Paramilitary death squads in Colombia have systematically assassinated thousands of workers over the past twenty years for attempting to organize unions. But who is the real victim in this union-busting bloodbath? According to statements made on a recent installment of CBS’s 60 Minutes, the real victim is a U.S. multinational operator, Chiquita. The Chiquita CEO claims that corporate conglomerate’s contribution to the paramilitaries is some kind of "protection money."

Protection from what? Workers with an organized voice? Collective bargaining? Fair wages and safe working conditions?

The 60 Minutes segment is just part of a concerted attempt to sell the American public and Congress on the Bush-negotiated Columbia Free Trade Agreement (FTA). Mark Penn, Senator Hillary Clinton's top campaign adviser, was recruited as part of the public relations push, and even Bill Clinton was made part of the sales effort to peddle an image of a reformed and progressive political environment in Colombia.

Behind the marketing masquerade is the real and brutal reality of life for workers under the regime of Colombian President Álvaro Uribe. Change To Win leaders today met with a worker delegation from Colombia. And the facts from the workers take apart the carefully constructed fantasy that the Bush administration is promoting to win passage of the FTA.

The Colombian workers detailed the militarization of their society and the on-going paramilitary penetration of the government at all levels. They call it the "para-politics" scandal, and, they said, the Uribe government is up to its eyeballs in it. About 65 members of the Colombian Congress under investigation by the courts, and about half so far have been found guilty. This is the Congress that rubber stamped the Bush-Uribe trade deal.

The worker delegation made clear to us the opposition of legitimate trade unions to the Colombia FTA. The so-called “labor leaders” that the Uribe regime trots out to mouth support of the FTA are actually members of a sham union headed by a cousin of drug kingpin Pablo Escobar.

Genuine trade unions and collective bargaining have been systematically destroyed and dismantled. To eliminate unions, companies have been privatized and workers have classified independent contractors.

They said that 62% of the work force is now in the "informal sector," meaning they work without any meaningful rights or ability to organize. The Uribe government has turned over 400 state enterprises to private corporations — many now under foreign control. Where workers have formed unions, the Uribe government has refused to register the unions as required under the law. They said that collective bargaining in Colombia has de facto been outlawed.

Legitimate trade unions oppose the FTA for a number of reasons, one of which is that the so-called "labor standards provision" is meaningless and unenforceable in Colombia and will not lead to protection of worker rights.

The economy increasingly favors the transnational corporations and is undermining workers’ living standards and increasing poverty; the conditions will worsen under the terms of the current FTA, according to the Colombian union leaders. In the last several years, millions of workers have become unemployed, including agricultural workers who have been displaced from the countryside, and these labor leaders believe that the FTA will lead to a further elimination of jobs and living standards in Colombia.

The FTA is an agreement to benefit Colombian and U.S. corporations, not Colombian and U.S. workers. They mentioned in particular Chiquita, Brinks, Coca-Cola, the big banks, General Motors, and several other U.S. corporations that are in league with Uribe and what they called his illegitimate government.

The Colombian brothers and sisters will be meeting with Congressional leaders this week. From what we were told this morning, it would be a crime for this Congress to give Bush and Uribe a pass on the FTA.

Greg Tarpinian is the Executive Director of Change to Win.