In Venezuela, Rise Of Labor Unions Turns Deadly

[naaman fletcher]

In Venezuela, socialist President Hugo Chavez frequently touts his country as a workers' paradise, where workers run nationalized companies and the oligarchs are kept in check.

But Venezuela is among the world's most dangerous countries for union organizers.

Trade union activists are being murdered at an alarming rate — 75 in the past two years — as new unions vie with traditional unions for power and control. Some union chiefs say government meddling in the unions is stirring the violence.

One after another, union members are being killed in Maracay, a historic city along Venezuela's northern fringe. One union leader was shot dead in his home. Three others died when two gunmen unloaded their handguns in the roadside restaurant where they were eating.

The latest victim was Jerry Diaz, a union activist killed by two gunmen in April. He was shot moments after getting into his car outside his house, says his brother, Cherry Diaz. Diaz says he was half a block away, ran to his brother and found him dying on the street.

The murder remains unresolved. Diaz says he doesn't know why his brother was killed.

But he says that a renegade union had been trying to oust his brother's established union in the paper-making company where he worked.

Anti-Chavez Unions

Under Chavez, unions have multiplied exponentially, promoted by the government to counter what officials here call stridently anti-Chavez unions
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http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128930031

It looks like there was no problem with Venezuelan unions until Chavez decided that unions were only acceptable if they supported his politics.

[Wilms]

1. "*socialist*" President Hugo Chavez?

Didn't they mean to say "democratically-elected"?

Your comment seems a really HUGE stretch. What in that article suggests the killings were by the government? You act as if there aren't other scenarios, likely more likely.

[naaman fletcher]

2. It's seems to me,

like the tension is between unions. Not oligarchs vs. unions. Chavez is encouraging new unions that support him to replace the old ones, hence my comment.

[Wilms]

5. Seems? Based on what? A victim's brother saying he has no idea who may have done it?

Not a lot to go on, unless you just like going on and on.

Any number of people would benefit through destabilization. Think about it.

[DutchLiberal]

3. Hugo Chavez is a socialist, who was democratically elected.

Why does one have to negate the other? Lots of socialists get elected democratically. Latin-America is full of them. President Chavez calls himself a socialist, so why shouldn't the article?

[Wilms]

4. I think the effort is to tar him.

"Lefttist, "socialist"--names used to make teabaggers types uptight.

[DutchLiberal]

6. Oh, I don't doubt that.

But it's hard to argue president Chavez is not a socialist; that's what I meant to say.

[Wilms]

7. Agreed. He's a "leftist", too. ;) n/t