COLOMBIA UPDATE: November-December 2007
January 21st, 2008
in:
CPTnet
21 January 2008
COLOMBIA UPDATE: November-December 2007
CPT continued its accompaniment of communities and organizations at risk of violence, including the Opón communities, the Southern Bolivar Agricultural-Mining Federation, and the Popular Women’s Organization (Organización Femenina Popular or OFP) in the Middle Magdalena region of Colombia. The team sent a mobile team to work with CAMAWARI, and indigenous organizations in Nariño province of southern Colombia, and explored new accompaniment opportunities with the community of Garzal. A national delegation spent a week in Barrancabermeja and Tiquisio learning about the work of CPT and the impact of the armed conflict on human rights workers and rural communities. Historically, the Christmas season has been a time of increased violence. This year, residents of Barranca remarked on the relative calm in the city.
4 November
CPTers Rachel Cloud and Stewart Vriesinga responded to an early morning phone call after two masked, armed men forced their way into the Barrancabermeja home of Yolanda Becerra, president of the Popular Women’s Organization (OFP), and threatened her and her family. Someone also attempted to break into the home of Jaqueline Rojas, a coordinator of the OFP. The reality of continued threats against social organizations working for peace in the Middle Magdalena region is worrying.
9-10 November
CPTers Michele Braley, Suzanna Collerd, and Rachel Cloud worked with the Women and Armed Conflict Roundtable to put on a workshop for women of the Opón and various social organizations in Barrancabermeja. The workshop focused on recognizing violence against women, building solidarity among women, remembering the past, and sharing personal histories.
9 November- 16 December
CPTers arrived in Ricaurte, in the province of Nariño, to begin a five-week accompaniment of the Council of Elders of the Awa of Ricaurte (CAMAWARI). CAMAWARI is an organization of the Awa indigenous people from eleven reservations in the Ricaurte region. Since the year 2000, fumigations funded by the United States through Plan Colombia have pushed both coca cultivation and conflict between the Colombian military and guerrilla groups into this region. These have resulted in a situation of increased risk for these indigenous communities, who are attempting to maintain their autonomy in the face of great pressure.
The team accompanied Awa indigenous leaders to important meetings, including a meeting with the Governor of Nariño. During the meeting, leaders discussed landmines and health systems, issues highlighting the effects of violence on locals who are directly targeted. (See 20 December 2007 CPTnet release, " COLOMBIA REFLECTION: Ricuarte--shades of the conflict"
http://www.cpt.org/cptnet/2007/12/20/colombia-reflection-ricuarte-shades....
The accompaniment ended with the Awa General Assembly, which emphasized the importance of unity and dialogue to maintain the Awa community voice and representation. They discussed land mines and education issues including school closings and lack of teachers. A rural Awa resident in the assembly shared “landmines aren’t limited to the paths. A family member can come home and open the door to his house and its good-bye my brothers.” The Assembly reviewed their work over the last year and elected new leaders. The Assembly affirmed an ongoing relationship with CPT Colombia and endorsed an international delegation to Nariño, planned for May 2008.
This stint is CPT’s third short-term accompaniment of the Awa in Nariño this year. A CPT delegation to learn more about the struggles of indigenous and afro-colombian communities in Nariño is planned for May of 2008. See the CPT website (http://www.cpt.org/participate/delegation) for more information about joining a delegation.
21 November
Michele Braley and Rachel Cloud traveled with other human rights workers to show their support for striking petroleum workers in the community of El Centro near Barrancabermeja. The oil workers, employed by OxyAndina, were initially offered salaries of 20,000 pesos (about US $10) for a 12-hour day of work. Eventually, they were able to negotiate a 64% wage increase, to 34,000 pesos (US $17) per day, but further union concerns such as preventive health care for workers and access to water and public services for people living on OxyAndina-controlled land remain an issue for future negotiations.
22 November
CPTers Nils Dybvig, Sarah Mcdonald, and Stewart Vriesinga accompanied a national Women's Mobilization organized by the Popular Women’s Organization (OFP) and the Ruta Pacifica de Mujeres (Women’s Path of Peace). After traveling by bus caravan across the country, over 3000 women from diverse backgrounds gathered in Ipiales, Nariño and marched several kilometers to the Ecuadorian border to draw attention to the cross-border displacement happening in Nariño due to the armed conflict there.
26-29 November
CPTers Nils Dybvig and Rachel Cloud traveled to Tiquisio in response to a petition for accompaniment from the community due to the presence of soldiers in civilian homes and spaces, an ongoing problem in this community. Dybvig and Cloud visited the village of Puerto Coca where soldiers have been camping, and talked with a number of soldiers in Tiquisio Viejo about respecting International Humanitarian Law by keeping out of civilian homes.
29-30 November
Dybvig and Cloud accompanied farmers from Garzal as they traveled to Simiti to register their land titles. The farmers of Garzal have been involved in an ongoing dispute over the rights to their land despite a long residence there, and were worried for their safety because of several recent murders in the port city of Cerro Burgos and nearby Santa Rosa. These murders have also provoked concern for the safety of mining leaders CPT accompanies in Santa Rosa.
4-19 December
CPT Colombia deepened its conversation and understanding of the increase in violence against women and children in areas of armed conflict. The team has committed itself to making more visible the prevalence of violence against women and children through team conversations, articles, and the year-end human rights reports. The team arranged workshops with a human rights attorney and a psychologist to learn about sexual abuse laws and culturally appropriate ways to support communities to address and eliminate violence against women and children.
6-8 December
Rachel Cloud and Michele Braley traveled to Simiti, South of Bolivar to accompany meetings for Alternative Producers Association of the South of Bolivar (ASPROAS). The group examined the threats to farmer livelihood surrounding the ongoing land conflicts and possibility of forced displacement of the region of Garzal and Nueva Esperanza. The President of ASPROAS noted, “A farmer without land is like a fish without water.” Many organizations were present, including the United Nations High Commission on Refugees. The UNHCR stated that farmers need 38-45 hectares to survive and only 12% of farmers in Colombia have more than 35 hectares of land.
10-17 December
A national delegation of mostly Colombians met organization leaders and victims of the armed conflict in Barrancabermeja. They also visited Tiquisio, in the south of Bolivar to learn about the rural community process in the Magdalena Medio. The delegation concluded with a public action in a park in Barrancabermeja. Using a live nativity scene and a novena of Christmas Carols with rewritten lyrics, the delegates compared the obstacles faced by Mary and Joseph with the struggles of Colombians facing threats and displacement. Attendees were invited to unite in prayer to be part of the solution and not repeat history.
21-27 December
In response to community concerns about the potential for increased violence during the holidays when many government and human rights offices are closed, Michele Braley and Nils Dybvig spent the week of Christmas in Garzal. Fortunately, it was a quiet week, and Braley and Dybvig spent their time visiting families and sharing in the Christmas festivities. The family of the President of the community council, who is also the pastor of an evangelical church, hosted them. The Christmas Eve service was a four-hour vigil of praise singing lasting until midnight. In response to a request to share a song, Braley and Dybvig sang, "Joy to the World" and "Silent Night." The vigil ended with the singing of "Noche de Paz" (Silent Night) and the lighting of candles, a North American Christmas tradition Braley and Dybvig had described to the pastor.
21 January 2008
COLOMBIA UPDATE: November-December 2007
CPT continued its accompaniment of communities and organizations at risk of violence, including the Opón communities, the Southern Bolivar Agricultural-Mining Federation, and the Popular Women’s Organization (Organización Femenina Popular or OFP) in the Middle Magdalena region of Colombia. The team sent a mobile team to work with CAMAWARI, and indigenous organizations in Nariño province of southern Colombia, and explored new accompaniment opportunities with the community of Garzal. A national delegation spent a week in Barrancabermeja and Tiquisio learning about the work of CPT and the impact of the armed conflict on human rights workers and rural communities. Historically, the Christmas season has been a time of increased violence. This year, residents of Barranca remarked on the relative calm in the city.
4 November
CPTers Rachel Cloud and Stewart Vriesinga responded to an early morning phone call after two masked, armed men forced their way into the Barrancabermeja home of Yolanda Becerra, president of the Popular Women’s Organization (OFP), and threatened her and her family. Someone also attempted to break into the home of Jaqueline Rojas, a coordinator of the OFP. The reality of continued threats against social organizations working for peace in the Middle Magdalena region is worrying.
9-10 November
CPTers Michele Braley, Suzanna Collerd, and Rachel Cloud worked with the Women and Armed Conflict Roundtable to put on a workshop for women of the Opón and various social organizations in Barrancabermeja. The workshop focused on recognizing violence against women, building solidarity among women, remembering the past, and sharing personal histories.
9 November- 16 December
CPTers arrived in Ricaurte, in the province of Nariño, to begin a five-week accompaniment of the Council of Elders of the Awa of Ricaurte (CAMAWARI). CAMAWARI is an organization of the Awa indigenous people from eleven reservations in the Ricaurte region. Since the year 2000, fumigations funded by the United States through Plan Colombia have pushed both coca cultivation and conflict between the Colombian military and guerrilla groups into this region. These have resulted in a situation of increased risk for these indigenous communities, who are attempting to maintain their autonomy in the face of great pressure.
The team accompanied Awa indigenous leaders to important meetings, including a meeting with the Governor of Nariño. During the meeting, leaders discussed landmines and health systems, issues highlighting the effects of violence on locals who are directly targeted. (See 20 December 2007 CPTnet release, " COLOMBIA REFLECTION: Ricuarte--shades of the conflict"
http://www.cpt.org/cptnet/2007/12/20/colombia-reflection-ricuarte-shades....
The accompaniment ended with the Awa General Assembly, which emphasized the importance of unity and dialogue to maintain the Awa community voice and representation. They discussed land mines and education issues including school closings and lack of teachers. A rural Awa resident in the assembly shared “landmines aren’t limited to the paths. A family member can come home and open the door to his house and its good-bye my brothers.” The Assembly reviewed their work over the last year and elected new leaders. The Assembly affirmed an ongoing relationship with CPT Colombia and endorsed an international delegation to Nariño, planned for May 2008.
This stint is CPT’s third short-term accompaniment of the Awa in Nariño this year. A CPT delegation to learn more about the struggles of indigenous and afro-colombian communities in Nariño is planned for May of 2008. See the CPT website (http://www.cpt.org/participate/delegation) for more information about joining a delegation.
21 November
Michele Braley and Rachel Cloud traveled with other human rights workers to show their support for striking petroleum workers in the community of El Centro near Barrancabermeja. The oil workers, employed by OxyAndina, were initially offered salaries of 20,000 pesos (about US $10) for a 12-hour day of work. Eventually, they were able to negotiate a 64% wage increase, to 34,000 pesos (US $17) per day, but further union concerns such as preventive health care for workers and access to water and public services for people living on OxyAndina-controlled land remain an issue for future negotiations.
22 November
CPTers Nils Dybvig, Sarah Mcdonald, and Stewart Vriesinga accompanied a national Women's Mobilization organized by the Popular Women’s Organization (OFP) and the Ruta Pacifica de Mujeres (Women’s Path of Peace). After traveling by bus caravan across the country, over 3000 women from diverse backgrounds gathered in Ipiales, Nariño and marched several kilometers to the Ecuadorian border to draw attention to the cross-border displacement happening in Nariño due to the armed conflict there.
26-29 November
CPTers Nils Dybvig and Rachel Cloud traveled to Tiquisio in response to a petition for accompaniment from the community due to the presence of soldiers in civilian homes and spaces, an ongoing problem in this community. Dybvig and Cloud visited the village of Puerto Coca where soldiers have been camping, and talked with a number of soldiers in Tiquisio Viejo about respecting International Humanitarian Law by keeping out of civilian homes.
29-30 November
Dybvig and Cloud accompanied farmers from Garzal as they traveled to Simiti to register their land titles. The farmers of Garzal have been involved in an ongoing dispute over the rights to their land despite a long residence there, and were worried for their safety because of several recent murders in the port city of Cerro Burgos and nearby Santa Rosa. These murders have also provoked concern for the safety of mining leaders CPT accompanies in Santa Rosa.
4-19 December
CPT Colombia deepened its conversation and understanding of the increase in violence against women and children in areas of armed conflict. The team has committed itself to making more visible the prevalence of violence against women and children through team conversations, articles, and the year-end human rights reports. The team arranged workshops with a human rights attorney and a psychologist to learn about sexual abuse laws and culturally appropriate ways to support communities to address and eliminate violence against women and children.
6-8 December
Rachel Cloud and Michele Braley traveled to Simiti, South of Bolivar to accompany meetings for Alternative Producers Association of the South of Bolivar (ASPROAS). The group examined the threats to farmer livelihood surrounding the ongoing land conflicts and possibility of forced displacement of the region of Garzal and Nueva Esperanza. The President of ASPROAS noted, “A farmer without land is like a fish without water.” Many organizations were present, including the United Nations High Commission on Refugees. The UNHCR stated that farmers need 38-45 hectares to survive and only 12% of farmers in Colombia have more than 35 hectares of land.
10-17 December
A national delegation of mostly Colombians met organization leaders and victims of the armed conflict in Barrancabermeja. They also visited Tiquisio, in the south of Bolivar to learn about the rural community process in the Magdalena Medio. The delegation concluded with a public action in a park in Barrancabermeja. Using a live nativity scene and a novena of Christmas Carols with rewritten lyrics, the delegates compared the obstacles faced by Mary and Joseph with the struggles of Colombians facing threats and displacement. Attendees were invited to unite in prayer to be part of the solution and not repeat history.
21-27 December
In response to community concerns about the potential for increased violence during the holidays when many government and human rights offices are closed, Michele Braley and Nils Dybvig spent the week of Christmas in Garzal. Fortunately, it was a quiet week, and Braley and Dybvig spent their time visiting families and sharing in the Christmas festivities. The family of the President of the community council, who is also the pastor of an evangelical church, hosted them. The Christmas Eve service was a four-hour vigil of praise singing lasting until midnight. In response to a request to share a song, Braley and Dybvig sang, "Joy to the World" and "Silent Night." The vigil ended with the singing of "Noche de Paz" (Silent Night) and the lighting of candles, a North American Christmas tradition Braley and Dybvig had described to the pastor.
