Raul Sosa and Jose Brito, members of unions representing workers at American-owned Drummond coal company and multi-national Cerrejon coal company, will speak about human rights abuses inflicted on coal miners and community members in Colombia. Last year, 80% of coal imported to the U.S. came from Colombia.*

Above: Cerrejon open pit mine in Colombia - the largest of its kind in the world.

Join us to hear this compelling presentation!

WHAT: Potluck dinner and presentation
WHERE: Casa Latina Catholic Worker
230 Woodbine Street, Louisville KY 40208
(502) 636-5461
WHEN: Thursday, October 28th at 6 p.m.

Colombia is the largest recipient of U.S. military aid in the hemisphere, and also the country with the highest levels of official and paramilitary violence, including forced displacement, killings of journalists, trade unionists, and human rights activists. Foreign corporations, including coal companies, are some of the major beneficiaries of this situation.

Raul Sosa worked at the Drummond for fifteen years until he and several other union leaders were unjustly fired on June 17, 2010. José Brito served two terms as the national secretary for health for the union representing miners at Cerrejon, during which time he helped initiate new studies on occupational health risks for mineworkers including exposure to carcinogenic substances and osteo-muscular disorders.

*Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration

This event is co-sponsored by Kentucky Interfaith Task Force on Latin America and the Carribean and Kentuckians For The Commonwealth. It is a part of an ongoing effort to facilitate an exchange between communities affected by the coal industry in Central Appalachia and Kentucky. For more information, visit www.kftc.org/colombia.