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12 February, 2007
A delegation that returned recently from Guatemala said that serious concerns exist in the investigation of Pedro Zamora, general secretary of the STEPQ Dockers’ Union in Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala. The 10-member delegation, headed by the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) and the ITUC, found there was vital evidence missing and that police failed to properly secure the crime scene.
Zamora, 43, was killed in a hail of bullets on 15 January after gathering his children, ages 3 and 5, from medical appointments. As the STEPQ union leader lay critically wounded in the front seat of his car, one of the assailants came up to him at close range and shot him in the face. His 3-year-old son was severely wounded in the attack.
Port workers in Quetzal, led by Zamora, have been campaigning to preserve their trade union in the face of privatisation. STEPQ is seeking job security and decent work for port workers through a programme of investment and modernisation, but government and port officials have ignored workers’ expertise on the port’s expansion.
The trade union delegation, in Guatemala from 28 January to 2 February, also found that police were pursuing only a single line of investigation – that of a family and domestic violence case, thus ignoring telephone death threats and suspicious followings, which occurred before the 15 January death of Zamora.
While in Guatemala, the delegation, comprised of Spanish, US, and Venezuelan unionists, along with ITF and ITUC leaders, called for the reinstatement of 9 STEPQ members at the port. They were fired in October for their trade union activities.
“One of the key recommendations to come out of the visit is that the global union campaign for justice for Zamora should be expanded to support STEPQ and its leaders whose lives remain under threat,” said ITF Assistant Gen. Sec. Stuart Howard. The ITF and ITUC have submitted a formal ILO complaint against the Guatemalan government on the assassination of Zamora and infringement of trade union rights.
Trade unions and activists are encouraged to join the ITF’s Guatemalan Charter for Justice Campaign by visiting: http://www.itfglobal.org/campaigns/zamora.cfm.