click here – www.soawatch.org
PRESENTATION
ABOUT HUMAN RIGHTS AT CRETIN DERHAM HIGH
SCHOOL December 2005
INTERNATIONAL
DAY OF HUMAN RIGHTS FORUM, TWIN CITIES
St.
Joan of Arc Church
DECEMBER
10th, 2006
| Over 100 people came to the
event for the panel of speakers followed by workshops
on HOW to organize around Human Rights violations, locally
and internationally. |
| Audrey
Thayer: organizer and member of the White Earth Reservation,
works with the Minnesota ACLU as part of the Greater
Minnesota Racial Justice Project. |
| Gerardo
Cajamarca: in exile in the US, human rights defender,
unionist of SINALTRAINAL(Coca-Cola union in Colombia
), currently works on the Steelworker's Global Justice
Campaign |
| Keith
Ellison: State Representative for District 58B and a
strong voice in favor of basic Human Rights, from North
Minneapolis to hurricane survivors in New Orleans. |
Jack Nelson
Pallmeyer- Assistant Professor of Justice and Peace
Studies at the University of St. Thomas: spoke on "Torture
Memos and Torture Manuals: Continuity in U.S. Foreign
Policy from the SOA to Iraq." |
| Father
Campo Elías: from Colombia, is the former director
of the Social Ministries office of the Diocese in Putumayo, Colombia
. He is in the US on asylum due to threats on his life. |
 
WORKSHOP
DISCUSSION ON TAKING ACTION
DANZA
MEXICA CUAUTEHMOC DANCERS
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