Mauro
Romero is an ex-banana worker from Balzar, in south-west Ecuador. He
used to work on the Noboa-owned banana plantation Los Alamos. In 2002
he joined the union and participated in a strike where workers were
asking for better pay and conditions. The company owner,
Álvaro Noboa,
Ecuador's richest man and then leading presidential candidate, brought
in masked armed men to evict the workers. Mauro was shot at close range
in the leg and the armed men stole his watch and his money. Fellow workers
raised the alarm and Mauro was taken to hospital where he subsequently
had his leg removed. He was 33 at the time, a widower and father to
his young son, Fabián. I visited Mauro a couple of times in hospital
but didn't see him again until May 2003. He is now back in Balzar and
is selling lottery tickets for a living.
Photo: Jan Nimmo
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