FOR- Programs - Colombia Update

Colombia Peace Presence Update, October 2004

Fellowship of Reconciliation
Task Force on Latin America
and the Caribbean


In this Update:

1) Indigenous Colombians Commemorate 512 Years of Resistance
2) Huge protests slam Uribe's economic policies
3) Colombian Paramilitary Group Proposes Demobilization
4) Faith Group Leaders ask Bush, Kerry for New Colombia Policy
5) FOR at the School of the Americas Protest, November 19th-21st
6) 2005 Colombia Volunteer Training
7) Successful San José Peace Community Caravan


Indigenous Colombians Commemorate 512 Years of Resistance
ONIC communiqué excerpt by Rebekah Waldron

October 12 is recognized internationally as the anniversary of the landing of Christopher Columbus in the Americas.  It is also an international day of mobilization for indigenous people to protest the legacy of colonialism and continued repression of indigenous rights, as well as celebrate their ancestors and vibrant cultural traditions.

In Colombia hundreds of indigenous people gathered for ceremony and march to the capital city of Bogotá to protest continued repression of indigenous identity and self-determination. The march began at the Jipi reservation where a ceremony of prayer, music and dance was held to evoke a feeling of unity and to connect with the spirits of those ancestors who experienced the struggle against colonization.  The demonstrators then made the arduous journey to the capital city of Bogotá, where they converged on Bolivar Plaza, chanting slogans such as, "512 years of resistance!" and "Reparations as part of negotiations!" to make the public declaration that, "The day of October 12, 1492 was not a conquest, it was an invasion."

The march was sponsored by the National Organization of Indigenous Colombians (ONIC), the Organization of Indigenous Communities of the Colombian Amazon (OPAIC) and the Indigenous Authorities of Colombia (AICO) who organized representatives from over fifteen different ethnic groups including the Wayuus, U'was, Nasas, Pijaos and Ingas.  One ONIC executive highlighted the importance of this gathering by stating, "For Colombian indigenous communities this day commemorates the beginning of our resistance against ethnocide and exploitation by those who since 1492 have declared war on our people, our religions, our cultures and our lands."  He went on to express solidarity with Afro-Colombians, peasant farmers, health workers, social leaders, women and the unemployed, promising that, " we will continue to march in protest, so that people know the importance of cultural diversity and the role it plays in the peace for our country."

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Huge Protests Slam Uribe Economic Policies
Camilo Garcia , Colombia Week

A wave of protests against President Alvaro Uribe Vélez's economic policies peaked on October 12 with a 24-hour general strike and huge marches in more than a dozen cities.

The strike shut down courts, government offices, schools and urban transit systems, and limited hospital care to emergencies. United Workers Central (CUT), the country's largest labor federation, estimated 1.4 million participants.

The protesters included government employees, retirees, farmers, indigenous people, teachers, hospital workers and students. A Bogotá rally drew an estimated 300,000 people, more than any Colombian protest in years.

Since taking office in 2002, Uribe has cut social spending, privatized industries, pushed for tax hikes and pension cuts, and helped launch talks for a U.S.-Andean free-trade agreement. The economy's nearly 4 percent growth last year didn't translate into additional jobs. Many recent studies suggest conditions have worsened for most Colombians. A National University study, for example, found in August that poverty now grips 66 percent of the nation's 44 million inhabitants.

The conditions seem to be fueling a decline in Uribe's popularity. In a Gallup poll this month, 67 percent of respondents viewed him favorably, down from 75 percent in June.

The protesters blasted a proposal to allow Uribe to run for reelection in 2006. A Chamber of Representatives committee approved the measure October 22 in the seventh of eight Congressional votes required to amend the Constitution.

The Bogotá rally took place in Plaza de Bolívar, the central square, after protesters streamed in along six march routes, mostly from the North. The rally included 700 people who arrived in the capital October 11 after walking 260 miles from the northern city of Bucaramanga. During the seven-day hike, they distributed 100,000 leaflets calling attention to a financial crisis facing the nation's hospitals. Other marches and rallies took place in Bucaramanga, Cartagena, Cali, Popayán, Barranquilla, Cúcuta, Ibagué, Neiva, Pereira, Riohacha, Santa Marta and Tunja.

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Colombian Paramilitary Group Proposes Demobilization
Camilo Garcia , Colombia Week

The United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) has proposed disarming 3,000 of its 15,000 fighters in what would be the largest paramilitary demobilization in the country's decades-old conflict. An October 7 statement from the group said its commander, Salvatore Mancuso Gómez, has ordered the demobilization to begin November 3.

President Alvaro Uribe Vélez's government welcomed the announcement, but others noted the lack of a legal framework for reintegrating the fighters into society. "The government cannot just tell them to demobilize without telling them what they're demobilizing into," said Sergio Jaramillo, director of the Bogotá-based Ideas for Peace Foundation, quoted October 9 by the New York Times. "It is imperative that a law be passed quickly, so people know what the terms of reference are."

The AUC, the country's main paramilitary federation, and the government have been trying to repair damage from a newsmagazine's publication of transcripts of their negotiations, which began formally in a northwestern safe haven July 1. The transcripts, published September 26 by Semana, indicate the government has offered to protect demobilized paramilitaries from extradition.

Government peace commissioner Luis Carlos Restrepo Ramírez told lawmakers the United States has requested the extradition of nine paramilitary chiefs, including four at the negotiating table, on drug-trafficking charges, the Bogotá newspaper El Espectador reported October 6. The United States indicted Mancuso in 2002, accusing him of a role in trafficking more than 17 tons of cocaine to the United States and Europe over the previous five years.

The AUC declared a ceasefire that year as part of informal talks with Uribe's government. But the human rights ombudsperson's office on October 2 said it has received 342 complaints from 11 provinces alleging violations of the ceasefire.

To sign up for Colombia Week, e-mail editors@colombiaweek.org with "SUBSCRIBE" in the subject line. You can also view archives at http://www.colombiaweek.org.

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Faith Group Leaders ask Bush, Kerry for New Colombia Policy
Lutheran World Relief

Washington, DC, October 14, 2004 - More than 700 Protestant and Catholic Americans are urging President George W. Bush and Senator John Kerry to provide new strategy for U.S. policy on Colombia.  They have sent letters to each candidate calling for a "reassessment" of existing policy.   

The letters urge a "new strategy" that responds to the needs of both nations by addressing the root causes of Colombia1s civil conflict in ways that strengthen the peace and security of people in Colombia and the United States.

The letters are signed by the Fellowship of Reconciliation, Presiding Bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Episcopal Church, U.S.A., the Presidents of Lutheran World Relief, Catholic Relief Services, the Conference of Major Superiors of Men, and the United Church of Christ, an executive of World Vision, and hundreds of local church leaders from across the country.  They say that now is the time for "a greater commitment to a negotiated, political path toward peace."

Lutheran World Relief President Kathryn Wolford says, "The United States can make a significant contribution to the long-term sustainability of peace in Colombia by shifting the focus of its aid to that country toward a great emphasis on effective social development."  Such development funding, she adds, would acknowledge the efforts of churches as well as local governments and other civil institutions that are "working together for lasting alternatives to violence and the inequality and poverty that sustain it."

The faith groups laud the "great courageS of our Colombian brothers and sisters" and point to their "great needs."  The letters say their Protestant and Catholic signers "hope to work with" the candidates in a search for "durable solutions" to the problems related to the United States1 Colombia policies.

To read the full text of the letter: http://go.sojo.net/ct/edavZE71eaCZ/

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FOR at the School of the Americas Protest, November 19th-21st

This year the Fellowship of Reconciliation will join thousands of other activists at the gates of the School of the Americas/Western Hemisphere Institute for International Security in Fort Benning, Georgia to protest United State military intervention in Latin America and the Caribbean.  The Fellowship of Reconciliation invites you to participate in this weekend of events and has several sponsored activities for you to join :

If you are interested in coming to the protest and need a place to stay, the FOR is providing lodging for two nights and five meals for a registration fee of $30.00-$60.00 sliding scale, space is limited - please sign up in advance.  

1) November 19th
1:00-4:00 pm: Colombia Teach-In with Witness for Peace
@ Howard Johnson Hotel, Presidential Suite

6:00-8:00 pm: Interactive Workshop on Working for Peace in Colombia
@ FOR Apartments (close to main event area)

7:30-9:00 pm: Complimentary Dinner and Social Gathering
@ FOR Apartments

9:00 pm: Drop Beats Not Bombs Party
@ FOR Apartments, all ages welcome

2) November 21st
8:00 am: Meet @ FOR Apartments to march under the FOR Banner to the vigil.

For more information on FOR sponsored events or to sign up for housing and meals please contact Rebekah Waldron at 415-495-6334.   For more information on the SOA Protest go to www.soaw.org.

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2005 Colombia Volunteer Training

Want to work for peace in times of war?  The Fellowship of Reconciliation seeks volunteers for its teams in Bogotá and the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó , starting service in August 2005 and later. San José is one of many rural Colombian communities that have taken an extraordinary stand against war by refusing to support any armed group.  The FOR has two small teams of volunteers who serve for at least one year.  The San José team shares the lives of peasant farmers striving for a life in peace and dignity.  The Bogotá team supports this and other Colombian peace efforts.   FOR seeks committed and skilled volunteers ready to support these living examples of nonviolent resistance.

The next volunteer training will take place in Nyack, NY from March 6-11, 2005.  Applications are due January 3rd, 2005.  For more information and to apply contact us at :

Fellowship of Reconciliation, Tel (415) 495-6334, forcolombia@igc.org

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Successful San José Peace Community Caravan
Corporacion Juridica Libertad

On October 22, 2004, a caravan to break a paramilitary blockade of the Peace Community was carried out in San José de Apartadó.

For three months the paramilitaries have imposed a blockade impeding the delivery of food and the sale of some of the products that sustain their rural economy on the Peace Community San José de Apartadó. To enforce the blockade, three people have been assassinated. For this reason, the Peace Community organized a Caravan against death and against the blockade on October 22. Its goal was to reach the Apartadó city center to buy foodstuffs and essential products. The caravan was accompanied by the Urabá Public Defenders Office, the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (ACNUR), the Fundación Navarra Nuevo Futuro, la Corporación Jurídica Libertad, and the international organizations that accompany the community, International Peace Brigades and FOR.

The day's journey brought together more than 150 campesino delegates from the various hamlets of the San José district who traveled on foot and by mule to supply provisions, because the public transport providers face serious threats for providing services for the shipment of food.

In addition to the paramilitary blockade, members of the Colombian Army's 17th Brigade at the La Balsa roadblock, located on the road from Apartadó to San José, on various occasions seized supplies residents and merchants tried to transport, arguing that these supplies were destined for the guerillas. Venders in the supply centers located in Apartadó are prohibited, under the threat of death, from making sales that exceed 80,000 pesos to the storekeepers of San José. The wood that San José sells has been blocked from being taken out of the district for three months. The same is true for the cocoa, now stuck in storage and at the point of spoiling. In order to sell it people would run the risk of becoming the victim of an attack.

From the beginning of the blockade, the Peace Community has insisted that the national government take effective measures to allow the sale of products and break the blockade of essential goods; that it neutralize this paramilitary action and prevent the public forces from assisting in the blockade in violation of International Humanitarian Law. The government has failed to take effective action in any of these senses.

Thanks to the decisive action by the Peace Community, the caravan obtained positive results. In spite of the dominant paramilitary force in Apartadó, the campesinos succeeded in bringing enough food for several days into the community, a success with enormous symbolic value against the attempts of destroying the Peace Community. Another action is planned in the upcoming days to ship some wood and cocoa that is stuck in San Jose.

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If you have any further questions about the FOR Colombia program, please contact us. Thank you very much for your ongoing support.

In Peace

Jutta Meier-Wiedenbach
Colombia Program Coordinator
________________________
Fellowship of Reconciliation
Task Force on Latin America and the Caribbean
2017 Mission St. #305 San Francisco, CA 94110
phone: (415) 495-6334, fax: (415) 495-5628
www.forusa.org

©2004 Fellowship of Reconciliation