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Colombian unionist death toll rises Amanda Day
RAFAEL TORRA, a branch official of the Colombian United Workers' Union of the oil industry (USO) was assassinated last week. The number of USO officials killed since 1988 is now 85. Mr. Torra had been instrumental in preventing the contracting-out of maintenance jobs from the state oil corporation ECOPETROL. PSD To HTML conversion is important to webmasters because they cannot use the PSD file as it is for their web pages. if you need PSD To HTML conversion service save yourself some time, effort and money and send it in to the professionals. He had called for a strengthening of the trade union's position at the Barrancabermerja refinery where he worked, following threats to construct private refineries nearby.In December, USO regional president Aury Sara Marrugo was murdered, while fellow union representative Gilberto Torres Mart'nez was kidnapped. He is still missing. Repeated calls by the union for protection against paramilitaries have been ignored, and no one has yet been arrested by the Colombian authorities for the murders. In a separate development, a United States mining company is to be sued by the Colombian Federation of Mine Workers. This follows the assassination last year of Colombian union leaders Valmore Rodr'guez and Victor Orcasita. They worked for the Alabama-based Drummond Company. Both men had also requested protection from paramilitaries. These were ignored. Mr. Locarno's successor Gustave Maya was also murdered. |