The Peace Brigades International-Colombia Project has posted on social media:
“On May 1, we accompanied the Committee for Solidarity with Political Prisoners (CSPP) in Bogotá during the International Workers’ Day march.
The CSPP was present at various points along the march as the Verification and Intervention Commission (CVI), as part of the Defend Freedom Campaign, with the aim of denouncing arbitrary arrests, judicial persecution and the criminalization of social protest in Colombia, as well as guaranteeing and defending the right to protest.
We reaffirm that protesting is a fundamental right and that human rights support is essential to protect life, dignity and social mobilization.”
The Spanish news agency EFE reported: “As part of the commemoration of International Workers’ Day, thousands of workers, trade unions and social groups took to the streets of the Colombian capital on Friday [May 1] to participate in a mobilization that traveled along important roads in the city.”
El Pais adds: “The country’s capital is the traditional central axis of the demonstrations.”
The call for the march was made by the National Unitary Command, a coalition of national trade union centres and pensioners federations, with the participation of the Central Union of Workers (CUT), the Confederation of Workers of Colombia (CTC) and the General Confederation of Labour (CGT).
CityTV further notes: “Some attendees pointed out that participating in this day is a personal tradition and an act of vindication. The demonstrators stressed the importance of making community work visible, demanding decent working conditions and promoting respect for workers’ rights, including fair wages and work-life balance.”
Violence against unions
Justice for Colombia has highlighted: “In March 2023, the Petro government made history by formally recognizing the trade union movement as a collective victim of the decades-long armed conflict. …[His government recognized that] trade unions were systematically and violently targeted for decades with governments playing a major role in widespread killing that aimed to eradicate organized labour.”
That article adds: “For over half a century, Colombian trade unionists faced barely comprehendible levels of violence. Between 2018 and 2023, trade unionists suffered 15,810 human rights violations: 3,323 murders, 449 attempted murders, 254 forced disappearances, 7,884 death threats and 1,987 forced displacements. Colombia accounted for over 60 per cent of worldwide killings of trade unionists during this entire period.”
It further notes: “Although attacks on trade unionists have fallen since peaking in the 1990s and 2000s, Colombia remains the world’s deadliest country for organized labour, according to this year’s Global Rights Index from the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC).”
Accompaniment
Peace Brigades International has accompanied the Committee for Solidarity with Political Prisoners (CSPP) since 1998.
More photos from May 1, 2026.
