Take Action Today to End Violence Against Guatemalan Trade Unionists
Since the Bush administration pushed the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) through Congress in 2005, Guatemala has become the second most dangerous country for trade unionists in Latin America, trailing only Colombia, according to the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC).
The ITUC reported nine trade unionists were murdered in 2008, in addition to two trade unionists murdered in 2007. In the two years leading up to CAFTA’s approval, no trade unionists were murdered in Guatemala. According to the ITUC’s 2009 Annual Survey:
the situation [in Guatemala] has worsened for trade unionists. Anti-union violence is constant, with assassinations, threats, harassment, shootings at people’s homes, raids and attacks on union offices, and assaults and harassment of trade union leaders and their families.
