The record of their attacks on unionists shows they're good students. Union members, and especially union leaders, have been a prime target of the Colombian military. In the early 1990s, one Colombian trade unionist was murdered every other day, an average of 180 per year. By 1996, the number had increased to 253 murdered trade unionists annually. Ever since the implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1994, and the rebellion by indigenous people in Chiapas, Mexico has sent more soldiers to the SOA than any other country.
Trade unionism is built around the idea of solidarity.
An attack on workers anywhere is an attack on workers everywhere. We in the American trade union movement protest these attacks on our fellow unionists in Latin America. As American taxpayers, we object to financing this outrage. And we take issue with the idea that the American government should be training military officers of other countries for the purpose of throttling dissent. We must demand that our government close it now, and close it for good.