LABOR SITUATION IN THE BANANA ZONE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP82-00457R007100270005-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: November 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 28, 2000
• Sequence Number: 5
• Publication Date: March 19, 1951
• Content Type: REPORT

Approved For Rel k' 01OOi
li 'O . f TPO PORT rein N0:
;T? 5'''TR 19 d/'stl 51
NO. OF PAGES i
UBJECT Labor Situation in the Banana Zone
"LACE
''CQUIREO
DATE 01
F'0.
25X1A NO,. OF ENCLSF
(LISTED BELOW)
Nil SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
The following background information has bee,z on the labor 25X1X
situation in the banana zone of Co?l onbia:
. > Syndicate organization in Se nta Marta and they banana zone has e.luays had a lef List
orientation and Ma xist leadership,, The so-called Socialist revolutionaries
who directed the tragic banana strike of 1923 became Communists after 1930
and continued to direct the labor movement in the area. In sr+ite of diminished
nroduction of bananas during the war, the Communists maintained control of the
weakened labor forces.
2,,, then the sriit in the Confederacion de Trabaja..dores de Colombia (CT'C) occurred
in tiny 1950, the lb,7dalena delegation rrrknined with the Communist or Inderendent
CTC ; as a result the rederacion de Trabr jadores de 1?1agd4 lona (n m) and the
banana workerst unions rff1lioted with it renamed in the Independent CTC
In order to strengthen the banana workt:;?:' unions,, the Indenendent CTC
331anned to nrenere a series of dena.nds calculated to unify all the workers of
the zone and to promote a general strike,. Carlos Arias, 'resident of the
FT11, Domingo Zamora, and Martin Cantargo, all Communists, were resnc>nsible
for carrying out the plan,
1Some progress was being made in the imp'enent,etion of the plan, esnccially
in the union of erinloyces of the Sev11la. Frt,it Company, but it was interrunted
by the departure of Carlos Arin.s for Durone and the arrest of ' amora and
Camargo, who are still in jail The absence of these labor leaders facilitated
the intervention of the Liberal CTC, which sent its president, i"3anr.e1 Diaz
Henriouez, to the zone. He was able at least ten-orarily to weaken Communist
inflrence, and as a result the threat of a general strike has considerably
diminished?
The Sindicato de Braceros de Santa :1r.rta, which ordered a strike against six
banana!: nrodtrcing coriranies in the Santa FUarta section on lg January 1951, to
enforce demands for a wage increase and nrotost hiring of non-union workers,
is not affiliated with nxther branch of the Confeclereclon de Trai~a iadores de
Colombia (CTC), or with the Fecicracion de Trabajadores do Magdtl.ena (FT:?1),
and is directed by a former Corimunist, Jose de los Santos Chasin@
This document is hereby regraded to
CONFIDENTIAL in accordance with the
later of 16 October 1978 from the
Director of Contra) Intelligence to the
Archivist of the United States.
"opt Review Da g"?8 ~~
`A.xprRev! For te~ease 2000/05/18