08.08.2002 – By Alfredo Castro
The Colombian government is continuing their campaign to wipe out the Colombian trade union movement with three unionists murdered in the last week of July alone. The unions say that they are bracing themselves for an upsurge in attacks under the new presidency of extremist lvaro Uribe Vlez.
So far this year paramilitary death squads working alongside of the Colombian armed forces have assassinated over 100 leading trade union activists as part of the dirty war being waged by the Colombian state against all forms of popular resistance in Colombia. Numerous others have been kidnapped or simply disappeared and the situation looks certain to deteriorate under the regime lvaro Uribe Vlez a man with a long history of working closely with the paramilitaries.
On July 26th, in a flagrant violation of humanitarian principles, a group of paramilitaries forced an ambulance travelling on the road between the city of Arauca and the town of Cravo, both in Arauca department, to stop before dragging the driver out of the vehicle and murdering him.
Roberto Rojas Pinzn, whose body was dumped in front of the La Prevencion farm, was an active member of the health workers trade union ANTHOC.
On July 31st a further two trade union activists were murdered by the death squads:
Wilfredo Camargo, who was shot dead at 7am when various paramilitaries arrived at his place of work, had been an activist with the SINTRAINAGRO trade union for agricultural workers for 17 years.
Rodrigo Gamboa Coy was the president of the SINTRADIN trade union in Cesar department. He had worked with the union for over 20 years and had also worked closely with indigenous and peasant organisations on land reform campaigns. He was shot dead by a paramilitary assassin in the city of Valledupar in Cesar department.
In response to this last assassination the national executive committee of SINTRADIN released a statement condemning both the murder of their member and the general campaign of terror being waged by the Colombian state. They went on to point out that the reason that Gamboa and so many others were being exterminated was that they campaigned for agrarian reform, peace with social justice and the right to organise for rural and working class communities. SINTRADIN said that it was the large landowners, the industrialists, the military high command and the Colombian elite in general who were opposed to such things and alleged that it was these groups that financed the paramilitary death squads responsible for most of the murders.
According to Jesus Gonzalez Luna, the national director for human rights of the CUT trade union federation, the problems faced by the Colombia union movement are likely to increase under lvaro Uribe Vlez; Vlez hates the union movement along with all other progressive sectors, said Gonzalez, he is likely to unleash the death squads upon us as soon as he is able to and that is why our movement and other progressives in Colombia not only oppose him and his policies but are also in urgent need of international solidarity.