On February 5, Miguel Ángel González Ramírez,
a member of the Union of Banana Workers of
Izabal (SITRABI) was gunned down as he
returned home from a soccer game in the
Morales municipality village of El Cedro,
department of Izabal. This death brings the
number of SITRABI members slain in the last
10 months up to 5.
The violence against SITRABI has been
escalating over the last year and is being
denounced nationally and internationally by
this historical banana workers’ union, one
of the largest labor organizations in
Guatemala.
“The murder of our fellow unionist Miguel
Ángel González Ramírez has not only cast
a pall over our organization yet again, it
is another blatant sign of the high level of
insecurity we are living in.”
“We are being attacked relentlessly and
murdered, as the situation becomes more and
more difficult with each passing day,”
Noé Ramírez Portela, general secretary
of SITRABI, told SIREL.
According to Ramírez, a dozen leaders
and members of the organization have been
murdered in attacks by unidentified
perpetrators since 2007, when his brother,
SITRABI union leader Marco Tulio
Ramírez Portela, was killed. Five of
these deadly attacks occurred within the
last 10 months alone.1
None of these crimes has been investigated
by law enforcement authorities.
SITRABI
issued a public statement denouncing the
situation of vulnerability and total lack of
protection its leaders and members are
under.
It also accused the authorities of turning a
blind eye. An example of this deliberate
neglect is the decision by the new Otto
Pérez administration to remove the
security guards that had been appointed to
protect SITRABI’s general
secretary.
“No reason was given for this decision. I
simply received a written communication from
the Vice Minister of the Interior announcing
that my protection was being cancelled. This
is an irresponsible decision that puts my
life at risk,” Ramírez Portela said.
Lastly, SITRABI demanded that the
authorities launch an immediate
investigation to find Miguel Ángel
González Ramírez’ killers, that security
guards be reappointed to protect Noé
Ramírez, and that the safety of all its
union leaders and members be guaranteed.
“This new murder represents a direct attack
on our organization. We need to make this
situation known to the world, and we thank
our sister organizations, like the IUF,
for their solidarity,” Ramírez Portela
concluded.
