6th labor activist this year killed

Hitmen assassinated a union leader in the north west Colombian town of
Montería. The victim is the sixth labor activist killed in the country
this year, authorities say.

Hernán Polo, a leader of the union for teachers was shot dead by sicarios (hitmen) while arriving home. His 16-year-old daughter was injured and taken to hospital for treatment.

According to the Presidential Program of Human Rights and International Humanitarian Right, Polo is the sixth labor activist killed in Colombia this year.

The same agency says 38 union leaders were killed in 2008, 26 in 2007 and 50 in 2006.

The murder on Colombian unionists is one of the main reasons for the Democratic majority in U.S. Congress to block a free trade pact with its south American ally.

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