Community relations in the Colombian mining sector: The Serafino Iacono method

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Mineworkers’ Leader, Rafael Tobón, Gunned Down in Antioquía, Colombia 

The ICEM condemns the cowardly assassination of Colombian mineworkers’ leader Rafael Tobón Zea on 26 July. Tobón was shot three times and killed by paramilitaries near his home in the city of Segovia, Antioquía department, about 220 kilometres north of Medellín.

Rafael Tobón, 40, was a leader of the metal and mineworkers’ union Sintramienegética, where he was a founding member of that union at Frontino Gold Mines Ltd. He worked there for 15 years and was still assisting discharged miners of Frontino after the Medellín-based company liquidated and its underground mines were bought last year by Modoro Resources Ltd. of Canada and Gran Colombia Gold S.A.
He was working in a smaller gold mine in Antioquía department and organising workers there when he was killed last week. Sintramienegética had reported threats to its leaders that were believed to be tied to the contested takeover of Frontino by Modora and Gran Colombia, and the sacking of all miners.

The ICEM calls on the government of Colombia and the authorities in Segovia and Antioquía state to spare no resource in apprehending and bringing to justice the perpetrators of this heinous crime. Let there be no impunity for the miscreants of Colombia who take the lives of trade unionists in cold blood.

Colombia, bastion of human rights

To celebrate the Clintons' (both of 'em) arrival and hangout in Colombia, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC, the world's biggest union body) released its annual survey of world deaths due to trade union activity today. Here's how the numbers look in chart form.

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According to ITUC, when it comes to The Americas:

There has been no improvement in the plight of trade unionists on the American continent, undoubtedly owing to the impunity enjoyed by those responsible for trade union rights violations. This is, in substance, the main conclusion that can be drawn from the "Americas" section of the International Trade Union Confederation’s 2010 report on trade union rights violations around the world. It is not surprising that this continent continues to be the most deadly for trade unionists, especially in Colombia, where 48 were killed this year alone.

The American continent has long been the scene of anti-union murders, chiefly in Colombia, Guatemala (16) and Honduras (12), together with abductions, death threats, attacks and even raids on trade unionists’ homes.

Whilst Latin America may have shown greater resistance to the financial turmoil than other parts of the world, the global financial and economic crises have had a profound impact on the region’s real economy. The ITUC annual survey explains that many governments, such as that of Costa Rica, have used the crisis as a pretext for further weakening trade union rights, adopting measures, for example, to increase labour flexibility.

In Colombia, the world’s most dangerous country for trade unionists (Colombia accounts for 60% of all the murders committed around the world on the grounds of trade union activities), the endemic climate of anti-unionism would appear to have become even more deeply rooted. In addition to the many reported murders, there are the cases that have not been registered, as well as the attempted murders, disappearances and death threats. Violence against women is also on the rise: five of the 48 trade unionists assassinated were women. The facts established in the ITUC report point clearly to the fact that the impunity enjoyed by those responsible for these crimes erases any hope of eradicating the anti-union climate in Colombia continues here.

This must be why Mish Shedlock extols the virtues of Colombia. The full ITUC report or the regional sections thereof can be downloaded here.