Santa Marta massacre
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The Santa Marta massacre, in Spanish, Matanza de las bananeras[1] or Masacre de las bananeras was a massacre of workers for the United Fruit Company that occurred on December 6, 1928 in the town of Ciénaga near Santa Marta, Colombia. An unknown number of workers died[2] after the government decided to send the military forces to end a month long strike organized by the workers' union in order to demand better working conditions.
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[edit] Strike
The workers of the banana plantations in Colombia went on strike in December 1928. They demanded written contracts, eight-hour days, six-day weeks and the elimination of food coupons. The strike turned into the largest labor movement ever witnessed in the country until then, and radical members of the Liberal Party and members of the Socialist and Communist Parties participated strongly.[3]
[edit] Massacre
An army regiment from Bogotá was dispatched by the government to deal with the strikers, which it deemed to be subversive. Even today, whether these troops were sent in at the behest of the United Fruit company is a matter of debate.
The troops set up their machine guns on the roofs of the low buildings at the corners of the main square, closed off the access streets,[4] and after a five minute warning[1] opened fire into a dense Sunday crowd of workers and their wives and children who had gathered, after Sunday Mass,[5] to wait for an anticipated address from the governor.[6]
[edit] Number dead
General Cortés Vargas, who commanded the troops during the massacre, took responsibility for 47 casualties, but the exact number of casualties has never been confirmed. Herrera Soto, co-author of a comprehensive and detailed study of the 1928 strike, has put together various estimates given by contemporaries and historians, ranging from 47 to 2,000.[1]
Among the survivors was Luis Vicente Gámez, later a famous local figure, who survived by hiding under a bridge for three days. Every year after the massacre he delivered a memorial service over the radio.
[edit] Justifications
General Cortés Vargas, who issued the order to shoot, argued later that he had issued the order because he had information that U.S. boats were poised to land troops on Colombian coasts to defend American personnel and the interests of the United Fruit Company. Vargas issued the order so the US would not invade Colombia. This position was strongly criticized in the Senate, especially by Jorge Eliécer Gaitán, who argued that those same bullets should have been used to stop the foreign invader.[1]
[edit] U.S. embassy telegrams
The Telegram from Bogotá Embassy to the U.S. Secretary of State, dated December 5, 1928, stated:
I have been following Santa Marta fruit strike through United Fruit Company representative here; also through Minister of Foreign Affairs who on Saturday told me government would send additional troops and would arrest all strike leaders and transport them to prison at Cartagena; that government would give adequate protection to American interests involved.[2]
The telegram from Bogotá Embassy to Secretary of State, date December 7, 1928, stated:
Situation outside Santa Marta City unquestionably very serious: outside zone is in revolt; military who have orders "not to spare ammunition" have already killed and wounded about fifty strikers. Government now talks of general offensive against strikers as soon as all troopships now on the way arrive early next week.[3]
The Dispatch from US Bogotá Embassy to the US Secretary of State, dated December 29, 1928, stated:
I have the honor to report that the legal advisor of the United Fruit Company here in Bogotá stated yesterday that the total number of strikers killed by the Colombian military authorities during the recent disturbance reached between five and six hundred; while the number of soldiers killed was one.[4]
The Dispatch from US Bogotá Embassy to the US Secretary of State, dated January 16, 1929, stated:
I have the honor to report that the Bogotá representative of the United Fruit Company told me yesterday that the total number of strikers killed by the Colombian military exceeded one thousand.[5]
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b c Posada-Carbó, Eduardo (May 1998). "Fiction as History: The bananeras and Gabriel García Márquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude". Journal of Latin American Studies 30 (2): p. 395–414.
- ^ See Talk:Santa Marta Massacre#The Death Toll
- ^ Chronology. The United Fruit Historical Society (on archive.org). Retrieved on March 6, 2006.
- ^ Carrigan, Ana (1993). The Palace of Justice: A Colombian Tragedy. Four Walls Eight Windows. ISBN 0-941423-82-4. p. 16
- ^ Carrigan, Ana (1993). The Palace of Justice: A Colombian Tragedy. Four Walls Eight Windows. ISBN 0-941423-82-4. p. 16
- ^ Bucheli, Marcelo. Bananas and business: The United Fruit Company in Colombia, 1899–2000. p. 132
