Colombia has long been considered the most dangerous country in the world for trade unionists, with a grim legacy of violence targeting those who fight for workers’ rights. Despite a shift towards peace in recent years, union leaders like Jesús Cometa in the Cauca Valley still face deadly threats. In July 2023, Cometa narrowly escaped an assassination attempt; his bodyguard was shot and still carries a bullet in his chest.
Trade union representatives, especially in regions like Cauca, Nariño, and Putumayo, face constant danger due to the intersection of labour activism, drug trafficking, and illegal mining. These areas are also home to Colombia’s sugar industry, where Cometa represents Sintrainagro, the country’s largest agricultural union.
“When you take on these roles in the union, you lose your social life,” says Cometa. “Your family suffers too because they know that they’re also targets.”
Colombia’s civil conflict, stretching back decades, created a deadly association between left-wing politics and insurgency. According to Fabio Arias, president of the Central Union of Workers (CUT), unionists are often accused of being guerrillas or terrorists an allegation that has historically justified violence against them.
The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) reports that of the 22 trade unionists killed globally between March 2023 and March 2024, half were Colombian. From 2020 to 2023, 45 such murders occurred in the country, underscoring the continuing danger.
While President Gustavo Petro’s leftist government formally recognized trade unionists as victims of Colombia’s conflict in 2023, investigations and justice remain elusive.
Foreign companies operating in Colombia are also under scrutiny. “They cannot have a nice code of conduct and remain silent when trade unionists are killed,” says ITUC’s Luc Triangle.
The Colombian Labour Ministry reports that over 3,000 unionists have been murdered since the 1970s. From Gabriel García Márquez’s fictionalized account of the 1920s banana plantation massacre to modern-day assassinations, the struggle of Colombia’s labour movement is tragically ongoing.
Despite recent progress, Colombia remains a perilous place to fight for workers’ rights.
