March 2007

A newly formed union at Exportaciones Bochica S.A. CI in La Ceja, Antioquia, has received threats signed by the Aguilas Negras del Oriente, one of Colombia's paramilitary groups. The union, Unión de Trabajadores de Exportaciones Bochica S.A. CI, formed on January 28th, 2007 and the following day requested legal recognition.

USLEAP was founded in New York City as the U.S./Guatemala Labor Education Project in 1987, making this year the organization's 20th Anniversary.

USLEAP will be preparing a 20th Anniversary booklet this summer to summarize the organization's life to date. Anniversary events will be held later this year in different areas of the country, including Chicago and Washington, DC. Watch for details in the next newsletter.

Pedro Zamora, general secretary of the union representing workers at the Pacific coast Port of Quetzal, was gunned down 50 meters from his home in Puerto Iztapa, on Monday January 15, 2007. The assassins fired 100 rounds into Zamora's pickup truck, striking him twenty times.

USLEAP wishes to welcome its two newest board members, Tim Beaty, Director of Global Strategies for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, and Gabriela Lemus, Executive Director of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement.