Guatemalan Banana Union Leader Murdered

Posted to the IUF website 25-Sep-2007

Masked gunmen murdered Guatemalan union leader Marco Tulio Rammrez Portela
early in the morning of September 23 as he was leaving his home for work. Marco
Tulio was secretary of sports and culture of the banana workers union SITRABI,
which organizes Del Monte workers. His brother, Noi Antonio Rammrez Portela,is
the union general secretary.

Tulio's murder follows a pattern of rising anti-union violence and
institutional impunity in Guatemala. In July, the SITRABI headquarters was
raided by uniformed soldiers using official vehicles, who demanded information
on union officers and members. The union filed a full report with the Public
Prosecutors Office and the Special Unit for Crimes against Unionists and
Journalists.

The IUF has called on the Guatemalan government to immediately undertake a full
and open investigation into this latest union assassination. You can support
the struggle against immunity - Click here to send a message to the
authorities:

http://www.iuf.org/cgi-bin/campaigns/show_campaign.cgi?c=309