Trade union leader Luis Alberto Plazas Vélez came out of an assassination attempt uninjured, thanks to the timely reaction of his bodyguard.
Plazas Vélez is a teacher, a member of the Sindicato Único de Educadores de Bolívar, and has been the general secretary of CUT Bolívar for six years. He is also known for heading the drive to organise and mobilise Cartagena’s informal economy workers, grouped within UGTI Bolívar.
The incident took place on 16 May 2014 in Cartagena. One of the hit men, who carried out the attack from a motorbike, was killed in the return fire, reportedly hit in the chest by a bullet fired by the bodyguard defending the trade union leader.