Effective January 1, the University of Michigan will become the 10th university to suspend the sale of Coca-Cola products on its campus because of uncertainty regarding the company?s human rights compliance abroad. Prompted by a complaint filed by the coalition Students Organizing for Labor and Economic Equality (SOLE), the university?s Dispute Review Board (DRB) found Coca-Cola to be in violation of the school?s Vendor Code of Conduct with regards to its labor and safety practices in its Colombian bottling plants. After Coca-Cola was unable to meet the DRB?s request for an independent, third-party investigation, the university decided not to renew its $1.4 million contract. Coca-Cola has steadfastly denied any wrongdoing, despite accusations from unions leaders in Colombia that the company has colluded with paramilitary forces to undermine unionization attempts at its plants. The university?s decision was met with outward approval from la Central Unitaria de Trabajadores (CUT) and la Organización Internacional del Trabajo (OIT), two of the country?s largest unions. Conversely, local Coca- Cola workers in Michigan have expressed concerns about possible repercussions of the contract cancellation.

President Alvaro Uribe announced a new plan for the manual eradication of illegal coca cultivated in FARC- controlled areas of Colombia?s Macarena National Park. Enlisting the help of the country?s Mobile Eradication Groups, conscripts of the Presidential Agency for Social Action and International Cooperation, Uribe has pledged to maintain the offensive until ?we have manually eradicated every last coca plant from this park.? The announcement comes in response to a late December clash between government forces and the FARC. The soldiers were conducting manual coca eradication operations outside of Macarena National Park when FARC forces attacked, killing 29. A report conducted by the United Nations that found there to be more than 5400 hectares of coca present in 17 of Colombia?s 51 national parks. Uribe has stated that financial compensation will be made available to any farmers in the Vistahermosa or Meta provinces who eradicate their crops voluntarily. This announcement comes on the heels of the year-end narcotics report by the Colombian government, which shows a record high confiscation of 186 tons of cocaine, with an approximate street value of $4.7 billion. Colombian Defense Minister Camilo Ospina noted that this represents a 26% increase from 2004 seizure operations, and gave much of the credit to the more than $3 billion contributed by the US-backed counter- narcotics program, ?Plan Colombia.?

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Ecumenical Advocacy Days are slated for March 10- 12. More information to come!

Greetings and a belated Happy New Year! As you can see, we have significantly updated the format of our InfoBrief. Because of this, we are spending a little time playing catch up while we make the change. The delivery of InfoBriefs for the rest of the month may not be as consistent as in the past, and we ask for your patience as we complete this process. We hope to have everything running smoothly by the beginning of February, and are excited to hear any feeback you have on the new format. Regards, USOC

About US Office on Colombia

The U.S. Office on Colombia is an independent non- profit organization, not affiliated with any political party, that seeks to educate U.S. policymakers, the media and the U.S. public about the impact of U.S. policy on Colombia.