OF THE
TIMES
Colombia is infamous for being the most dangerous country in the world for trade unionists. According to the database of the CUT trade union federationi, nearly 2,800 union activists have been assassinated since the CUT was established in 1986. Contrary to claims sometimes made by Colombian officials, all of these men and women were killed as a direct result of their trade union activities.ii
As of the end of June 2010 at least 32 trade unionists - more than one per week - had been murdered.iii This is the highest rate of killings for some years, again contradicting official accounts which allege that the numbers of murders are falling.
In addition to the assassinations, nearly 200 trade union activists have been forcibly disappearedvi whilst others have been subjected to arbitrary imprisonment or physical attacks. Torture of trade unionists has also been well documented and trade unions and their members receive regular death threats, leading to many thousands of members fleeing their homes and jobs, sometimes into exile abroad.
Comment: Interestingly the plans for a war had been several years in the planning, despite Saakashvili denying it. A blog posted dated Oct. 19, 2006 states that precisely such a war is in the planning. The following was posted by a user called Lolly: