Photo: PBI-Colombia accompanies the Committee for Solidarity with Political Prisoners (CSPP) at the International Workers’ Day march in Bogotá, May 1, 2026.
Peace Brigades International accompanies union and worker movements that experience risks and violence due to their work advancing the interests of working peoples and peasant-farmers in Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico.
In 2025, the Americas region remained the deadliest for workers and their representatives, with extra-judicial killings recorded in Colombia and Mexico.
We mourn the deaths of union activists Walberto Quintero Medina and Campo Elías Urrutía Vargas in Colombia, and Mario Machuca Sánchez, Noé Pérez Urquidi, César Contreras and Homar Salas Gastélum in Mexico.
We also mourn the death of journalist Carlos Humberto Cal Ical in Guatemala.
And we continue to call for the safe return of Juan Francisco Palacios Murillo who was forcibly disappeared in Mexico in June 2025.
We further note that the UK-based Business and Human Rights Centre (BHRC) documented that there were at least 42 business-related attacks against unions and 38 business-related attacks against workers in 2025.
The BHRC database further specifies that there were attacks against Silvio Mendoza and Rocío Torres Bobadilla in Colombia, and against the Sindicato de Trabajadores Bananeros de Escuintla (SITRABE) in Guatemala.
We continue to follow all of this with concern.
Over the past year, Peace Brigades International has accompanied and amplified union and worker movement related struggles, including:
May 2026
–PBI-Canada notes CESPAD report that cites use of military equipment in eviction of CNTC union members in Honduras (May 13, 2026)
–PBI-Colombia accompanies the CSPP at the International Workers’ Day march in Bogota (May 8, 2026)
–PBI-Colombia accompanies Nomadesc at ceremony in Yumbo for those killed in the National Strike, including Kevin Anthony Agudelo (May 1, 2026)
April 2026
–PBI-Honduras meets with Agrarian Platform, COPA; expresses concern about violence faced by the peasantry in the Aguán River Valley (April 28, 2026)
–PBI-Honduras accompanies International Day of Peasants’ Struggle march in Tegucigalpa as risk of criminalization intensifies (April 19, 2026)
–PBI-Honduras accompanies National Union of Rural Workers (CNTC) at preliminary court hearing for ‘7 de Febrero’ campesina families (April 13, 2026)
–PBI-Honduras accompanies the National Union of Rural Workers (CNTC) as they win the release of 17 detained farmworkers (April 11, 2026)
–The Network Against Anti-Trade Union Violence remembers the trade union commitment of Juan López in Honduras (April 19, 2026)
–International Trade Union Confederation: “Northrop is a serial violator of consumer and labour protections” (April 18, 2026)
–Cerezo Committee participates in the ‘Ricardo Flores Magón’ Labour Human Rights Schools in Mexico (April 17, 2026)
–Mexico’s security cabinet to review allegations Canadian company may have allowed “armed individuals” to intimidate workers seeking independent union (April 15, 2026)
–USMCA panel: Canadian company used organized crime to violate the labour rights of mine workers in Mexico (April 10, 2026)
March 2026
–PBI-Canada, PBI-Mexico and Espacio OSC urgently call for the strengthening of the Protection Mechanism (March 31, 2026)
–PBI-Canada seeks strengthened protection for human rights defenders who advocate for labour rights, the right of association (March 12, 2026)
–PBI-Canada and PBI-Honduras meet with the National Union of Rural Workers (CNTC) in Tegucigalpa (March 4, 2026)
–Thousands of workers from the National Coordination of Education Workers (CNTE) protest in Mexico City (March 20, 2026)
–United Steelworkers expresses its solidarity with Mexican union after strikers shot on picket line (March 22, 2026)
February 2026
–PBI-Mexico signs statement in support of “Tlachinollan” Human Rights Centre and their work with farmworkers in Guerrero (February 13, 2026)
–PBI-Honduras meets with National Union of Rural Workers (CNTC) about farming communities at risk of eviction (February 10, 2026)
–Public Services International (PSI) affiliates demand investigations into attacks against legitimately elected union leaders in Guatemala (February 2, 2026)
January 2026
–PBI-Colombia attends presentation of IACHR report that acknowledges the persecution of labour unions (January 30, 2026)
–PBI-Honduras observes Agrarian Platform event, expresses concern about armed attack against farm workers at cooperative (January 23, 2026)
–Initial research survey on the inclusion of union activists in Protection Mechanisms for human rights defenders and journalists (January 23, 2026)
–International Labour Organization to report on Guatemala’s compliance with ILO conventions by November 2026 (January 4, 2026)
December 2025
–PBI-Colombia accompanies CREDHOS at “Voices that Persist” forum on violence perpetrated by security forces-paramilitary groups (December 1, 2025)
–Nomadesc honours union historian and activist María Tila Uribe, prepares for the centennial of the Banana Strike (December 1, 2025)
November 2025
–PBI-Honduras highlights the work of CNTC El Progreso general secretary Lilian Borjas in the lead-up to International Women Human Rights Defenders Day (November 29, 2025)
October 2025
–PBI-Honduras visits National Union of Rural Workers (CNTC) community of 17 de Junio whose members are being criminalized for land “usurpation” (October 24, 2025)
–PBI-Guatemala accompanies court hearings on Military Diary case; trade unionists among those forcibly disappeared by army and police (October 14, 2025)
–PBI-Mexico accompanies Espacio OSC on advocacy tour in Canada, notes Protection Mechanism does not recognize union activists as human rights defenders (October 6, 2025)
–PBI-Canada notes language on trade unions and workers in UN talks on a Binding Treaty on business and human rights (October 27, 2025)
September 2025
–Nomadesc calls for the annulment of Resolution 294 in Colombia, will commemorate union activists killed in the Banana Massacre (September 20, 2025)
–The CSPP remembers Colombian union leader Luciano Romero Molina on the 20th anniversary of his murder (September 16, 2025)
–Nomadesc in Colombia expresses solidarity with CUPE and Air Canada flight attendants (September 4, 2025)
August 2025
– PBI-Colombia accompanies Nomadesc at general assembly held by Buenaventura Civic Strike Committee (August 27, 2025)
– PBI-Canada notes Unifor resolution in support of Palestinian workers and their call for an arms embargo on Israel (August 27, 2025)
June 2025
– PBI-Honduras accompanies the National Union of Rural Workers (CNTC) at meeting with the French Embassy (June 18, 2025)
– CREDHOS says “yes to popular consultation” on labour rights at mobilization in Barrancabermeja (June 12, 2025)
May 2025
– PBI-Colombia accompanies the CSPP on International Workers’ Day, highlights the police killing of Nicolás Neira (May 9, 2025)
– PBI-Colombia accompanies Nomadesc at commemorations of the National Strike of 2021 and the demand for a Truth Commission (April 29, 2025)
– CREDHOS marches on May Day in support of Popular Consultation and labour rights (May 5, 2025)
We acknowledge the solidarity and support of the Unifor Social Justice Fund in enabling Peace Brigades International to accompany organizations, defenders and communities, to document these accompaniments, and to amplify issues of concern related to union activists and worker movement formations.
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The twenty-six accompaniments (on average two per month) in 2025-26 sorted by Peace Brigades International field project.
Honduras
1–PBI-Honduras meets with Agrarian Platform, COPA; expresses concern about violence faced by the peasantry in the Aguán River Valley (April 28, 2026)
2–PBI-Honduras accompanies International Day of Peasants’ Struggle march in Tegucigalpa as risk of criminalization intensifies (April 19, 2026)
3–PBI-Honduras accompanies National Union of Rural Workers (CNTC) at preliminary court hearing for ‘7 de Febrero’ campesina families (April 13, 2026)
4–PBI-Honduras accompanies the National Union of Rural Workers (CNTC) as they win the release of 17 detained farmworkers (April 11, 2026)
5–PBI-Canada and PBI-Honduras meet with the National Union of Rural Workers (CNTC) in Tegucigalpa (March 4, 2026)
6–PBI-Honduras meets with National Union of Rural Workers (CNTC) about farming communities at risk of eviction (February 10, 2026)
7–PBI-Honduras observes Agrarian Platform event, expresses concern about armed attack against farm workers at cooperative (January 23, 2026)
8–PBI-Honduras highlights the work of CNTC El Progreso general secretary Lilian Borjas in the lead-up to International Women Human Rights Defenders Day (November 29, 2025)
9–PBI-Honduras visits National Union of Rural Workers (CNTC) community of 17 de Junio whose members are being criminalized for land “usurpation” (October 24, 2025)
10– PBI-Honduras accompanies the National Union of Rural Workers (CNTC) at meeting with the French Embassy (June 18, 2025)
Colombia
1–PBI-Colombia accompanies the CSPP at the International Workers’ Day march in Bogota (May 8, 2026)
2–PBI-Colombia accompanies Nomadesc at ceremony in Yumbo for those killed in the National Strike, including Kevin Anthony Agudelo (May 1, 2026)
3–PBI-Colombia attends presentation of IACHR report that acknowledges the persecution of labour unions (January 30, 2026)
4–PBI-Colombia accompanies CREDHOS at “Voices that Persist” forum on violence perpetrated by security forces-paramilitary groups (December 1, 2025)
5– PBI-Colombia accompanies Nomadesc at general assembly held by Buenaventura Civic Strike Committee (August 27, 2025)
6– PBI-Colombia accompanies the CSPP on International Workers’ Day, highlights the police killing of Nicolás Neira (May 9, 2025)
7– PBI-Colombia accompanies Nomadesc at commemorations of the National Strike of 2021 and the demand for a Truth Commission (April 29, 2025)
Mexico
1–PBI-Canada, PBI-Mexico and Espacio OSC urgently call for the strengthening of the Protection Mechanism (March 31, 2026)
2–PBI-Mexico signs statement in support of “Tlachinollan” Human Rights Centre and their work with farmworkers in Guerrero (February 13, 2026)
3–PBI-Mexico accompanies Espacio OSC on advocacy tour in Canada, notes Protection Mechanism does not recognize union activists as human rights defenders (October 6, 2025)
Guatemala
1–PBI-Guatemala accompanied Military Diary court hearings in 2025; joint communiqué calls for an end to impunity (May 31, 2026) – six accompaniments posted on social media on December 23, 2025; December 18, 2025; October 21, 2025; August 28, 2025; August 20, 2025; and July 22, 2025.
