Death Squads

The murder of Colombian trade unionists by pro-government death squads continues. These murderers are directed by Colombian military officers trained at the School of the Americas at Fort Benning, Georgia. The Colombia Action Network says "Shut down the School of the Americas and shut down the 7 U.S. military bases in Colombia! The killing of trade unionists must stop!"

International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) ITUC OnLine
July 6, 2010

Brussels

The trade union world is again in mourning after the assassination of two more trade unionists in Colombia. The ITUC, together with its Colombia affiliates the CUT, the CGT and the CTC, has roundly condemned the murders, expressing its deep shock at the news of the killing of Nelson Camacho González, a member of the oil industry's united workers' union USO (Unión Sindical Obrera) and of Ibio Efrén Caicedo, an activist from the Antioquia teachers' association ADIDA (Asociación de Institutores de Antioquia).

by James Petras
June 27, 2010

Juan Manuel Santos, notorious Defense Minister in the regime of outgoing President Alvaro Uribe and closely identified with high crimes against humanity "won" the recent Presidential elections in Colombia, June 2010. The major electronic and print media CNN, FOX News, Washington Post, the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and the once liberal Financial Times (FT) hailed Santos election, as a great victory for democracy. According to the FT, "Colombia not Venezuela is (the) best model for Latin America" (FT 6/23/2010 p. 8). Citing Santos "overwhelming" margin – he garnered 69% of the vote, the FT claimed he won a "strong mandate" (FT 6/22/2010). In what has to be one of the most flagrant cover-ups in recent history, the media accounts exclude the most egregious facts about the elections and the profoundly authoritarian policies pursued by Santos over the past decade.

In 1996, a 41-year-old Colombian trade unionist applied at the Canadian embassy in Mexico City to immigrate to Canada. Amparo Torres was well-known in the region. She was a founding member of the Union Patriotica, a coalition of leftist political parties created a few years earlier at the behest of Colombia's then president in order to bring an end to decades of guerrilla warfare. She had also been kidnapped by one of the country's right-wing death squads.

Birmingham, AL - In northwestern Colombia in 2001, the president and vice president of the mining union Sintramienergetica were taken off a Drummond bus and shot to death by paramilitary death squads hired by the corporation. Later that year, paramilitaries also killed the new president. These men were all killed during negotiations with Drummond.

In northwestern Colombia in 2001, the president and vice president of the mining union Sintramienergetica were taken off a Drummond bus and shot to death by paramilitary death squads hired by the corporation. Later that year, paramilitaries also killed the new president. These men were all killed during negotiations with Drummond.