Photograph of Gilberto Torres

United Kingdom and colombia

Gilberto Torres – pictured in this photograph – was kidnapped after staging a protest in response to the disappearance of Aury Sará Marrugo. Aury was president of the Colombian oil workers’ union.

“In the year 2002 I was kidnapped and held for 42 days by paramilitary groups, backed by the Colombian state and by multinational oil companies, including, among others, BP”, Gilberto says.

In this photograph, Gilberto holds an image of Aury, who did not survive his kidnapping. Gilberto is one of only two trade unionists in Colombia to have survived their abduction, and he is currently taking legal action against BP for their alleged involvement in his kidnapping.

Gilberto Torres Martinez and Aury Sará Marrugo are a symbol of the struggle for life that oil workers’ union leaders face in Colombia.

“La solidaridad es la fuerza que necesitan los desvalidos.” 

“Solidarity is the force that the helpless need”

— Gilberto Torres Martinez.

Photograph by Kristian Buus

Further Reading

• Oil Justice
• Gilberto’s story in the Guardian
• Gilberto’s confronts BP at the British Museum