With over 3,000 trade unionists murdered since the 1970s and hundreds more threatened or attacked, Colombia remains the world’s most dangerous country for labour activists. Despite a left-leaning government and incremental reforms, the risks for those defending workers’ rights especially in regions tied to illegal economies remain devastatingly high.
Surviving Bullets for Standing with Workers
In July 2023, Jesús Cometa narrowly escaped death. As he drove through the Cauca Valley, gunmen on motorcycles opened fire on his car. Though Cometa survived, his bodyguard was seriously injured, still carrying a bullet in his chest. Cometa is a local organiser for Sintrainagro, Colombia’s largest agricultural union, in a region that produces much of the country’s sugar.
“When you take on these roles in the union, you lose your social life,” Cometa explains. “You can’t hang out in crowded places. You never know when you might be targeted. And your family becomes a target too.”
Decades of Violence Against Unionists
The slaughter of trade unionists in Colombia is not new. In Gabriel García Márquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude, he famously depicted the massacre of striking banana workers in the 1920s a real event rooted in Colombia’s history of corporate-backed violence against labour.
According to the Ministry of Labour, more than 3,000 trade unionists have been killed since the early 1970s. The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) continues to document the brutality. Its most recent annual report recorded 22 trade union murders worldwide half of them in Colombia.
“Colombia is still the deadliest country for trade unionists,” says Luc Triangle, general secretary of the ITUC. “These are targeted killings. They are not going after the top leadership but union organisers in small towns and villages.”
From 2020 to 2023, the ITUC recorded 45 murders in Colombia. The figures may be lower than in previous decades, but compared to the global context, the danger remains unmatched.
Why Are Unionists Being Targeted?
The roots of this violence lie deep in Colombia’s prolonged civil conflict, which for decades pitted leftist guerrilla groups against right-wing paramilitaries, drug traffickers, and the state. Although the war has technically ended, the political framing of trade unionists as “leftist guerrillas” continues.
“The trade union movement has always been associated with the left,” says Fabio Arias, president of the CUT, Colombia’s largest union federation. “And in Colombia, the right has long equated the left with terrorism.”
Attacks often occur in regions where illegal economies such as coca cultivation and unlicensed mining dominate, including Cauca, Nariño, Putumayo, Arauca, Norte de Santander, and Caquetá.
“That’s no coincidence,” Arias argues. “These are the areas where armed groups have the most to lose from organised labour.”
Who’s Behind the Attacks?
The perpetrators of these murders are rarely identified, let alone prosecuted. Union organisers believe some attacks are orchestrated by private businesses using armed groups to silence organising efforts especially during collective bargaining seasons, when threats often spike.
“There are so many armed groups here, it’s hard to know who’s behind the violence,” says Zenón Escobar, a sugar cane worker and unionist in Cauca. “The motives are clear, but the actors stay in the shadows.”
‘They Shot My Wife’
Jimmy Núñez, who represents street vendors in Cali, has faced repeated assassination attempts. In 2007, gunmen opened fire on his van, killing his colleague and injuring his wife. He was attacked again in 2010, 2012, and forced to relocate his family in 2013 after more threats.
“In this country, social leaders are killed every day,” Núñez says. “There’s no guarantee of survival for those of us trying to defend workers.”
Government Response and Symbolic Steps
Colombia’s president, Gustavo Petro, has made gestures toward acknowledging this legacy of violence. In 2023, his administration formally recognised the trade union movement as a victim of the country’s civil conflict the first such collective recognition.
“This was an important step,” says ITUC’s Luc Triangle. “Acknowledging past violence helps ensure those cases are investigated, and it sends a message that unionist lives matter.”
Corporate Responsibility Under Fire
As violence persists, questions are also being raised about the role of multinational corporations operating in Colombia. Labour groups are urging foreign companies to take responsibility for conditions in their supply chains and the safety of their workers.
“If I were a CEO, I would be asking tough questions,” says Triangle. “You can’t have a glossy human rights policy in Brussels and ignore killings in Cali. Multinational silence is complicity.”
Global companies sourcing sugar, coffee, bananas, and other Colombian products are under pressure to push for better protections for local workers or risk reputational damage at home.
No Safety Without Justice
Despite symbolic gestures and limited progress, the daily reality for many Colombian unionists remains perilous. In rural and urban areas alike, taking a stand for worker rights can mean putting your life and your family on the line.
Until perpetrators are held accountable, and economic and political systems stop rewarding silence, Colombia’s unionists will continue to face threats in a climate where justice remains the exception, not the rule.
