Mass arrests of Zapatistas in Chiapas

116 Zapatistas living near the tourist resort of Agua Azul, who I visited and reported on in early 2008, were arrested on February 3rd during a protest against their eviction from the tollbooth leading to the tourist resort. The Zapatistas had controlled the tollbooth for the past 2 years but on February 2nd state-backed priistas (supporters of the right-wing PRI party) backed by the police seized control of the tollbooth.

The following day the Zapatistas occupied and blocked the main road from San Cristobel to Palenque, but were removed and arrested by 500 state and federal police, then taken to the police station in Palenque. The State Attorney has said crimes such as murder, bodily harm, false imprisonment and an attack on the road network are being investigated - one priista was killed and two injured in the clash at the tollbooth. Trying to justify the mass arrests the authorities falsely claimed the Zapatistas had blocked the road leading to the tourist resort and that 17 tourists were being held hostage.

The Zapatistas had been expressing increasing concern about the intentions of the priistas and the Partido Verde (Green party) to develop the Agua Azul waterfalls and its surroundings with the funding of foreign multinationals into a mass tourism complex contrary to their own attempts to preserve the natural beauty of the area. On January 26th the Zapatistas had warned about an eviction of the tollbooth. Workers at the Fray Bartoleme de las Casas (Frayba) human rights centre in San Cristobel have also been documenting attempts by the priistas to invade the land occupied by Zapatistas since 2002 at Bolon Ajaw near the waterfalls.

Here is a translation of the statement issued by the members of the Other Campaign from San Sebastian Bachajon on February 4th:

'We publicly condemn the state government of Juan Sabines together with his collaborators in the bad government, and the following for organising the violent takeover of the Agua Azul tollbooth with the support of a 100 police from different security branches of the bad government - Francisco Guzman Jimenez, Carmen Aguilar Gomez, Juan Alvaro Moreno, Manuel Jiminez Moreno, Juan Jimenez Garcia, Miguel Ruiz Hernandez, Jesus Ruiz Hernandez, Manuel Deara Gomez, Sebastian Ruiz Alvaro, Melchorio Perez Moreno. Two years ago the organisation recovered the tollbooth as the government had seized control of it with a view to enrichment from multinational ecotourism investment and is now doing the same again after putting people in prison.

On February 3rd 121 members of the Other Campaign were violently arrested accused of various crimes in keeping with the ideology of Noe Castanon Leon, Juan Sabines' Secretary of State, to again violate human rights to claim control of the tollbooth.

These are those most responsible for what has happened, and there are currently two missing whose whereabouts we don't know. As an organisation we demand the immediate release of our comrades as we aren't criminals, those mentioned above are.

We are an organisation struggling and searching for a better world hoping to continue living in peace and tranquility to protect the natural resources of mother earth which have been handed down to us. We are an organisation with the dignity to show the government that we are not alone, we request the solidarity of national and international organisations in seeking the release of our comrades, detained for defending their land, its resources and autonomy.'

Fro more visit:

http://mexico.indymedia.org/?article1882

http://chiapas.indymedia.org/

http://enlacezapatista.ezln.org.mx/2011/02/03/ejido-san-sebastian-bachajon-adherente-a-la-otra-campana-denuncia-que-oficialistas-despojan-caseta-de-agua-azul/#ejido

Assassination of indigenous in Cauca

Since death threats were made a month ago against social movements and individuals in the south-west of Colombia three more indigenous have been killed in the region. Here is a translation of an action alert by human rights NGO Nomadesc:

The organisations below denounce the serious situation facing indigenous communities in the north and west of Cauca. In just two weeks three indigenous have been assassinated and another is in a serious condition in intensive care in Cali. This area has become heavily militarised in the last two weeks. As reported previously, on October 22 a threat was sent to CUT Cali (trade union committee) and Nomadesc from the Municipality of Santander de Quilichao. Five organisations were mentioned, including the indigenous reserve of Cerro Tijeras and six people who participated in the recent Minga were named. The threat was signed by the paramilitary group 'Aguilas Negras Nueva Generation' (Black Eagles New Generation).

The recent Minga denounced the continuing human rights violations suffered by indigenous communities, communities of African origen, farmers, workers and students.

1. On October 29 MARLY CAROLINA HUILA GUAMANGA was assassinated in the village of Damián in the indigenous reserve of Cerro tijeras, Suárez municipality, Cauca.

2. On November 11 REINALDO BOMBA was assassinated in the village of Bella Vista in the indigenous reserve of Cerro tijeras, Suárez Municipality, Cauca.

3. On November 13 NILSON CAMPO was assassinated and EGIDIO OVANDO HUILA seriously injured in a place known as 'the tank' in Damián in the indigenous reserve of Cerro tijeras, Suárez municipality, Cauca. Both of them were travelling by motorbike when they were attacked by an as yet unidentified armed group. According to information from the community NILSON CAMPO was shot 5 times and attacked with a machete. He was shot three times in the abdomen, and once in the cheek and ear.

The indigenous 'comunero' (a joint holder of land tenure) was responsible for the local fish cooperative, and had been treasurer of the indigenous council of Honduras reserve in 2006 and captain of the council in 2007.

It is to be noted that these events happened in the middle of the night or early morning. The culprits would appear to be paramilitary groups that carry out their attacks in camouflage wearing black armbands.


Here is a link to a Guardian article about Colombian farmers suing BP in the High Court for damage caused to their farmland by the oil company's pipeline.

Food Sovereignty in Valle del Cauca

The mountains around Tulua, two hours north of Cali, were notorious for paramilitary violence until a few years ago, and many still fear returning to their farms. Paramilitaries like H.H were responsible for thousands of murders and disappearances in the area, many of whom haven't been found.

Tulua is a large regional centre with a population of around 200,000.The nearby village of La Marina has seen increased military activity recently and army helicopters overhead are a daily occurance. The FARC have retreated into the mountains stretching into neighbouring departments and the area I visited hadn't seen any clashes recently.

Three years ago some local farmers who live in one district two hours by vehicle from Tulua town, decided to form their own agricultural cooperative with the aims of supplying their food needs and increasing organic production. It has become the norm throughout Colombia for farmers to focus on one or two crops and cattle and buy produce from local markets, with obvious drawbacks. In lean periods they have to rely on the one or two crops they produce with subsequent malnutrition.

This cooperative is trying to diversify by cultivating carrots, tomatoes, peas, beans, cabbage, beetroot, radishes, yucca and lulo fruit as well as raising hens, pigs and cattle. Many also cultivate coffee. The unreliability and low value of organic cultivation in a tropical climate with frequent insect infestations, forces many to rely on chemically treated produce as well as supplement their income from working as day labourers for wealthier farmers. Organic produce doesn't sell for much more than the chemically grown equivalent so time spent weeding and planting repellents isn't profitable and works out at far less than the 15000 pesos they could earn as day labourers.

To avoid having to sell produce to intermediaries in the main markets, it is sold at the weekly farmers and organic market, which is laid on by the authorities. However, this entails selling their produce early on Saturday morning so they have to come to Tulua on Friday evening and sleep out under the market canopies.

Such small-scale farmers' initiatives are supported to a certain extent by government bodies, such as the Corporacion Autonoma Regional del Valle del Cauca, which exploit the media potential of their projects, but often fail to follow through on their promises. They have supplied greenhouses but failed to provide the suitable engine for the sugar-mill as promised. The poor state of the mountain roads vastly increases transport costs given the necessity for frequent repairs - the local authorities have repeatedly failed to make any improvements. There is also no health post in the community.

For all the government's rhetoric and glossy brochures about supporting small farmers, as the recent farming scandal shows, it is only the already wealthy landowners that benefit from its policies. The small farmer, pushed out onto mountain sides far from regional markets, is limited to ekeing out a living with the hope of the right weather and absence of infestations.

Community leaders in Cauca receive death threats for opposition to multinationals

A few weeks ago social movements and individuals received the latest death threats from paramilitaries for their opposition to the attempts of mining multinational Anglogold Ashanti to establish a presence in the northern Cauca region:

'The government continues to fulfill its agreements and commitments

You are defenders of the guerilla, requesting land to plant coca to strengthen the indigenous and the guerilla who don't appreciate the efforts of President Uribe.

With the help of 'Families in Action', 'forest rangers', and 'democratic security' (government policies and programmes) a group of men and women concerned with what is happening in the country, have decided that is again necessary to take up the struggle against those who are camoflaged in social organisations like the CUT (Central Trade Union Committee) Valle, Nomadesc (a human rights NGO), human rights defenders, NGOs, enemies of our democracy.

Those bureaucrats won't let the Cauca region progress by not allowing multinationals into the region who benefit the comunities of Suarez, Morales and Buenos Aires.

Some of these organisations have made agreements with the owners of land titles, requesting evictions from mining zones in exchange for money, as in the La Toma district, and we have a document as proof of this.

We have today decided to declare these bureaucrats a military target... (a list follows of organisations and individuals)

Aguilas Negras Nueva Generacion (Black Eagles New Generation)'

The message was faxed from a phone shop in Santander de Quilichao, which is near Suarez, to NGOs in Cali. At least one resident of La Toma has already had to leave his home because of multiple death threats, but others named remain in the area. Paramilitaries have been responsible for assassinations and intimidation in the region for 10 years - last December Edwin Legarda, husband of an indigenous leader, was killed and their daughter survived an assasination attempt this May.

The north of the Cauca region has been populated by indigenous and black communties for hundreds of years. Blacks were brought to the region by Spanish settlers to work as slaves in 1636 and following the abolition of slavery in 1850 managed to buy land titles with gold. They have continued artesanal mining, agricultural and fishing activities to this day. Whilst indigenous communites have managed to get some recognition of ancestral land rights in 'reserves' (resguardos) black communities have been denied such collective recognition here as they have attained elsewhere, like on the Pacific coast in places like Tumaco. The demography of the traditionally black communities has changed in recent years as many have left and 'Paisas' (those from Antioquia) have bought up land and brought in equipment to excavate quarries and dig shafts. Some suggest their investments in mining are an attempt to launder profits mfrom the drugs trade. The mercury and cyanide used in these processes has polluted the streams and the nearby Rio Ovejas the communites rely on for fish stocks, which have decreased.

Recently, mining multinational Anglogold Ashanti has been trying to acquire land titles in the area and was awarded two in Suarez municipality- in Asnazu and La Toma districts. La Toma is a large hilly area of 7,500 hectares home to around 7,000, many of whom are vehemently opposed to the mining multinational and feel bitter about the awarding of the titles.

At a packed public meeting in Suarez a few weeks ago attended by hundreds, with many on the street listening in, representatives of various government ministeries defended the decision to award the titles and concessions by quoting a law that appropriated a land title from a member of the community who didn't comply with some requirement regarding land use. Other lawyers refuted this, citing a lack of the necessary consultation with the community and a ruling from the Constitutional Court this year that called for legal protection of the collective territories of black communities in La Toma. The government was called on to implement a plan of protection and assistance for the black communties in the area. The representative from the mining ministry tried to wriggle out of its obligations to the black communities by arguing that it wasn't aware of the existance of collective land rights at the time of the awarding of land title and it couldn't do anything about it now. The illegality of the removal of the land title from the original owner and its awarding to someone else with no connection to the area, who then sold it to Anglogold, had to stand.

Concerns were also expressed on environmental grounds with no kind of safeguards put in place. Even if the residents weren't forceably evicted from their homes, the damage done to the environment by the kind of large-scale open cast mining Anglogold practises would make any fishing or agricultural activities unviable. Accusations of crimes against humanity in the International Criminal Court were also made should the government faciliate the eviciton of the community.

It appeared that the mining giant were heeding local concerns as rumours were circulating that Anglogold would withdraw its interest from La Toma. It even called a public meeting in La Toma which around a hundred attended, keen for the company to give a legally binding renunciation of its title. This, of course, it didn't supply, merely affirming the rumours that it wasn't planning any activity in La Toma. The impeccably dressed Anglogold representative gave a brief speech, distancing the company from the death threats and reminding us of the 120 million pesos it has invested in the community, before dashing off. Others talked about Anglogold's record across the globe, where communities have been devastated without compensation and spoke about the legacy of the nearby Salvajina hydroelectric plant owned by Spanish multinational Union Fenosa, which displaced thousands in 1985, who have yet to receive anything. Hardly any locals are employed at the plant with most of the work done by professionals brought in. For the time being at least, Anglogold believes it is more profitable to press ahead with the Colosa project in Cajamarca, Tolima.

There were rumours that some community members had been paid to convince the community of the benefits the multinational would bring and to sell land titles, accusations bitterly rejected by some. Some from the community who had worked for the company elsewhere defended their actions through the lack of local job opportunities.

Although the community has mobilised strongly to resist Anglogold, many fear the multinational will continue to be an unwelcome feature in their lives and on their land.

Assassination of community leader resisting hydroelectric plant

Last week, as part of the Minga, social groups from Santander department, mobilised at the construction site of a hydroelectric plant, one of a network of 7 to be constructed across Colombia. The 1000 strong gathering was called to oppose the privitisation of the Rio Sogamosa, which hundreds of families depend on.

Issues discussed included the right to life, agreements not fulfilled by the government, land sovereignty, economic models as well as the privitisation of the river. When the police prevented an attempt to occupy a bridge, the participants, including over 300 women from the Social Movement of Women against War and the Organizacion Feminina Popular demanded their legitimate right to protest and to oppose the selling off of their natural resources.

A few days later local community representatives had a meeting with one of the companies subcontracted to build the dam. President of Puente Sogamoso village council where the Minga took place, Honorio Llorente Melenez, voiced concerns about the potential social and environmental impact of the megaproject on the community.

A few hours later Honorio was shot dead as he was leaving a bar with some friends. His murderer changed his top and was picked up by two motorbikes before they headed towards the main road through the region, passing an army base a kilometre away.

Honorio had lived in Puente Sogamoso since 1986, and started working for a Palm Oil company two years later. He had always been a trade union member and became treasurer of the Puerto Wilches branch of Sintrainagro. He was fired in 2007 and was due to have a meeting with the company about compensation for his dismissal at the Employment Ministry.

Honorio was involved in the campaign for the defence of the Sogamoso river and the threat the hydroelectric plant posed to those living along its banks. He had also been active in the recent Minga.

His assassination was no isolated event but one of many of those committed to protecting natural resources and communities. Three other local community representatives have been killed in Santander this year with regional authorities taking no steps to ensure the safety of these representatives and take action against the armed groups responsible for their murders. A coalition of regional and national social movements is calling on the government to take action against the continuing persecution of social movement representatives and human rights defenders.

The memory of Honorio and others, whose lives have been cut short whilst resisting the depradations of big business, is another humbling reminder of the courage of those determined to protect communities aware of the risks they take and in the face of these powerful outside interests.

The Caribbean Minga

The 'Minga de Resistencia Social y Comunitaria' (Gathering of Social and Community Resistance) which took place last week in three places in Colombia, builds on the indigenous minga last year when thousands of indigenous spent a month marching from their homelands to Bogota to demand land rights and social justice. They faced massive police repression during this mobilisation and at least one person was killed with dozens injured and arrested.

This year the minga was broadened to include other social movements and took place in the west converging on Cali, in the centre in Bogota, and in Cartagena on the Caribbean coast. Small farmers and artesanal miners from the south of the departments of Bolivar and Cesar, converged on the village of Gamarra on the Magdalena River on Monday 12th to hold their annual 'Festival of the River' event, a celebration of the region's culture with song and dance, as well as a commemoration of the violence the region has and continues to experience. This April a community leader who opposed new palm oil plantations was assassinated by paramilitaries.

After a communal lunch outside the home of a local, a caravan of coaches transported the delegation consisting mainly of farmers' and miners' families to Cartagena where we set up camp on the grounds of a recreational ground on the edge of the city. People quickly organised themselves into different teams to deal with the running of the camp like kitchen, toilets and cleaning. Hammocks were slung along the fences outside and mattresses laid in the sheltered central structure with sloping thatch roof and open sides.

The next day as regional musical and dance groups performed, the local police and authorities with media in tow showed up and organisers spent much of the next few days dealing with them. With spirits high the youthful gathering didn't let this sideshow disrupt the festivities and a constant beat was sustained for the rest of the day. Groups dressed in regional costume performed cumbia and vallenato folk music with an assortment of drums, accordion and guiro.

In the afternoon we were bussed to the beach with the excitement palpable as it was the first time many had seen the sea. After dip we returned to find out the mains water supply to the recreation ground had been cut off so no shower to wash off the salty residue from the seawater. For the rest of the week there was twice-daily provision from a water tanker.

The following day three groups visited different barrios of Cartagena for an exchange of experiences. Some from the rural south of the region were shocked to hear of the urban poverty of the barrios, having their illusions of the 'good life' in the city shattered. We heard about the experiences of some indigenous Senu who had been displaced from their land and settled on a small plot of land in the deprived Membrillal district on the edge of the city in 2002. Originally 140 families crammed into this area but many have since moved away in search of work elsewhere. Their sense of identity has been weakened much through this dispersion of the community. We heard the familiar story of extreme poverty - unemployment, hunger and poor provision of health and education. We walked past a school built by the humanitarian NGO Plan International, which attempts to plug the gaping holes of a state that neglects the needs of the majority. Meanwhile on the other side of town modern luxury hotels and office blocks have sprung up to cater for tourists and the business elite. Locals are still able to visit some of the nearby beaches, but even this is under threat with local authority plans to privatize these. Parallels were drawn with the seizure of land for palm oil plantations on the banks of the Magdalena in the south of Bolivar.

Prolonged showers on Wednesday night meant a disrupted night's sleep for all but didn't dampen enthusiasm during Thursday's festivities in the city centre. With a strong police presence folklore groups performed for several hours right on the edge of the Walled City and many locals and tourists stopped by to watch and take part in the dances in the 'Plaza de la Paz'. Amidst this festive atmosphere, banners were held and leaflets handed out to remind onlookers of the accompanying political message of the communities' determination to remain on their land and for justice for the violence unleashed on them.

The week culminated with a march from the edge of the centre into the Walled City, where the farmers and miners joined social movements from the coastal region including a group of indigenous Wayu, in a mobilization against hunger and poverty. Around 2,000 were closely escorted by police in a two-hour march with no respite from the intense heat and dust and with water sellers doing a roaring trade. Representatives from trade unions, the Polo Democratico left-wing party and student collectives all condemned the rising unemployment, lack of opportunities for the youth, expensive basic services, privatizations, official corruption and human rights violations. Many had drifted away, no doubt exhausted like me, as the march entered the Walled City in the fading light and ended in the Plaza de San Pedro Claver, the 16th century monk who ministered to slaves brought from Africa. We were treated to a lengthy mass with much praying, but the priest did praise the value of solidarity as well as songs by a local musical celebrity and there were some who still had the energy to boogie. The militant message of the march with its demands was perhaps lost in this final ceremony but the message had already been made repeatedly and very publicly earlier in the day.

With little contact between the city and its hinterland the week's activities managed to bring together and dispel mutual illusions. Due to media portrayals many in the city perceive the south of the region to be exclusively guerilla and paramilitary territory whilst those living a tough life on the land are often unaware of the extent of urban poverty. The common cultural heritage with many in the south having moved inland from the coast was highlighted through song and dance.

Throughout the week the authorities pressurised organisers and the police were a constant intimidating presence but they failed to deter the peaceful message of those who eke out a living from the land. Despite the challenges faced in the first 'Minga Caribe' mobilisation, the expansion of the annual Minga to include non-indigenous groups is a defiant stance of the social movements against a regime which has continuously tried to divide them and a crucial step in the strengthening of this network

Migrant Solidarity in Calais

Having heard about the stepping up of police harassment and attacks on migrants in Calais over the summer I thought I'd hop across the channel myself to show solidarity. In the wake of the French authorities' vow to clear Calais of migrants by the end of the year the CRS (the French riot police) had been given the green light to pressure migrants into leaving by beating them, throwing tear gas in tents, destroying their tents and belongings, even resorting to gas the one water tap for 500 people. Those showing solidarity with the migrants experienced a piece of this aggression, being pushed around, insulted, detained temporarily and prevented from documenting the CRS abuses - you make our jobs (migrant-bashing) harder and we'll make your lives tough was the message.

On my first visit, around a month ago, it was clear that our presence, whilst not stopping the raids and detentions, at least mitigated the violence of the bully boys, who in typical cowardly fashion, didn't hesitate to throw their weight around when just one or two volunteers were present, but were a lot shyer with greater numbers and cameras present. The frequent raids on some of the squats at night or in the early hours, with migrants being released soon after, were blatantly designed just to intimidate them into leaving Calais.

The announcement, a few weeks later, that Calais was to be 'cleared' of migrants within a week had more of an effect with most leaving the largest Pashtun jungle, although others sleeping rough or in squats generally stayed. Despite the destruction of the Pashtun jungle to much media fanfare, by the end of the week the squats and those sleeping rough were still there with the police preferring to concentrate resources on preventing migrants returning to the jungle and continuing with the intimidation, warning migrants that their tents or squats would be destroyed the next day. Cops in plain clothes even visited one squat, shouting insults and threatening to beat up the migrants.

Although there was no full-on immediate 'clearance' that first week, the police weren't tolerating any public show of resistance, clamping down heavily on the small-scale demos on the Friday and Sunday, using the handy French law banning any demo that the authorities haven't been notified of in advance. Volunteers were even summoned for questioning and held for four hours regarding one of these demos, which saw farcical tug-of-war with a banner scenes. Even those who weren't at the demo were held for questioning. In the second week some of the smaller jungles were cleared and those sleeping rough in the centre under bridges were targetted with police forcing them to take all their belongings, bedding and shelters with them at short notice, without any indication as to where they should go. Again farcical scenes ensued with their property going round in circles. One of the squats was demolished restricting even further the migrants' options. The final stages of the 'cleansing' of Calais are in progress now with these migrants being increasingly targetted and talk has moved on now to charter flights to Afghanistan, which immigration minister Besson promises are imminent. This is probably what Afghanis fear most as for many it will mean being caught up in the nightmare of the never-ending 'war on terror' and having to pay back the debts incurred to get to Europe with no means to do so.

At times Calais felt like a town under occupation with hardly a few minutes going by without seeing a national police car or CRS van full of riot police. Calais was swamped with cops. Calais may be cleared of migrants for a while to suit the immediate needs of domestic British/French relations, but, short of a costly permanent police presence in Calais and other ports, migrants will begin drifting back fleeing wars and abject poverty in their homelands searching for something a little more secure in the UK, which most choose as they already have contacts there or at least know English.

Instead of seeking real global solutions to these causes of migration, massive sums are being spent for short-term political gain. As is often the case with mobilisations, most will blame activists and volunteers for the exorbitant expense of the police operations, secure that they will never need to undertake hazardous journeys across borders in search of shelter and security.

Assasination of Colombian indigenous leader in Cauca

This latest murder takes place during an Emergency Territorial and Humanitarian Gathering in Jambalo municipality, Cauca, where indigenous communities decided to recover the territory for the civilian population and remove armed groups.

On March 6th 2009 around midday, EDGAR ARCACIO OCORÓ, exgovernor of the indigenous council of Corinto López Adentro, was assassinated with 8 bullets at point blank range by unknown men. He was working on the community farm at the time.

EDGAR ARCACIO was a renowned leader in the North Cauca region and had been active in CRIC (Concejo Regional Indígena del Cauca - Regional Indigenous Council of Cauca). He was coordinating a project of rice production with indigenous Nasa and afrocolombian communities.

Together with other authorities, in 2008 he led the recovery of land in Corinto municipality, as is happening now in Jambalo municipality.

Indigenous authorities have just informed us that the Air Force is bombing areas in Jambalo municipality close to the CRIC permanent assembly and the indigenous guard. On March 7th there was to be a public hearing on the armed groups sowing terror on indigenous lands. Throughout the afternoon and into the evening explosions from the bombings could be heard close to populated areas.

Asociación Nomadesc workers contacted the national authorities, who confirmed the bombings in the area, which they said were part of strategic aerial operations, and didn't put the indigenous communities at risk.

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.