US embassy cable - 04BOGOTA11373

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