CPTnet
August 7, 2001
COLOMBIA: Soldier Occupation in Nieques

"I had no idea if they were with the army or the paramilitary AUC
(Colombia's United Auto Defense) when I first saw them," said Pedro, a
fisherman in the area and a friend of CPT. In the previous week the
Colombian army had started an operation in the Cienega Opon region where
CPT has a presence. The soldiers wore different colored armbands, including
yellow, which has in the past been used to identify paramilitary members.

Four hundred soldiers had been walking through the swamp area looking for a
handful of guerrillas who had been seen in the area. During this operation
the soldiers had occupied farms of the people there as they slept and
stopped for rests. During these breaks the soldiers questioned farmers
about guerilla activity in the area.

Cpter Scott Kerr was with some of the residents of Nieques when they
encountered the soldiers. "It was a surrealexperience to see 400 soldiers
on the farm that we had lived at for the past few weeks. They came in very
fast. The only thing we could do was tell them there are observers here
and we expected that the military will respect the rights of the civilian
population"

Robert Epp, CPT Volunteer from Henderson Nebraska,was shocked when Kerr
arrived with two armed soldiers escorting him to retrieve documents and
cameras. "I had no idea there were soldiers in the area until they
approached me with Scott," he said.

The battalion continued patrols in the area for the next five days,
stopping at other farms and then returning to the farm where CPT has their
presence. In the past, paramilitary forces had entered communities after
the military passed through, so currently the community is very concerned
about the future.

At one of the farms CPTers Robert Epp and Kerr observed the letters, "AUC"
carved into a box after one platoon passed through the area. The family
living there took this threat very seriously, because in the past
year, many community members had been killed by paramilitary forces. Epp
and Kerr stayed with this family for the evening. During the night another
armed group passed through the farm again looking for transportation down
river.

In this area the conflict is very fluid, with different armed groups
passing through within hours of each other. CPT maintains a presence there
to support the community's wishes to live in peace without the presence of
any of the armed groups. This autonomy will not come easily.