COLOMBIA: The Las Pavas Community (ASOCAB) speaks out--"We demand to return now!"
COLOMBIA: The Las Pavas Community (ASOCAB) speaks out--"We demand to return now!"
[CPT-Colombia has accompanied the community of Las Pavas since since the Colombian authorities forced them off their land in 2009.]
The Farmers Association of Buenos Aires (ASOCAB) is legally represented by its general manager, Misael Payares Guerrero, a resident of Buenos Aires, Peñón Township, Southern Bolivar, Colombia. We, the community of ASOCAB, have been victims of forced displacement by paramilitary groups and alleged drug trafficker, Jesus Emilio Escobar, who was owner of the Las Pavas estate. Several years after Emilio Escobar left the farm and the community had already established food crops, he reappeared to remove us by force and sell the land to the Consortium Labrador. This consortium is comprised of the companies San Isidro SA Contributions and C.I. Tequendama SA, which is part of the DAABON group. They are dedicated to the implementation of extensive oil palm cultivation and caused our last displacement in 2009 with the consent of the municipal, regional and national government by using an illegal political process. They expelled us from Las Pavas with the assistance of the National Police and perpetrating the crime of forced displacement.
We declare before the local, regional, National and International communities that the Consortium Labrador has endangered the life and physical integrity of our community by spreading an announcement through the communications media. In this communication they accuse us of trying to illegally and clandestinely invade the Las Pavas estate, violating the rights of workers in the palm and peace in the region.
