Oil Strike Over Missing Leader
On Feb. 25, rightwing paramilitary forces abducted Colombian union leader Gilberto Torres Martinez in Monterrey municipality, Casanare department, as he was on his way home from work. Torres is the general secretary of the pipeline section of the United Union of Workers (USO), which represents workers at the state-run oil company Ecopetrol. Some 5,000 Ecopetrol workers responded to Torres' disappearance by launching an open-ended general strike on Feb. 26; about 500 of the strikers marched on Feb. 27 through the oil port city of Barrancabermeja to protest his abduction. The oil company instituted an emergency plan which allowed production to be resumed at nearly normal levels as of Feb. 28, but USO leaders said the workers would remain on strike until Torres is released. [USO Communique 2/27/02 via Vientos del Sur (VISUR) 2/28/02; International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM) Update 2/28/02; El Pais (Cali) 2/27/02; El Tiempo (Bogota) 2/28/02; Hoy (NY) 2/28/02 from AP]
More Than 20 Unionists Killed So Far in 2002
More than 20 unionists have been killed in Colombia so far this year. On Feb. 11, assailants shot to death union activist Julio Galeano as he left his home in Cali with his wife. Galeano was an active member of Sintraemcali, the Union of Workers of the Municipal Companies of Cali (Emcali). His wife, also a union activist, fled the scene and escaped injury. Both had participated in the 36-day occupation of the Municipal Administration Center (CAM) in Cali, which ended on Jan. 29 with an agreement blocking Emcali's privatization [see Update #627]. The rightwing paramilitary United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) had declared Sintraemcali workers military targets in retaliation for the successful protest action. [Message from Central Unitaria de Trabajadores (CUT) Departamento Derechos Humanos 2/14/02, posted on Colombia Indymedia 2/16/02]
Truckdrivers' Strike Ended
In other news, the 90,000-member Colombian Truckers Association (ACC) reached an agreement with Transport Minister Gustavo Canal on Feb. 23, putting an end to a five-day strike by independent truck owner-drivers. [RCN Radio (website) 2/23/02]
From the
Weekly News Update on the Americas (ISSN 1084-922X), published by the Nicaragua Solidarity Network of Greater New York, 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012, 212-674-9499,
wnu@igc.org.
Paramilitaries Use Aircraft
