Interview with UK students against coke activist

by Cian Thu Jun 15, 2006 17:21

Yes there are many socialists and anti war activists who are members of the British Labour Party just like there are Christians in the church. Its a fair point.

Lara Coleman from London based Colombia Solidarity will be addressing some of the wider issues in Colombia beyond the boycott which ANON correctly says need to be addressed. Of course the reality is that awareness of the wider issues in Colombia has mushroomed since this boycott coke campaign has been in place.

I would disagree though with your analysis of UK students against Coke. Yes I would have a preference in the long term for groups that are more formally organised, but UK students against Coke in the last two years has had a very large impact - almost getting Coke boycotted by NUS which would have a massive impact with Coke been removed from hundreds of campuses.

Most of the students involved don't come from formal organisations and as I said the organised British Left is not active on this issue nor does it have much of activist presence on campus. The strenght of this campaign is that it has attracted, politicised and empowered students who were not previously engaged in political action. This is a strength rather than a weakness.

by Adam and the Antons Thu Jun 15, 2006 17:08

Anton has already hijacked several threads related to Colombia with his/her disruptive trolling. Anyone unfamiliar with his/her work should follow this link and see Anton's track record. Then ignore him/her:

http://www.indymedia.ie/article/69627

by Adam and the Antons Thu Jun 15, 2006 16:45

Your arguments have been dealt with again and again on Indymedia, you're totally discredited. The Coke boycott will go on, whatever you have to say on the matter. You've never lifted a finger to help the Colombian people and you never will.

by anton Thu Jun 15, 2006 16:40

IMO ,Clair would be entitled to make her case even if she was in the British Labour Party . But she gives an indication of how cut off the student orientated Boycott Coke campaign is from the wider labour movement in Britain when she says ,
“We are not constituted, have no formal decision making structure and as a network have no political line beyond Coke”.
There’s a letter in today’s Guardian from British Labour party representatives – MPs, MEPs and NEC members .It raises the plight of Colombian trade unionists and union leaders , thousands of whom have been murdered by the US backed regime , and calls for a freeze on British military aid to that country .
I hope that somebody at the Connolly conference points out the need for a serious political line on Colombia - one that does go beyond the fatuous and divisive call to boycott Coke . What needs to be addressed is the role of the Colombian state in the suppression of all workers and peasants in Colombia - not just coke workers . It is also neccessary to examine our own government's complicity in an imperialist world order that facilitates the Colombian state in its murderous activities. See:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/letters/story/0,,1797652,00.html

by Cian Thu Jun 15, 2006 12:59

Simple answer: No.

There is no involvement that I'm aware of from members of UK Labour in UK students against Coke. The bulk of the members of activists in the campaign are non aligned with a small number of socialists, environmentalists etc. involved but very little presence from the organised UK left. Anyone I've spoken to in the campaign were strongly anti war and anti Blair which hardly comes as a surprise really!! If they are against US imperialism in Colombia (through Coke attempting to wipe out Sinaltrainal) then they would hardly be for US imperialism in Iraq!

Claire is to the best of my knowledge not affiliated to any political organisation, but she is involved in a squatting movement where she lives, so I think we can safely assume that her politics are quite different to those of Tony Blair. OK so Tony doesn't own the house that he lives in and he doesn't pay any rent, but No 10 isn't exactly a squat.

by Blair Thu Jun 15, 2006 10:55

Does this person belong to Labour's comrade sister-party Blair's pro-war Labour Party?