When you crack open a Diet Coke, sip a Nestea, or chug back some Dasani bottled water, do you think about murdered and disappeared Columbian union activists? Probably not, but a new documentary film wants you to think more critically about what you’re supporting when you consume a Coca-Cola product.

“The Coca-Cola Case,” by filmmakers German Guitierrez and Carmen Garcia, and funded in part by the National Film Board of Canada, allege that owners of Coca-Cola bottling plants in Columbia are guilty of systematic intimidation of union activists that include kidnappings, torture, and murder.

Since 1989, right-wing paramilitary groups in Columbia – allegedly working closely with bottling plant managers – have killed seven union leaders, while hundreds of other Coke workers have been tortured, kidnapped or “disappeared”.

The link between the murders, beatings and kidnappings with paramilitary groups is not disputed, however the soft drink supplier has labeled the connection between the violent paramilitaries with the Coca-Cola Company as “defamation”.

Still the Coca-Cola Company, by its critics, has been said to be – at the very least – complicit in murder and kidnapping because the multi-billion dollar corporation has known of the violence and done nothing to stop it.

At the very worst, Coke’s critics allege that the company actively encourages the intimidation of unions because it keeps wages down and profit margins fat.

Coke accused of ‘censorship’

Cinema Politica, the Canadian-based media arts organization that is screening the film, reports that lawyers for Coke have sent threatening letters to their Montreal office, insinuating that legal action will be taken against the documentary screening network if it continues to show “The Coca-Cola Case” at campuses across Canada and Europe.

Cinema Politica is refusing to back down citing free speech, and further alleges that Coke may be trying to hide the truth.

“They obviously do not want the public to see what’s in this film, and they see our network for what it is – the largest international campus-based documentary network in the world,” said Ezra Winton, Founder of Cinema Politica.

“And since our main audience is made up of students, Coke’s target market, they’re obviously willing to use intimidation to try and shut us down.”

The controversial film is tentatively scheduled to screen on Feb. 23 at the University of Lethbridge. At the premier screening in Montreal last week, over 700 people viewed the documentary at Concordia University, and an additional 200 had to be turned away.

Coca-Cola has also been rumoured to be pressuring university administrations across Canada to block the showcase of the film on their campuses.

Coke gives millions to universities across the country; the U of L being one of them.

Should students care or take the money?

Both the University of Lethbridge and the U of L Students’ Union (ULSU) have contracts with Coca-Cola that promise the soft drink supplier will be the sole vendor on campus. In return both organizations receive cash from the cola giant.

Officials with both the U of L and ULSU refused to divulge just how much cash Coke hands over each year due to a confidentiality agreement, but The Meliorist has learned that Coke gives the ULSU upwards of $30,000, and sources put the University’s take at over $1 million.

Officials with both the ULSU and the U of L did state that the monies provided by Coca-Cola are beneficial to students because they fund scholarships directly, and are also used for building renovations and even concerts.

It is clear that students at the U of L benefit from the Coke contracts in place at this institution and in the Students’ Union. What is less clear is that if students will think twice the next time they reach for a Diet Coke after seeing the documentary on Feb. 23^rd.