Seoulidarity

Hyundai admits supporting right-wing deaths squads in Colombia

Hyundai Motor's distributor in Colombia has admitted giving taxis to

Colombia's ultra right-wing paramilitary army, responsible for thousands

of politically motivated killings.

The revelations were first made public by key paramilitary leader

Salvatore Mancuso on May 18th in public hearings. According to Mancuso,

former paramilitary leader Carlos Castaño met directly with Carlos

Mattos, representative of Hyundai in Colombia. Castaño first

demanded a helicopter from Mattos, and then accepted four vehicles a year

instead. Hyundai claims that the company only gave four taxis to the

paramilitary United Self Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC), rather than

four per year.

Since the early 1960s, a civil war has pitted left wing guerrilla groups

against the Colombian army. Beginning in the early 1980s, the army has

relied on right wing paramilitary groups to carry out their dirty work.

The paramilitaries have killed or tortured thousands of political

activists, unionists, farmers, and indigenous people. The U.S. government

indirectly supports paramilitary violence by giving millions of dollars a

year in military aid to the Colombian government.

When the paramilitary armies had outlived their usefulness to the

Colombian state, a “peace process” was launched in 2003. The real goal of

the supposed demobilization was to give the paramilitaries virtual

impunity for their crimes, without fully revealing the responsibility of

Colombian elites for paramilitary violence. But a series of scandals broke

the unspoken agreement between paramilitary leaders and the Colombian

government.

Paramilitary leader Mancuso responded by revealing at least some of the

vast support his army has received from Colombian politicians, military

commanders, and businesses. Mancuso has also described the financial

support given to the paramilitaries by the U.S. banana companies Dole, Del

Monte and Chiquita, as well as major Colombian businesses. Chiquita has

admitted paying almost 1.7 million dollars to the paramilitaries.

These companies, including Hyundai, have benefited from the bloody

tranquility that the paramilitaries enforce in regions under their

control. Colombia is one of the most dangerous places in the world to

participate in union activities. For example, since 1989, eight Coca-Cola

union activists have been killed, leading workers and supporters to call

for a boycott of Coke products (www.killercoke.org).