Take Action to Protest Murder of Guatemalan Union Leader

[Omaha Steve]

http://blog.aflcio.org/2007/09/26/take-action-to-protest-murder-of-guatemalan-union-leader/

by Tula Connell, Sep 26, 2007

Another horrific reminder that in many places in the world supporting a union can cost you your life.

On Sept. 23, as Marco Tulio Portela Ramirez prepared to go to work at a banana plantation in Izabal, Guatemala, he was gunned down at his house by armed masked men. Ramirez was the secretary of culture and sport at SITRABI, the union for banana workers in Izabal. His brother, Noé Ramirez, is the general secretary. He leaves behind a wife and young children.

According to the AFL-CIO Solidarity Center:

The assassination of Ramirez came just three days after SITRABI learned that military officers had been disciplined by the Ministry of Defense in response to SITRABI complaints about the unlawful entry.

Ramirez’s murder is the most recent in a series of threats and attacks against SITRABI and its leaders. According to STITCH, a nationwide group of women organizing for social justice:

The union firmly believes this killing is directly related to the work they have been doing to end the intimidation and harassment of their union. Most recently, the union intervened with the Public Ministry and the Ministry of Defense in Guatemala in response to military personnel who forcibly visited their office.

FULL story at link.