CPTnet
2 June 2007
COLOMBIA: CPT announces international delegation to Micoahumado, Colombia--
18-31 July 2007--to support civilian peace process
Delegates will visit rural farming communities of Micoahumado located in the
southern Bolivar province. The nine communities of Micoahumado have
suffered paramilitary, guerrilla and military violence, including forced
displacement, extrajudicial killings, economic blockades, disappearances,
open combat within their communities, aerial spraying of their crops, and
the mining of their roads and fields. The communities have responded by
creating an exemplary peace process and they have largely succeeded in
convincing armed actors not to involve the civilian population in their war.
Although the situation has greatly improved, legal and illegal armed actors
continue to target civilians.
CPT was first invited to Micoahumado in 2002 to accompany several families
that fled their homes during Christmas to escape a battle between the ELN
guerrilla and the AUC paramilitaries. The community organized a commission
to engage both groups and convince them to quit fighting in populated areas.
This evolved into Micoahumado's "Sovereign Community Process for Life and
Peace," which has invited CPT to accompany community members.
Delegates will also hear from displaced families living in Barrancabermeja,
and meet with social organizations working for justice locally and
nationally. The delegates will create and carry out a symbolic action in
solidarity with the grassroots struggle for justice and life with dignity in
Colombia.
For more information or to apply, contact CPT, (PO Box 6508, Chicago, IL
60680; phone 773-277-0253; fax 773-277-0291; e-mail delegations@cpt.org) or
see CPT's website at: http://www.cpt.org/. (Click on "delegations" for
instructions on downloading the application form.)
The next national delegation, in Spanish and designed for Colombians, will
be during Advent Week. Contact the CPT Colombia team directly at
cptco.teams@cpt.org for more information, which will include the destination
of the delegation.
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Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) seeks to enlist the whole church in
organized, nonviolent alternatives to war and places teams of trained
peacemakers in regions of lethal conflict. Originally a violence-reduction
initiative of the historic peace churches (Mennonite, Church of the Brethren
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