workingclasshistory:

On this day, 6 December 1928, the banana massacre took place in Ciénaga, Colombia, when soldiers killed up to 2,000 striking workers of the United Fruit Company.
Workers had gone out on strike on November 12 demanding numerous improvements including a weekly wage, payment in money rather than coupons and a day off work per week. It was the biggest industrial dispute in the country to date.
On December 5, government troops set up machine guns around the town’s main square, gave people a five minute warning to leave, then opened fire into the crowd of workers and their families, including many children.
The exact number of those killed is not known, but estimates range from 47 – the figure from the military officer in charge – to 2,000. An official of United Fruit reportedly told the US embassy that over 1,000 strikers were killed. Bodies of the victims were then either thrown into the sea or buried in mass graves.
Pictured L-R: Pedro M. del Río, Bernardino Guerrero, Raúl Eduardo Mahecha, Nicanor Serrano and Erasmo Coronell. Guerrero and Coronell were killed. https://www.facebook.com/workingclasshistory/photos/a.296224173896073/1601256383392839/?type=3