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Faced with the situation generated by the declaration of a State of Emergency [lit. Interior Commotion], the CUT has met with trade unions and social organizations and as a result concluded that once again the Uribe Government seeks to take away the minimum democratic guarantees and, especially, strike down the trade union movement and other social organisations.

It is not the case that the work stoppages by Asonal Judicial and the cane cutters justify the presidential decree of National Commotion, they are not struggles that put the State and its institutions at risk. On several occasions the workers themselves through their union Asonal have denounced the crisis in the justice branch; previous governments have called states of emergency to overcome the congestion of the judicial system, yet things have continued the same, because they are due to government abandonment of the infrastructure.

So what does the Government really hope to achieve with its declared State of Emergency? Is it not that they are looking for a way to bury the parapolítica scandals?

Is not this still the same government and set of high officials who are deeply worried by the detention and criminal investigation of more than 70 Congressmen and Senators, the link with generals, ambassadors, DAS officials and employers that puts into question the legitimacy of the government itself?

The latest scandals on the massacre of young people, the infamous ‘false positives’ and extra-judicial executions have sharpened tensions even more under the so-called ‘democratic security’, but the government has not previously had the opportunity to declare the State of Emergency. It requires this to place a smokescreen around a series of scandals, and to keep tricking the Colombian population with the phantom of ‘terrorism’ as an excuse for taking drastic measures. That is why it is vital that we the trade union and social movements pronounce ourselves and act opportunely to prevent the imposition of silence and impunity.

We call on the trade union leadership to carry out in efficient manner the following tasks so that we can surround the movements in conflict with the best possible practical support.

1. Convene trade union presence at 6am on 14 October, at the Asonal Judicial stalls [picket lines] across the country.
2. Convene a meeting of the Grand Democratic Coalition on Tuesday 14 October, from 2pm, at the CTC headquarters in Bogotá.
3. Due to pressure from the trade union federations, the Government has convened a meeting of the National Negotiating Commission - Comisión Nacional de Concertación, for 8am on 15 October, to deal with the issues of Asonal, the cane cutters and the Analvet workers.
4. A National Day of Protest on 16 October against the State of Emergency; in support of the Asonal Judicial and cane cutters stoppages. In Bogotá, from 11:00am, a demonstration at the Ministry of Social Protection, 7th avenue with 32nd street.
5. Fecode [national teachers federation – the biggest single union in Colombia] committed to issue a communiqué in a national newspaper inviting support for the Day of Protest on the 16th, and a National 24 hour Strike on 23 October 2008.
6. That support and solidarity be sought from the international trade union movement.

CENTRAL UNITARIA DE TRABAJADORES (CUT) - COLOMBIA

Tarsicio Mora Godoy
Presidente

Domingo Tovar Arrieta
Secretario General de la CUT