ABSTRACT
The Government of Guatemala has dismissed all killings as the work of common criminals, there are a number of factors which indicate that much of the violence is politically-motivated. Abductions, kidnappings, and disappearances were a common means of repression against trade unionists and other civilians under previous military dictatorships. Death threats, harassment, and intimidation of trade unionists seriously impede their ability to organize and bargain. Threats and surveillance, either by uniformed members of the armed or security forces or by plainclothes men, are an ominous reminder of the early 1980’s, when an entire generation of Guatemalan labor and peasant leaders disappeared or were assassinated by the Army, police, or death squads affiliated with them. When numerous trade unionists and peasant organizers continue to be killed and “disappeared,” and the government has been unable to bring anyone to justice for the crimes, threats, have particular resonance.
