COLOMBIA UPDATE: May 1- 15, 2002

Wednesday, May 1, 2002
John Marks visited the Universidad Co-operativa Colombiana where he met two
professors in the Psychology department. One asked CPT to come and speak to
his students.

Pierre Shantz, Carol Spring, Charles Spring, Marks and Cristine Forand
attended the opening of the May Day (international labour day) parade at
the gates of Ecopetrol, the state oil company. The march continued to the
USO headquarters (oil workers union). The Springs saw eleven riot police in
full gear, but there were no incidents.

Keith Young and Lena Siegers, who had slept in the Cienaga, a marshy area
outside of Barrancabermeja, went to visit folks on the Opon river. On the
way back to the Cienaga, Young and Siegers learned that twenty or more
paramilitaries had entered the Cienaga early in the morning. Young and
Siegers walked up to the school where the paramilitaries often gather and
found no indication of their presence. Visits from armed groups bring back
memories of the terror that the communities in the Cienaga area experienced
during their the displacement eighteen months ago.

Thursday, May 2, 2002
Marks and Charles Spring went to a meeting to discuss the cancelled return
of communities to the Cienaga. The human rights ombudsman said that there is
not enough security in place.

On their way to Barranca, Young and Siegers met the Colombian Navy on the
Magdalena River. Three of the Navy boats were docked at a farm house in La
Rosquina and a much larger camouflaged boat was docked at a house across the
river. The soldiers were having coffee in the house and pointed out to
Siegers that they had not forgotten to leave their weapons outside. One
young man spoke fluent English.

The Navy moved up the river to the mouth of the Colorada River and was
easily visible from the point, so CPTers had their team meeting out there.
Carol Spring and Shantz then stayed on the Opon River.

One of the team's local partners asked CPT to go to the Valle Cimitara due
to a
military operation in process there. Marks needed to renew his visa and
some CPTers were sick so an immediate response was impossible.

Friday, May 3, 2002
Young talked with local contact to find out more about the military
operation
in the Valle. The team decided that the Springs would go to the Valle and
Siegers would replace Carol Spring on the Opon. At least three people were
reported killed by paramilitaries in the Valle. No further information was
available to CPT.

Saturday, May 4, 2002
The Springs went to the Valle. At Puerto Matilde one man talked
about capitalism and multinationals and their contribution to the
displacement of many of the farmers. He said cattle and water buffalo
ranchers, plus coal and oil companies with their private thugs, have
displaced hundreds of farmers and the cattle owners make most of their cash
from money-laundering, but use two hectares of land per cow to give the
appearance of a clean business. He said that these ranches have at least
1000 cows, displacing about 20 farm families each.

The Springs then went to San Francisco in the Valle Cimitara and heard that
about twenty families had fled from rumors of paramilitaries and military in
the area. They saw few people there.

Sunday, May 5, 2002
The Springs heard that the paramilitaries and military had retreated from
this guerrilla-controlled area. Guerillas stopped the Springs at a location
known as