Date: Fri, 20 Aug 2004 17:56:33 -0500
From: CIEPAC <ciepac-AT-laneta.apc.org>
Subject: AUT: [Ciepac-i] English Chiapas al Dia 385     I



“Chiapas Today” Bulletin No. 385
CIEPAC; CHIAPAS, MÉXICO

November 6, 2003

  COCA-COLA
THE DIRTY HISTORY OF THE DIRTY WATERS
(Fourth Part)

In the decade of the eighties, neoliberal measures were 
strengthened.  Among them the extensive wave of privatizations and the 
banquet of trasnational companies, like vultures, watching over the 
governments to buy all of the companies, resources and goods.  The concept 
of privatization was gradually increased in the decades that followed.  It 
came to include water, biodiversity and other natural resources.  But it 
also included other comparative advantages for the benefit of transnational 
corporations:  the reduction of labour rights such as the adjustment 
policies.  Nicely called, “competitive labour”, “labour reform”, etc., the 
rights of workers were decreased in order to fatten the profits of big 
businesses.  Unions became an enemy to be conquered.  The Coca-Cola Company 
even allied itself with armies and the paramilitary groups of Colombia.
Owing to the murdered union members and the thousands and thousands of 
laid-off workers around the world, an impressive world reaction against 
Coca-Cola – the product distributed in more countries in the world than any 
other product – took shape.  There have only been a few such campaigns 
against transnationals, such as the campaigns against Nestle, Nike and the 
oil companies.  Colombian union members launched a world-wide campaign 
against Coca-Cola:  “We call on you to continue to denounce the human 
rights violations committed by this transnational and to continue with the 
plans to strengthen the international boycott against Coca-Cola.”  This 
call and boycott was summarized in the actions carried out against the 
transnational in Chile, Venezuela, Turkey, India, France, Belgium, Holland, 
Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Denmark, the Middle East, Iran, Saudi 
Arabia, Bahrain, Mexico, Guatemala, Morocco, the United Sates, Libya, the 
United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Indonesia among others.  The 
employees of Coca-Cola made a call to “redouble forces lifting our arms in 
victory with the workers, the consumers and the social and political 
organizations.  We are beginning to reap the fruits from distinct 
communities around the world that we sowed through the “Campaign Against 
Impunity and Colombia’s Call for Justice” and the three sessions of the 
Popular Public Audience, the boycott which they have been advancing for 
some time now (…) We, the communities of these countries have decided to 
not consume any more Coca-Cola in condemnation of its policy of violence 
and to avoid giving money to the war against Iraq promoted by George Bush 
and to protest the support given by the American government to Ariel 
Sharon’s genocide.”  (Bogota, Colombia, August 6th, 2003).
In the United States the “Stop Killer Coke” campaign strengthened, uniting 
activists and students from more than twenty universities and education 
centers:  Bard; Bowdoin College; Mt. Holyoke College; Coirdozo Law School; 
and the universities of: Georgetown, Chicago, Hofstra, Illinois and 
Illinois State, Loyola, St. Louis, California, Massachusetts, Montana, 
Wisconsin (Madison and Milwaukee), and Western Virginia among others.  And 
you?  When are you going to join in?  Do you want to know why?  Keep 
reading, this story isn’t a waste.


THE DIRTY WATERS ARE STAINED RED

In the decade of the 80s, the Coca-Cola Company was involved in serious 
human rights violations.  It’s links with governments and armed forces are 
not new but its ties to paramilitary groups and even murder, are.  By this 
time the Cuban, Roberto Goizueta of Basque descent, had arrived in the 
United States.  At 18 years of age he did not speak one word of English but 
by the time he finished his studies he was a distinguished student of Yale 
University.  In 1980, the year in which he was designated as the new 
president of the Coca-Cola Company and the first foreigner to take this 
post, the sixth Coca-Cola-related murder in Guatemala took place, with the 
death of union member, Pedro Quevedo.  Four of his peers were also murdered 
in this same year.  The International Union for Food Workers (IUF) 
denounced the death of the Coca-Cola union worker provoking protests in 
many countries.  This event would be one of the foundations of the future 
boycott campaigns against the company.

In 1982 the “Coke is it” campaign was launched into the market, a slogan 
with which the company tried to recoup its image.  To this end, 2000 
Coca-Cola bottlers from around the world came together in the center of 
Atlanta to see the premiere of the advertisement on the most important 
television links.  But in this same year the National Union for Food 
Workers was born in Colombia (SINALTRAINAL), it would be the main enemy of 
the Coca-Cola company which would even get to the point of complicity with 
the Colombian army and paramilitary groups and the murder of union leaders 
who fought for labour justice.  The company reinforced its publicity 
campaign to create more soda consumers.  In this same year, demolition of 
the old company building in the United States began and by way of gifts, 
the bricks were divided among the employees in memory of the good 
times.  The company continued its ambitious expansion.

In 1983 Coca-Cola acquired Columbia Studios for $750 million (U.S.), almost 
double the value of its shares in the market.  With this it obtained great 
successes with movies such as Tootsie, Gandhi, The Toy, Murphy’s Romance 
and Ghostbusters.  Coca-Cola also made available its new toll-free 
international telephone line to consumers throughout the world.  It 
contracted Spanish singer, Julio Iglesias, to seduce the female public, 
foreign consumers and the almost 30 million Spanish-speaking people living 
in the United States.  With the Los Angeles Olympic Games it attempted to 
recoup its losses from the previous Olympics in Moscow, for which it had 
paid millions of dollars for exclusive rights but which the governments of 
the United States and other countries boycotted, hence, not attending those 
Olympics.

But Pepsi-Cola was advancing on the market.  The cost of not having bought 
it out in the past three offers would become the historic expense for 
Coca-Cola.  Roberto Goizueta decided to change the formula for Coca-Cola 
and he mentioned this in private to Robert Woodruff, “the Boss”, who had 
been the third owner of the company and who then was 95 years old, almost 
deaf and blind and on the brink of dying.  He said that, “the Boss” 
agreed.  In this same year, in 1985, one of America’s most symbolic 
businessmen, died, before the launching of the NEW COKE.  Robert Woodruff 
would never know of the uproar caused by the “attempt” to change the 
flavour of Coca-Cola and that it would be at a cost of $4 million.  Over 
the next three months the company received hundreds of thousands of calls 
through its 1-800-telephone lines and hundreds of thousands of letters in 
which consumers demanded a return to the original formula.  It had tried to 
change a national symbol for a new fashion without taking into account the 
Coca-Cola fanatics who had as their banners God, Country and 
Coca-Cola.  The display of publicity to promote the new flavour was 
glorious.  However, the public didn’t like it.  In Mexico, Goizueta’s 
father had received threats and hence he begged his son to return Coca-Cola 
to its original flavour.  Meanwhile, in Havana, Fidel Castro declared that, 
“the disappearance of the genuine product was a symptom of America’s 
decline.”  So great was consumer reaction that Coca-Cola decided to return 
to its original formula.  ABC television interrupted its regular 
programming to announce the news and the next day it was the leading story 
in all the American newspapers.  Curiously, on the same day, American 
president, Ronald Reagan, who was closely linked to the interests of 
Coca-Cola, had an operation for cancer, something that was “second story” news.

We arrive at 1986 when the company celebrated its first 100 years.  Having 
begun with less than 30 employees it then had almost one million people 
working for it throughout the world.  In this anniversary year, a worker 
for the Nestle company and SINALTRAINAL union member in Colombia (the union 
to which thousands of workers affiliated with and employees of Coca-Cola 
belonged, several of whom, a few years later would themselves be 
assassinated), Hector Daniel Useche Beron, was murdered.

For Coca-Cola’s anniversary, 12 500 bottling plant representatives from 
around the world met in Atlanta.  The party cost the company $23 million 
(U.S.).  In this year, Columbia Pictures, owned by Coca-Cola produced 
various films, among them: Perfect, Crossroads, Fast Forward and Ishtar, 
with Dustin Hoffman and Warren Beatty.  Also this anniversary year it was 
calculated that in the United States more Coca-Cola was being consumed than 
any other liquid including running water.  Given this, Pepsi didn’t want to 
be left behind.  The “Cola Wars” aimed at attracting more customers, 
worsened.  Pepsi-Cola attracted public figures such as Madonna and Michael 
Jackson for its promotional videos.  Coca-Cola bought the services of 
Whitney Houston, George Michael, Sting and Cyndi Lauper and it maintained 
its physical presence at more than 400 large public spaces ranging from 
football stadiums to Disneyland.

In 1988 Coca-Cola reached, for the first time, $1 000 000 000 (one billion 
U.S.D.) in profits.  And, even though sales in the United States were 
relatively equal between the two companies, the international limits of 
Coca-Cola gave it a 4 to 1 advantage over Pepsi-Cola.  In this year, half 
of all non-alcoholic drinks consumed in the world were Coca-Cola.  For 
example, with almost 200 million inhabitants, Indonesia was one of 
Coca-Cola’s preferred countries owing to its large consumption.  But, the 
European Community only contributed 29% of the profits with an average 
consumption of 81 bottles per year per person (in France, only 31 bottles 
per year were consumed per person) and even this was due to the attempt to 
infiltrate European life and culture with EuroDisney and the Olympic Games 
in Barcelona, which could be called the Olympic Games of Coca-Cola.  In 
Japan things weren’t going well either as the company saw its profits 
decrease.  The economic policies of the United States were provoking a 
reaction against the American Empire.  Despite the more than 2 million 
vending machines, the Japanese thought that it was a drink just for 
youth.  Coca-Cola launched a big campaign, going around the country with a 
large truck, the Mobotron, equipped with a 5-meter high video monitor.  But 
the Japanese didn’t swallow it.  Then Coca-Cola sold Columbia Pictures to 
Sony for $3.4 billion (it had bought it for 750 million). Gringo society 
and business reacted unfavourably to seeing a national cinematic symbol 
pass into Japanese hands.

At any rate, if the billion dollars in profit obtained by Coca-Cola in that 
year were distributed today to the poor of the world, who, according to the 
World Bank earn two dollars a day, there would be enough to give to 500 
million people throughout the world.

In 1989 the first Colombian union member of the Coca-Cola Company was 
assassinated, Avelino Chicanoy and the movements and reactions against the 
company reignited.  In this year, Coca-Cola created another large-scale 
publicity stunt.  Remember the famous commercial filmed in Italy where the 
company brought together 200 youth from around the world in 1971?  Well now 
it decided to reunite these same people along with the children on top of 
the same hill.  And even though they only found 25 of them, that doesn’t 
matter.  In five days it filmed the commercial that once again would 
generate a publicity impact on the world front and in a very spectacular 
manner.  All in all, Coca-Cola ended the decade of the eighties with 
enormous profits and its shares revalued at almost 735%, generating a $30 
billion (U.S.) benefit for its shareholders.  Its influence and power 
invaded everywhere.  Its opportunism has no limits.  In 1989 when the 
Berlin wall fell, the company gave away thousands of Coca-Colas as the 
citizens of East Berlin crossed the border.  Nearby, in Moscow’s Red 
Square, Coca-Cola was already inserting itself into Russian life and 
culture along with the McDonald’s hamburger chain.  In Ushuala, the 
southern-most city in the world, people were already consuming an average 
of 420 drinks a year per person (about one per day).  And you?  How many 
Coca-Colas do you drink each day?

The world-wide presence of Coca-Cola was already legendary in 1991.  In 
this year, the editorial of the New York Times declared: “You can distance 
yourself but you won’t be able to turn your eyes away.  Sooner or later no 
matter how far you have ventured from commodities and the advantages of the 
modern world, you will find Coca-Cola.  Even if you are on the summit of 
the Himalayas, on islands ravaged by hurricanes or even in the cradle of 
civilization if it pleases you, Coca-Cola will be there, waiting.”  In the 
first years of the nineties, 3 456 000 000 (three billion four hundred and 
fifty-six million) Coca-Colas were consumed in the world.  Mexico was one 
of the main world consumers of the soda and in the country, the state of 
Chiapas and rural communities were particularly notable.  This is what we, 
the consumers, have built over so many decades.  At the beginning of the 
90s, the company’s publicity expenses were $4 billion (U.S.).  The salary 
of Coca-Cola’s president, including shares in the company and some other 
additional benefits was $86 million (U.S.); while the vice-president in 
1991 earned $38 million (U.S.).  Between the two officials, their income 
was $340 000 (U.S.) daily.  What these two men earned is, today, equivalent 
to the daily income of the 150 000 indigenous of Chiapas.

In 1993 Coca-Cola gobbled up its bottlers and it began to buy up the ones 
that were not under its own domain with the intention of having this major 
patrimony at its disposal and dominating production, particularly in the 
South American zones.  But the ambitions of Coca-Cola came up against a 
large obstacle:  organized and unionized workers.  So, it used pressure, 
blackmail, extortion, firings, intimidation, torture and even murder 
mechanisms to try to make the unions disappear.  In this way, in 1994, two 
union leaders in Colombia were murdered.  One year later, another was 
killed.  In 1996 another two Coca-Cola union leaders and workers were 
murdered by paramilitaries in cahoots with the company.  This year 
Coca-Cola was being sold in 205 countries.  In 1997 the second Coca-Cola 
museum was born in Las Vegas, Nevada and the president of Coca-Cola, 
Roberto Goizueta, died.  It is said that in all of Coca-Cola’s history, 
very few have known the composition of the soda’s secret 
formula.  Logically, John Pemberton, its inventor, Asa Candler, its second 
owner and later his son the third president; also Woodruff and as well the 
three or four company chemists – these are the only mortals that have, in 
reality, known the secrets of ingredient 7X.  Roberto Goizueta was also “in 
the know” as he was also a chemist.  In his place, Douglas N. Daft was 
named president.

But the dirty waters once again were dyed red.  In 2001 another unionized 
Coca-Cola worker died.  In 2002 another.  The blood ran and between 2002 
and 2003 another campaign larger than has ever been seen before was 
launched against Coca-Cola.  In parallel, since 1994 with the EZLN’s 
uprising in Chiapas and the coming into effect of the world’s largest Free 
Trade Agreement among the United States, Canada and Mexico, the American 
government began its most ambitious continental economic plan.  The Free 
Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) is meant to join all of the continent 
under its economic hegemony and imperial military.  At the same time a new 
planetary economic structure is being attempted:  The World Trade 
Organization (WTO) which tries to impose common commercial rules on the 
entire world.  The new agreements and trade rules go along giving greater 
power to transnational corporations.  In particular, the race for water and 
in general for supplies and natural resources, the primary materials used 
by the companies.  It is no longer just a war against the workers and 
labourers but also against the indigenous peoples and the campesinos to 
snatch the water away from them as well as the sugar market.  The failure 
of the WTO in its fifth Ministerial Meeting carried out in Cancun, Mexico 
last September put the new American strategy to strengthen its interests 
with the FTAA and the bilateral free trade agreements on 
alert.  Coca-Cola’s agenda is water.  Now we see the company building 
indigenous schools in Chiapas and giving a hand to the state 
government.  Worse yet is that they do this not in just any place but in 
the regions that have the most important aquifers.  But we’ll talk about 
this later.  For now …

YOU WON’T BELIEVE THIS
-          The largest advertisement for Coca-Cola in the world is found on 
the “El Hacha” (“the Axe”) hill in Arica, Chile; it measures 122 meters 
wide and 40 meters high and it is made from 70 000 Coca-Cola 
bottles.  Chile was one of the first countries to privatize its water 
sources including rivers during its era of military dictatorship.
-           Coca-Cola is the most famous trademark in the world.  It is 
recognized by 94% of the total world population.  In a survey taken in 
1997, Coca-Cola was the second most-valued trademark in the world, after 
McDonald’s but before Disney, Kodak, Sony, Gilette, Mercedes-Benz, Levi’s, 
Microsoft and Marlboro.
-          In 1990, The World of Coca-Cola, the official company museum 
opened.  And in its absurdity, the Coca-Cola Collectors Club is born, the 
first Spanish club for Coca-Cola collectors and in April in Castelldefels, 
Barcelona, the first public locale in Europe (not official/ private 
collection) was inaugurated, dedicated exclusively to the world of Coca-Cola.
-          In 1992 Coca-Cola was the exclusive sponsor of the  Barcelona 
Olympic Games.  Its propaganda  was  everywhere
        in the city, on chairs, tables, signs and vending machines.  All of 
the athletes who carried the Olympic torch had
        the Coca-Cola logo on their clothes.
-          In 1996 Coca-Cola was host to the Atlanta Olympic Games.
-          In Taiwan the world’s largest inflatable bottle is created 
measuring 25 meters.

-          The annual consumption of Coca-Cola in 1989 China, after the 
Tiananmen Square massacre was one bottle per capita

-          In Lille, France, on November 27th, 1990, a six-year old child 
killed his mother with a rifle because she wouldn’t give him a glass of 
Coca-Cola.

-          It is said that in the United States there are mothers who give 
their children milk mixed with Coca-Cola.  In rural Mexican communities 
there are mothers who give their children Coca-Cola to drink in place of milk.

Sources: Luis Capilla, “Multinationals, the Voracious Planetary Octopuses”; 
Coca-Cola Company; Joan Bonet; Tanga Word; CokeWatch; Polaris Institute; 
Mark Pendergrast, “God, Country and Coca-Cola”; Alison Gregor, “Coca-Cola: 
The Global Religion”; “Coca Cola, A Business Story of Terror and Crime”, 
Sinaltrainal/Rebelión, September 3, 2002; The Swiss Support Group, 
“Colombia Never Again”; Sinaltrainal; Information Bulletin on Trade and 
Development, No.10, April 2002, Guatemala; Reuters; Luis Ernesto Almario, 
ANNCOL; Campaign to Stop Killer Coke; Forbes.

(Translated by Sherry Telford, for CIEPAC, A.C)



Gustavo Castro Soto

  The Center for Economic and Political Investigations of Community 
Action,  A.C. CIEPAC,
CIEPAC is a member of the Movement for Democracy and Life (MDV) of Chiapas, 
the Mexican Network of Action Against Free Trade (RMALC) www.rmalc.org.mx, 
Convergence of Movements of the Peoples of the Americas (COMPA ) 
<http://www.sitiocompa.org>www.sitiocompa.org, Network for Peace in 
Chiapas, Week for Biological and Cultural Diversity 
<http://www.laneta.apc.org/biodiversidad>www.laneta.apc.org/biodiversidad, 
the International Forum "The People Before Globalization", Alternatives to 
the PPP 
<http://usuarios.tripod.es/xelaju/xela.htm>http://usuarios.tripod.es/xelaju/xela.htm, 
and of the Mexican Alliance for Self-Determination (AMAP) that is the 
Mexican network against the Puebla Panama Plan.  CIEPAC is a member of the 
Board of Directors of the Center for Economic Justice 
<http://www.econjustice.net/>http://www.econjustice.net and the Ecumenical 
Program on Central America and the Caribbean (EPICA) http://www.epica.org.


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__________________________________________________________________________________________

CIEPAC, A.C.
Centro de Investigaciones Económicas y Políticas de Acción Comunitaria
Calle de La Primavera # 6
Barrio de la Merced
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