CPTnet March 13, 2004 COLOMBIA REFLECTION: "Don't Abandon Us"

by CPTer, Name Withheld

After twenty five hours traveling and spending the night in the middle of
one of Colombia's most conflicted areas, we finally arrived in the village
of Porvenir. Only the supply truck and one of the four buses was able to
make the final destination, leaving nearly 100 passengers to arrive on foot,
but the "Humanitarian Action" caravan was determined to break the military
blockade that has isolated the rural communities of northeastern Antioquia
for four to five years. Colombians and internationals alike, we were
nurses, psychologists, social workers, a dentist, lawyers, journalists,
human rights defenders, trauma specialists and musicians. CPT and
organizations from Germany and Italy provided international accompaniment.

Though many were exhausted from the grueling trip, the "caravanistas" lost
no time in unloading piles of food and medicines, and setting up a clinic
and a place for the dentist to work. Social workers organized an activity
for the children; psychologists made themselves available for consultations.
Representatives from human rights organizations began to record testimonies
of local campesinos who related some of the experiences of being caught
between three armed actors, the military, the paramilitary and the
guerrilla.

The Colombian military maintains the blockade supposedly to prevent
campesino families from bringing food and supplies to illegal armed actors
in the area. Campesinos are only allowed to buy 100,000 pesos (about $37)
worth of food each month and must present the receipts to the Army for an
official stamp [photo link:
http://www.cpt.org/gallery/view_album.php?set_albumName=album48]. "I have
eight kids and this only lasts us fifteen days," reported one man

But it's not just lack of adequate food and medicine that hurts these
families. Disappearances, massacres and armed confrontations are a common
occurrence here. Just days before our arrival the military carried out an
anti-guerrilla operation in one of the villages, sending the civilian
population fleeing into the mountains. With paramilitary initials on nearly
every building, houses burned from a military attack last December, and
hillsides mined by the guerrillas, more than 80% of the original population
has fled the violence. Listening to those who have stayed, I was struck by
the profound sincerity of one man's words: "Don't abandon us."

The communities were grateful for the much needed humanitarian aid, and
spirits were high as we danced around a a late night campfire but as our bus
pulled away the next afternoon and I looked at the faces of the villagers
left behind, I felt a tremendous dread. Would there be reprisals against
them for speaking out? Would I be searching through our photos looking for
faces of people tortured, disappeared, or assassinated because they dared to
denounce such human rights abuses? As the days pass, and we return to our
work in Barranca, the farmer's plea echoes in my head and as I promised him
I am carrying it to you now:

To the national and international community, I ask you, Don't abandon us.