CPTnet
20 June 2005
COLOMBIA: CPT celebrates four years with Opon River communities
by Pierre Shantz
In May 2001, I came to Colombia to be a part of the Christian
Peacemaker Team (CPT) that started accompanying displaced communities
returning to their homes along the Opon River.
I have seen many changes happen in the small communities during these four
years. I have seen new families come looking for a fresh start, and old
ones leave because of threats from armed groups. I have seen babies born
and grandparents die. One of the constant factors in these communities has
been presence of illegal armed groups. Both the right-wing paramilitaries
and left wing guerrillas try to maintain control of this area, in part
because it is a corridor to move from one area to the next.
CPT has celebrated our anniversary of starting the accompaniment (31 May
2001) in different ways. This year we celebrated our fourth year eating
brownies with the community as they shared their hopes and fears with an
international delegation.
Two years ago, it was different. On 30 May 2003, CPTer Michael Goode and
I stopped in to visit a family when we saw fifteen armed paramilitaries
across the river. We crossed over and reminded them that their presence
in a civilian's home puts the family at risk. They finally decided to pack
up and leave on foot up the path. We followed them in our canoe to make sure
they would not harm the families.
When they arrived at one of the homes, they stopped for a break and then
decided that they would spend the night in the clearing around the house.
This encampment meant that Michael and I would spend one more night out in
the campo, because of agreement we had with the communities to stay with any
family until the armed group left their home.
We spent the night talking with the paramilitaries about why we would risk
being in a war zone without guns to protect ourselves. One young man was
more interested in who the tallest man in the USA was. Another who spoke
good English said that he had been trained in the USA when he was with the
Colombian army. When he got back to Colombia, he joined the
paramilitaries.
Neither Michael nor I slept that night but instead sat up against the
family's bedroom door so if something happened we could react as quickly as
possible. The paramilitaries were camped out all over the yard. When
morning broke, the paramilitaries decided to kill the family's turkey
for breakfast. They finally left midday. One family member told us, "Hey
happy anniversary; it's May 31st--the day CPT first came out to the Opon to
accompany us." What a sad way to celebrate.
This year I felt more hopeful. The communities are now in an organized
process of telling all armed groups to stay out of their precincts. Plus,
it was a whole lot more fun eating brownies than staying up all night and
feeling like a brownie for the mosquitoes.
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