The United States is “respectfully” considering Colombian vice president Angelino Garzon’s bid to lead the International Labor Organization (ILO), despite his country’s high murder rate of trade unionists.
Vice President Angelino Garzon is one of the top candidates for the position, according to newsite CM&.
Colombian Labour Minister Rafael Pardo said Thursday at the Inter-American Dialogue in Washington, that the founder of Colombia’s Confederation of Workers (CUT) had a strong track record as a trade unionist and that other than the Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Vice President Garzon is the candidate with the most experience in terms of political and trade union work.
Although the U.S. has not made an official decision, it is a good sign that Washington is “respectfully” considering Garzon, says Pardo.
Colombian labor unions are lobbying against the leadership bid given Colombia’s appalling track record on workers rights. For decades the country has been among the most dangerous places in the world to be a trade unionist — 2010 was the first time it was not included on the ILO blacklist for countries which fail to comply with international working conditions.
Four trade unionists have been killed in the first month of the year, according to reports compiled by AFL-CIO, the largest U.S. union confederation. It says approval of the Colombia- U.S. Free Trade Agreement “gave a green light” to a fresh wave of anti-union violence.
Pardo is on a four-day trip to Washington to promote the economic “Action Plan” laid out by the 2011 NAFTA agreement.