Luis Cardona said Tuesday he witnessed the murder of a Coca-Cola Co. worker in Colombia, and connects the murder to the company's business practices in the country.
Cardona, who is from Colombia, spoke to a crowd of about 50 people at a rally Tuesday on the steps of the Administration Building, put on by Students for Economic Justice, or SEJ.
He also said he witnessed bottling managers drinking and mingling with paramilitary members, who forced employees of the Sinaltrainal Union to resign. Cardona said the contracts the employees were presented with were printed on paper with the Coca-Cola letterhead.
"We should have a say as to what food and drink is on campus," said Sayrah Namaste, a graduate student and SEJ member. "We wish we didn't have to go to a boycott. Usually we choose it as the very last route."
University of Michigan students also attended the rally to oppose Coca-Cola's contract with MSU. Cardona and SEJ members were scheduled to appear in the Illinois Room of the Union at 7 p.m. Tuesday for the public to hear Cardona's story and ask questions.
SEJ members want MSU to end its contract with the company because it believes managers at the bottling plants in Colombia arranged for the killing and harassment of union employees.
It also accuses the company of depleting villages' water supplies and contaminating the available water in such countries as Colombia, India, Guatemala and Mexico.
Coca-Cola spokesperson Kari Bjorhus said the company denies these accusations, and that it is counteracting universities' campaigns by visiting campuses and speaking with administrators about its business practices. Bjorhus said Coca-Cola already has visited MSU and spoken with administrators about the issue.
"It's unfortunate that students don't have accurate information about Colombia and India," Bjorhus said.
Bjorhus said the violence Cardona mentioned is true, but the idea that Coca-Cola was involved is not.
There was a battle between guerrillas and the paramilitary, she said, and a security guard at a bottling plant was killed. She said both a Colombian court and the Colombian attorney general confirmed that the bottler was not responsible for the incident.
Coca-Cola employs workers from 12 different unions, and the Sinaltrainal Union is the only one currently opposing the company's practices, she said.
Cardona traveled to MSU with Camilo Romero, a member of the United Students Against Sweatshops. Romero and Cardona are traveling to universities across the U.S., the United Kingdom and Canada to encourage students and administrators to cut contracts with Coca-Cola.
The University of Michigan ended Coca-Cola service on Jan. 1.
Cardona said he is very satisfied with MSU students' actions.
"Students hold the power to change corporate abuse and civil rights across the country," he said through a translator. "In any university, we find groups are ready to battle injustice against Coke. This is what's giving Coca-Cola pressure to change policies."
Cutting off contracts with Coca-Cola at the university level will not affect workers in areas such as Colombia or India, Bjorhus said. Instead, she added, union workers, bottlers and routers in Michigan will suffer from the lack of business at universities.
