Foiled attempt to kill a trade union leader in Venezuela – Campaign for justice

On Monday May 21, there was a foiled
attempt against the life of comrade Abraham Rivas. Rivas is General
Secretary of the National Union of Workers of Helados EFE (SINATRASOHE)
as well as General Secretary of the recently created National Federation
of Workers in Food, Beverages and Other Companies (FENACTRALBECA),
which organizes workers in 21 different companies belonging to Grupo
POLAR. He is also a revolutionary Bolivarian activist and a supporter of
the Marxist tendency Lucha de Clases.

Photo: Luissana Cárdenas / Noticias24An
armed individual entered the premises of Helados EFE in Caracas and
asked to see Abraham Rivas. He told him, in a threatening way, that he
needed to speak to him personally and outside of the company’s premises.
Abraham Rivas realized that the man was carrying a gun which he quickly
seized from him and, with the help of other union activists present,
proceeded to overpower the man, who was later identified as Alexander
Zambrano.

The workers took Zambrano to the union offices and questioned him
about his motives. By looking through the messages in his mobile phone
they found out that another person (later identified as Robert Guedez)
was waiting outside the premises on a motorbike.

The workers called the National Bolivarian Guard and with their help
both men were arrested and taken into custody. One of them confessed to
being in possession of an email sent to him by a third person,
containing detailed personal information about Abraham Rivas and his
family. This included his full name, those of his wife and children,
their phone numbers, national ID card numbers, the age and profession of
his wife, their home address, places he visits, as well as the plate
number of his car and other details about it. This detailed dossier also
included a picture of Abraham Rivas which is the same as that of his
company ID card. This was not a copy or a scanned version of his company
ID card, but rather a copy of the actual picture which was taken at the
time when he started work and the company made the ID card. Only the
company Helados EFE has access to that picture. The dossier also
referred to Abraham as “leader of the new trade union federation created
against Empresas Polar”.

Ever since the 2010 strike of Helados EFE workers, in which Abraham
Rivas played a leading role, the union attempted to unite the different
union organizations across the POLAR group of companies. The Federation
was finally created in March this year. The POLAR group belongs to the
Mendoza family and has a monopoly position in the production and
distribution of food and beverages in Venezuela.

Despite the amount of evidence against the two individuals who made
the attempt on Rivas’ life, and against two other women, who were
identified as having commissioned the attack, all were later released
without charges.

Photo: AM NOTICIAS360The trade union leaders of SINATRASOHE, with the support of a number of other trade union leaders from the federation held a press conference in Caracas on Friday,
in which they accused the company of being behind the attack and
presented all the proof they had. They stressed that all the evidence
points to that the company (Grupo POLAR) is responsible. The security
guards allowed Zambrano to enter the premises with a gun, without
searching him, in spite of this being normal practice. The dossier which
the attackers had received, contained details and pictures of Abraham
Rivas which could only have come from the company’s records.

This is a most serious case of intimidation against trade unionists,
whose only crime is defending workers’ rights. Had the attack been
successful it would not have been the first time that revolutionary
Bolivarian trade union leaders were killed in Venezuela by the hired
guns of the bosses. We had the case of three leaders of the UNT in
Aragua, Gallardo, Hernandez y Requena, killed in November 2008, the case of the secretary of the Toyota workers union in Cumaná Argenis Vazquez, killed in May 2009, and many others. Their killers were never brought to justice.

The impunity and the ease with which the justice system (basically
still a bourgeois system) sides with the bosses and denies justice to
ordinary workers and peasants, is one of the main threats to the
Bolivarian revolution.

We strongly condemn this attack. We express our solidarity with
comrade Abraham Rivas and his comrades in the union and the federation.
We also demand that the Bolivarian authorities, the leaders of the PSUV,
the State Attorney and the Ministry of Peoples’ Power for Labour and
Social Security, make sure that this case is investigated thoroughly and
that those responsible are brought to justice.

We ask trade union activists, left wing and solidarity organizations, as well as individuals to join this campaign.

Model letter:

We are extremely concerned about the reports of an attempt to kill
Abraham Rivas, a trade union leader at Helados EFE and Grupo POLAR, on
May 21 this year in Caracas.

We are furthermore extremely worried that despite the fact that four
individuals were identified as being involved in the attack and taken to
the police, they have all been released without charges.

We ask the relevant authorities to make sure that this case is fully
investigated and that those responsible are brought to justice.

Please send letters to:

State Attorney Luisa Marvelia Ortega Díaz:
ministeriopublico@mp.gob.ve
National Coordinator PSUV Jorge Rodríguez
jorgerodriguez@psuv.org.ve
Office of the President Hugo Chavez:
Drsociales@presidencia.gob.ve

With copy to
cmi.venezuela@gmail.com

Or contact the embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in your country

In the UK the details are:

the email of the Ambassador of the Bolivarian
Republic of Venezuela in the UK is: ambassador@venezlon.co.uk,