Ecuador: HONOR AND GLORY TO LUIS GONZALO SASIG!
We hereby share an unofficial translation of an obituary published by the Defense Front of the People’s Struggles in Ecuador (FDLP-EC) on September 12.
It is with deep sorrow that we announce the passing of our comrade Gonzalo, a healthcare worker and member of FETSAPI [Translators note: Provincial Federation of Health Care Workers in Pichincha]; but, above all, a steadfast union activist, firm in his convictions and a leading figure in one of the most combative periods in Ecuadorian labor history.
Gonzalo was an active part of the process of reconstituting the country’s labor movement. As a member of FETSAPI, he was part of the group that, years ago, organized and participated in the occupation of the Mexican Embassy, the World Bank offices, and the Office of the Comptroller General; furthermore, during numerous days of struggle in the streets, he confronted the repressive apparatus of various governments and took part in hunger strikes and other acts of resistance that defined a new form of organization and struggle, under correct ideological leadership.
His commitment transcended the demands specific to his sector. He understood that the task of trade unionism was to overcome the limits of economism and to channel workers’ demands into political struggle for the revolutionary transformation of the old society.
Today, a trade union leader devoted much of his life to the necessary task of reorganizing the labor movement leaves us physically. His departure strikes and pains us, but his example beats like a heart pumping out fire, which is reproduced in every comrade who refuses to resign, every worker who organizes, and every struggle raised against exploitation. Despite the difficulties we encounter along this path, nothing will stop the reconstitution of a labor movement worthy of the commitment Gonzalo maintained to the working class and the people.
The Defense Front of the People’s Struggles in Ecuador expresses its deepest class solidarity with his family and his comrades in FETSAPI in the face of this irreparable loss.
HONOR AND GLORY TO OUR COMRADE LUIS GONZALO SASIG!
COMRADE LUIS GONZALO SASIG, YOU WILL LIVE FOREVER IN THE STRUGGLES FOR THE RECONSTITUTION OF ECUADOR’S TRADE UNION MOVEMENT, IN THE SERVICE OF THE INTERNATIONAL PROLETARIAT!
