Death Squads

In 1996, a 41-year-old Colombian trade unionist applied at the Canadian embassy in Mexico City to immigrate to Canada. Amparo Torres was well-known in the region. She was a founding member of the Union Patriotica, a coalition of leftist political parties created a few years earlier at the behest of Colombia's then president in order to bring an end to decades of guerrilla warfare. She had also been kidnapped by one of the country's right-wing death squads.

Birmingham, AL - In northwestern Colombia in 2001, the president and vice president of the mining union Sintramienergetica were taken off a Drummond bus and shot to death by paramilitary death squads hired by the corporation. Later that year, paramilitaries also killed the new president. These men were all killed during negotiations with Drummond.

In northwestern Colombia in 2001, the president and vice president of the mining union Sintramienergetica were taken off a Drummond bus and shot to death by paramilitary death squads hired by the corporation. Later that year, paramilitaries also killed the new president. These men were all killed during negotiations with Drummond.

Every day things are clearer. The initial government proposal for the “paramilitary demobilization” presented by then Minister of Interior, Fernando Londoño, did not contain any element of truth, justice, or reparation. In the end, the government was forced to eventually shelve this revolting proposal due to opposition expressed nationally and internationally. As a result, other legislative bills emerged to assemble a legal framework for these purposes.