On Thursday 26th June the small town of Facatativa, 10 miles outside Bogota, blocked the main road through the town in protest at local council plans to charge for public lighting. For around 12 hours locals defended barricades in Faca and the neighbouring village of Cargenita, also situated along Route 80, one of the main roads leading out of Bogota.
The police, including 300 from the riot squad, fired live ammo and massive amounts of tear gas, leaving 20 injured, including a 15-year old shot in the arm, who is being operated on in an attempt to prevent permanent nerve damage. A pensioner was reported by media to be in a serious state in hospital after riding his motorbike into a cordon set up by locals.
Faca rose up previously in 1996 and 1999 against the increasing cost of public services, with locals blocking roads and reclaiming public institutions. In 1996 the police murdered one local.
Roads were blocked at 4am with buses and lorries, with burning blockades set up during the morning at other points along the main road. As well as firing live ammo the police threw tear gas into the faces of blockaders, but were unable to break the determination of locals to maintain the blockades, supported by neighbouring villages.
The strike was only lifted once the council had canceled the planned street lighting fee and agreed to talks on improving other public services such as waste collection, telephones, electricity and water supply. As locals celebrated the news a police helicopter circled low overhead for around 10 minutes. 18 children arrested were released the same day but 4 adults were still being held the following day.
The police imposed a curfew and alcohol ban, and patrolled the streets. In the early evening the few locals on the streets were not stopped. Intelligence services prevented access to the hospital to the family of the youth seriously injured in the arm with live ammo.
Mainstream media reported looting and damage to cars and ambulances. Wandering around the streets after the strike was lifted the only property damage I witnessed was one smashed window on an ambulance.
Click here for photos.
Saturday 28 June 2008
Thursday 26 June 2008
human rights and composting in Casanare
My week long trip to Casanare with the organisation we accompany kicked off with a human rights workshop in Yopal, the state capital, organised by the Asamblea Permanente de la Sociedad Civil por la Paz (APSCP). The APSCP, a platform of social organisations, is itself part of a coalition with three other human rights organisations, which in 2006 launched a 'National Action plan for Human Rights and Humanitarian Rights' (Plan Nacional de Accion en Derechos Humanos y Derecho Humanitario - PNADHDIH). Working with foreign government agencies and the Colombian government Human Rights Commission (Consejo Nacional de Derechos Humanos - CNDH), the PNADHDIH is apparently following a Peruvian model which focuses not just on human rights abuses but issues such as gender equality and multiculturism.
One of the functions of the APSCP has been touring Colombia's states giving human rights workshops on the PNADHDIH to local community leaders. As the organisation we acccompany is the one with the most community contacts in Casanare, they were asked to call together local rural council leaders. Casanare was one of the last regions to be visited by them. Unlike the organisation we accompany who always travel the 8-10 hours by bus to the region, the APSCP pair flew in for the day from Bogota.
In the morning they gave their human rights presentation whilst recognising the limitations of this in an environment where those who denounce human rights abuses are routinely intimidated, attacked and assasinated by paramilitaries and the army. In the afternoon the
One of the functions of the APSCP has been touring Colombia's states giving human rights workshops on the PNADHDIH to local community leaders. As the organisation we acccompany is the one with the most community contacts in Casanare, they were asked to call together local rural council leaders. Casanare was one of the last regions to be visited by them. Unlike the organisation we accompany who always travel the 8-10 hours by bus to the region, the APSCP pair flew in for the day from Bogota.
In the morning they gave their human rights presentation whilst recognising the limitations of this in an environment where those who denounce human rights abuses are routinely intimidated, attacked and assasinated by paramilitaries and the army. In the afternoon the
local leaders discussed in groups the human rights situation in their areas and fed back the familiar pattern of displacement, intimidation, assasinations, environmental degradation and widespread immunity enjoyed by the army and armed groups. The day was an almost unique chance for regional leaders to gather given the lack of security and large geographical area of Casanare. Although most had a long journey back to their communities and so left in the afternoon some stayed on for a few games of pool in the evening.
As well as human rights work the organisation we accompany also does agricultural training and the following days were spent accompanying them in a project involving a survey of local farms and teaching organic composting techniques. This involved mixing manure with chopped sugar cane, banana plant husks and wood, a chance for all, no matter what age, to get stuck in and get smelly and dirty - in a few months they will follow up to check on the progress of the composting project. The farmland in that particular area isn't that fertile due to largescale deforestation and soil erosion.
It was then back to Yopal for the second of Espacio's workshops on our pen-pal scheme. It was a good chance for those signing up to the scheme to learn something about UK culture and living conditions and dispel any media-influenced preconceptions they may have, as well as the protection element of the scheme. What struck me about those attending both this and the human rights workshop was the willingness of some to talk about their lives and communities to me, a stranger. Perhaps this was because they hadn't had the secure spaces to do so previously.
One guy told me how he had been kidnapped by paramilitaries a few years ago after being falsely accused of guerilla links by an informer, was tortured for a month, which involved having his hands tied, being hung from beams and told he would be executed the next day, before being released with permanent disability. He has since been unable to work, and although registered disabled and entitled to help has only received a carton of provisions worth around 50,ooo pesos (16GBP) - he said most of such assistence goes to family and friends of those doing the handing out. A displaced farmer with two young children told me he works irregularly on short term contracts, for the local council or on local farms. At 7GBP a day the council pays better than the farmers who pay the minimum wage of 4.50GBP.
The trip back was delayed by a massive hold-up on route when an articulated lorry got stuck in the mud, blocking all traffic for hours - this is a common occurence in the rainy season. Fortunately we had just started the trip and so decided to spend another night enjoying more of the hospitality of local farmers in the hills - the bus driver wasn't so friendly but we eventually managed to recover some of the cost of the full journey we had paid.
I read in the paper today that the first land has been handed back to displaced farmers under the 2005 Justicia y Paz law. This was after the 95 families had spent 13 years spent in homelessness on being forcibly removed by paramilitaries.
Sunday 15 June 2008
a true story which we have to tell
The Colombian organisation which my collective is working with has just brought out the first issue of a publication called 'La Ruta de la Libertad'. They call it a 'bitacora de caminantes', which translates as 'walker's binnacle' - highly original.
Apparently a binnacle is a case or box on the deck of a ship containing navigational instruments. They explain this in their editorial by saying that it is 'more than a report of the organisation's activities, but a vision of those who have walked some of our country's regions, examining, working, but above all learning from those belonging to communities along our path. Our paths have led us through the state of Casanare, the foothills of Casanare and Boyaca states and the district of Ciudad Bolivar in Bogota'. Ciudad Bolivar is a poor slum area within the municiple boundary of Bogota home to many displaced people.
This 'binnacle' of 20 pages contains articles on the geography, nature and recent history of these areas. For more background on Casanare click here. Below is a translation of a tribute to an indigenous leader murdered last year. To mark the anniversary there was a memorial event this April. Unfortunately I couldn't attend as I was doing accompaniment in Sur de Bolivar, but a friend went and reported that it was a personally moving as well as worthwhile solidarity experience.
'Without doubt, the first history lessons we receive in school or which adults tell us, concern the arrival of the Spanish in Colombia in 1492, who with violence and repression murdered and displaced our indigenous peoples, the first inhabitants of this rich land, and what's more, robbed a lot of the gold they came across, leaving only misery, disease, hatred and an irrational ambition for power.
Today, more than 500 years later, history hasn't changed, our farmland is occupied by multinationals representing savage capital, which is used to finance a dirty war, with the permission and support of our governments. Daily we have to witness millions of displaced people, remember thousands of disappeared people, cross rivers of blood spilt by the poor, by indigenous farmers and by all those who try to resist to defend what is most sacred: life and territory.
This time they don't come for gold, but for some time they have been robbing us of the oil, the water, the forests, freedom, knowledge, and finally, the land. All that's left is to take from us the right to breathe.
What we now want to make known, and which is part of our own history, is that there are still indigenous communities resisting despite the war declared against them, and that they will continue their just struggle for the basic rights to exist, for land, autonomy, freedom of thought and peaceful coexistence, maintaining harmony between mother earth and humans, not with humans as masters of nature, as is the attitude of the invadors and exploiters of our country.
Now we have to pay homage and remember the indigenous chief Alvaro Salon Archila, leader of the Uwa community of Chaparral Barronegro, located on the border of Casanare and Arauca, between the municipalities of Sacame, Atocorozal and Tame, who gave his life to defend his territory, to teach his community to resist and struggle for dignity and social justice. Alvaro fulfilled the dream of his father, the chief Antonio Salon Archila, whose dying words were, 'my son has to be the leader and fighter of tomorrow, the defender of our territory', which is what he became, at the age of 20 assuming his father's legacy. He always stood up to the interests of individualists and others who threatened his community. He survived the massacre of La Cabuya, carried out on the border of Sacama Casanare and Tame Arauca, on the night of 19-20 November 1998, where five people were killed, including a seven-month pregnant woman.
According to the Attorney General those responsible were members of the Counterinsurgency Battalion No25, part of the 16th Brigade based in Yopal, Casanare. Some officials have already been convicted.
Only his physical existence ended on the afternoon of 23rd April 2007, at the age of 42, when he was crossing a path together with his wife, in the township of San Gregorio in Tame province. An explosion in circumstances which remain unclear, took his life. Fortunately his wife Marleny Camargo survived - in this country very few witnesses survive. The army in a press release reported his death as the result of an anti-personnel mine placed by the insurgency, but his community claims that it was a deliberate act in a region with a large army presence as part of the 'democratic security' policy of President Uribe. It is a mystery that the mule on which the chief was travelling didn't suffer any harm. Will the right to justice, truth and reparation be respected in this case? Or will this add to the long list of murders with impunity in this country?
Alvaro Salon Archila, as the more than 400 indigenous of the Chaparral Barronegro territory believe, is more alive than ever in their hearts; he will always be their son, leader, defender and fighter.'
Apparently a binnacle is a case or box on the deck of a ship containing navigational instruments. They explain this in their editorial by saying that it is 'more than a report of the organisation's activities, but a vision of those who have walked some of our country's regions, examining, working, but above all learning from those belonging to communities along our path. Our paths have led us through the state of Casanare, the foothills of Casanare and Boyaca states and the district of Ciudad Bolivar in Bogota'. Ciudad Bolivar is a poor slum area within the municiple boundary of Bogota home to many displaced people.
This 'binnacle' of 20 pages contains articles on the geography, nature and recent history of these areas. For more background on Casanare click here. Below is a translation of a tribute to an indigenous leader murdered last year. To mark the anniversary there was a memorial event this April. Unfortunately I couldn't attend as I was doing accompaniment in Sur de Bolivar, but a friend went and reported that it was a personally moving as well as worthwhile solidarity experience.
'Without doubt, the first history lessons we receive in school or which adults tell us, concern the arrival of the Spanish in Colombia in 1492, who with violence and repression murdered and displaced our indigenous peoples, the first inhabitants of this rich land, and what's more, robbed a lot of the gold they came across, leaving only misery, disease, hatred and an irrational ambition for power.
Today, more than 500 years later, history hasn't changed, our farmland is occupied by multinationals representing savage capital, which is used to finance a dirty war, with the permission and support of our governments. Daily we have to witness millions of displaced people, remember thousands of disappeared people, cross rivers of blood spilt by the poor, by indigenous farmers and by all those who try to resist to defend what is most sacred: life and territory.
This time they don't come for gold, but for some time they have been robbing us of the oil, the water, the forests, freedom, knowledge, and finally, the land. All that's left is to take from us the right to breathe.
What we now want to make known, and which is part of our own history, is that there are still indigenous communities resisting despite the war declared against them, and that they will continue their just struggle for the basic rights to exist, for land, autonomy, freedom of thought and peaceful coexistence, maintaining harmony between mother earth and humans, not with humans as masters of nature, as is the attitude of the invadors and exploiters of our country.
Now we have to pay homage and remember the indigenous chief Alvaro Salon Archila, leader of the Uwa community of Chaparral Barronegro, located on the border of Casanare and Arauca, between the municipalities of Sacame, Atocorozal and Tame, who gave his life to defend his territory, to teach his community to resist and struggle for dignity and social justice. Alvaro fulfilled the dream of his father, the chief Antonio Salon Archila, whose dying words were, 'my son has to be the leader and fighter of tomorrow, the defender of our territory', which is what he became, at the age of 20 assuming his father's legacy. He always stood up to the interests of individualists and others who threatened his community. He survived the massacre of La Cabuya, carried out on the border of Sacama Casanare and Tame Arauca, on the night of 19-20 November 1998, where five people were killed, including a seven-month pregnant woman.
According to the Attorney General those responsible were members of the Counterinsurgency Battalion No25, part of the 16th Brigade based in Yopal, Casanare. Some officials have already been convicted.
Only his physical existence ended on the afternoon of 23rd April 2007, at the age of 42, when he was crossing a path together with his wife, in the township of San Gregorio in Tame province. An explosion in circumstances which remain unclear, took his life. Fortunately his wife Marleny Camargo survived - in this country very few witnesses survive. The army in a press release reported his death as the result of an anti-personnel mine placed by the insurgency, but his community claims that it was a deliberate act in a region with a large army presence as part of the 'democratic security' policy of President Uribe. It is a mystery that the mule on which the chief was travelling didn't suffer any harm. Will the right to justice, truth and reparation be respected in this case? Or will this add to the long list of murders with impunity in this country?
Alvaro Salon Archila, as the more than 400 indigenous of the Chaparral Barronegro territory believe, is more alive than ever in their hearts; he will always be their son, leader, defender and fighter.'
Thursday 12 June 2008
Colombian palm oil workers still on strike
Palm oil workers from the Yarima district of Santander state have been on strike now for nearly two months. Two weeks ago their road blockade was violently cleared by riot police firing rubber bullets and using a water cannon, leaving 15 injured. The USO (Union Sindical Obrera de la Union de la Industria del Petroleo - Oil Workers Union) have been representing the workers in negotiations in the state capital, Bucaramanga.
Here is a translation of a communique from the Yarima community negotiating committee on June 6th:
'On Saturday 31st May, after 41days since stopping work and the refusal of the palm oil industry to set up negotiations to resolve the social and labour conflict, finally concrete negotiations were agreed, with the municipal council of San Vicente de Chucuri and PDPMM (Programme for Development and Peace in the Magdelena Media) acting as guarantors. However the negotiations have been bogged down by the repeated refusal of the employers' commission to recognise the legitimacy of the workers' negotiating committee appointed by the community and their lack of will to come to an agreement beneficial to both parties. Amongst other issues the following stand out:
This conflict has featured in the national press, and last week agriculture minister Andrés Felipe Arias made comments putting the whole community at risk: 'Yarima disrict has been hijacked by anarchy, by a trade union that has links with the guerilla, and the government knows what the true aims are of those promoting a farmers' movement in the area'.
Yarima district is an important agroindustrial area with 7,000 hectares of palm, 15,000 of cocoa, 3,000 of rubber, as well as cattle ranches and coal mines. It is a rich area with companies raking in profits, but the population lives in poverty with abysmal working conditions and a lack of access to health and education.
Here is a translation of a communique from the Yarima community negotiating committee on June 6th:
'On Saturday 31st May, after 41days since stopping work and the refusal of the palm oil industry to set up negotiations to resolve the social and labour conflict, finally concrete negotiations were agreed, with the municipal council of San Vicente de Chucuri and PDPMM (Programme for Development and Peace in the Magdelena Media) acting as guarantors. However the negotiations have been bogged down by the repeated refusal of the employers' commission to recognise the legitimacy of the workers' negotiating committee appointed by the community and their lack of will to come to an agreement beneficial to both parties. Amongst other issues the following stand out:
- the palm industry until now has been granting the minimum guarantees to the negotiating commission in terms of accommodation, transport and food - it has complied with offers made to the community before the start of the current phase of the process.
- the employers' negotiating commission has refused to sign any document containing a timetable, as requested by the social protection ministry, the people's defender, and the church. There is also no mention of any will to resolve the conflict in the shortest time possible with the relevant guarantees.
- the employers' negotiating commission has repeatedly insisted on dividing our commission by dealing with the themes individually, thus seeking to weaken us, and has constantly demanded that in order to make progress we have to call off the strike, which we have vehemently rejected as none of their proposals are serious.
- the employers have shown a lack of will in fulfilling the committment made on May 31st to set up a negotiating table on June 6th to discuss this social conflict in the Santander State Government, in the presence of the following: the Governor, the mayor of San Vicente de Chucuri, palm oil companies, Ecopetrol, the company Centromin and the PDPMM, amongst others.
- we denounce the constant harrassment we have been subject to from armed people in plain clothes, which has forced us to request security from the Secretary of the State Government.
- we repeat that this process is colective involving the whole of the Yarima community, therefore any agreement should encompass all the workers, without exception.
- there have been no agreements on the key issues, only on side issues, which don't offer any kind of guarantees to the Yarima community.
This conflict has featured in the national press, and last week agriculture minister Andrés Felipe Arias made comments putting the whole community at risk: 'Yarima disrict has been hijacked by anarchy, by a trade union that has links with the guerilla, and the government knows what the true aims are of those promoting a farmers' movement in the area'.
Yarima district is an important agroindustrial area with 7,000 hectares of palm, 15,000 of cocoa, 3,000 of rubber, as well as cattle ranches and coal mines. It is a rich area with companies raking in profits, but the population lives in poverty with abysmal working conditions and a lack of access to health and education.
Tuesday 10 June 2008
Street theatre in Bogota downpours
For the last four years on the tenth of the month, the Colombian social organisation Rayuela has staged street theatre in central Bogota. This usually involves placing bricks with the names of victims of the armed conflict in the central square, Plaza de Bolivar, laying out banners and handing out roses. Sometimes they block streets and hold up the bricks to the traffic. Despite the rain, which persisted all day, today they did several blockades.
In 2005 when Victor, a popular breakdancer, was murdered in the poor Bogota barrio of Altos de Cazucá, his friends' initial reaction was to give up their dance and music to seek vengeance. These violent urges were converted into creative ones by the professionals from various disciplines of Rayuela, and two months after the murder, his friends displayed the funeral notices of the 250 youths of the area murdered by paramilitaries since 2003. Some of those continue to take part in Rayuela's activities to this day.
Today, one group headed for Cazuco, whilst another set off for the National University where a number of blockades were carried out on the main road outside the university entrance - the university was chosen to mark the recent Day of Student Victims of Violence. Wearing white T-shirts saying 'Nunca Mas' (Never Again), the dozen performers first warmed up in a nearby side street, before marching to the main road where they spread across two lanes of traffic and held up the bricks, whilst some walked among the stationary traffic holding them up to car windows. After this had happened a few times cops started showing up, first on motorbikes, then in vans and finally a water-cannon that looked like it had seen a lot of action made an unexpected appearance.
Being sodden enough, it was then decided to head off to the main square to unload the hundred or so bricks and place them outside the Congress, along with a few banners. Due to the heavy rain there weren't many passers by and the security present didn't show much interest, no doubt aware of this monthly ritual. Some soldiers placed the roses offered to them on the bricks and a few tourists took pictures but it was an otherwise low key affair.
The bricks back in the truck it was then off to a nearby busy intersection where the traffic was totally blocked for nine minutes - I was told they normally do this for only three minutes. There were several video cameras filming the action, and the cops kept a low profile, telling some of the blockaders to get up and move on, but without enforcing this. Deciding to call it a day we headed off to refuel with a slice of pizza and coffee.
At the post-action debrief those blockading felt positive about the actions, which lasted longer than usual, and the response from passers by.
As well as in Bogota, Rayuela also do street theatre and music workshops in a few other regions in Colombia. They call the street theatre 'Teatro Efimero'.
Click here for photos.
In 2005 when Victor, a popular breakdancer, was murdered in the poor Bogota barrio of Altos de Cazucá, his friends' initial reaction was to give up their dance and music to seek vengeance. These violent urges were converted into creative ones by the professionals from various disciplines of Rayuela, and two months after the murder, his friends displayed the funeral notices of the 250 youths of the area murdered by paramilitaries since 2003. Some of those continue to take part in Rayuela's activities to this day.
Today, one group headed for Cazuco, whilst another set off for the National University where a number of blockades were carried out on the main road outside the university entrance - the university was chosen to mark the recent Day of Student Victims of Violence. Wearing white T-shirts saying 'Nunca Mas' (Never Again), the dozen performers first warmed up in a nearby side street, before marching to the main road where they spread across two lanes of traffic and held up the bricks, whilst some walked among the stationary traffic holding them up to car windows. After this had happened a few times cops started showing up, first on motorbikes, then in vans and finally a water-cannon that looked like it had seen a lot of action made an unexpected appearance.
Being sodden enough, it was then decided to head off to the main square to unload the hundred or so bricks and place them outside the Congress, along with a few banners. Due to the heavy rain there weren't many passers by and the security present didn't show much interest, no doubt aware of this monthly ritual. Some soldiers placed the roses offered to them on the bricks and a few tourists took pictures but it was an otherwise low key affair.
The bricks back in the truck it was then off to a nearby busy intersection where the traffic was totally blocked for nine minutes - I was told they normally do this for only three minutes. There were several video cameras filming the action, and the cops kept a low profile, telling some of the blockaders to get up and move on, but without enforcing this. Deciding to call it a day we headed off to refuel with a slice of pizza and coffee.
At the post-action debrief those blockading felt positive about the actions, which lasted longer than usual, and the response from passers by.
As well as in Bogota, Rayuela also do street theatre and music workshops in a few other regions in Colombia. They call the street theatre 'Teatro Efimero'.
Click here for photos.
Saturday 7 June 2008
Students mobilize in Cali
On Friday 7th June students from the Universidad del Valle (Univalle) in Cali marched to the city centre to denounce state repression against their university, which has seen 4 students murdered in recent years and the imprisonment of four students two months ago, one of whom remains in prison, accused of 'terrorism'.
June 7th marks the anniversary of a national strike in Bogota in 1929, supported by students, who for the first time fell at the hands of the police. This tradition of targetting students in Colombia, has continued to the present day, especially at Univalle. In September 2005 Univalle student Jhonny Silva was murdered by police at a demo in the presence of international observers, which was followed by the murders of students William Javier (April 2006), Julian Hurtado (October 2006) and Katherine Soto (August 2007).
Andres Palomino, who hasn't actually been charged with anything but has spent the last two months remanded in custody, is coincidently one of the witnesses of the Truth Commission into Jhonny Silva's murder. The other three students arrested alongside Andres have all been released without charge.
Attempts to hold the police to account for Jhonny's murder are continuing despite the Cali criminal court's foot dragging. In 2007 three senior riot police officers were linked to the murder with the court recognising that armed police had entered the university and fired live rounds at the students. The police were ordered to present their defence but have yet to do so.
On Friday's march to the city centre, several hundred students demanded justice for those murdered and the release of Andres Palomino. The march was accompanied by around 50 cops who looked on disapprovingly as students flyposted the route and a few redecorated bus shelter adverts and empty walls. They spent a couple of hours in the square outside the regional government offices before gradually dispersing.
Click here for photos.
June 7th marks the anniversary of a national strike in Bogota in 1929, supported by students, who for the first time fell at the hands of the police. This tradition of targetting students in Colombia, has continued to the present day, especially at Univalle. In September 2005 Univalle student Jhonny Silva was murdered by police at a demo in the presence of international observers, which was followed by the murders of students William Javier (April 2006), Julian Hurtado (October 2006) and Katherine Soto (August 2007).
Andres Palomino, who hasn't actually been charged with anything but has spent the last two months remanded in custody, is coincidently one of the witnesses of the Truth Commission into Jhonny Silva's murder. The other three students arrested alongside Andres have all been released without charge.
Attempts to hold the police to account for Jhonny's murder are continuing despite the Cali criminal court's foot dragging. In 2007 three senior riot police officers were linked to the murder with the court recognising that armed police had entered the university and fired live rounds at the students. The police were ordered to present their defence but have yet to do so.
On Friday's march to the city centre, several hundred students demanded justice for those murdered and the release of Andres Palomino. The march was accompanied by around 50 cops who looked on disapprovingly as students flyposted the route and a few redecorated bus shelter adverts and empty walls. They spent a couple of hours in the square outside the regional government offices before gradually dispersing.
Click here for photos.
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