Report by Janice Sevre-Duszynska, RCWP
Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests
"Our witness in front of the Chiquita Corporate Center went well
We had about 20 folks, mainly Steelworker union activists from Louisville and Columbus, as well as the head of labor in Cincinnati.
.
We held our banner: Witness for Peace
Stop the War
Against the Poor
We chanted: No more blood for bananas
No more blood for profits
Ken Crowley of WFP went to the stockholders' meeting and raised
his same points as last year with the CEO about the killing of the Afro-Colombians by para-military groups that were paid for by Chiquita...
Reporters from CityBeat and The Cincinnati Enquirer did interviews at our gathering.
On horses across the street the police kept an eye on us.
This event was an education for me, learning from Ken and Dan Kovalik, senior counsel
for the Steelworkers.
Recently the National Security Archives revealed information that
both Chiquita and the U.S. State Department lied about Chiquita's involvement with paramilitary groups which seeded death squads in north Colombia."
MIAMI (AP) -- "Each name is next to a number, in black type on a thick legal document. They are the mothers and fathers, spouses, sisters and brothers of thousands of Colombians who were killed or vanished during a bloody civil conflict between leftist guerrillas and right-wing paramilitary groups whose victims have largely been civilians. The list has at least 4,000 names, each one targeting Chiquita Brands International in U.S. lawsuits, claiming the produce giant's payments and other assistance to the paramilitary groups amounted to supporting terrorists."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dan-kovalik/chiquita-the-colombia-fta_b_861784.html
Bridget Mary's Reflection:
Let us do everything possible to support justice for the people of Columbia who have suffered so much violence and loss of life.
Our biblical faith calls us to be prophetic witnesses for justice for all especially the poor and downtrodden in our world. In the Gospel. Mary, mother of Jesus, proclaimed God's compassionate tenderness for the oppressed and outrage against their oppressors:"God has brought down the powerful from their thrones and raised up the lowly. God has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty. (Luke 1:52-53)
The church teaches that action on behalf of justice is constitutive to the Gospel. In Medellin, Columbia and Puebla, Mexico, the Latin American Bishops Conference issued pastoral letters that affirm God's preferential option for the poor and our duty as people of faith to stand with them in their pursuit of their human rights and dignity.
Let us stand in solidarity with those who suffer injustice anywhere and challenge the powerful to do justice everywhere. Let us pray that justice will be done by Chiquita for the people of Columbia.
Bridget Mary Meehan, RCWP
Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests
www.associationofromancatholicwomenpriests.org
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