Children's presents stopped at Egypt-Gaza border

A van carrying presents from London children to Gaza's children was stopped by the Egyptian police at the Rafah border with Gaza on Thursday. This was after setting off 2 weeks ago from London and driving through Europe and the Middle East to Egypt. Arriving by ferry in Egypt at Nuweiba on Sinai from Aqaba in Jordan the van was held for 2 days by the Egyptian authorities and the driver told to pay a £500 deposit. 

The first humanitarian mission by the Justice for Gaza organisation tried to bring medicine to Gaza in the summer but it wasn't allowed to cross over and spent a month at the Rafah border. The deposit paid that time has still to be returned by the Egyptian authorities.

At Nuweiba a policeman was assigned to the van for 'protection' which was increased to two as the van passed from South to North Sinai. At the regional border crossing the North Sinai police spent an hour and a half checking the van, not trusting the work done by their counterparts over 2 days previously.  

Click here for photos of the van.

Some more photos of the journey from London can be found here.

Egyptian security prevent Gaza caravan gathering in Cairo

A massive Egyptian security presence prevented a humanitarian convoy to break the siege of Gaza from gathering in Cairo on Saturday 6th December. Journalists and political activists were attacked and detained as various security force branches prevented people gathering at the State Council. This location was chosen as the starting point for the Gaza caravan as a lawyer had recently obtained a court order there confirming Egyptian citizens' freedom of movement after previous caravans had been similarly repressed. At an October caravan security prevented people from reaching the meeting-point by kidnapping them as they left home and holding them for the day before releasing them.

100 managed to make it to a spontaneous demo at the Press Syndicate, which was similarly swamped by security, although the protestors were allowed to make speeches and shout slogans in solidarity with Palestine on the steps of the union. Plain clothes thugs stood opposite the demo looking menacing and moving on people who lingered for more than a minute.

One tourist was detained for 30 minutes for taking photos of the security forces and questioned in detail about his presence outside the State Council. The photos were deleted. A security force officer said that taking photos was prohibited due to 'police work' being carried out and that a 'permit' was required.

However, even press with the correct credentials were attacked and harrassed both at the demo and at other locations in the centre of Cairo where they attempted to interview people. A security force officer said that taking photos was prohibited due to 'police work' being carried out and that a 'permit' was required.

For more visit on the Cairo demo visit:
http://www.almasry-alyoum.com/article2.aspx?ArticleID=189468

A demo of 700 was held at the Egyptian cultural centre in Paris protesting the Egyptian government's complicity in the siege of Gaza by preventing any humanitarian aid or other supplies into the strip:

http://www.ism-france.org/news/article.php?id=10550&type=temoignage&lesujet=Blocus


Egypt now controls the southern Gaza borders after the collapse of the 2005 Philadelphi agreement between Israel, Egypt, the EU and the PA, which since June 2007 has not been in control of Gaza.

For repression of a recent Gaza solidarity demo in Cairo visit:
http://stopthewall.org/worldwideactivism/1791.shtml

Human rights abuses Egypt has been criticised for this year include the murder of immigrants on the Egypt-Israel border, the killing and continued imprisonment of protestors during the General Strike at Mahalla in April (both condemned by Amnesty and Human Rights Watch) and the continuing persecution of workers at the Mahalla factory. Opposition figures, mainly Islamist, are routinely rounded up and held without charge.

For more on the recent disappearance of a student blogger visit: http://www.thedailynewsegypt.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=18302

Egypt is the third largest recipient of USAID after Iraq and Israel and has had a State of Emergency in force since 1981.

Coca in the news

I just read this article in the Guardian about the Colombian Vice President urging Brits to kick their cocaine habit, citing rainforest destruction caused by coca cultivation's and the profits going to FARC. He might also have mentioned the right-wing paramilitary and political collusion (the 'parapolitics scandal') or the cooperation between FARC and paramilitary groups in some areas.

On a slightly related note here is a translation of a press release by the Joel Sierra human rights group from Saravena, Arauca, dated November 17th:

The village of Campin, Arauquita municipality, continues to be occupied by an armed group in camouflage and wearing a yellow, blue and red armband with FARC-EP insignia, who according to locals invaded violently, mistreating members of the community, and shooting indiscriminately. This resulted in the deaths of Alcides Ropero and Juan de Dios Isidro Mora, and injuries to Marcos Anibal Mosquera, 35 years old, and Willian Granados Tarazona, 24 years old.

This morning, around 10.45am, in Filipinas village of the same municipality. farmer Jorge Nino was killed.

These events have caused a massive displacement of the communities at risk, mainly to the urban centres of Saravena and Arauquita for self-protection.

Some of the injured and displaced supported the arrival of the army which resulted in clashes with the insurgents. There are currently no exact figures of the injured and displaced, and further deaths can't be ruled out.

We repeat our calls for the armed parties in the conflict to respect the civil population and its social organisations together with their leaders, which according to International Humanitarian Law and the revolutionaries' own ethics, shouldn't be brought into the conflict. We also urge them to end the war waged to address its underlying causes.

We ask the international community to continue monitoring the ongoing social and humanitarian crisis in Eastern Colombia and urge the armed parties to respect the basic rules of war (los mínimos de la guerra).

Narino human rights groups receive death threats by telephone

Some of the local Narino groups the delegation visited in August were the subject of these threats. Here is the groups' response:

The undersigned social movements, indigenous, afrodescendant and human rights (HR) organisations report to the international community that we have again been subject to threats.

The threats were made by phone to the offices of Humanidad Vigente, Comité Permanente por la Defensa de los Derechos Humanos – CPDH Nariño, Cabildo Mayor Awá de Ricaurte - CAMAWARI, Unidad Indígena del Pueblo Awá - UNIPA, Corporación Dignidad, Pastoral Social de Tumaco, el Capítulo Nariño del Movimiento Nacional de Víctimas de Crímenes de Estado, - MOVICENAR, Fundación Desarrollo y Paz – FUNDEPAZ, and a few leaders from the Pacific coast in Narino who have been doing human rights work.

The call, which seems to be a recording, says: "this is our territory, we want you far from here, we'll give you a month to leave you guerilla scum".

In recent months Narino human rights groups have been repeatedly threatened with being killed if they don't leave the region within a month. This is a clear attempt to disrupt the reporting, accompaniment and organisation by communities involved in defending human rights.

These phone calls are the latest in a series of threats by email, regular mail and fax received by Narino HR groups. What is also worrying is that some organisations that have been threatened in other regions have been found in Bogota through their new email addresses.

These threats have been signed by paramilitary groups like the Aguilas Negras, Autodefensas Campesinas Nueva Generación and Autodefensas Gaitanistas de Colombia, who are continuing their policies of terror against the civilian population and human rights defenders (HRD) despite having supposedly demobilised (Bloque Libertadores del Sur).

Background:

1. From July 2007 the Defensoría del Pueblo has issued early warnings (alertas tempranas) about the lack of state intervention and the escalation of the threats. In July 2008 the Defensoría del Pueblo sent a follow-up note on the threats to the governmental Comité de Alertas Tempranas but there has till now been no official reply.

2. On October 23rd a threat from the Aguilas Negras appeared on the internet. This threat was sent to dozens of Colombian organisations, including embassies, trade unions and student groups, in which they are given an ultimatum to be silent, and stating that intelligence gathering has been carried out on "guerillas" for years abroad.

3. Among the organisations threatened in October can be found Comité Permanente por la Defensa de los Derechos Humanos – CPDH Nariño, Cabildo Mayor Awá de Ricaurte - CAMAWARI, Unidad Indígena del Pueblo Awá - UNIPA, Corporación Dignidad, Corporación AVRE, Pastoral Social de Tumaco, Humanidad Vigente, el Capítulo Nariño del Movimiento Nacional de Víctimas de Crímenes de Estado, - MOVICENAR, Fundación Desarrollo y Paz – FUNDEPAZ as well as some leaders from the Pacific Coast of Narino.

Accompaniment mission to Narino

On my way down to Narino, the state in the far south-west of Colombia, I stopped off at Bugalagrande, a few hours north of Cali, and then in Cali. In Bugalagrande, not to be confused with the larger nearby town of Buga, youth groups from Cali came to the social centre, La Otra Esquina (The Other Corner), housed by the trade union Sinaltrainal, to perform some music and dances. This was to mark the anniversary of the murder of Hector Daniel Useche Beron, a local community activist and trade unionist at the local Nestle factory. It was mostly attended by children with a few older local trade unionists giving us some background to labour disputes in the area.

In Cali we were due to attend a hearing against an army sergeant accused of murdering a farmer and dressing him as a guerilla (falso positivo). Jose Orlando Giraldo was tortured and murdered by sergeant Luis Eduardo Mahecha of the Third High Mountain Brigade on March 11th 2006. His commander Bayron Carvajal has been convicted of the murder of other 'falsos positivos' in the Apartado area of northern Antioquia. These cases are usually covered up and rarely make it to court due to army threats and intimidation but the persistence of Jose's family has at least managed to get Mahecha arrested and he is currently in prison. However the hearing was postponed and delaying tactics by the defence mean he may well be released after 6 months - in Colombian law if no charges are brought in this time the case is dropped.

The huge, poor Cali district of Aguablanca has around 500,000 inhabitants (20% of the city's population). We visited Fundacion Semillas de Mostaza (Mustard Seeds Foundation) in the Marroquin barrio, one of the least deprived areas, which has a small library, and puts on activities for children in the holidays and after school during term time. They focus particularly on preserving the country's musical heritage and give classes on Andean music and dances. Despite their tiny space and funds they are a dedicated group of volunteers determined to offer local children something different to the homogenous pop culture.

The state of Narino bordering Ecuador has a population of around 1.75m, with 422,350 in the capital Pasto. 55% live in the country with the rest in urban areas. The village of La Florida, an hour from Pasto, has been declared a disaster zone by the government due to the proximity of the Galeras volcano, and 8,500 locals have been given an ultimatum to leave by December or be evicted by force. The community is split on whether to stay and resist or go along with the government resettlement plan in another part of the municipality. This area is a warmer coffee and fruit growing zone, which the cattle rearing farmers of the colder Florida village area have no experience of. There are also serious reservations about the lack of basic infrastructure in the proposed zone and the inadequate budget set aside for building things like hospitals, schools and roads. The amount of compensation offered for their homes isn't enough to buy even a flat in Pasto. The mayor told us he had a tricky decision to make given the village divisions. Local community groups such as 'Florida Unida' and 'Suyosama' (this means beautiful in Quechua) are against the unilaterally imposed government measures, which lack any kind of previous consultation, and there was talk of recent mining explorations by a German multinational in the area - as in large parts of Narino requests have been made for exploratory drilling in La Florida municipality. The local subsidiary of Anglogold Ashanti, Kedahda, have drilling permits in 28 out of 64 municipalities of Narino. The wooden shelters built nearby in case of an eruption lack water and sanitation and when there was an eruption in January this year only a few families evacuated there.

The village of Ricaurte in the municipality of the same name is about half way along the road to the Pacific coast. This sparsely populated municipality has 11 indigenous reservations, consisting of around 10,000 indigenous Awa. One of the most acultured indigenous groups, the Awa have conserved their identity through occupation of territory, but have in recent years come under increasing pressure from the presence of armed groups on their land. Their indigenous culture had been suppressed for years with teachers being punished for using the Awa language. Some of the youth now learn the language and culture, including use of medicinal plants, in schools in the reservations. We visited a farm in the village with many of these plants. Accused by all sides of supporting others, some have been murdered and around a thousand have been displaced. There haven't been any murders by the army or paramilitaries since 2006, but the death threats and theft of cattle continue. FARC mines continue to kill and maim farmers and their families. Movement within many reservations is severely restricted because of the mines. In the largest displacement in 2005 hundreds lived in the Ricaurte village school during the holidays. Some of these came to an agreement with a local landowner and live in their own shacks while around 40 people still share a hostel with one bathroom.

We met another displaced community of around 100 residents near Ricaurte who have come from the municipality and other areas. They are are soon to be evicted by the landowner. A shelter was built a few miles away by the Italian NGO COPI but it remains empty due to the lack of facilities and distance from employment opportunities. This consists largely of day labour on local farms which pays 10-12,000 daily (3-4GBP) - wages have decreased with the influx of displaced people. Some of these had received a food packet for displaced people while others had received nothing.

The Awa are represented by CAMAWARI (Cabildo Mayor Awa de Ricaurte) whose members now run the local council. They told us of the increased paramilitary and police presence leading to social problems - there has been an increase in crime and teenage pregnancies. Due to debts incurred by previous administrations there is no money for health or education projects in the indigenous reservations. Ricaurte lies in the area of the Pacific-Atlantic development project, from Tumaco on the Pacific to Pasto and on to Puerto Asis in Putumayo and the Amazon basin. This would include the widening of the road in Ricaurte to facilitate the future transport of mineral resources and monocultures like palm oil and cacao. Palm oil plantations are already starting to encroach on indigenous land from the coast and there are suspicions of palm companies financing paramilitaries. The militarization of Narino has accelerated recently with much equipment being transferred from the soon to be evacuated US military in Manta, Ecuador, to the airport in the port of Tumaco, which is also crawling with US DEA advisors and fumigation mercenaries.

The presence of armed groups in the municipality of Samaniego (population 70,000) has increased with the rise of coca production as fumigations in areas such as Putumayo have merely displaced cultivation. As well as the large army presence, the FARC have recently moved into the area and have been fighting the ELN, who have been longer established in the area - many have been killed in recent clashes. A few weeks ago four teachers in a rural area were killed, allegedly by the FARC for being army informants. Locals also suspect that many soldiers' deaths in both clashes and as casualties of mine clearing operations have gone unreported.

In one of the most heavily mined parts of Colombia, by paramilitaries and the army as well as guerilla groups, official figures give over 250 landmine fatalities since 2002 , many of them children. The real figures are more as many victims aren't registered and some die because they can't access medical services for up to a day. In some areas the paths are mined between 6am and 6pm. 800 families are restricted to their homes as their farmland has been mined and hundreds of children are unable to attend school in some rural areas.

The more recent deployment of paramilitaries has brought terror to some villages such as El Decio which was invaded last year by hundreds of paramilitaries, many of them policemen, with one resident killed by being dragged through the streets and others assaulted. There is a manganese mine in the area which guerilla were attacking. More recently in May this year, during a curfew in Samaniego village, a few locals were killed including someone who was found with his eyes gouged out and hands cut off. Many suspect paramilitaries of being behind the flyers which were distributed announcing the curfew. A journalist with the local Diario del Sur who reported the murders was threatened and forced to leave the area.

The previous council negotiated a peace treaty with the ELN (Pacto Local de Paz) who promised not to harm the civilian population, but this has been abandoned by the current administration, who tow the official line that only the president or peace commissioner are authorised to negotiate such treaties. The previous council narrowly lost the elections, claiming that many votes had been bought by the current council. It is hard for humanitarian organisations to operate in the area as guerilla believe that they are collecting information for the army - Operation Jacque only deepened this suspicion. Health workers were recently kidnapped by the guerilla.

Some farmers formed the 'Cooperativa Agrominera del Saspi' in April so they will be better placed to resist future attempts by paramilitaries collaborating with mining companies to displace them. The River Saspi runs through Samaniego and neighbouring municipalities with artesanal mining. Farmers see this type of mining as a viable alternative as fumigations have devasted many of their traditional crops. The destruction of these crops has made coca an even more attractive proposition as it can be harvested every 2-3 months, unlike traditional crops which yield only two harvests yearly.

Click here for photos.

Final Session of Permanent Peoples Tribunal in Bogota

The Final Session of the Permanent Peoples Tribunal containing a judgement of the activities of multinationals in Colombia has just finished here in Bogota. This three day event was the culmination of a two year process involving six preliminary sessions on the food industry, mining sector, biodiversity, oil industry, public services and indigenous peoples.

Around 2, 000 people attended the tribunal at the National University in Bogota, including many who had travelled large distances in social movement delegations from all over Colombia. It was all due to take place in a large auditorium but as an orchestra needed the space to practice in the mornings these sessions were transferred to a nearby outdoor sports hall. It was almost impossible to follow the speeches in this change of venue, even for native Spanish speakers, so after the first day, when the charges from the preliminary audiences were presented there, the programme was changed to ensure no more speeches would be delivered there. Not being able to attend the recent indigenous peoples hearing due to a clash with the first gathering of the Colombia Friendship Network this section was particularly interesting, and included information on the negtive impacts of ecotourism projects in the Guajira region on the Atlantic coast, palm oil plantations in the Choco and Orinoco, which as well as causing mass displacement desecrate indigenous holy sites, and the murders of indigenous peoples in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta - 400 were killed last year.

Although invited to attend, only two companies responded in any way, the tourist agency Aviatur who claimed that there was no space for public debate at the tribunal, although there was this opportunity during the preliminary hearings, and Metroagua. The charges were also sent to the embassies of the countries where the multinationals HQ are (Spain, US, UK, Holland, South Africa and Switzerland) but none of them responded.

The afternoon sessions on the opening day consisted of talks on the background of multinationals in Colombia, from the 1928 massacre of workers by the United Fruit Company (now Chiquita brands) to the upsurge in paramilitarism and privitizations of the 1990s, through to the impunity and consolidation of the present day. We were overwhelmed with figures such as the estimated 300,000 killed by political violence during the last 10 years and the 5 million missing from the 2005 census, who have left the country or are in internal exile. We were told of the extensive support in the planning of the war from US, UK, Israeli and South African 'experts', with experience in repression of civil populations. In this final phase massacres by the paramilitaries and army is being replaced by targetted assasinations and a policy of 'assisencialismo' (a kind of development or welfare model) which involves the depoliticisation of communities through NGOs and religious groups.

We were told of the 11 'priority zones' comprising 58 municipalities - Cordoba, Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Catatumbo, Southern Bolivar, the Bajo and Medio Atrato in the Choco, the Northern Cauca, Tumaco in Narino, Arauco, the Southern Zone covering much of the Amazon, and Putumayo. These areas of strategic importance have also seen the highest rates of political violence in recent years.

The increasing inequality was highlighted by figures showing decreasing salaries whilst GNP has been rising at a rate of around 7% recently. Whilst prices are rising constantly - in my few months here the price of public transport has risen 10% - the minimum wage remains at 15000 pesos (4.30GBP).

Day 2 kicked off with a march from the HQ of the Colombian state-run oil company Ecopetrol, which has been collaborating with foreign oil companies in human rights abuses in areas such as Arauca and Casanare, and marched around town back to the National University. Around 700 attended the march, the change of time and place meaning many didn't make it. We were then treated to regional music and dance outside the auditorium, which continued throughout the daily Bogota downpour. In the afternoon other Latin American struggles were presented, including the Cochabamba 'water wars' in Bolivia where US utilities company Bechtel were kicked out through popular mobilisations, resistance to mining companies in Honduras where many municipalities have declared themselves 'mine free', and resistance to multinationals in indigenous communities in Ecuador. We heard the familiar story of the entry of foreign multinationals leading to displacement, employment deregulation and environmental degradation.

On Day 3 groups discussed topics such as the environment, oil, coal, tourism and labour rights, which were presented to all in the afternoon and a few proposals were made. This included a boycott of the travel agency Aviatur, which is already selling package holidays to foreigners for winter 2009, the exchange of seeds between communities affected by the invasion of GM crops by companies such as Monsanto and the need for improved communications between groups.

This was followed by the presentation of the final judgement, a summary of a 40-page document, that recapitulated much of what we had already heard. Some more stats I gathered were the 17 million living in poverty and 6m in extreme poverty, and the 0.3% that own over half the land. Colombia was compared to countries that have also suffered the ravages of the multinationals such as Indonesia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The delivery of the verdict was enlivened by the taking of the stage by around 15 masked students, including a piper who performed for us and a spokesperson who read out a statement highlighing the importance of the 'revolutionary process of the Colombian people to create a socialist society' and calling for the 'liberation of our peoples'. Despite a stern telling off by the head judge this intervention was generally well received and led to more shouting of slogans by some fo the groups present.

In the next few weeks some of the internationals present will be visiting regions to see first hand the devastating consequences of the actions of companies from their home countries.

Today there was a demo by some of the relatives and their supporters of those disappeared following the 1985 Palace of Justice siege, most of whom were cafeteria workers. Former Colonel Alfonso Plazas is on trial for his role in some of the disappearances. There was a small counter-demo supporting Plazas and a large media presence at the court.

Click here for photos.

"It's not that we don't want to. We simply can't"

These were the words of one villager when confronted by government officials telling them that they wouldn't be receiving coffee and banana plants they had been allocated because they hadn't fulfilled their commitments as part of the project of returning to the land they had been displaced from 9 years ago. The government assisted project, supported by the grassroots organisation Asociación Campesina de Antioquia (ACA), was due to be completed with 22 families returning by the end of July, but has been obstructed by government agencies leading to severe delays.

Landless peasants from other areas in southwest Antioquia arrived in the abandoned village of Promision in 1987 and began to work the land whilst seeking to clarify its legal status. In 1995 they tried to get land rights through the state rural development agency INCORA (now INCODER) and although some decisions went in their favour, many were never informed of this. Some did manage to pay to receive land title.

In 1997 the 38 families of Promision were displaced for the first time by armed conflict and fled to Medellin and the municpality centre of Angelopolis taking their animals with them to sell. They returned in 1998 with the help of the Red Cross and the ACA. They were displaced again in 1999 by paramilitaries when two villagers were killed making any return in the near future impossible.

Seven years later with the withdrawal of armed groups from the area 22 families decided to recover the land with the help of the ACA. Although local police said that security conditions didn't allow for a return locals said that the area had long been peaceful. With the help of the ACA they managed to get official assurances for the construction of 15 small brick houses, as only three of the old ones were habitable, the roofs and walls having collapsed in the others. A contract signed with the local municipality, a local construction company, the humanitarian agency DAPARD, the development agency Accion Social, as well as
the ACA, was to provide food for the first 6 months. The return of children was to be supported by the social welfare agency Bienestar Familia and international organisations agreed to accompany the project.

When some of the villagers initially returned at the beginning of September 2007 they squeezed into the existing houses to help with the construction of the first new houses and plant the first beans, corn banana, sugar cane and yucca. Although the state has provided builders the construction materials (bricks, cements, poles) were deposited at a point much further away than the villagers requested and the mules supplied to transport these materials were old and weak - it takes an hour for one trip instead of the 20 minutes it could have taken. According to some, local officials acted corruptly in the awarding of contracts with materials and mules overpriced.

Three whole families have returned with representives of around 10 others living there helping with construction and planting until their families can return. Four new houses have been built with three others nearing completion. In the next month they will be harvesting the first much needed crops as the state handouts dry out. The roof of one of the new houses leaks, unfortunate given the particularly wet year the area has seen. Although the builders have been alerted to this defect they have yet to rectify it.

The village school was occupied during the displacement by another family who have property elsewhere, meaning that families deciding to return have to leave children behind in other areas if they want an education.

When they returned in 2007 the still habitable structures had been occupied by others who initially refused to leave. When the police did evict them they returned to threaten the retornees but the threats have stopped now. However some of the village forest, which forms a protected habitat, has been burnt illegally by a farmer who occupied the land and is using it for his cattle. Although this farmer is rarely there family members living nearby keep an eye on it. Given the continuing presence of these local landowners who continue to occupy the village land the villagers have much less land than they had before, and they have to struggle to get even this registered. The ACA is currently trying to ensure they don't have to pay to get this land registered. There are understandably suspicions of collusion between local landowners and the municipality, going back a long time.

The villagers have created their own cooperative 'Empresa Comunitaria de Promisión' and plan to sell organic coffee and vegetables, but as the food runs out, many houses still have to be built and the unseasonably wet and cold weather takes its toll on their crops, they face a precarious future. They continue to toil in all conditions, with all family members chipping in, crowded into the existing houses to give their families a future other than that as 'living like animals in the city' as one villager commented.

The alternatives in the countryside also don't appeal. Many others in the municipality work in the coal mines, which have an increasingly appaling safety record - two youths recently died when a mine shaft caved in. Apparently many have died in the mines in recent years. Those working on neighbouring farms receive the minimum daily wage for occasional work (15,000 pesos, 4.50 GBP) or 1,000 pesos a kilo of coffee during the harvest which works out about the same.

During my 10 days there I contributed, hacking chunks out of the hillside, loading sacks of concretes onto mules, planting and weeding. During this time many officals from DAPAD turned up and a meeting was held with the villagers who were accused of not meeting their commitments and made to sign forms saying they agreed to renouncing coffee and banana plants which would be provided to nearby villagers instead.

Click here for photos.

small Colombian town in civil strike

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.

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 

 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.

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.'

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:

• 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.
  

The commission appointed by the community has been serious and responsible in its committment to Yarima, we won't submit to any undue pressures with the aim of destroying the community, we have shown a willingness and commitment to negotiate, but the employers' commission has used delaying tactics to fail to reach agreement. We hold the palm industry responsible for worsening the conflict, and if negotiations fail it wil be because of a lack of will on their part. This Yarima commission came to Bucaramanga to negotiate our demands, but has come up against an employers' commission which has made no sincere efforts to resolve this social and labour conflict.'

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.

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.

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.

A 'Womens Gathering' in Sur de Bolivar

Whilst in Tiquisio I was asked to do an accompaniment for a national capacity building NGO in the south of the Sur de Bolivar region, which was on the way back to Bogota, where I had to return anyway. For once I got to see the main highway up to the north, the Troncal Americana, during the day as I travelled south to Barrancabermeja. For almost the entire journey luscious cattle ranches and industrial-scale palm oil plantations flanked the road, this prime land having been largely cleared of smaller scale farmers. A large hoarding on the edge of the road read 'Quien sembra palma cosecha riqueza y paz' (whoever plants palm reeps wealth and peace). Palm oil has been aggresively promoted by the government in the region, in some areas replacing traditional crops with poor pay and conditions for those who work on the plantations, often displaced farmers.
The 'Tercer Encuentro de Mujeres del Sur de Bolivar' (Third Women's Gathering of southern Bolivar) took place in a village in the hills near the small port of San Pablo. It soon became clear that this was something of a misnomer as it was made up mainly of women from outside the area, from NGOs and groups in the EU-funded 'El Programa de Desarrollo y Paz del Magdelena Medio' (El Programa), as well as local children. There were more local men than women at the workshops, some of whom catered for the entire three day event. The lack of women from the region was attributed to the threats recently made against the regional Federation of Farmers and Miners, and divisions in local communities, although these weren't elaborated on. Some men vowed that next year would be different with men doing the catering. Someone told me that it was always difficult for farmers to attend gatherings even for a day as the demands on their time were just too great, although some would willingly attend if aspects of their daily life could be taken care of, like childcare. Also, communities in the region were very isolated - some young women had had to travel two days to get there.
Workshops were held on the history and problems faced by the region and village we were in, and how they could be addressed through community cooperation. Around 20-30 attended these sessions with the children making their own contributions withthrough colourful drawings.
Far more popular were the evening cultural events and football matches. As well as the ever-popular Vallenato music and slow dancing, there were displays of traditional dance in costume from the Caribbean Coast (Cumbia) and a piece of theatre depicting a paramilitary invasion of the village, which elicited strong reactions from the audience - many professed to having witnessed such scenes. The football matches, men and women playing separately, were divided into locals vs outsiders. The local womens team were well organised with their own kit and trainer and predictably beat the visitors, who resisted valiantly. The visiting men were helped out by the local contingent to make up the numbers, and an evenly matched encounter resulted in a draw, with some, as is usual in such 'friendlies', taking it far too seriously. Perhaps this was due to the large crowds (for such a small place) which gave the games atmosphere and that extra edge.
Coca has been grown in the area for years and the recent aerial fumigations have had little effect other than to wipe out the crops (both coca and traditional)of small farmers without affecting the larger growers. Coca grows a lot more quickly than other crops so farmers who have had their crops erradicated naturally turn to it. Cacao, one of the alternatives to coca promoted by El Programa, takes 2-3 years to bear fruit, whilst yucca and rice yield two yearly harvests. Even a Programa-sponsored cacao project of 60 hectares in the Santa Rosa del Sur municipality has fallen victim to the erradication program set to last until 2020. I was told that due to the isolation of many areas it just wasn't profitable enough to grow traditional crops due to the expense and time needed to transport them to market whereas harvested coca can be carried in a few sacks. Apparently over 20 years ago marijuana was grown but has been almost entirely replaced by coca.
More recently erradication teams have been physically removing the crop. According to locals where some erradicators were injured by mines planted by guerilla a few local farmers' homes were burnt. These teams are made up of soldiers, who often don't wear insignia, as well as freelance elements.
For photos visit:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/12940191@N08/

Mosquito territory

Due to the death threats against named individuals in the Sur de Bolivar region, some were taking advice and considering their future in the region whilst the projects they were involved in faced an uncertain future. With this state of heightened alert I was requested to accompany a member of a community organisation in the area back to their village and spend some time there to show international support.
This meant another overnight coach trip up to Agua Chica but this time we crossed the Magdelena River further north and travelled by lorry all the way across relatively flat terrain to the municipality of Tequisio. The four hour trip passed sites hinting at the past violence and strategic interest of the region for multinationals. We passed Mejiya village where ten years ago paramilitaries had burnt all the houses and murdered a farmer, because guerilla had been based in the area. Some of the villagers had returned and rebuilt simple wooden structures. We passed a hill where mining company Anglogold Ashanti's Colombian subsidiary Kedahda had recently done exploratory excavations but they had moved out their machinery and there is currently no activity. The mining company had bought up excavation rights across the region. Most of the mining activity in the region is in the mountains further south which I visited on my last trip, although there are a few mining villages in the foothills a four hour walk from Tequisio. That the violence in the area is ongoing, although much reduced since the paramilitary onslaught in the late 90s and early 2000, was brought home by reports of the murder earlier the same day and on the road we had been using, of a gold buyer and his two escorts. They had been killed by paramilitaries for alleged links with guerilla. No-one showed particular surprise at the murders. The large military presence in the region seems confined to strategic points with paramilitaries and guerilla still active in the surrounding countryside.
Tiquisio municipality is sparsely populated, with many having left its villages due to the violence and subsequent economic depression of the area. As elsewhere in Sur de Bolivar many are displaced persons from elsewhere in the region. Around 20,000 live in the municipality, the two main villages being Puerto Rico and Coco de Tiquisio. Apart from the dirt road to Rio Viejo on the Magdalena River the area is connected to the rest of the country by a tributary of the Magdelena, along which merchandise is transported to the villages. I was told there was little in the way of agricultural produce exported, the area's remoteness making this unprofitable. The average daytime temperature is 35C.
The local community group, 'El Proceso Ciudadano por Tiquisio' started off as an autonomous initiative in 2003 but became one of the 'Espacios Humanitarios' of the European Union funded 'Laboratorio de Paz del Magdalena Medio' (peace laboratory of the middle Magdalena region) in 2005. The three employees of the Proceso, a priest, who is the director, and his two assistants, were some of those named in the death threats a month ago by the northern branch of the 'Aguilas Negras' paramilitaries. They left the area a few weeks later, just before I arrived, as did others with death threats in the region.
Their work in the municipality involved promoting sustainable development in the form of agricultural cooperatives as well as raising awareness of human rights and International Humanitarian Law (IHL). One local said it was this latter activity that made made them the target of death threats.
As well as running the Proceso the priest carried out his ecclesiastical duties at the church on a mound overlooking the village of Coco de Tiquisio. Another mound was the site of the village primary school until the army occupied it five years ago for their base in the area, infringing IHL - the school had had to move down the hill into smaller buildings with little space for the children to play. I was told the army presence in this small village had just been beefed up to 'strengthen security' in the wake of the death threats. During my stay there the army had apparently asked after me but I was never approached directly and didn't even have my passport checked at the checkpoints when entering and leaving the village. The soldiers on duty did ask what I had been doing there when I left but more out of curiosity. One said 'Ah, eres gringo', as if that settled the matter that yes, I wasn't up to any 'terrorist activity'. When they discovered my nationality a few English football teams were mentioned, due to their recent successes in European competitions.
Despite the absence of the Proceso staff locals were determined to press ahead with the various projects. I visited a cooperative farm near Puerto Rico where rice was being planted in the scorching midday heat. The farm also grows sugar cane and yucca. The Proceso project in Coco de Tiquisio has some cows, pigs and chickens and a fish pond was currently being dug by workers employed by the municipality. They were getting 15,000 pesos (4.30 GBP) for a days work and in the absence of other local sources of employment there were many takers. There are plans for a vegetable plot. At a farm owned by one of the Proceso members we gathered building materials for a chicken enclosure being built. This was being constructed from guadua wood, a strong bamboo like tree. Whilst there we helped outselves to the tropical fruit in abundance - mango, papayo, guayaba - and worked the mechanical mill to extract the sweet resin from sugar cane (guarapo). Despite the heat and strong mosquito presence it felt good to be doing something practically usefully rather than being a symbolic international presence in the community offering a vague kind of support or solidarity, however useful this might also be.
Talking to locals I learnt something of the complex nature of the violence suffered by the area at the hands of paramilitaries, guerilla and army. Heavy fighting between paramilitaries and guerilla 10 years ago led to many farmers being killed by both sides, accused of aiding the other side. A view I have often heard expressed in the countryside is that campesinos are caught in the middle of conflicts and have little choice in how they deal with the armed parties. One campesino who had lived a long time in the area said that most of those killed by paramilitaries did have some kind of dealings with the guerilla, however minor, and only by avoiding any kind of contact with them could people like him hope to stay alive and remain in the area. As well as campesinos, shop owners and small merchants were also targets.
Many campesinos also had their cattle stolen by paramilitaries which led some to leave the area and others to move to the villages of Coco de Tiquisio or Puerto Rico. Guerilla had previously stolen the cattle of large landowners in another area. With families unable to support their children some parents moved to cities in search of work, leaving their children behind with relatives. As the paramilitaries withdrew from the villages around 2001 the army moved in, establishing their permanent base in Coco de Tiquisio in 2003. Despite the greatly reduced levels of violence the army has been responsible for killing campesinos and dressing them up as guerillas, a practice known as 'falsos positivos'. Someone told me of such a case in the neighbouring municipality of Achi last year. Although many knew about the Justice and Peace Law of 2005 which had provisions for denouncing abuses by the army, of around 35,000 families of victims, only around 1,000 had so far registered.
Apparently there is a history of intimidation of the local clergy. The previous priest had been forced out at gunpoint and before that the Franciscans had had to flee dressed as women. It transpired that the current priest and his assistants wouldn't return, following the advice of pretty much everyone who advised them. Two priests from nearby municipalities were also to be relocated.
I heard some criticism of the previous municiple administration, which was said to have distributed funds and resources (computers were mentioned) to family and friends. This practice is called 'serrucho', meaning saw, suggesting the way the pie is divvied up.
When the time came to leave I got up at the crack of dawn as recommended but still managed to miss the only 'chalupa' (what they call passenger boats up there) out of there that day. The only other option was a 3 hour ride on the back of motorbike, without a break, on a stony, pockmarked track without a helmet, an experience I don't wish to repeat. I will never miss another boat again.
For photos visit:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/12940191@N08/

Colombian mining federation members on state of alert following death threats

Following a 22-hour journey by bus, taxi, boat and foot we arrived at the gold mining community of Mina Caribe in the Serrania de San Lucas part of Sur de Bolivar. As the track leading from the regional centre Santa Rosa, had been made accessible to vehicles for another few kilometres, including a crucial uphill bit, we only had to walk for and an hour and a half, half the time it took on my companion's previous trip to the area one and a half months ago.
The army encampment we passed on the hill above the village gave a further clue to the militarized nature of the area - there had been two checks along the river, one for documents the other just luggage. That these soldiers weren't in the hills for the views was confirmed by reports by locals that the day before a local gold buyer had been arrested and taken off by helicopter for carrying a pistol without a license - I later learnt he was released a day later. Apparently army helicopters are used for such essential matters but if a local is seriously ill they have to be carried off on a stretcher to the road.
We were greeted with the drink of choice, at least among the men, beer, and after the pleasantries talk quickly turned to the more serious matter of the death threats issued last week against the local federation of farmers and miners (Fedeagromisbol), and the Colombian NGO I was accompaning, amongst other groups and priests in the region. After the trip I discovered that these death threats had been narrowed to specify leading members of these groups.
The following day a gathering was held in the village with representatives from most of the mining communities in the area, including some who had walked/ridden for hours to be there, and the turn-out seemed impressive with around 100 packed into the hall and some outside. Disappointingly but predictably, there were only a few women. The meeting was dominated by the pressing matter of the death threats, although time was found for many other issues. It was a chance for locals to find out about their representives' meeting with government officials in the regional centre of Bucaramanga a few weeks ago. The mining ministry had made committments to ensure the return of displaced people and the miners' continued existence in the region and the Federation had proposed a 'Zona Reserva Especial Minera' for the region. A follow-up meeting in Cartegena for the previous week had to be cancelled due to the death threats, and the government had only decided to send along minor officials anyway.
People complained that they paid taxes on the gold they exported from the region but saw little
in the way of social investment in the region, the army being the main official presence, as I was to discover for myself. The general lack of security was commented on with 32 murders occuring between December 2007-April 2008 in the local municipality. There was spirited talk with someone saying that their communities have been threatened for years but they have continued the struggle to exist in the mountains and someone else saying that although more people would probably die it was worth continuing this struggle.
There was much discussion of the rapid progress of the vehicle access track into the mountains, funded by the communities. In another month or so the road would reach the first mining community. All the communities contribut different amounts to the road and further fundraising ideas like raffles were raised. By the time the last agenda item, the environment, most had left, due no doubt to the long trek many had to make to their communities. However, some had clearly come to address this agenda item and spoke passionately about the damage caused by the practice of dumping sand containing the waste products of gold-mining like cyanide and mercury, in the streams surrounding the community, killing the fish - the water comes from much higher up the mountain so isn't an immediate concern. Structures have been built for the storage of waste until it can be treated but these aren't used by many. It was suggested that this could only be addressed by imposing fines on those guilty and someone pointed out practically that although this was a serious problem the lack of people still in the meeting meant nothing could really be done until there was enough local will-power. Someone told me that people from an environmental agency had visited and there were plans to clean up this environmental damage. All in all it was considered to be a successful gathering with much participation and a date was set for the next one. For me it alone was worth well worth the 22 hour trip.
The high levels of violence the area suffered at the hands of the paramilitaries has been well documented. They held had the area under siege and in 2001 this was broken temporarily by a 'Caravana Por la Paz' with an international presence. It seems this siege is still partly in place as the most direct route to the nearest city of Barrancabemeja is said to be controlled by paramilitaries, which means a two day trip if you don't want to travel at night. When members of the Federation have to travel there for meetings with officials or to sign papers it takes the best part of a week. Many in the communities rarely visit even neighbouring villages, let alone leave the hills. Everything is brought in on mules with electricity provided by a few generators around the village. For heavy loads helicopters have to be chartered but due to the cost they are used only rarely for essentials like mining equipment.
In the evenings community life, for the males, focuses around the village pool halls where they play a different version of pool with the balls lined up along the side and potted in sequence - it is however allowed to pot a ball out of sequence if the one in sequence is hit first. Points are also deducted for penalties based on the value of the ball to incur the penalty which can be costly if you foul on a 15. Like in the west a drinking culture goes with the game.
Staggering up to the village square one afternoon, not from access of alcohol rather a lack of oxygen due to the steep ascent, I was surprised by a few soldiers loitering around the edge of the square watching the little there was of life going by, mostly children and animals, and munching recent purchases. I was told they had been camped above the village for the last few days and came into the village to buy stuff. However they hung around a good few hours and the following day I saw one further away from the square hanging around outside someone's house. No-one seemed to be bothered as if these were regular visits. They are from the nearby military base and are a new battalion who haven't engaged so far with the villagers. The previous battalion would search people's houses and turn up with masked informers who supposedly knew who the guerilla were. They would also force their way into village council meetings. The locals are understandably apprehensive about what this bunch would be like.

more death threats against human rights NGOs, social movements and priests in Colombian region

Here is a press release from the Red de Hermandad y Solidaridad - Colombia (Network of Friendship and Solidarity with Colombia) issued on April 11th regarding threats from paramilitaries active in the Sur de Bolivar region against Fedeagromisbol (a local federation of farmers and miners), the NGO Sembrar, El Programa de Desarrollo y Paz del Magdalena Medio (the program for peace and development in Magdalena Medio) and priests. As its name suggests this region lies in the south of Bolivar state around 500km north of Bogota.

1. Today, April 10th 2008, a threat signed by the self-styled paramilitary structure “Águilas Negras, Bloque Norte de Colombia” (Black Eagles, northern block of Colombia), was sent to various e-mail accounts declaring members of Fedeagromisbol, Sembrar, Programa de Desarrollo y Paz del Magdalena Medio and the priests of Regidor and Tiquisio to be military targets, in which it was added that 'your name (sic) has been added to the list of undesirables who should be eliminated, by the national government', indicating them to be supporters or members of guerilla groups.

2. In this threat it was stated that 'you and the organisations you represent are a problem for Colombia', passing sentence that 'for every criminal act against democratic security (sic) that you organise inside these villages, you will be exterminated one by one, in list order.

3. The threat made clear that those mentioned had been followed in the municipalities of Tiquisio, Arenal, Morales, Aguachica, La Gloria and Regidor, stating that 'expect that wherever you organise stupid meetings you queers will be screwed over.'

4. The threat concluded that 'we are constantly watching you sons of bitches as the time has come to put an end to your perverse activities in these villages. The plan to annihilate you could begin at any moment. We won't hesitate to assassinate you, so get your friends ready to bury you.'

5. On April 1st 2008, at a meeting in the town of Barrancabermeja attended by the Vice-President and Public Prosecutor, the Director of the Presidential Human Rights Commission, Dr Carlos Franco, referred to events in Puerto Rico and Tiquisio, saying that Fedeagromisbol caused a scandal at every opportunity.

6. At a Mesa de Interlocución del Sur de Bolívar (Committee for Dialogue in Sur de Bolivar) meeting on April 2nd 2008, delegates from the mining ministry, the institute of geology and mines, and the Bolivar state government agreed that:
'given the grave human rights situation in the Sur de Bolivar, the mining ministry and the Bolivar state government are committed to working towards a high-level meeting as soon as possible, with the participation of the Vice-President, the Attorney General and Public Prosecutor, to deal with the issues and adopt measures to solve the existing crisis'.

Although the above authorities are aware of the gravity of the situation, until now we are not aware of any measures having been taken to overcome the crisis nor of any meeting having been arranged. There is concern about the continuity of the Committee for Dialogue regarding mining issues, when the state persists in refusing to take serious and adequate measures to guarantee human rights in the region.

7. These threats have been directed against the human rights NGO Sembrar, which in recent years has accompanied residents and organisations in Sur de Bolivar in monitoring and denouncing abuses and giving human rights training.

El Programa Desarrollo y Paz del Magdalena Medio (the programme for development and peace in Magdalena Medio) is an organisation which with the support of the EU, international governmental and non-governmental entities, the national, state and local governments, has taken part in the Laboratorios de Paz (Peace Laboratories), accompanying and supporting organisations and communities in Sur de Bolivar in developing peace initiatives, programmes of economic, social, cultural and institutional development, and ensuring the human rights of the region's inhabitants.

The Farmers and Mining Federation of Southern Bolívar, Fedeagromisbol, which comprises farming and mining groups in the region, has been generating wealth for the region for decades by promoting farming and mining projects. The Federation is part of the Committee for Dialogue in Sur de Bolivar, which has been involved in dialogue with the Colombian government since 2005 working towards the respect of human rights and development under conditions of equity, dignity and sustainability.

These threats have also been made against the priests of Tiquisio and Regidor who have been committed to accompanying communities and organisations in Sur de Bolívar.

Thanks to the work of these entities, communities have started a process of reclaiming meeting spaces to discuss the productive, sustainable use of the land and how to continue living in the region with dignity. The forced displacement of many families has thus been prevented.

Background

a. On March 31st 2008 various organisations, including Fedeagromisbol and Sembrar, publicly denounced that during the Sixth Assembly of the Agromining Federation of Sur de Bolívar between March 27-30 in the municipality of Tiquisio, members of the national police force and the Nariño Battalion of the Second Army Brigade repeatedly tried to enter the building where the assembly was taking place to identify the Federation's directors.

The presence of an informer, protected by the police, was confirmed, who days previously had threatened a Fedeagromisbol member. In addition the police persisently made inquiries about the Federation President, Teofilo Acuña. This aggresive and intimidating behaviour was carried out by a sublieutenant of the national police force Miller Rojas Rubio and first sergeant Rojas of the Nariño Batallion of the Second Army Brigade.

b. The presence of the self-styled 'Black Eagles' paramilitaries in the municipalities of Santa Rosa, San Pablo, Simití, Arenal, Morales and Tiquisio, amongst others, has been repeatedly denounced. They act in an open and public manner without the police in any way taking any action to restrict their activities.

c. On July 2 2007 Amnesty International published their report 'Colombia:the reality of trade-unionism. Dates and figures', in which were expressed their concerns about the situation of the Agromining Federation of Sur de Bolívar, highlighting the extrajudicial execution of the mining leader and Fedeagromisbol member Alejandro Uribe Chacón.

d. On April 26th 2007, while attending a Committee for Dialogue in Sur de Bolivar in the municipality of Santa Rosa, with delegates from various national ministries, Teofilo Acuña was arrested.

On January 5 2008 the daily 'El Espectador' announced that : 'An intelligence report shows Acuña to be a guerilla of the ELN with the alias of ‘Téofilo’, going on to say, 'in the village of Buena Seña he declared to the community that they couldn't allow the entrance of mining multinational Kedahda' (part of AngloGold Ashanti).

e. On March 5 2007 at 7am members of the Nueva Granada battalion arrived in the community of Mina Piojo, part of Santa Rosa municipality, and arrested 12 people including Omar Nunez, member of the Mina Mochila Junta de Acción Comunal (village council) and Agromining leader, Guillermo Mercado, member of the Mina Fácil Junta de Acción Comunal and Juan Toloza, resident of Mina Piojo village.

The 12 people were held in different places and then brought to one place. During the journey soldiers asked persistently about the Mina Piojo Junta de Acción Comunal president. Additionally members of the Nueva Granada battalion attacked the detained residents and defamed the region's social organisations, saying 'both the village councils and the mining organisations are part of the guerrilla forces'.

f. On March 19th 2007 , the Nueva Granada battalion turned up in Paraiso in the municipality of Montecristo, having captured Alfredo Atehortua, Wilson and Adeidi, local residents known to be civilians. The previous day, the army had been told - falsely - that these men were guerilla deserters.


This unit invaded the Porvenir ranch, belonging to Efrain Ramos and Yadis Salazar threatening to take away Efrain and his cattle, claiming he was part of the guerilla. Efrain showed the army documents proving his ownership of the cattle. One of the soldiers threatened: 'we're here today but tomorrow the aguilas negras are coming'.

g. September 19th 2006 in the municipality of Santa Rosa the community and mining leader Alejandro Uribe Chacon, also a member of Fedeagromisbol, was extrajudicially executed by soldiers of the Nueva Granada battalion. His body was presented in public as that of a guerilla killed in combat.

'El Espectador' had stated shortly beforehand that 'Alejandro Uribe is effectively an active member of that organisation' going on to add 'in March 2006 Alejandro Uribe (alias ‘Andrés’) addressed a meeting of the need to prevent the entry of multinational AngloGold Ashanti's Colombian subsidiary Kedahda''.

Alejandro Uribe's death caused a massive mobilisation in Sur de Bolivar, which led to the government promising to ensure respect for human rights in the region. Until now the government hasn't complied with the agreements made.

Demands

Giving the gravity of the threats, we demand the following of the Colombian authorities:

1. That the events denounced above be thoroughly investigated, leading to the culprits being brought to justice.

2. That the records of the Security Forces of the region be immediately revised and altered as they present a threat to residents of the region in their current form.

3. Guarantees of the right to life, liberty, personal integrity and freedom of association of members of the Agromining Federation of Sur de Bolívar - Fedeagromisbol, Sembrar, el Programa de Desarrollo y Paz del Magdalena Medio and members of the dioceses of Magangue and Barrancabermeja, especially those directly threatened.

4. That a meeting be called at the first instance as was agreed by delegates of the Mining Ministry, the Institute of Geology and Mines, and the Bolivar state government in Barrancabermeja on April 2 2008.

Signed by:

Federación Agrominera del Sur de Bolívar, Corporación Sembrar, Organización Femenina Popular, Comisión de Interlocución del Sur de Bolívar, Red Europea de Hermandad y Solidaridad con Colombia, Red de Hermandad Colombia, , Coordinador Nacional Agrario, DH Colombia, Corporación Utopía, Asociación Nomadesc, Campaña Prohibido Olvidar, Sintraunicol – Valle del Cauca

Organisations accompanying the Committee for Dialogue in Sur de Bolivar:
Programa Desarrollo y Paz del Magdalena Medio, Equipos Cristianos de Acción por la Paz, Diócesis de Magangue

Teofilo Acuña is in UK this week, giving talks about the situation in Sur de Bolivar.

Zapatismo and Zapaturismo

The other night I was chatting to someone who had written a book about the Zapatistas a few years ago and had kept up an interest in Zapatista affairs. She told me that she had heard many Zapatistas had 'gone north' (left for the US) in recent years like millions of other rural people from Latin America. This surprised me, not having heard this during my three months in Chiapas, most of which was spent living in a Zapatista community in the lowland, tropical, ethnic Tsetsal area. One guy from the community who spoke better Spanish than the others (proficiency in Spanish in Zapatista villages is patchy) and had spent time as a seasonal worker in the tourist resort of Cancun, spoke to me of his desire to learn English so he could work in the States but this was the only time I heard Zapatistas referring to their northern neighbours, and he didn't push the English study, preferring instead to chat with his friends or play football or cards in his freetime.

The Zapatistas have come in for criticism from many sources in recent years, including some previously sympathetic ones for 'selling out', and not remaining true to their original ideals of self-sufficiency based on working the land they managed to recover from feudal landowners. It has been said by those previously supportive, that most of their income is now generated from seasonal work in the tourist resorts of the 'Mayan riviera' or the oilfields of the Gulf, the proceeds from which are used to buy the corn given to the Zapatista administrative centres as a kind of tax, as this can be earned much more easily than from the land. While undoubtably true that some source of income is derived from such work, it is a gross exaggeration to suggest that the proceeds from such seasonal work unable them to kick back and take it easy the rest of the year on their reclaimed land, given the low wages in Mexico, especially for seasonal workers. More likely it means they can afford a few new clothes and vary their corn-based diet somewhat. It is hard to take Western city-based lefty anarchist types begrudging the Zapatistas a few luxuries, as if they should stay in poverty in their communties all year to satisfy some externally imposed high moral standards or expectations. From my limited experience there are enough committed Zapatistas willing to suffer the hardships of not taking from a state that is waging a low-level counter-insurgency war against them, and living largely off the land to make sure they will be around for at least another 14 years. How many other movements have lasted this long?

Years after they were considered fashionable and feted in left-wing circles, both at home and abroad, they continue to consolidate their structures and resist the divisive politics of the big political parties in Mexico's poorest state. One only has to look back to the invisible poverty suffered by the indigenous Chiapanecos prior to the 1994 uprising to see how far they've come. Although life for the Zapatistas is undoubtably better despite the continuing hardship and political repression in some areas, access to services in indigenous areas has improved as the Mexican state has been forced to invest in Chiapas. Perversely the Zapatistas have not been those to benefit most from their own sacrifices, living as they still do with limit access to health and education.

Before arriving in Chiapas my knowledge was limited to the iconic video footage of unarmed Zapatistas taking on the Mexican army in the 90s, chats with friends who had visited 5 years ago and some of Marcos' speeches from the mid-late 90s, which gave a useful insight into the origins of the uprising and the subsequent counter-insurgency operations. It seemed that in recent years the Zapatistas had faded from the 'scene', and I was told that most of the work for volunteers in Zapatista communities now revolved around 'development', such as providing health clinics and education.

It came as a surprise then to hear their spokesperson Subcomandante Marcos ('el Sub') talking at a conference last December in almost apocalyptic tones of the threat the Zapatistas were now facing, the most serious since the 1994 uprising, and berating the 'left' for an almost total lack of support. True, in recent months a few Zapatista communties had faced aggressions from state-sponsored paramilitary groups, particularly in the community of Bolon Ajaw near the tourist resort of Agua Azul where some members had been badly beaten and houses burnt. Also in August a community had been evicted from the Montes Azul area of the Lacandona jungle so Marcos did have some justification for his statements and attempt to rally the 'left' that turned up to the conference, which Marcos promised would be the last for some time. These aggressions had also been cited as the reason for cancelling the tour of Mexico the Zapatistas were on as part of 'La Otra Campana' ('The Other Campaign), a few months previously.

Having read of some of the massacres and massive repression suffered by the Zapatistas in the 90s I was sceptical of Marcos' remarks. Despite the comparitively low profile of the struggle in the international media there was still too much international awareness and too many human rights groups in Chiapas for the Mexican state to get away with any large-scale repression. There are two organisations that provide protective accompaniment in Zapatista communities that have been attacked or threatened with eviction and other groups document the situation. Marcos' words and the international response did have some effect as the community most under siege, that of Bolon Ajaw, saw scores of supporters visit in December and January and unsurprisingly the aggressions and threats against the Zapatistas largely stopped. In February volunteer numbers dropped off as most of the earlier visitors had been in Chiapas for the conference and the New Year encuentro anyway. However there was still a permanent international presence in the community into March and despite provocations including armed state police entering the community with a member of the intelligence services, creating a siege mentality, the villagers are holding out. Inevitably the local paramilitary transferred their attentions to the international volunteers with frequent threats at the gate where volunteers enter the track leading to the community.

Despite the cessation of physical attacks the community has been unable to go about its daily work in the cornfields furthest away from the centre of the community for fear of encountering unfriendly, local paramilitaries and accompaniment has to be provided for anyone leaving the community or fetching water. This is no doubt the desired result of the harrassment and threats designed to grind down psychologically and restrict physically the Zapatistas until they leave the land they have been working for the last 5 years, so it can be turned over to tourist development and the politicians at local, state and federal level make a tidy buck. Unlike in other developing countries where resistance movements have less of an international profile, the Mexican counter-insurgency operations have to be imaginative to deal with the Zapatistas who persist on hanging on to prime real estate. That said, there was nothing subtle about the arrest and torture of two Zapatistas from the community of Betel Yochip at the start of February. Fortunately a human rights delegation from Europe was visiting Chiapas at the time which may have helping in securing their release after a week.

Foreigners, mostly students, continue to visit Chiapas attracted by the Zapatista allure although I was told that the numbers of volunteers are far down on years past. This surprised me initially given the numbers staying at the hostel for volunteers in San Cristobal de las Casas, but many turned out to be students doing research on the Zapatistas and some were just travellers passing through. Indeed, most of the 'volunteers' staying there spent far more time in San Cristobal than roughing it in indigenous communities and were more interested in each other than in the Zapatistas.

The organisation I was with said that most volunteers couldn't spend more than a week in the community because of the basic conditions, despite the latest camping equipment many took along with them to ease their stay. The Zapatistas, living in simple wooden structure with earth floors and sleeping on wooden boards with blankets for protection, looked on with curiosity at the volunteers' comforts, sometimes asking how much such items cost. Most of the gear and the food brought into their community would have been way beyond their purchasing power, which was one problem I had with the international presence. The Zapatistas, especially the children and youth, would see this high-tech, quality, equipment and comfortable clothing which would only make them more aware of their own material discomfort. Likewise with the food brought in, the children would sometimes hang around the kitchen (the volunteers had their own kitchen in the community), looking wide-eyed at the volunteers eating in the hope of being offered some. Whilst the international presence offered the Zapatistas some kind of security it could have been done by many volunteers with more sensitivity. This is often the case with solidarity work where foreign activists spend or week or so in Palestine or Chiapas for the experience and to take a few photos so they can tick it off their adventure tourist list, without a real awareness of the effect their behaviour has on the community they are supposedly protecting or showing solidarity with. I could see why one organisation in Chiapas ensures their volunteers live separately to the Zapatistas - the danger of 'contamination' is a real one.

The determination and dignity with which the Zapatistas I had the privelege of living with, dealt with state-sponsored harrassment and an influx of foreigners was a humbling experience and made me aware how so much more real their struggle is than our 'struggles' in the West where activists rough it for a week or two in the summer whilst enjoying the benefits of living in the developed world the rest of the year.