Guatemala – Pre-meditated murder of Guatemalan banana workers’ leader

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.ituc-csi.org/spip.php?article1431〈=fr

Brussels, 26 September 2007 : The ITUC has condemned the brutal murder of Marco Tulio Ramirez Portela, Secretary of Culture and Sports of the Guatemalan Banana Workers Union of Izabal, SITRABI.



Marco Tulio Ramirez was also the brother of Noé Antonio Ramírez Portela, the union’s General Secretary.

He was gunned down outside his home by masked men carrying high calibre weapons as he was leaving for work at 5.45 on the morning of Sunday, 23 September.

The background to this murder is particularly disturbing. The ITUC recently protested about the forced entry into SITRABI’s premises by five soldiers from the Guatemalan army at the end of July. They demanded the names of the union’s leaders, the size of its membership and the nature of its activities. SITRABI complained about this incident to the authorities and only last week had a meeting at the Ministry of Defence who promised there would be an “internal investigation”. Just five days later, Marc Tulio Ramirez was murdered, in what was clearly a targeted attack.

FULL story at link.