A Colombian union activist, lawyer and survivor of eight assassination attempts will be in Fredericton on November 24 to tell New Brunswickers they have a responsibility to know about and act on the blood coal that is leaving his country and being sold to NB Power. Francisco Ramirez Cuellar will be speaking in downtown Fredericton at Conserver House (180 Saint John St.) at 7:00pm.
NB Power imports coal from Cerrejon that is owned by multinational giants BHP Billiton, Anglo American and Xstrata. The coal mine is linked to the murders of union and community leaders and violent forced displacements of communities.
Ramirez is currently the subject of an action alert demanding his safety. The leader of a federation of energy worker unions is again under serious threat from paramilitary groups in the country because of his trade union activism that involves a number of lawsuits against Canadian and multinational mining companies for their involvement in assassinations and dislocation of thousands of Colombians.
Author of The Profits of Extermination: Big Mining in Colombia, Ramirez will be telling his story of organizing resistance against the abuses of Canadian and multinational mining in Colombia.
Ramirez’s tour in Canada is organized by the Atlantic Regional Solidarity Network and is supported locally by the Fredericton & District Labour Council, and the St. Thomas University History Department.
