CPTnet
August 16, 2002
COLOMBIA UPDATE: July 22 - 31, 2002

Monday July 22
CPT members Scott Kerr, William Payne, Carol Spring and Charles Spring
attended a SINALTRAINAL (Coca Cola workers union) Vigil. Seventeen Coca
Cola Union workers in Colombia have been killed by paramilitaries, a
right-wing armed group in Colombia that commits about 80% of the violent
political acts in the country. Other union workers have also received
death threats.

Tuesday July 23
The team began a three day fast from food, as a non-publicized act of
solidarity with threatened Colombian partners, and as a way of taking
simultaneous action when CPT sub-teams are working in geographically distant
areas most of the time.

Lisa Martens and Payne left to accompany the Opon region, where civilians
are threatened, at different moments, by all armed groups: the Colombian
navy and army, the guerrillas and the paramilitaries. While Martens and
Payne walked
along a path, they encountered two men who did not appear to be armed and
who did not talk long with the CPT members, but whom Martens and Payne
believed to be guerrillas.

Thursday July 25
At 2:00 am, CPT members Matt Schaaf and Carol Spring left with fifty buses
of
women (and some men and children) for a Women's March for Peace in Bogota,
the capital city of Colombia.

In Bogota, Schaaf and Spring joined a march of more than 20, 00 women
from all over Colombia. In response to a proposal of the new Colombian
President, Alvaro Uribe, that Colombian authorities develop a network of a
million citizens whose job it is to inform these authorities about which of
their co-civilians are guerrillas, the women proposed having a million
"Friends of Life." See August 1 release "The women will build peace."

The team broke their fast.

Friday July 26
Carol Spring and Charles Spring discussed future accompaniments with
threatened Colombian partners.

Families along the Opon river and lake continue to be threatened by armed
groups, and Martens and Payne continued CPT's accompaniment of the
region.

Sunday July 28
Carol Spring and Charles Spring accompanied civilians in and out of the
Cimitarra River Valley, because the civilians feared for their lives. The
Cimitarra Valley is occupied by two guerrilla groups. Paramilitaries kill
Cimitarra Valley citizens if they believe those citizens are involved with
the guerrillas as well as if those citizens are community leaders or
development workers. When paramilitaries and state armed forces enter the
area and hold battles with the guerrillas, families risk of getting caught
in the crossfire.

Monday July 29
The team refused to do an accompaniment in the Cimitarra River Valley due
to lack of personnel.

Kerr and Payne continued CPT's presence in the Opon region.

Wednesday July 31
Kerr and Payne visited a town called Puerto Berrio, to talk to Army Colonel
Qui