On March 3rd 1985, Hemmy Croes, Venezuelan trade unionist, President of the Central Unitaria de Trabajadores de Venezuela (CUTV) and member of the WFTU bureau was assassinated. That crime went unpunished and under a veil of mystery, although all signs indicated that his execution had been premeditated, planned by the worst enemies of the proletariat and the trade union movement.
Comrade Hemmy Croes took part in the trade union and popular movement since his early youth, in the 1950s. By decision of his party, the Communist Party of Venezuela, from university student, he became an automotive worker at the factory of General Motors and soon became a prestigious trade union leader of the automotive sector. It was the time of the dictatorship of PĂ©rez Jimenez in Venezuela. Hemmy Croes took an active part in the struggle against the dictatorship and was jailed and persecuted. After the fall of the dictatorship, comrade Hemmy Croes assumes various responsibilities and positions in the Central Unitaria de Trabajadores de Venezuela (CUTV) and the Venezuelan worker’s movement, as well as the international trade union movement and the WFTU.
On the anniversary of his assassination, the WFTU remembers him, as a hero of the international working class and the international trade union movement.