CPTnet
10 April 2007
COLOMBIA: For the Right to a Dignified Life and Permanence on the Land -
Part 1

by Michele Braley and Nils Dybvig

For four days in March, fifteen Colombian miners, accompanied by CPTers
Michele Braley and Nils Dybvig, gathered in a rural community in southern
Bolivar province to learn about politics, economics and militarism, and the
intersection of these with their struggle to remain on their land in the
face of increasing gold exploration by multinational corporations.
This second in a series of Leadership Formation Schools sponsored by the
Agrominers Federation was originally scheduled for the community of San
Pedro Frio, but the Colombian Army moved into town a few days before the
start of the school. Organizers interpreted this move as intimidation and
made the decision to change the location to Mina Caribe. Despite the new
location, the start of the school was delayed a day as leadership received
telephone reports of the Army detaining people at checkpoints and reports of
general unease about travel to Mina Caribe.

The barriers to students attending only fortified the leadership's
commitment to continue. They know the school is crucial at a time when
multinationals, including Anglo Gold Ashanti under its subsidiary Kedahda,
and the Canadian company Bema Gold, are continuing to explore the region for
gold. The large companies have asked the Colombian government for mineral
rights to the land, and because there are no land titles in this rural
mountainous area, the miners are concerned that the government will give
away the claims that have been sustaining them and their families.

One participant stated his expectation for the school "that we continue
collectively to construct this process of remaining on the land." Just the
opportunity to meet each other and learn together fortifies these miners who
live in communities separated by many hours of hiking and limited telephone
service.

Although most grew up in communities without access to secondary education,
the miners were eager learners as they studied business economics and
considered their own place in the cycle of product, consumer and profit. One
miner commented, "We need to look at how we can buy directly from local
farmers instead of transporting in the very products that are grown in our
region. We need to organize to buy in bulk." Developing regional food
production also reduces their need to import food over often dangerous
trails.

The miners also considered their place in the system that produces gold in
the region and what their communities might look like if multinationals
including Kedahda and Bema were given the mining concessions. They discussed
the reality that the relative prosperity of their communities would likely
disappear as profits from the gold would flow overseas rather than staying
in the community.

The school gave them the theories for the realities they have already
experienced. As they learned about the forms of control that big business
uses to maintain economic power the presenter asked, "What happens if you
speak out against this system?" One student quickly responded, "You are
assassinated, or you are labeled, so your ideas are squelched."