Demand immediate freedom of Rubén “Pollo” Sobrero, rail worker leader and socialist arrested in Argentina

Statement

Spanish / German

On the morning of September 30th, Argentine trade union leader Rubén “Pollo” Sobrero, leader of the militant rail metro line Sarmiento was arrested  under the false accusation of “burning trains” on the Citadel and Haedo stations. Sobrero is chairman of the Delegates of the Sarmiento line, a renowned fighter in defense of railway workers against the privatization by the TBA company and opponent to the  Union Railway bureaucracy.

The evidence that shows that he is being falsely accused is the fact that Leonardo Portoreal — who worked in the raildroad years ago— is also being held.

The workers’  assemblies of the Sarmiento line have decided to go on strike  to demand the immediate release of Sobrero and Portoreal and call for broader solidarity in defense of their peers.

This measure is part of the policy of criminalization of social protest carried out by the government of Cristina Kirchner and the TBA company. Sobrero and other militant rail worker leaders had been accused in the past and acquitted in other similar cases.

We call upon the widest international solidarity to ensure the immediate release and RubénSobrero and Leonardo Portoreal. We call on trade unions, political, student and human rights organizations worldwide to repudiate this arrest and join in to demand freedom for these workers falsely accused and arrested in Argentina.

 UIT- CIT (International Workers’ Unity-Fourth International)

September  30 2011

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