January 18, 2007

The Honorable Condoleezza Rice
U.S. Secretary of State
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20520

Dear Secretary Rice:

On behalf of the nearly 10 million members of the AFL-CIO, I write to express my deepest dismay and outrage over the murder of Pedro Zamora, General Secretary of the Dockworkers Union, STEPQ of Guatemala. Mr. Zamora was a father, a leader of his union, well known to the international labor community, and was a partner who participated actively in the AFL-CIO’s international programs coordinated by the Solidarity Center in Guatemala. Through our work with him to advocate for decent working conditions at the Port of Quetzal, we knew Mr. Zamora to be a professional who was concerned first and foremost with representing his members.

Most recently we worked with Mr. Zamora and his union to prepare for a series of tough negotiations with the Port of Quetzal management authorities and stood with them when they were locked out of their workplace during negotiations, and during a militarization of the Port. Although this process appeared to be back on track, we were concerned about ongoing harassment, surveillance and intimidation that Mr. Zamora and his union members documented during this period. Now, all signs indicate that Mr. Zamora paid for this commitment to his union with his life.

On Monday, January 15, on his way to pick up his children from an appointment at the health center located in the Port of Quetzal grounds, Mr. Zamora was gunned down using methods reminiscent of those used by paramilitary forces during Guatemala’s civil war. His killers fired over 100 shots, 20 of which hit him, and fired one final shot to the face to further degrade and underscore the message of his murder. Mr. Zamora’s three-year-old son was seriously injured in the attack.

It is unacceptable that as our countries grow closer and closer in trade and immigration that Guatemalans who have taken on the honorable responsibility of representing their coworkers in what should be civil, peaceful labor-management negotiations, should fall victim to brutal acts of violence at their workplace. Achieving justice in the murder of Mr. Zamora represents one small step in the path towards the primacy of rule of law over impunity and towards the support of real democracy in Guatemala.

We encourage the U.S. government to ask the Government of Guatemala to immediately investigate the circumstances surrounding the murder of Pedro Zamora and apprehend those responsible. We would appreciate your keeping us informed as any update on the case would be of extreme interest to the AFL-CIO, the International Transport Federation and the international labor community.

Sincerely,

John J. Sweeney
President

JJS/jhl

Cc: Honorable President Oscar Berger Perdomo
      Honorable Ambassador Guillermo Castillo