January 2010 Colombia Peace Update

Take Action: Organizational Sign-on To Oppose Bases in Colombia

We of the Mingas network are deeply concerned about the recently signed military agreement between the governments of Colombia and the United States. Under its terms, the U.S. is permitted to upgrade, expand and use seven Colombian military bases for the purpose of increasing the operational capabilities of U.S. armed forces throughout South America. We believe the agreement will further exacerbate tensions across the entire region and aggravate armed conflict within Colombia.

The Mingas network opposes war and the exercise of violence as an instrument of political action. We believe that today the path of social transformation is democratic and peaceful mass struggle. We repudiate all forms of terror and State terrorism, including targeted killings, kidnapping, extortion, and armed attacks on the civilian population; none of these are legitimate expressions of the struggle of the people, and thus we condemn all such acts.

We call on faith communities, solidarity groups, students, academics, and other organizations in agreement with the above basic principles of nonviolence to come together in alliance to reject the U.S.-Colombia military base agreement — and we invite you to take action immediately.

Join us in signing the letter opposing bases in Colombia:

You can sign by filling out the online form at the foot of the letter. Note that the current letter is a sign-on for organizations only. Signatures must be received by February 1, 2010. After collecting signatures, we will send the letter to President Obama and other key government officials.

The Mingas Network

The Mulatos Connection: a Reflection

By Peter Cousins

"I never thought I'd play soccer on this field again."

The words are those of don Miguel Graciano, a campesino of the San José de Apartadó district and currently the work coordinator for the Peace Community in the "vereda" (settlement) of La Esperanza. My time as an international accompanier with FOR in the Peace Community has come to an end, and as I reflect on my year in the campo, don Miguel's words capture a little of the essence of the Community's story.

During the first weekend of September, we accompanied a Community assembly in the vereda of La Resbalosa, at the extremes of the San José de Apartadó rural district, on the border with the state of Córdoba. During that weekend, plans for an aldea de paz (peace hamlet), in the neighbouring vereda of Mulatos were announced, community projects were advanced, and an inter-vereda football tournament was held. My team-mate Rachel wrote a thorough account of the weekend on her blog.

The outlook for these veredas has been considerably bleaker. In February 2005, eight Peace Community members — including visionary leader Luis Eduardo Guerra — were murdered in Mulatos and La Resbalosa in a joint army-paramilitary operation, which the government sought to blame on the FARC, who in turn were supposedly looking to avenge Luis Eduardo’s alleged demobilization from the guerrillas. With this story, President Uribe was able to say in public, shortly after the massacre, that the Peace Community harbored terrorists.

The murders initially prompted a massive displacement of campesinos to the village of San José de Apartadó, but the reaction to these events would later take the Colombian government by surprise. The attempt to destroy the Community was quickly followed with a presidential order to locate a police post in San José de Apartadó, interpreted by the displaced Community members as obliging them to live amongst the armed representatives of their victimizers, the State. Could the Peace Community withstand this double blow?

The government bargained on neither the resourcefulness of the campesinos, nor the determination of many across the world who did not wish to see the murders remain in impunity. The Community's initial response was to displace en masse from San José de Apartadó to a plot of land owned by the Dutch government, now also known fondly as "San Josecito." There, despite repeated outbreaks of fever and malaria, the Community regrouped and took stock of its situation.

Fast forward three years from February 2005, and San Josecito had become a sort of administrative center for the Peace Community, hosting many of their meetings with outsiders, and with campesinos houses, a restaurant and plans to build a library and install sewage facilities. At the same time, the Community undertook returns to lands in Mulatos and La Resbalosa, which had remained empty and overgrown.

Now, nearly two years later, the Peace Community's presence is established. Even in the time that I have spent here, the differences are remarkable. A caserío (hamlet) has been built in La Resbalosa, centered on the old school, and it was chosen as the site of the September gathering.

What is happening in Mulatos is perhaps even more extraordinary. As agreed at the assembly in La Resbalosa, the aldea de paz is taking shape. I wrote the first draft of this article in Mulatos itself, where we celebrated Christmas: 150 campesinos plus the international accompaniment of FOR and Peace Brigades International. I watched the campesinos raise a kiosko, a 'bandstand'-style building made of wood with a thatched roof. Eventually there will be six such constructions there, which will be used to preserve the community's historical memory and shape the future direction. If San Josecito is the community's 'administrative center,' so the site by the river in Mulatos, where Luis Eduardo was killed, is set to become its 'spiritual home.' With the five-year anniversary of the massacre looming, this project is bound to give a special impetus to the aldea de paz.

However, the Colombian government is still up to its usual dirty tricks. Not content with slandering the Community in the aftermath of the executions, they set up an interview of demobilized FARC commander "Samir" with a Wall Street Journal correspondent Mary O'Grady to repeat those lies. His predictable accusations published the day before the trial of Army soldiers for participation in the 2005 massacre, echoed those he made on national radio at the end of May (See "The View from San José"). The Peace Community and other organizations and individuals have already responded to this article.

Even the U.S. Department of State got in on the act, giving the Colombian government a boost in the days before the trial with a piece of its own. The U.S. lauded the "population-centric, [...] whole-of-government" approach to President Uribe's handling of the San José de Apartadó district. While they did not add to the lies about the Community, they managed instead to ignore it altogether, quite a feat given its high profile, but for the benefit of their argument, the only convenient thing to do.

It also failed to mention the recent spate of combat and murders in and around San José de Apartadó which has led to the displacement of four or five families and traders, and has virtually everyone else living in fear. Instead, a photo appeared of children being led around by four beaming policemen and women, three of whom I have never seen in San José, despite virtually weekly passage through the village over the last year.

The shifting tactics of Uribe's government concerning the Peace Community have ranged from physical aggression of the kind at Mulatos and La Resbalosa, to the use of false testimony of demobilized guerrillas, the recent de-recognition of Community territories and the squeezing of their lands by other means (see my team-mate Moira's ). We might actually talk of a "whole-of-government" approach to the destruction of the Community.

The threats to the continued presence of the Peace Community are real and significant. For this reason, the work in Mulatos and La Resbalosa is, for me, the most illuminating and symbolic part of the Community's recent history. Don Miguel's words have a similar effect; he, like the Colombian government, could never have expected that La Resbalosa would once more host a soccer competition, much less new Peace Community homes and projects. Soccer is a metaphor for the new life that is today taking root thanks to the Community in the San José de Apartadó district.

Seeking Justice for 2005 San Jose de Apartado Massacre

On December 13th, the long awaited trial for the massacre started in a tense atmosphere with over twenty army officers, wearing camouflage uniform, carrying machine guns and hovering in the courthouse.

Lt. Milanes, commander of the Anzoategui I Battalion Velez platoon, was the first one of 0 officers on trial to take the stand. He recounted how there had been a contingent of around 100 paramilitary men, taking part in the military operation coded "Fenix" that lasted nine days (Feb 16-24, 2005). He and Colonel Espinosa were the only charged army officers that would admit the participation of paramilitary troops in the operation. The rest gave flimsy excuses saying they had not seen the death squads.

Lt. Milanes, while describing the heavy weapons and army uniforms that the paramilitary troops had during the operation, could not explain why he and his men had failed to go after illegal armed groups, as was their duty. Indeed, when asked by the judge if it is normal for the armed forces to carry out joint operations with the Colombian Self Defense [paramilitary] troops, he replied: "Today it's not normal. At the moment, I was a company grade officer, inexperienced, I had been Lt. for only one year."

Very little new information was expected from hearing the accused take the stand — three officers chose to remain silent using the right against self-incrimination. The central part of the trial was the testimonies of two paramilitary commanders — known as 'Melaza' and 'Pirulo' and Capt. Gordillo, all of whom have admitted their participation in the massacre. Jorge Molano, the attorney representing the victims, was also expecting to question those witnesses in light of the extradited paramilitary boss, alias HH's testimony. Just before being shipped away to the United States to respond for drug trafficking charges, he started talking about how the paramilitary and the army operated together and of higher ranking XVII Brigade army officers being investigated for the massacre in a separate investigation. Those testimonies, inexplicably, went missing and the defense used that as an excuse to request suspension of the hearing.

Except Lt Milanes, all the officers were represented by attorneys working for a law firm paid with funds coming from a payroll deduction of all active officers. Attorneys from this law firm are notorious for using legal tricks to obstruct criminal investigations — for instance insisting that extrajudicial executions of unarmed civilians be tried in military courts (as opposed to civilian courts) with the purpose of delaying the investigation and then filing for release of their defendants claiming that the legal deadline has passed for each stage of the investigation. Such was the case with 17 army officers being investigated for the so called false positives, the assassination of young men from Soacha that were later reported as guerrillas killed in combat and who were released last week, before their trial even started.

Their release generated outrage among Colombian public opinion, human rights organizations and even prompted a statement from the representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. It is very likely that the same tactic will be used in the case of the San José de Apartadó massacre. If that happens, not only justice would be compromised, but also the security of the victims and of those struggling for justice for those horrible crimes.

Whatever the fate of this trial, it is just a small piece in the search for justice for the San José de Apartadó massacre. The investigation against higher ranking officers, including General Hector Jaime Fandiño who was heading the XVII Brigade during the massacre is completely stalled, because it lacks the political will of the acting Attorney General Guillermo Mendoza Diago (as well as his predecessor's Attorney General Mario Iguaran). Justice will be served only when the top military and civilian authorities who participated in the massacre and its subsequent cover-up are punished.

Water, Energy and the Displacement Factor

By Marion E. Hiptmair

I joined the FOR team in La Unión, San José de Apartadó in the beginning of November. After only a few weeks, because of logistical circumstances, I got the chance to join a FOR accompaniment trip in northeastern Antioquia, along the Porce River. "Great!" I thought, without knowing a lot about how tough this journey would be.

The number of displaced people in Colombia is high, second worldwide only to Sudan. In the case of Colombia, Colombia has a lot of natural resources to offer, and one of its valuable resources is water. Through that, much of Colombia's energy is produced in big hydroelectric plants. This energy is not considered renewable, as these plants have an enormous effect on in the ecology and population of this region and of Colombia. A hydroelectric plant of this size needs a lot of space and the flow, size and density of the river changes. These changes very often lead to displacement, not just in Colombia.

In this case, Medellín Public Enterprises plan to build a new hydroelectric plant "Porce IV" along the Porce River, a project worth US$ 800 million. The eminent domains of the region are organized and the implementation of the 400 megawatt plant is foreseen for 2015. This construction affects several small villages along the river and will cause the displacement of about 1500 families, some of them already displaced by the construction of the Porce III plant.

People in this region are mostly gold miners and "chaluperos" — transporting goods and people with their motor canoes or "chalupas." To secure social justice for themselves with the construction of Porce IV, local people organized themselves, assisted by the Antioquía Peasant Association (ACA). FOR has accompanied the ACA, an organization that supports farmers through workshops, investigations and organization in their fight against injustice, since 2005.

Our adventurous accompaniment started in Medellin. We went in a camioneta (pick-up truck) to Amalfi, a small village in northeastern Antioquia and one of the places affected by the construction of Porce IV. From Amalfi we continued in a camion (small truck) — where we sat in the open back with excellent view on the stars of Colombia. When we finally arrived in "La Vega de Naranjal" we filled our still empty stomachs with a delicious Colombian meal. In Colombia, meals in general always include some kind of meat, rice, beans, patacon (mashed and fried plantain), plus the famous agua panela (sweet sugar cane in water) ... mmmhhmm ... After this dinner and a whole day of traveling, military controls, and talking, we fell totally exhausted into our beds.

At 5:30 am some people from the village came into the guest house and woke us with a nice breakfast of tinto (sweet black coffee) and freshly-made buñelos (fried dough balls). After this refreshment we set out on a 3 hour walk to Los Trozos, from where we continued in chalupas along the Porce River to Zaragoza, where a big community meeting would take place. The trip in the chalupa was an adventurous rafting ride through this region wonderful nature. We saw colorful birds, monkeys swinging through the trees and many marvelous plants. Once we arrived in Zaragoza, we all were quite surprised, as it was much bigger and hotter than we had expected. After a refreshing shower we went on to the community meeting. To inform people of our presence we were invited to give a short presentation of FOR and its work in Colombia. The evening and the next day were full of meetings, until ultimately we left in the afternoon with a colectivo (shared taxi) and a bus back to Medellín.

People we met at this accompaniment were great and really appreciated our presence. We were invited to so much food and tinto, that we hardly could have eaten more. Several people told us about the positive effect of international accompaniment, saying that they felt much more secure and could express themselves more openly.

Adriana Roman, Youth Activist and Human Rights Defender, on speaking tour in the Bay Area in February

"This is what makes us dream about all the possibilities and from those dreams, begin to live them, to incorporate them in our political actions, in our homes, in our public spaces, in our affections. Through our dreams we take a chance, we defy what has been imposed on us, we insist on living differently. We denounce and speak out in parks, in the streets and to the judges. Our voices are not silenced; although many times silence has accompanied us in our losses, when bullets have taken away our loved ones, this silence makes us deaf and expresses our desire to continue on this path which we have chosen, a path that implies our own transformation and the transformation of power. Our proposal is to build a collective, to come together, live and unlearn together, to defend dignity, that of our own and many others."
—Adriana Roman

View a full list of Adriana's speaking engagements from February 15 to 21 in the Bay Area, click here.

And don't forget to check back, as her schedule continues to fill up!

Next FOR Colombia Team Training

Interested in serving on an amazing human rights team in Colombia? Consider applying to the FOR Colombia Peace Presence. The next volunteer training will occur in the San Francisco Bay Area, May 10-15, 2010.

More information and how to apply, click here.

Dharma in Action Fellow

The Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR) Colombia Program and the Buddhist Peace Fellowship are seeking a Buddhist practitioner who can join the FOR team to carry out nonviolent protective accompaniment to threatened activists in Colombia, while exploring the relationship between Buddhism and activism during one year of service in the field. The volunteer will carry out human rights protective accompaniment in Bogotá or the rural community of San José de Apartadó. Team members in San José assist in increasing the security of a community that, despite being located in a conflict zone, has publicly chosen not to support any armed group. Bogotá team members support work in San José and also work with other grassroots nonviolent initiatives. Work includes accompaniment visits, organizing delegations, meetings with government officials and writing. The Dharma in Action Fellow would be responsible for communicating reflections on the relationship between Buddhism and activism through a socially engaged email list and/or a personal blog and upon completion of service will give a speaking tour, visiting Buddhist centers in the US to talk about his/her experience and insights while on the team in Colombia.

More information and how to apply:
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