Argentine labor union loses two members to police violence
Two workers belonging to Argentina's Confederation of Popular Economy Laborers (CTEP) were killed by police over the last three days. Both were shot from behind.
The first victim, textile worker Rodolfo Orellana, 36, died Thursday during an attempt to seize an empty lot in Aldo Bonzi, a working-class suburb southwest of Buenos Aires, for use as makeshift housing. Orellana was shot point blank through the shoulder blade, the bullet exiting through his face.
The second, horticulturist Marcos Soria, 32, died today while escaping a beating by Córdoba Province Police in Barrio Angelelli, a poor suburb south of Córdoba, the country's second largest city. He was reportedly ambushed and was not protesting.
Like Orellana, Soria was shot from behind. Neither man was armed.
Five others, who witnessed the deaths as either protesters or bystanders, have been detained and have reportedly not been allowed to contact family, lawyers, or the press.
The CTEP, which represents mostly unregistered and undocumented workers at the lower end of the economic scale, denounced the murders and announced a demonstration for Monday morning in downtown Buenos Aires to demand justice.
"I've long since stopped believing in coincidences," CTEP leader Juan Grabois, a labor lawyer, remarked following news of Soria's death. "This is intolerable, and this government is responsible."
Shot in the dark
These latest deaths are not the first involving victims shot in the back by federal or provincial police since the right-wing Mauricio Macri administration took office three years ago.
Friday marked the anniversary of a similar case involving indigenous rights protester Rafael Nahuel. Nahuel, 22, was shot as he fled a volley of gunfire from the Coast Guard near the estate of British expat Joe Lewis - in whose lakefront home Macri has vacationed as president.
Another victim, artist Santiago Maldonado, 26, was killed nearby by Gendarmerie (federal militarized police) that August in as yet unexplained circumstances. Security Minister Patricia Bullrich later promoted the main suspect.
Since Macri took office, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) has expressed concern over excessive and indiscriminate use of force - as well as over the use of indefinite detention against critics and opponents.
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Murdered CTEP union workers Marcos Soria and Rodolfo Orellana.
As the economy worsens and opposition to the right-wing Macri regime intensifies, incidents of unarmed protesters shot in the back by police have become a growing trend in Argentina.
