Being a trade union organiser in bottling plants used by Coca-Cola in Colombia is a dangerous business - they are prime targets for death squads. Can Coke be held responsible?...Sinaltrainal [Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de la Industria de Alimentos]…claim[s] seven trade unionists have been killed by paramilitaries, the bottlers have links with the paras, and the bottlers are accused of union-busting, intimidation and harassment of workers...To this day the Coca-Cola Company itself has not investigated the alleged links of Colombian bottling plant managers with the paramilitaries. From the outset, the company's Atlanta headquarters denied "any connection to any human-rights violations" and distanced itself from the bottlers, saying, "The Coca-Cola Company does not own or operate any bottling plants in Colombia."...In..2001 [Sinaltral]...brought a lawsuit in the US against the Coca-Cola company and its Colombian bottlers...[A] result is expected...in 2009. [also refers to Bebidas y Alimentos, Panamco (part of Coca-Cola FEMSA, Gap, Nike]