Colombia

U R G E N T

SINTRAINAGRO-CIÉNAGA leader murdered

Letter from IUF Latin America
to the President of Colombia

 

 

Regional Latinoamericana
Unión Internacional de Trabajadores de la Alimentación,
Agrícolas, Hoteles, Restaurantes, Tabaco y Afines (Rel-UITA)


   

Comité
Ejecutivo
Latinoamericano:


Presidente
Argentino Geneiro
UTHGRA
Argentina

Vicepresidenta
Neuza Barbosa
CNTA
Brasil

Carolina Llanos
UATRE
Argentina

Héctor Ponce
ATILRA
Argentina

Silvia Villaverde
FAOPCHPYA
Argentina

Alberto Broch
CONTAG
Brasil

Siderlei de Oliveira
CONTAC
Brasil

Luis A. Pedraza
UNAC
Colombia

Guillermo Rivera
SINTRAINAGRO
Colombia

Edwin Ranchos
FESTRAS
Guatemala

Gerardo Iglesias
Secretario Regional

 

Montevideo, May 20, 2010

 

To the President of the Republic of Colombia

Dr. Álvaro Uribe Vélez

Palacio de Nariño

Bogotá

  

 

Ref.:  Murder of trade union leader Francisco Antonio Abello Rebollo, Gnecco - Finca Palo Alto worker

 

 

Dear Sir,

 

It is with deep outrage and sorrow that we are writing you to denounce the murder of our fellow unionist Francisco Antonio Abello Rebollo, a worker at the Gnecco Espinosa Palo Alto establishment and member of the governing board of the National Union of Agroindustry Worker (SINTRAINAGRO) Ciénaga division.

 

Early this year, IUF Latin America conducted an International Campaign to support the workers of the company Gnecco Espinosa, who had been savagely repressed for their decision to unionize and join SINTRAINAGRO. “We’re here to kill you all! Come on out! You can’t hide from us!”, the mercenaries hired by the company yelled as they began shooting.

 

After several weeks of relentless efforts, throughout which the company ignored the claims of the trade union and the Ministry of Social Protection, we acknowledge that it was your decisive intervention that ultimately resulted in the signing of the agreement that ended the conflict, 67 days after it began.

 

But just as the situation seemed fully overcome, on May 17, two hired guns arrived at the oil palm plantation where Francisco Antonio Abello Rebollo was working and gunned him down.

 

Francisco Abello was well known to leaders of both SINTRAINAGRO and IUF Colombia. They remember him as a committed activist who was always there to support his fellow workers, giving them strength to get through the long and difficult days of the occupation, even as everyone feared an imminent tragic outcome. As with so many other Colombian unionists, it was his prominent role in the conflict that brought on his death.

 

Mr. President, you are fully aware of the arbitrary actions of the company Gnecco Espinosa, who has systematically broken the law with its hostile and anti-democratic behavior. In view of the campaign of terror conducted by the company with the sole aim of dismantling the trade union, the murder of Francisco Antonio Abello Rebollo cannot be seen as a random incident.

 

Consequently, we urge your government to act immediately to investigate this crime and find the material and intellectual perpetrators, bringing them to justice.

 

Sincerely yours,

 

 

Gerardo Iglesias

Secretario regional UITA

 

 

Copia:

 

Vicepresidente de la República

Comité Ejecutivo Central Unitaria de Trabajadores (CUT)

UITA l Secretaría General

Organización Internacional del Trabajo (OIT)

Amnistía Internacional

Human Rights

SINTRAINAGRO

EFFAT UITA Unión Europea

UGT (España)

CCOO (España)

Movimiento Mundial por los Bosques Tropicales (WRM)

Banco Mundial

 

  

Wilson Ferreira Aldunate 1229 Ofic. 201, Montevideo, Uruguay

Tel: (5982) 9007473 - 9021048 / Fax: 9030905  -  uita@rel-uita.org

Rel-UITA

           May 20, 2010

 

 

 

 

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  UITA - Secretaría Regional Latinoamericana - Montevideo - Uruguay

Wilson Ferreira Aldunate 1229 / 201 - Tel. (598 2) 900 7473 -  902 1048 -  Fax 903 0905