As Colombia approaches presidential elections next year, the US decision to decertify the country in the war on drugs plays into the hands of its allies on the political right, writes NICK MacWILLIAM

FORTY years on Hilary Cave offers her recollections of the 1984 miners’ strike from her vantage point as a member of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) headquarters staff. Her official responsibilities as head of education vanished as she assumed all manner of organisational tasks including the organisation of mass rallies and demonstrations throughout the country.
The opening chapter recounts a confrontation between the author, accompanied by NUM chief executive Roger Windsor, on the way to a meeting with a police operations chief, and a police roadblock intent on stopping miners from moving around the county.
Characteristically she refused to bow to police intimidation, or let them know she was on her way to meet their boss, challenged them to arrest her and forced them to abandon their pretence and let her pass.
by Hilary Cave


