VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBO #3302/01 2891932
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 161931Z OCT 09
FM AMEMBASSY BOGOTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0423
INFO RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA 0104
RUEHBU/AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES 0349
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS 0427
RUEHPE/AMEMBASSY LIMA 0448
RUEHQT/AMEMBASSY QUITO
RUEHSG/AMEMBASSY SANTIAGO
RUEHZP/AMEMBASSY PANAMA 0488

UNCLAS BOGOTA 003302 

SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 

E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM ECON PREL ETRD EINV PGOV CO
SUBJECT: U.S. COMPANY DISTRAUGHT OVER PUBLICITY LINKING IT TO LABOR 
MURDERS 

REF: A) 06 BOGOTA 3764; B) BOGOTA 3127 

¶1.  (SBU) Summary:  The President of Drummond in Colombia contends 
there is a concerted effort to link the U.S. firm with the murder 
of two labor leaders in 2001.  Despite being declared innocent of 
any involvement in a U.S. court, the company is frustrated over the 
negative press it has received as a result of "new" testimony from 
a convicted accomplice to the murders.  The company representative 
noted the allegations are the same as those in the earlier court 
case, with additional inconsistencies.  The presentation of the 
testimony in late September coincided with President Uribe's travel 
to New York, the United Steelworkers' letter to Secretary Clinton, 
and U.S. press articles on the subject.  End Summary. 



¶2.  (SBU) Commercial and Economic Counselors met with the President 
of Drummond in Colombia, Augusto Jimenez, to discuss recent 
allegations made against the company -- the largest U.S. investor 
in Colombia.  The U.S. coal firm directly employs an estimated 
4,200 workers and provides indirect employment to another 12,000 
people.  Jimenez expressed frustration over publicity given to 
recent testimony by a convicted mastermind in the 2001 murders of 
two labor leaders in SINTRAMIENERGETICA at Drummond.  Jimenez noted 
the testimony raised the same allegations of which the company was 
absolved in a 2007 U.S. federal court decision in Alabama.  The 
testimony was presented in Alabama on September 22, 2009, in an 
effort to reopen the U.S. case. 



¶3.  (SBU) Jimenez noted this is not the first time that Drummond 
has been linked publicly to the 2001 murders.  Rafael Garcia, a 
former Administrative Security Department (DAS) employee who served 
prison time for an unrelated crime, claimed publicly that he saw 
Jimenez at a meeting give a suitcase full of money to a 
paramilitary leader to eliminate "labor problems."  Garcia later 
changed his story claiming he was not there, according to Jimenez. 
Garcia also claimed President Uribe was aware of DAS activities 
with paramilitaries, which included drug trafficking (ref A). 



Colombian Investigation of Labor Leader Murders 

--------------------------------------------- --------------------- 

¶4.  (U) Jairo de Jesus Charris Castro, whose September testimony 
was presented to the court in Alabama, is the apparent source cited 
in the October 1 Los Angeles Times editorial, "Murder in Colombia 
and a U.S. Multinational."  The Colombian judiciary on August 4, 
2009, sentenced Charris to 30 years in prison for his role in the 
murder of SINTRAMIENERGETICA labor leaders Valmore Locarno and 
Victor Orcasita and for his subsequent participation in a 
paramilitary organization.  At the time of the murders, Charris had 
worked as the security chief for the cafeteria contract service at 
Drummond, which was owned by another person implicated in the 
scandal, Jaime Blanco. 



¶5.  (U) According to the Colombian judicial ruling (provided to us 
by Jimenez), Charris and Blanco met with paramilitaries to plan the 
labor union murders, and on March 12, 2001, Charris identified the 
labor leaders at a road block to paramilitaries who subsequently 
killed them.  A paramilitary member testified that Charris had 
admitted his own role in the assassinations.  Moreover, Charris had 
explained the motive:  Blanco wanted the labor leaders dead because 
the union sought the termination of Blanco's cafeteria service. 



¶6.  (SBU) Jimenez shared with us that Charris' capture was a result 
of emails Charris sent to Jimenez.  Charris had demanded in an 
email that Drummond provide him money in exchange for not accusing 
Drummond of being involved in the murders; Charris stated that he 
had been offered money by the union to tell his story to "La 
Semana" magazine.  Jimenez said he notified Colombian authorities, 
who tapped Jimenez's phone and computer and traced the 
communications to Charris.  In one email, Charris admits to 


coordinating the operation against the labor leaders. 



Testimony of a Murder Mastermind 

--------------------------------------------- --- 

¶7.  (U) Charris testified on September 3, 2009, that he accompanied 
Jaime Blanco to a meeting at the request of the Drummond security 
chief, Jim Atkins, on March 6, 2001.  Atkins reportedly asked 
Blanco if he had ties to the AUC (paramilitary force) and indicated 
there were some "jobs" that needed to be done, notably to get rid 
of SINTRAMIENERGETICA union leaders.  In addition to company owner 
Gary Drummond and Drummond President Mike Tracy, Charris said Jim 
Atkins listed Jimenez and seven other Drummond employees who agreed 
that the paramilitaries should kill the labor leaders.  In his May 
7, 2009 testimony in Colombia, Charris said Gary Drummond ordered 
Atkins to plan the murder of the labor leaders.  When asked 
directly whether Jimenez and other Drummond employees knew of the 
plan ahead of time, Charris indicated he could not confirm that. 



¶8.  (U) According to Charris' testimony, he accompanied Blanco to 
the operational planning meeting with paramilitary commander 
Tolemaida a few days after the March 6 meeting with Atkins.
However, Charris claimed he stayed outside the camp and did not 
hear the conversation.  Charris stated that he was not involved in 
the murder operation and that someone else had identified the labor 
union leaders to the paramilitary assassins. 



Prosecutors to Explore Possible Links 

--------------------------------------------- ---- 

¶9.  (SBU) In the 98-page conviction of Charris, the judge in one 
sentence instructed, based on the testimony of JairoCharris, that 
Jim Atkins, Gary Drummond, Agusto Jimenez and two other Drummond 
employees be investigated for possible criminal participation.  In 
an October 7 meeting at the Colombian Office of the Attorney 
General, EconCouns asked whether Drummond was under investigation 
for the 2001 murders.  The head of the human rights division 
acknowledged the judicial instruction to investigate Drummond, as 
they have for Coca-Cola and Nestle in other labor-related cases, 
but believed there was little evidence on which to proceed.  To 
date Drummond has not been contacted or asked to provide any 
statements. 



¶10.  (SBU) Jimenez pointed out several inconsistencies in Charris' 
testimonies.  He also highlighted the sworn testimony in the United 
States by Jim Atkins and Drummond executives, including Jimenez, 
indicating that the company did not have any agreement or 
involvement with paramilitaries in Colombia, nor any involvement in 
the murder of the two labor leaders.  Jimenez described company 
executives as distraught over the repeated allegations of 
Drummond's involvement in the murders.  The Drummond President in 
Colombia noted that Charris' testimony in late September surfaced 
during President Uribe's travel to New York and coincided with 
several U.S. press articles and the United Steelworkers' letter to 
Secretary Clinton (on the court case and related labor strikes, ref 
B). 
NICHOLS 

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