CPT Colombia is grateful to have had the opportunity to talk with Carlos Arturo Morales Mayorga, the twenty-three-year old leader of the organization CAHUCOPANA, which CPT has accompanied since 2008.  CAHUCOPANA is the Corporation for Coexistence and Peace in Northeast Antioquia.  Its objective is resolving the humanitarian crisis and human rights violations that afflict the rural communities of the townships of Remedios and Segovia, in the province of Antioquia.

Carlos is from Lejanias in the township of Remedios.  Since the age of eighteen, he has been leading Humanitarian Actions and other CAHUCOPANA projects, while caring for his wife and two young children.  Despite having experienced the loss and murder of three CAHUCOPANA members at the hands of the state, and having had his own life threatened for his involvement in promoting human rights, he continues to be a strong voice of resistance, calling for justice and peace in Colombia.

Carlos (in middle holding white sheet)

CPT: What does CAHUCOPANA do?

Carlos: CAHUCOPANA is a small organization founded in 2004.  The purpose for which our organization was created is to empower communities, shape and form human rights, and thus for communities to live with social justice and true peace.  We conduct training workshops on human rights and international humanitarian law, in places where people are afraid because they see the army come to the houses raping children, stealing animals and food, and communities are not denouncing or reporting this.

 We believe that by informing the people of their rights, we are also giving them the tools to work for justice.

CPT: What's going on in Northeast Antioquia?

Carlos: The area of Northeast Antioquia has been one of the hardest hit regions of the country on the issue of human rights violations and state neglect.  There are many multinational interests there, and this makes the fundamental rights of campesino communities very vulnerable.  In addition, former president Alvaro Uribe's policy of "democratic security" has left children without parents, mothers without children, and widows.

This territory is rich in natural resources such as uranium, gold, watersheds, and lots of wood.  This wealth and interest in the gold mines unfortunately has lead  to multinationals looking at Northeast Antioquia not for dignified development,  but to extract these campesino communities, displace them, and keep the resources for themselves.  For example, the government gave 21,000 hectares [approx. 52,000 acres] in a land concession to multinationals between the San Lucas Mountains and the Northeast Antioquia region.  This has led to an operation called "Operation Athena" by the Calibio battalion, of the XIV Brigade, which over the past four years has had the objective of wiping out the campesino population.

Furthermore, there are paramilitary groups and national army checkpoints in the region that do not let in food, canned goods, medicines, boots, malaria treatment [it is a tropical region], and on top of this, there is the constant state abandonment of access roads.  You will not find a health center or decent education for children.  Despite all this, Northeast Antioquia has been a real example of non-violent resistance in the Middle Magdalena region

CPT: What is happening with extrajudicial executions in the region?  Or "False Positives"?

Carlos:  Extra-judicial executions were implemented in 2005 as a state policy.  What is happening is that state has been kidnapping and murdering young campesino men, then dressing their bodies up to look like they are guerilla fighters.  For every "enemy combatant" killed, those responsible receive time off and a monetary reward.  The state army is currently under investigation for 2000 cases of extrajudicial executions, but it is impossible to ever know how many there have been.  Personally, we have had over eighteen partners executed by the Calibio battalion of the Fourteenth Brigade.

But what this repression has done is nurture and affirm us.  We will not have a minute of silence.  On the contrary, our voices have been unleashed and we will not keep quiet.  They want to stigmatize us, lock up, or kill leaders of CAHUCOPANA or ACVC [Campesino Association of the Cimitarra Valley].  They believe that if they do this, the social processes in the region will end.  Yes, there are some who are going to kill us, but this is a process that no one is going to stop, not fear, not anything, and for that, we are strengthened.

CPT: What could the international community do to support CAHUCOPANA?

Carlos: There are many things you can do to support CAHUCOPANA.  To speak out for justice, you don't have to have a physical presence here in Colombia.  Speak out to the embassy and international government bodies through public actions that claim the right to life for all people.  Inform yourself.  Read about the Colombian conflict in the news, especially through Rural Press [prensarural.org].  You can send letters of solidarity to CAHUCOPANA.  And of course, CAHUCOPANA is always willing to host national and international delegations to see the reality of Northeast Antioquia firsthand.

CPT: What is your personal history in the social and human rights movement?

Carlos: One reason why I work to defend human rights is that my father has worked twenty-five years with the social movement.  He is a recognized leader in Barrancabermeja, and he has been persecuted for his work.

For example, during the paramilitary incursion in 2001, my family was displaced, and we lost our home.  We lost everything.  We had only one change of clothes.  Human rights groups helped us to move and live in Bucaramanga.  Subsequently, our house  was raided by prosecutors [La Fiscalia].  It was a terrible example of injustice.  But this experience helped me reaffirm that I had to get involved.  I started working with my dad with ACVC, but when I saw CAHUCOPANA beginning to form, I liked it more.

CPT: What is it like to care for your family while your own life is threatened?

Carlos: Threats against a defender of human rights become a daily routine and these make you value even more your partner and children, because they walk, and go along with you, strengthening, and reinforcing your work.  This mutual support is one that reaffirms the love and protection for my family.  It does so because I want to watch my partner, daughter, and son grow up with a fair and dignified development.  That's my hope for the future that I want share with all children in the region.