Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
04BOGOTA11373
2004-11-02 18:31:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Bogota
Cable title:  

GOC IMMIGRATION OFFICIALS DENY ENTRY TO FOUR INTERNATIONAL UNION LEADERS

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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BOGOTA 011373 

SIPDIS

STATE FOR CA/OSC/ACS/WHA - JNYSTROM, WHA/AND, DRL/PHD,
DRL/IL, AND DS/DSS/ITA
GENEVA FOR CHAMBERLIN
LABOR FOR ILAB - ROBERT SHEPARD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/03/2014
TAGS: ELAB PHUM PGOV CVIS CASC CO DUNCAN CAMERON
SUBJECT: GOC IMMIGRATION OFFICIALS DENY ENTRY TO FOUR
INTERNATIONAL UNION LEADERS

Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Milton K. Drucker for
reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BOGOTA 011373

SIPDIS

STATE FOR CA/OSC/ACS/WHA - JNYSTROM, WHA/AND, DRL/PHD,
DRL/IL, AND DS/DSS/ITA
GENEVA FOR CHAMBERLIN
LABOR FOR ILAB - ROBERT SHEPARD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/03/2014
TAGS: ELAB PHUM PGOV CVIS CASC CO DUNCAN CAMERON
SUBJECT: GOC IMMIGRATION OFFICIALS DENY ENTRY TO FOUR
INTERNATIONAL UNION LEADERS

Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Milton K. Drucker for
reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (SBU) Summary: Over the weekend of October 30-31, GOC
immigration officials denied entry to four international
labor leaders, including one U.S. citizen, and cancelled the
tourist visas of approximately 60 others, while permitting
them to stay for a period of three days pending resolution of
their cases. The 60 labor leaders were later granted
permission to stay until November 30. The labor leaders had
been invited to attend a meeting of female trade unionists
organized by Colombia's major labor federations. According
to GOC officials, none of the labor leaders possessed visas
consistent with the purpose of their visit. On November 2,
Vice-President Santos publicly apologized for the incident
and announced all four labor leaders were welcome to return.
MFA officials attributed the incident to immigration
officers' strict interpretation of the country's visa
regulations and told labor leaders the decision did not
represent an effort to undermine freedom of association. End
Summary.


2. (SBU) On October 30-31, GOC immigration officials at
Bogota's El Dorado international airport denied entry to four
international labor leaders. The four men -- U.S. citizen
Cameron Duncan of Public Services International; Panamanian
Rodolfo Benitez of the Switzerland-based Union Network
International; Brazilian Antonio Fritz of the International
Transport Workers' Federation; and Venezuelan Victor Baez,
General Secretary of the International Confederation of Free
Trade Unions' regional organization for the Americas -- had
been invited to attend a meeting of female trade unionists.
According to MFA Americas Division desk officer Francisco
Gonzalez, the names of the four labor leaders, who arrived in
Bogota without visas, were on a GOC watchlist because they
had previously violated Colombian immigration regulations

requiring travelers to obtain special visas if they plan to
participate in speaking events, rallies, or marches during
their stay in the country. (Citizens of the United States,
Panama, Brazil, and Venezuela may enter Colombia without a
visa if the purpose of their visit is purely tourism.) All
four had visited Colombia in September to participate in
pro-labor events organized by Colombia's three main labor
federations.


3. (SBU) Over the last few days of October, Colombian
immigration officials granted approximately 60 other
international labor leaders three-day stays to attend the
labor event, even though they had arrived in Colombia with
only tourist visas. On November 3, Gonzalez explained that
the 60 labor leaders were "paroled" into the country pending
resolution of their cases, and had since been granted
permission to remain in Colombia until November 30.


4. (SBU) On November 2, MFA and immigration officials met
with the leaders of Colombia's major labor federations to
explain the weekend's events. According to Gonzalez, the MFA
said the decision to turn around the four labor leaders was
made by immigration officials at the airport on the basis of
a strict interpretation of the country's visa regulations.
MFA representatives assured labor leaders that the decision
did not represent an effort to undermine freedom of
association. The same day, Vice-President Francisco Santos
publicly apologized for the incident and announced that all
four union leaders were welcome to return to Colombia.
However, Benitez publicly speculated in press interviews that
the four union leaders' names were placed on the watchlist
after a tense meeting with President Alvaro Uribe during
their September visit.


5. (SBU) On November 3, Emboff spoke by telephone with
Duncan, a long-time Embassy contact. Duncan, who arrived in
Colombia at 11 p.m. on October 31 on a flight from Miami,
said he had not been aware he needed a special visa to
participate in a labor event. When an immigration officer
asked Duncan if he had attended labor events in Colombia in
September, he responded in the affirmative. The immigration
official then told Duncan he would need to speak to a shift
supervisor, who told him two other trade unionists had been
denied entry earlier that day because they had previously
attended labor events in Colombia without a proper visa. The
official then told Duncan that he was denying him entry for
the same reason. When Duncan asked about the possibility of
obtaining the requisite visa, immigration officials told him
the following day was a Colombian holiday and recommended he
apply for a new visa at the Colombian Embassy in Washington.
Duncan spent the rest of the night at the airport and
returned to Miami on the first available flight at 8 a.m. on
November 1.


6. (C) Comment: Most governments, including the USG, turn
around visitors who fail to present proper visas at ports of
entry. However, a persistent challenge for the GOC is
sensitizing immigration, law enforcement, and military
authorities to the need to avoid taking actions that can
easily be perceived as heavy-handed or that needlessly
provoke domestic and international NGOs, including labor
organizations. End Comment.
WOOD