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This week in 1928, a US-backed Colombian regime opened fire on a crowd of striking banana workers, killing up to 3,000 men, women & children. Their bodies were then buried in mass graves. The massacre was conducted by order of the US-owned United Fruit Company & US government.
The striking workers were demanding a 6-day work week, an 8 hour day, better housing & to be paid in money instead of food coupons. The US/ Colombian governments labeled the strikers communists in an attempt to discredit them & justify violence being used against them.
The United Fruit Company (now Chiquita) & the US gov demanded the Colombian regime of Miguel Abadía Méndez crush the strikes. The US threatened to Invade Colombia or cut off trade if the strike wasn’t put down. The US even sent a warship to anchor offshore during the operation.
Colombia’s government send hundreds of members of its military to crush the strike, installing machine guns on the roofs of the low buildings near the main square. The United Fruit Company then called striking workers to the central square of Ciénaga to "negotiate".
Yet, once the strikers were packed in, a soldier read a decree declaring the striking workers outlaws & demanding they leave packed square in minutes and return to work. Then immediately, the soldiers opened fire on the crowd, which was filled w/ women and children.
US state department telegrams detail US coordination w/ Colombia to crush the strikes. The telegrams even express glee when reporting the number of strikers massacred was above 1,000.
Recently, Chiquita funneled millions of dollars to right-wing death squads and terrorist organizations in Colombia. Thousands of Colombians have sued Chiquita over its aid to right-wing death squads that have killed their family members. yahoo.com/news/chiquita-…
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