The information that follows was provided by the Secretary General of the UTC (CUTCSA Workers Union) and UNOTT (National Union of Transport Workers) transport unions, who is also one of the three coordinators of the PIT-CNT (National Workers Central) of Uruguay (2 Sep. 1994).

COTSUR always belonged to UNOTT as an affiliate; the cooperative enterprise was owned and managed by its members. When COTSUR went bankrupt, its transport lines were opened to tender and became the property of other companies. Most of the lines were transferred to other cooperatives (RAINCOOP and COETC), and one of the lines was transferred to a private company called COMESA (a Sociedad Anónima, roughly equivalent to "Incorporated" in Canadian business law). COTSUR workers were distributed among the new owners of the lines; those who went to the cooperatives became co-op employees, while those who became employees of COMESA did so as shareholders. UNOTT is a union and the workers of COMESA and the cooperatives COETC and RAINCOOP are affiliated to UNOTT; when the COTSUR employees moved to these companies, they continued to be affiliated to UNOTT.

This response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

UTC/UNOTT, Montevideo. 2 September 1994. Fax received by DIRB.