On March 2nd Rodolfo Vecino, the National Legal Officer of USO (Colombian Oil Workers’ Union), and Rafael Cabarcas, a retired former member of the USO National Executive, and activist in the opposition Democratic Pole political party, received death threats from paramilitaries. The threat declared that the paramilitaries knew where they were, and that despite their bodyguards, the paramilitaries would now pass from warnings to action.
The USO is at the forefront in the struggle to prevent the privatisation of the Colombian oil sector and members of the USO have often been targeted by threats and assassination attempts. Over 100 members have been murdered in recent years.
Please send a message to the Colombian Ambassador calling for the Colombian government to protect the lives of these two trade unionists.
