Guatemala: 2011 Starts with Killing of another Health Sector Trade Unionist
Brussels, 11 January 2011 (ITUC OnLine): The ITUC, together with its affiliated organisations in Guatemala and the
national health workers' union SNTSG, has firmly condemned the killing of a member of the health sector trade union at
the opening of 2011.
According to the information received by the ITUC, Eswin Carol Gálvez, a doctor at the Retalhuleu hosipal and a member
of the SNTSG, which is affiliated to Public Services International (PSI), the Central American Joint Trade Union
Platform (Plataforma Sindical Común Centroamericana) and the national front for the defence of public services and
natural resources FNL, was murdered as he was about to enter his home. The gunman fled after shooting him dead, making
no attempt to rob anything. Various other members of the health workers' union were killed at the end of December 2010.
In a letter to the Guatemalan authorities, the ITUC called on President Álvaro Colom, the Interior Ministry, the Public
Prosecutor's Office, the judicial authorities and the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) to
launch a full and immediate investigation into this new murder and to ensure that all those responsible are brought to
justice. "Respect for the core ILO Conventions ratified by Guatemala is crucial to the construction of a strong
democracy in the country, and to putting an end to impunity," insisted ITUC General Secretary Sharan Burrow
ENDS