Photo: Trade unionists José Deifer Giraldo and Yerlin Andrés Giraldo (who were father and son) were killed in Colombia in August 2026.
Trade union members are facing an increasingly dangerous situation in Colombia.
Justice for Colombia reports: “At least 16 social, trade union or political activists have been killed since 7 August [the date Abelardo de la Espriella was sworn in as the 36th President of Colombia], while others have been threatened.”
On September 16, this motion presented to the Trades Union Congress (TUC) representing more than five million workers in the United Kingdom noted: “Three trade unionists were killed in one weekend in August.”
Those trade unionists were José Deifer Giraldo, Yerlin Andrés Giraldo and Yeison Real Delgado. They were members of the National Union of Living Memory, a Colombian union of security guards whose members are mostly signatories to the 2016 Peace Accord, that is affiliated with the Central Federation of Workers (CUT).
Photo: Trade unionist Yeison real Delgado.
On September 1, the Madrid, Spain-based Trade Union Confederation of Workers’ Commissions (CCOO) stated: “This tragic event … shows the serious situation of violence that trade union and social organizations continue to suffer in Colombia. The murder of trade unionists cannot go unpunished or be normalized.”
Most recently, Infobae also reported: “Derlin Fabián Chacón Páez, 44, was shot on Friday, September 18 in Bucaramanga, an event that led the Union of United Penitentiary Employees to demand immediate security reinforcements for workers of the National Penitentiary and Prison Institute (Inpec).”
Historical violence against trade unionists in Colombia
The Brussels, Belgium-based International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) report on the killing of trade unionists in the twelve months leading up to March 2024 documented: “22 trade unionists were killed for their activism around the world. Eleven of them were murdered in Colombia.”
In May 2025, Luc Triangle, the general secretary of ITUC, told BBC News: “For many years now already, unfortunately, Colombia is the deadliest country in the world for trade unionists and for trade union work. …It’s not targeting the big bosses of the trade unions or the leaders. They are targeting in small villages people that are doing active trade union work.”
Since the early 1970s to the present day, more than 3,000 trade unionists have been murdered in Colombia.
We are mindful of the Spanish Trade Union Confederation of Workers’ Commissions (CCOO) stating: “The murder of trade unionists cannot go unpunished or be normalized.” We also highlight the Trades Union Congress (TUC) in the United Kingdom passing this motion earlier this month that resolves to “redouble our backing for Colombian trade unions” and to call on the British government and Members of Parliament to speak out for human and labour rights in Colombia.
We continue to follow this situation.
The work of Peace Brigades International in Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico is supported by the social justice funds of Unifor and the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC).
Further reading
–Peace Brigades International accompaniments of worker movements in Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico in 2025-26 (PBI-Canada, May 31, 2026)
–ITUC report: Trade unionists and workers were killed in Angola, Colombia, Indonesia and Mexico in 2025 (PBI-Canada, June 2, 2026).
