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NLC Alert 11/10/2004: Update on Responses to Assassination
Re: Assassination of U.S. Trade Unionist in El Salvador/ Demand for Justice is Growing

Mr. Gilberto Soto, an IBT organizer, was assassinated in El Salvador Friday evening, November 5th, by two men who shot him in the back at close range. Gilberto was involved in a project to provide solidarity to the exploited port drivers in El Salvador who haul containers for companies like Maersk.

Actions to Date:
  • IBT President James Hoffa has written to Secretary of State Colin Powell.
  • NLC Director Charles Kernaghan has written to Secretary Powell, the President of El Salvador and the Salvadoran ambassador to the U.S.
  • ORIT, the Inter-American Regional Organization of Workers - representing over 45 million workers in the Western hemisphere - has written to the attorney general of El Salvador.
  • Stan Gacek, AFL-CIO International Affairs Director for the Americas, has spoken with Douglas Barclay, the U.S. Ambassador to El Salvador. The U.S. government is demanding a complete and thorough investigation. The ambassador is calling the Salvadoran Minister of Justice and the Labor Minister.
  • A letter from AFL-CIO President John Sweeney is being sent today to Secretary Powell.
  • Massachusetts Congressman James McGovern has sent a letter to Secretary Powell.
  • Stan Gacek is meeting with El Salvador's Ambassador to the U.S., Mr. Leon, on Friday morning. The Salvadoran government is promising a full investigation leading to the prosecution of those responsible.
  • The Salvadoran Labor Central, the Salvadoran Workers Union Coordination (CSTs), will hold a major press conference in San Salvador tomorrow to denounce the assassination and the continued violation of worker rights.
  • Many other people from Jesuits to businessmen to social workers have sent letters to Secretary Powell.

    Please keep the pressure up to make certain Gilberto Soto is not forgotten, and that justice is done. Then we must pick up the struggle to provide solidarity to the exploited port drivers in El Salvador.

  • Return to Soto update.
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