October 2006 Peace Presence Update

In this Update:

School of the Americas Watch Vigil: November 17-19
This November 17-19, civil rights movement leaders, torture survivors, grandmothers, military veterans, faith communities, unionists, and social justice activists from across the Americas will converge on Fort Benning, Georgia, to speak out against the School of the Americas (SOA) and to change oppressive U.S. foreign policy. In numbers, too big to be ignored, we will take a stand for justice, peace and accountability and against the racist system of violence and domination that is represented by the SOA. Repressive militaries are not the answer to the problems of our day and age.

Army battalions commanded by personnel trained at SOA have been implicated in severe human rights violations and massacres, including the XVII Brigade with jurisdiction over San José de Apartadó. FOR Colombia will present a workshop on Accompaniment on the 17th, and Peace Community leader Renato Areiza will speak from the main stage on the 18th.

More information on the vigil

Please contact Moira at moira@igc.org if you plan to attend.

New Peace Presence Team Members Pedal for Peace, November 1-12

On November 1, Janice Gallagher, who leaves on November 24 to serve on FOR’s Colombia Peace Presence Team, and Fedelma McKenna, who will join the team in mid 2007, will bike over 500 miles from Boston to Washington D.C. to raise awareness and funds for their human rights work in Colombia. The two hope to raise $15,000 to support the Fellowship of Reconciliation's work during their bike trip.

Their website, www.pedalingforpeace.org includes photos from Colombia, the bike route, events the two will hold, and of course an opportunity to donate. Please support Janice and Fedelma as they pedal for peace!

US Military Aid: Beginning of Withdrawal?
The top Pentagon officer for US military policy in Latin America this month said Washington should reduce the $600 million in military aid the United States provides annually to Colombia.

Cutting military aid “makes sense,” General Bantz Craddock, outgoing chief of the US Southern Command, told reporters. “The Colombians are winning,” he said, presumably referring to the army. He said Colombia’s defense minister agrees with cutting funds.

The statements by Craddock could reflect tensions within the Pentagon and State Department over the US partnership with the Colombian army. The army has been beset by scandal, including widely cited reports of killings of civilians (many of whom were later dressed to look like guerrillas), officer involvement in a car bombing in July, and the massacre of an anti-drug police unit.

The scandals and abuse led even conservative columnist Robert Novak in late September to denounce “an increasing number of ‘friendly fire’ incidents that constitute rogue Army activity.” He cited a “well informed source” who wrote that “The Colombian army is hemorrhaging with problems— years of cooperation with the paramilitary forces have corrupted the Colombian Army officer corps all the way up.”

A high-level US delegation to Colombia in late October led by Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns pledged that Washington would continue the same level of support, at least through next fiscal year. But Burns also said “there are big concerns raised about possible human rights violations,” and his reassurances about next year’s funding could also be a diplomatic message that after next year things will change substantially. Vice-Admiral James G. Stavridis, the new Southern Command chief, said September 19 that “Southern Command is conducting a review of current programs” in Colombia.

The fractures in US policy in Colombia offer an opening for those who advocate a humanitarian and demilitarized approach. It is up to us to use this opening.

Petition for a Different Policy in Colombia
People of faith have a chance to voice the desire for a new policy in Colombia by signing an on-line petition that calls for reduced military aid, support for internal refugees, and dismantling of paramilitary structures. Sign the petition

Another initiative you can support is a Congressional Resolution supporting Colombian grassroots peace initiatives. House Resolution 822 recognizes the courageous and important work carried out by peace communities, youth, indigenous, women, Afro-Colombians, churches and others. It has been co-sponsored by just 15 Representatives. Call the Congressional Switchboard, 202-224-3121, ask for the office of your Representative, and speak or leave a message with the foreign policy aide in support of H.R. 822, submitted by Rep. Betty McCollum. Click here for more information.

Peace Community on U.S. Speaking Tour, November 1-23
Renato Areiza, coordinator of the Council of the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó, will visit the U.S. this November. At various events and activities, Renato will present firsthand the story of the community.

For more information on the events, please call the numbers listed below, or contact the FOR office at 415-495-6334.

Renato's schedule:

Nov. 1, 2:30pm: Univ. of Texas at Austin
Texas Union — Tx Governors Rm 3.116
Contact: Denise Fraga, denise.fraga@mail.utexas.edu, 512-779-4202
Nov. 2, 6:30-9:00pm: Austin Mennonite Church
5801 Westminster Drive, Austin, TX
Contact: Howard Hawhee, hhawhee@austincc.edu, 512-989-5759
Nov. 3, 2:00 pm: UC Santa Cruz
Boabab Lounge, Santa Cruz, CA
Contact: Sandra Alvarez, sandraca@ucsc.edu
Nov. 4, 7:00 pm: The Fairfax Women’s Club
46 Park Rd, Fairfax, CA
Contact: mitf@igc.org, 415-924-3227
Nov. 5, 3:00 pm: Reception and film showing
2649 Folsom St., San Francisco
Contact: luisvasgoz@yahoo.com, 415-821-2253
Nov. 6, 7:00pm: San Francisco Reception
71 Cumberland St., San Francisco, CA
Contact: mbirss@forusa.org, 415-495-6334
November 9-12: Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Contact: Juan Ricardo, UNC, aparicio@email.unc.edu
November 13-15: Washington, DC
Contact: Eric Lopp, PBI, ericpbicolombusa@pb0icolombia.net
November 14, 6:00-8:00 pm: Film showing and presentation
Provisions Library, 1611 Connecticut Ave. NW
Contact: Janice Gallagher, janice@pedalingforpeace.org
November 16-19: School of the Americas Vigil, Columbus, Georgia
November 17, 7 pm: Workshop on Human Rights Accompaniment
Convention Center Room 207
For more information, visit www.soawatch.org
November 20-21: Gainesville, Florida
Contact: Daniel Malakoff, breakaway@riseup.net

Encounter in the Peace Community of San José, February 20-25, 2007

(Translated message from the Community):
The Peace Community of San José de Apartadó wishes to commemorate the two-year anniversary of the massacre carried out by the Colombian Army in the Mulatos and Resbalosa regions, where it killed our leaders Luis Eduardo Guerra and Alfonso Bolivar, along with Bellanira, Deyner, Santiago, Alejandro, Natalia, and Sandra Milena.

There is no better way to commemorate than to hold an international encounter, where we gather to participate in the international solidarity that has permitted us to survive despite the terror of extermination that we have been subjected to.

Besides sharing the memory of our lost friends, who continue to travel with us, we want to discuss the challenges of international solidarity in the face of the paramilitarization that is taking place in our country, especially this region of Urabá, and how to generate alternatives so that the purposes of the civilian population can sustain themselves in midst of the war, even despite a government that has permitted the legalization of paramilitarism throughout our region and country.

For further information, contact cdpsanjose@gmail.com (in Spanish). For translation help, contact the FOR office.

The Mothers of the Plaza de la Candelaria:
Searching for Their Children
Like the Madres of the Plaza de Mayo in Argentina, a group of Antioquian women took over the Plaza Berrío to demand the liberation of their children.
Semana.com, 19 October 2006

It’s Wednesday, midday. The grey sky allowed its first drops to fall over the heart of Medellí. The clock on Candelaria Church in the Plaza Berrío rings 12 times. The first to arrive is Marta Valencia. She walks with her head down and her hands grasping an old banner that shows a black and white photo of her husband. On November 28, 1998, guerrillas took him. It was in Santa Bárbara district, when they went to the cemetery to pick up the remains of Marta’s mother. She never could gather all the ransom that they demanded, and since then she hasn’t seen Ramón Angel. It has been 14 months and three days.

Another 40 of Marta Valencia’s compañeras live this same drama, coming together every Wednesday at noon sharp in the Plaza Berrío in the shadow of the church of the Candelaria. Their sad and dramatic histories have been repeated over and over again. They have told them at the Attorney General’s office, the Inspector General’s office, the Human Rights Ombudsman’s office. Desperate because no one had any news of their children and their husbands, they even went into the jungle. They searched for ‘Tirofijo’ [‘Sharpshooter,’ nickname for FARC commander Manuel Marulanda]. But the head of the FARC was also unable to help them. Once in awhile photos and letters are sent as proof that their loved ones are still alive.

So Marta and her compañeras of misfortune decided to march every Wednesday at midday in the Plaza Berrío as an act of protest, the same as the mothers of the [Plaza de] Mayo in Buenos Aires, Argentina, looking for proof that their disappeared children are alive. They hope that the international community will listen to them, that someone will give them a hand so that their children and husbands can come back home. The majority of the 40 women who show up in the Plaza Berrío are the mothers of police officers and soldiers who today are in the hands of the guerrillas. It has been nearly two years, and no one knows for certain what will happen to them in the future. The guerrillas demand an exchange for their freedom. The government demands that the guerrillas return them as a demonstration of their commitment to peace. In that back and forth, their families continue day and night with the same message.

“We want them alive and in peace” shout the 40 voices in front of the indifferent people circulating through the plaza at that hour.

“Being together gives us courage. We feel that being here is our commitment. We have to break through indifference and oblivion. We have to say that abductions are the worst thing and that it is not only a problem of a few. Anyone in this country could suffer from the kidnapping of a loved one,” says the mother of Juan, a young soldier in the hands of the guerrillas.

Jairo Rúa is also part of the group. His only son was detained by the FARC in
the town of Cocorná a year and two months ago. That is why he comes on Wednesdays to Berrío accompanied by his wife Ida Lucía Avalos. Rúa is a representative of ASFAMIPAZ, the group that was created by the families of 37 police officers and army soldiers detained in different operations of the FARC in Antioquia, attributed to various fronts: the 47th, ninth, and 34th of the José María Córdoba block.

The afternoon starts to fall over Medellí. Now the rain has become a torrential downpour. Marta Valencia and her compañeras are soaking wet. Her prayers haven’t been made to wait in the atrium of the church. Slowly, each of them begins to roll up their banners. Everyone clings to the hope that this will be the last Wednesday that they will come to the Plaza Berrío. Everyone dreams that before the next week their children and husbands will return safe and sound. It is a dream. Their hope. Maybe before next Wednesday that hope will become a reality.

Translation by Gilberto Villaseñor III

Letter from the Field, by Mireille Evans

The Peace Community of San José de Apartadó organized a return to the settlement of La Esperanza on October 23-24. FOR, the Spanish group Acompaz and other visitors accompanied peace community families to the remote settlement where they are planting crops and building new homes. ( Click here for more background). The return took place amid new threats against the community. On September 26, the community reported that armed men identifying themselves as paramilitaries entered the house of a woman belonging to the community and threatened a massacre. (see www.cdpsanjose.org/article.php3?id_article=245 ) Amid the actions of combatants, the community continues. The following account by FOR team member Mireille Evans conveys how the war and daily farming life commingle.

It was a beautiful sunny morning. The sun was beaming down with much intensity, cleansing our pores. My team-mate Trish and I had gone up to the cocoa farm just outside the community houses toward the mountain. The cocoa trees were at their peak stage of production. A fruitful time for the community as it is one of their main cash crops. The colorful shades of green, yellow and red pods hung from the lichen-licked and twisted branches. They were ripe, waiting patiently to be picked.

We were on a mission to collect cocoa pod compost to enrich the soil in the garden behind our house. We filled our bags and had begun to trudge back, each with a big bag of heavy seeping compost, when we heard a helicopter overhead. Emerging from under the canopy of the cocoa trees, we searched the sky to spot the military machine. It didn’t take long to locate the mechanical dot circling the community. The inhabitants of La Unión who had not yet gone to work seemed unconcerned about the recent arrival of the helicopter, having become used to having it pass overhead over the past decades. We watched as it made a big circle in the cloudless sky, encompassing La Unión — where we live — as well as one of the five Peace Community Humanitarian Zones, Arenas Altas. A Humanitarian Zone is made up of Peace Community members committed to not being part of the armed conflict, who do not live in the two main communities.

Arenas Altas is composed of about seven families about an hour walk over a mountain from La Unión. Previously it was the third community that made up the Peace Community. However after the massacre in February of last year, it became a Humanitarian Zone. Most of those who live there have been displaced from their land in other, higher conflict zone areas and resettled to this nest of houses. They are living here physically, yet in their hearts still long to return to the homes and farms from which they were uprooted. This is also the community that has been subjected to the most recent violence: two members have been killed in the last year and combat has occurred disconcertingly close to them.

After a while of watching the helicopter, we returned to our garden work and daily activities. The helicopter persisted circling for a few hours. At one point we heard a round of shots come from the air when the helicopter was above Arenas Altas, and we raced out from our house. Throughout the morning explosions and shots could be heard from that direction. We waited.

At 3 o’clock, a community leader came to ask us to accompany a group to go to Arenas Altas to investigate, as they heard someone had been taken by the military. We gathered our cell phone, satellite phone, ID’s, and a bottle of water, slipped into our gumboots, put on our campesino hats and joined the others all set to go. Our small group grew in numbers and diversity from four to nine men, women and children as we proceeded.

The path was getting swallowed in vigorously growing vegetation. It is also a path notorious for having copious amounts of liquid earth, known as mud. We slogged our way through the goo, trying to go quickly. Although my feet are not as agile and sturdy as those of the campesinos, I only fell a few times into a muddy embrace. When we arrived in Arenas Altas, we were all relieved to find it quiet, the people gathered at a few houses. We went to talk with them to get their account of what had happened earlier that day and see how they were doing.

Luckily that day, there had been no fighting within their community, although there had been to the near north and south of them. They had been hearing shots and bomb explosions all day, constantly worrying that the fighting would approach, trapping them in the middle of somebody else’s war. Their heartbeats had returned to a normal pulse and they offered us some much appreciated juice. They also shared with us the account of a woman who lives a short walk away from the main collection of houses. She had been visited by the military and accused of being a guerrilla, and was lucky they left her without harming her or her family.

This was just another example of a conflict being fought with little concern for those uninterested in it. They are interested in living their lives on the land peacefully and in community, with hope that their commitment to nonviolence and politically risky stance of refusing participate in the conflict will bring a peaceful place for their children to live. We stand with them in solidarity as they continue their struggle for the betterment of our planet.

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End U.S. Military Aid to Colombia

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