Colombia: activists say don't buy "blood roses"
From KAIROS Canada:
Thinking about buying roses for Valentine's Day? Make sure they're not stained in blood, Colombian partners say. Here's an invitation to take action.
An estimated 60% of cut flowers for sale in Canada come from Colombia, a country in the midst of a violent 40-year civil war. Roses and carnations are among Colombia's most popular exports to Canada. Many of these flowers are cut by the hands of children or women whose bodies are poisoned by chemicals long banned in Canada.
KAIROS partners are trying to change all that.
From February 9th to 21st, a delegation of Colombian social activists organized by KAIROS, Amnesty International and other groups, is in Canada to send a message to the Canadian government to put human rights before trade. They are asking Parliament to reject a free trade agreement with Colombia. The delegates are part of a coalition of social movements that unites civil society movements of women, workers, Indigenous peoples, Afro-Colombian communities, small farmers and churches, representing almost two million people.
According to our partners, free trade will only increase the exploitation of workers, lead to forms of agribusiness that destroy traditional ways of life, and force farmers from their land. People who speak out are often threatened or killed. Members of the tour have received death threats recently.
To read more please see a recent Toronto Star article on the partners' tour at http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/584994
What can you do this Valentine's Day?
l Contact your Member of Parliament today and ask him or her vote to against the Colombia-Canada Free Trade Agreement. See the KAIROS' urgent action at http://www.kairoscanada.org/en/news/archive/2008/11/article/no-free-trade-with-colombia-without-a-guarantee-of-human-rights/?tx_ttnews[backPid]=1&cHash=96c35bd6e7 for more.
l Find out where your flowers are coming from. If they are coming from Colombia, or if your local florist can't assure you that they are not, consider giving fair trade roses or something other than flowers this Valentine's Day.
l Learn more about trade and human rights issues. Follow KAIROS' Trading Cards and Human Rights Project over the next year and discover how the decisions we make in Canada are often directly linked to human rights violations overseas. See our card on Colombian flowers:
http://www.kairoscanada.org/fileadmin/fe/files/PDF/HRTrade/TradingCards/Human_Rights_and_Trade_card_Flowers.pdf
To find out more, please see the tour overview, check out our events page at http://www.kairoscanada.org/en/events/
Thanks Ze. From the Kairos page:
For further information please contact: Rusa Jeremic, rjeremic[at]kairoscanada[dot]org
Basic Itinerary
Feb 9-13- all delegates will be in Ottawa
Feb 14-15 – all delegates will be in Montreal
Feb 16 – Yolanda and Maria del Carmen in Montreal
German – Six Nations
Feb 17-19 – Omar - in Nova Scotia
German – in BC
Yolanda and Maria – Ontario – Toronto and Hamilton
Feb 20- Public event in Toronto- all delegates
To save everyone a lot of time searching, here's a link to the webpage quoted in the OP.
Shouldn’t progressives have zero tolerance for illegal drugs since they are the cause of much of the violence?
Shouldn’t progressives have zero tolerance for illegal drugs since they are the cause of much of the violence?
When Alvaro Urine was governor of Antioquia, he handed pilot permits to all the Medellin drug dealers with connections to the CIA and Florida mafia. Urine and his brother are both connected to Colombia's rightwing death squads and drug trafficking criminals. Drugs and oil in Colombia. A bit of the oil is siphoned off at a time, but the country is to be an oil reserve for future needs of the vicious empire. And the CIA is deeply involved in global drug trafficking for a long time.
Fidel, Granma is not a credible source.
That little statement shows an incredible amount of ignorance regarding US history and understanding of the US government. After Watergate and the Church hearings there is an incredible amount of oversight regarding all CIA activities.
Um, what the fuck does drug trafficking have to do with this thread? Kindred, since you're obviously just here to disrupt the thread, you will stay out of this thread from now on.
Why don't you ban his fascist ass?
If you mean congressional oversight, consider the information to which the intelligence committees of Congress have been privy too regarding rendition, torture, eavesdropping, and other violations of US constitutional law and bill of rights and international law, which they allowed, therefore enabled.
We still don't know what Clinton was privy to as gov. of Arkansas, where "black" flights operated (at Mena airport) that were eventually connected by some independent journalists to the Iran-Contra operation, which involved bringing drugs into the US market to fund the illicit arms sales to Iran.
How many other examples are there out there?
It's naive to assume that there is "an incredible amount of oversight regarding all CIA activities" but if there is, it cannot be trusted for upholding the law and protecting the lives and livelihood of foreign nationals abroad are concerned.
Sorry. This thread isn't about drugs. I just read Michelle's post and apologize. I'm glad the issue of toxic flowers from Colombia has been raised. It's up to all those in the know to educate friends and florists, many of whom simply buy from wholesalers and have no concern or knowledge about the ethics of their sources.
BTW, Israel is also a major exporter of flowers, so it would be worthwhile to come to florists and supermarkets with checklists for the managers.
And does anyone have information about the environmental impact and working conditions of the Costa Rica flower industry, which has been growing into a major supplier?
Good question, that.
The tour seems to be getting some press, which may be useful to stop Canada from sleepwalking into a free trade deal with Colombia. The activist visitors seem to be saying that free trade will make things worse for them by opening up more indigenous lands for foreign corporations. Considering all the press that went on NAFTA, it's stunning that so little has gone to the free trade with Colombia proposal.
The report recommended that Canada not sign a free trade deal "until there is confirmation that the improvements noted are maintained, including . . . (in) regards to displacement, labour law and accountability for crime."
Canada and Colombia signed the free trade pact, which includes labour and environmental provisions, last November during a meeting in Peru. Parliament still needs to ratify the deal, but the process is seen as a formality.
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/Business/Colombia+Canada+trade+pact+needs+more+thought+Activists/1274442/story.html
Sorry for insanely long link, but this software does not permit me to imbed a hyperlink, for some reason.
Actions to take against Canada-Colombia trade deal