The latest wave of anti-union violence is focussed on USO the oil workers and unions in the city of Barrancabermeja:
- On 16th October LUIS ANAYA, Treasurer of the San Silvestre Drivers and Transport Workers Union SINCOTRAINDER – CUT, was assassinated as he left his home in Barrancabermeja.
- On 16th October ARTURO ESCALANTE MOROS, a member of the oilworkers union USO- CUT was assassinated in Barrancabermeja. He had been disappeared on 27th September.
- On 19th October LUIS LOPEZ, President of the San Silvestre Drivers and Transpot Workers Union SINCOTRAINDER – CUT was assassinated in Barrancabermeja.
Communists Persecuted
- 2nd October: Octavio Sarmiento, Ex-Parlamentarian and Ex-Vicepresident of the Unión Patriótica assassinated in Arauca.
- 8th October: Jairo Antonio Fajardo, Organisation Secretario of the Colombian Communist Party (PCC) in Cartagena de Chairá detained and disappeared on the Montañitas – Paujil road in Caquetá departament.
- 10th October: Elías Marín, community mayor of Cartagena de Chairá is assassinated with four companions on the Montañitas – Paujil road.
- 11th October: Camilo Zuluaga, leader of the Communist Youth in Tolima, and communist militant Jesús Arias are assassinated on the Dolores – Prado road.
- 16th October: Julián Rodríguez, a communist militant in Barrancabermeja is assassinated during a paramilitary operation.
- 18th October: Nelson Tovar, Secretary for Agriculture in Tolima departament and a communist militant is detained by the Attorney General charged with rebellion.
Partido Comunista Colombiano
<paco@col1.telecom.com.co>
Gustavo Soler
Comrade GUSTAVO SOLER MORA President of the El Paso Branch of the National Union of Mining Industry and Energy Workers SINTRAMINERGÉTICA – CUT was left by his bodyguards at the bus station in Valledupar at 2.30pm on 5th October, from where he was to travel to his home in Chiriguaná. On the way the bus was stopped by paramilitaries who were in a white van. They called out his name and took him from the bus. At 9.00am on Sunday 7th October peasants found his corpse in the rural area Rincón Hondo. The body showed signs of torture and there were two gunshots to the head.
Comrade Gustavo Soler had replaced Valmore Locarno, as union president. Valmore also used to work for the US multinational Drummond. He too was assassinated this March.
The policy of extermination that has been applied to the leadership of SINTRAMINERGÉTICA, and especially its leadership in El Paso, has left 5 leaders assassinated in 2001. The attitude of the government and the bosses is to not provide the gaurantees necessary for the exercise of trade union freedoms, and this applies to the trade union movement as a whole as well as to SINTRAMINERGÉTICA.
CUT EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 10th October 2001
