Rightwing Colombian presidential candidate Alvaro Uribe Velez escaped uninjured when a bus exploded as his motorcade passed by on Apr. 14 in the northern city of Barranquilla. At least three bystanders were killed--including a five-year old girl, according to one report--and about 20 people were injured, including police escorts. Uribe, an independent, leads in polls for the May 26 presidential election. He was traveling in a heavily armored car which protected him from injury. [El Diario-La Prensa 4/15/02 from correspondent; New York Times 4/15/02 from AP]... Colombian union leader Javier Correa addressed a rally sponsored by the powerful US Teamsters union in New York on Apr. 17 to protest violations of workers' rights by the Coca-Cola Company. Correa's union, Sinaltrainal, which represents bottling plant workers in Colombia, filed a suit in Miami federal court last July--with the support of the United Steel Workers of America (USWA)--charging that Coca-Cola collaborated with death squads in the murder of union leaders [see Update #599]. Teamster president James P. Hoffa told the rally: "We're going to struggle for the rights of the workers; we won't allow more abuses, more injustices." [New York Times 4/18/02; El Diario-La Prensa 4/18/02, quotation retranslated from Spanish]