Recent News from Buenaventura - Valle!
Greetings everyone:
I'm happy to inform that the Civic Strike in Buenaventura had reached an agreement with the national government and the strike has been suspended.
This is a major and historical moment not only for the people in Buenaventura but for the Black movement and people in Colombia. The strike showed the indifferent racist Colombians and Colombian government that people who has been suffering for centuries the racism and exclusion and the excruciating situation of poverty and violence eventually raises up and turn things around.
The agreement has four important components:
1. The creation of a special autonomous fund with resources that are consider patrimony of the people in Buenaventura, coming from 50% of the taxes from the business and companies that profit from activities related to the port, plus $76 million dollars that the government will raise from credits with international banks, regulated by a law that should be signed in a month.
2. A initial investment of COP$1.500 billions to attend the immediate needs in basic infrastructure for water, health and basic sanitation services in rural and urban areas.
3. A integral development plan for the city that implies the policies and programs, institutional reform and community participation to make of Buenaventura a port for the people and not simply for profit.
4. The proper investigations and penalization for the abuses and human rights violations committed by the state forces, guaranties for those who has been criminalized and ensuring security and protection for the many leaders that guided 22 days of peaceful, organized and successful strike.
In the name of the people in resistance in Buenaventura, in the name of the Black Communities' Process in Colombia (PCN) and my own, thank you for your unconditional fraternal solidarity. Your participation helped to put the pressure and ensure that an action that main stream media was eager to minimize and ignore get international attention, interest and support.
Although it has been a historic victory, this is not the end. Agreement are something the Colombian government easily ignore. Many hace condemn Buenaventura leaders for the significant lost of money that the strike represented. We certainly expect that the raise of people in power will be penalized. Buenaventura and Black people in Colombia continue in struggle for self-determination and your fraternal support continues to be very appreciated.
Things you can do now:
- Offer an statement prizing people in Buenaventura, recognizing its strength and courage, but also the level of political clarity and organization that leaded the strike.
- Continue condemning the violent repression and violations committed by the state forces and ask Colombian authorities to ensure proper investigation and penalization of the ESMAD as whole. There is not point on looking for individuals, the ESMAD as part of police institution committed serious violations of human rights and humanitarian provision, abusing its responsibility to provide security and instead creating a war-like situation against unarmed civilians, particularly in neighborhoods at night when people was sleeping. Reports from the Strike's human rights committee counted 209 children severely affected by tear gas, and still counting.
- Condemn the negligent response of president Juan Manuel Santos who could control the ESMAD excesses. Remind him his duty as a Peace Nobel Prize and leading head of a peace-building process that the whole world has eyes on.
- We will still be in need for translations and organizing brief reports on writing, audio and video. People (and my self) are available for interviews in Spanish and English. Much still needs to be said about the Buenaventura strike.
- Consider organizing visits to Buenaventura for monitoring purposes, and stay informed about the developments of the agreement.
- I will be in the US, mostly in the south from June 16 to July 4th. Consider organizing conversations with your community, radio talks or any other opportunity to educate people about the struggle in Colombia. I will be happy to accommodate to the best of my possibilities to be there.
- If possible, those with the knowledge, help us to thank the Orishas for protecting and guiding the people and leaders in Buenaventura, and pray for their safety.
This is a time for moving from fraternal solidarity to broader movement building with common agendas for the liberation and self-determination of Black people. We are one people. My struggle is your struggle.
Thank you very much from our hearts.
The struggle continues.
Charo
PCN
I'm happy to inform that the Civic Strike in Buenaventura had reached an agreement with the national government and the strike has been suspended.
This is a major and historical moment not only for the people in Buenaventura but for the Black movement and people in Colombia. The strike showed the indifferent racist Colombians and Colombian government that people who has been suffering for centuries the racism and exclusion and the excruciating situation of poverty and violence eventually raises up and turn things around.
The agreement has four important components:
1. The creation of a special autonomous fund with resources that are consider patrimony of the people in Buenaventura, coming from 50% of the taxes from the business and companies that profit from activities related to the port, plus $76 million dollars that the government will raise from credits with international banks, regulated by a law that should be signed in a month.
2. A initial investment of COP$1.500 billions to attend the immediate needs in basic infrastructure for water, health and basic sanitation services in rural and urban areas.
3. A integral development plan for the city that implies the policies and programs, institutional reform and community participation to make of Buenaventura a port for the people and not simply for profit.
4. The proper investigations and penalization for the abuses and human rights violations committed by the state forces, guaranties for those who has been criminalized and ensuring security and protection for the many leaders that guided 22 days of peaceful, organized and successful strike.
In the name of the people in resistance in Buenaventura, in the name of the Black Communities' Process in Colombia (PCN) and my own, thank you for your unconditional fraternal solidarity. Your participation helped to put the pressure and ensure that an action that main stream media was eager to minimize and ignore get international attention, interest and support.
Although it has been a historic victory, this is not the end. Agreement are something the Colombian government easily ignore. Many hace condemn Buenaventura leaders for the significant lost of money that the strike represented. We certainly expect that the raise of people in power will be penalized. Buenaventura and Black people in Colombia continue in struggle for self-determination and your fraternal support continues to be very appreciated.
Things you can do now:
- Offer an statement prizing people in Buenaventura, recognizing its strength and courage, but also the level of political clarity and organization that leaded the strike.
- Continue condemning the violent repression and violations committed by the state forces and ask Colombian authorities to ensure proper investigation and penalization of the ESMAD as whole. There is not point on looking for individuals, the ESMAD as part of police institution committed serious violations of human rights and humanitarian provision, abusing its responsibility to provide security and instead creating a war-like situation against unarmed civilians, particularly in neighborhoods at night when people was sleeping. Reports from the Strike's human rights committee counted 209 children severely affected by tear gas, and still counting.
- Condemn the negligent response of president Juan Manuel Santos who could control the ESMAD excesses. Remind him his duty as a Peace Nobel Prize and leading head of a peace-building process that the whole world has eyes on.
- We will still be in need for translations and organizing brief reports on writing, audio and video. People (and my self) are available for interviews in Spanish and English. Much still needs to be said about the Buenaventura strike.
- Consider organizing visits to Buenaventura for monitoring purposes, and stay informed about the developments of the agreement.
- I will be in the US, mostly in the south from June 16 to July 4th. Consider organizing conversations with your community, radio talks or any other opportunity to educate people about the struggle in Colombia. I will be happy to accommodate to the best of my possibilities to be there.
- If possible, those with the knowledge, help us to thank the Orishas for protecting and guiding the people and leaders in Buenaventura, and pray for their safety.
This is a time for moving from fraternal solidarity to broader movement building with common agendas for the liberation and self-determination of Black people. We are one people. My struggle is your struggle.
Thank you very much from our hearts.
The struggle continues.
Charo
PCN
ACCION URGENTE/URGENT ACTION:
PARA LA POBLACIÓN DE BUENAVENTURA,
VALLE EN COLOMBIA
Otros articulos:
El Nobel de la Paz “en modo” represión en Buenaventura
Buenaventura: “El Gobierno responde militarmente a un problema de solución política
Represión en Buenaventura deja 9 heridos con arma de fuego
El Nobel de la Paz “en modo” represión en Buenaventura
Buenaventura: “El Gobierno responde militarmente a un problema de solución política
Represión en Buenaventura deja 9 heridos con arma de fuego
Greetings/Saludos,
Below please find an urgent action attending the critical situation of the community in Buenaventura under attack by the special anti-riot forces ESMAD since May 19, 2017.
Please feel free to share among your networks and do not hesitate to contact us at [email protected] (for Spanish) and [email protected] (for English).
Anexo por favor sírvanse encontrar una acción urgente para atender la critica situación de la comunidad de Buenaventura atacada consistentemente por las fuerzas especiales ante motines ESMAD desde Mayo 19, 2017.
Por favor siéntanse libres de compartir con sus redes y no duden por favor en contactados a [email protected] (en Español), [email protected] (Ingles).
Equipo de Derechos Humanos
Paro Cívico Buenaventura
Below please find an urgent action attending the critical situation of the community in Buenaventura under attack by the special anti-riot forces ESMAD since May 19, 2017.
Please feel free to share among your networks and do not hesitate to contact us at [email protected] (for Spanish) and [email protected] (for English).
Anexo por favor sírvanse encontrar una acción urgente para atender la critica situación de la comunidad de Buenaventura atacada consistentemente por las fuerzas especiales ante motines ESMAD desde Mayo 19, 2017.
Por favor siéntanse libres de compartir con sus redes y no duden por favor en contactados a [email protected] (en Español), [email protected] (Ingles).
Equipo de Derechos Humanos
Paro Cívico Buenaventura
Urgent action to safeguard the life of the
people of Buenaventura
May 29, 2017 Buenaventura, Valle
people of Buenaventura
May 29, 2017 Buenaventura, Valle
In the name of human rights watchdog (The Human Rights Commission) of the Indefinite Civic Strike
and the coalition of organizations the Inter-organizational Committee for the Defence of Territories
gained from the Sea in Buenaventura, made up of the following human rights organizations in
Buenaventura; FUNDESCODES, Proceso de Comunidades Negras-PCN (Process of Black
Communities), Pastoral Afro, Colectivo Juvenil Transformando Mentes (Transforming Minds Youth
Collective), Jesuit Refugee Service-SJR, Nomadesc, Movice, Sintraunicol juntas de acción comunal de los barrios Isla de la Paz y la Cima, (Neighbourhood councils of the districts of Isla de la Paz and
the Cima), we alert and request the international community, multilateral human right bodies and
international human rights organizations to monitor and request urgent action for the extreme
situation human rights violations and resultant extreme risks to which the population of
Buenaventura was submitted on 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27 and 28 May of the
present year (and for the days that the indefinite strike continues). Since May 16 the community of
Buenaventura decided to exercise the right to social and peaceful protest to call for fundamental
rights such as drinking water, sewerage systems, a hospital that provides tertiary health care, quality
education and improvement of roads among other rights1; We emphasize that Buenaventura is the most important maritime port of Colombia, Latin America and one of the most important ports in the Pacific world. The geostrategic location allows communication with more than 500 ports of the world, in less time than any other port in world. In that sense the economic and geopolitical alliances that are woven into the port of Buenaventura are extremely strategic for the global and regional economy. The port of Buenaventura propels 60% of Colombia's economy.
During 13 days of indefinite civic strike geo-economy is already beginning to be affected. The
Colombian State, lead by the current Novel Peace Laurite President Juan Manuel Santos has decided
since last Friday May 19th to address an organized, planned and official social mobilization, as a
major problem of public order and with this perspective has literally waged a bloody fight against a
population who only ask for the guarantees and effective enjoyment of their fundamental rights to
live in dignity, rights such as drinking water, sewerage, quality education and tertiary healthcare
among others. In the face of peaceful civil resistance where the people have peacefully taken the
streets, we stress this great historical mobilization for Buenaventura where approximately 200
thousand people were mobilized. The indefinite civic strike includes cultural civic activities such as
gatherings, concerts, plays among others.
According to reports from the National Government, in Buenaventura there are 2,500 public security
force agents including members of the Marine Corps, the Army, Police, ESMAD (Mobile Anti-
Disturbances Squadron) and SIJIN (Judicial Investigation Section). As will be discussed below, various
actions have been carried out against the black and indigenous communities that are currently on
Civic Strike, which violate in particular the right to life and security. The excessive and abusive use of
force has left two people dead, hundreds seriously injured, some of them from firearms, children
affected by tear gas, and permanent photographic and film records of the communities in the
different meeting points.
From the first day the human rights watchdog of the civic strike has been able to verify that in the
official meeting points throughout the city where communities were congregated there were agents
of the SIJIN (police) technical intelligence body, dressed in civilian clothes, recording and
photographing the coordinators of each meeting point. Bulletin # 1 of the human rights situation of
the strike states that; "We are concerned that the recording and photographing of leaders in
different concentration points do not comply with legal procedures and regulations under which the
security forces must operate."
The harmony of the civic strike broke down from the morning of May 19 when the following events
took place, and were recorded in the Bulletin # 2 on human rights of civic strike, which will be
attached:
1. The unfortunate accident in which the agent NEIVER ENRIQUE CRUZ, member of the Highway
Police lost his life as he travelled to the scene. Lieutenant Colonel ELICEO SUAREZ stated early on,
without due process of investigation that the accidental death of the policeman was a homicide and
incriminated both the community that was coordinating this meeting point and the civic strike
committee. In that vein the second human rights report Bulletin # 2 states that; “At the scene, the
corpse of NEIVER ENRIQUE CRUZ, the deceased police agent was being managed by the CTI, the
state’s criminal forensic body. According to established law, the organisations responsible for
handling such incidents is the highway patrol or traffic police. It was noted that at there were other
individuals without gloves and manipulating objects from the scene.”
2. At the meeting point of La Delfina, on May 19, 2017, Members of ESMAD left about 15 people
wounded with tear gas bombs (See Human Rights Bulletin No. 02), among the wounded are: JAMES
LARREA human rights defender, ERISON MOUNTAIN Alto Medio Dagua Community Council, JORGE
OMAR CARRILLO member of the community, OSCAR VILLEGAS, JESÚS ANTONIO OSSA, CARLOS
IBITOHILAMO, MANUEL DAGUA.
3. At the point of the Alto and Bajo Zaragosa Community Council, ESMAD fired teargas against the
community, leaving several children and women affected, victims of severe suffocation. Four bikes
with 8 road police officers and ESMAD persecuted a young man from the community upon whom
they inflicted blows and rubber bullets. The Human Rights Commission managed to rescue him and
the members were recorded with a video camera carried by one of the motorized patrols of the
ESMAD that had attacked2.
4. At the same time as the events that took place on the Cabal Pombo highway, in the Municipality
of Buenaventura, the ESMAD undertook a violent attack against the community located at the
meeting point of the Piñal Bridge. The community raised their arms and declared themselves to be
peaceful and unarmed demonstrators, to which the ESMAD personnel responded by firing tear gas
at point-blank range against the protesters, leaving several people injured. The public force also
spread a rumour that the leaders of the strike had been arrested, generating more distress and
confusion in the population. The leaders publicly denied this version and attempted communication
with high levels of government but with no response3.
5. Likewise, three children, one of them four months old, were evacuated with severe asphyxia
following the impact of the tear gas launched against the civilian population. The community
recorded this event. Police officers entered a neighbourhood to round up the population and during
this incident this woman was mistreated by the troops while in the patio of her house. (All of the
above recorded on May 19th of this year).
6. During the night of May 19th, 21 year old Jorge Alex Peña Guerrero, who was soon to turn 22 on
the 31st of this month and a student of foreign trade, became one of the victims of this violent
intervention by the public forces on May 19, 2017. The events took place on the corner of Guavito
near the house of the young man where he was hit by a bullet, facts which are being investigated.
7. During the acts of violence provoked by the security forces on May 19, approximately 200 arrests
were made, of which 45 under legal procedures. The detainees spent the night in police trucks
handcuffed to each other and the arrest was not legalized until the following day. Many of the
detainees reported that whilst in hands of the police they were made to sign a blank document in
the early hours of the 20th May. Among the detainees were the young people HAMINSON
CAMCHIMBO BANGUERA, 28 years old AND LEWIS STEVEN DÍAZ LOPEZ, 26 years old, a public service
vehicle driver.
8. Likewise on May 19th at around 5:00 p.m., the tension and the hostile environment began to
spread and from one moment to the next, the streets were invaded by a large number of young
people on motorcycles armed with large sticks, stones and even chainsaws. Within about an hour
these men on motorcycles had already taken the whole of the Simón Bolívar Avenue and passed
violently by all the strike meeting points towards the Éxito Shopping Centre. By 7:30pm social
networks were already inundated with videos4, audios, photographs denouncing the looting that the
motorized men undertook in supermarkets such as La 14 located in the barrio Bellavista and Éxito
shopping centre.
9. Local broadcasters impotently narrated the facts receiving calls from the indignant population
who demanded the presence of the more than 500 police officers that the State had directed to
Buenaventura to repress peaceful demonstrators. For over six hours the public security forces made
way for the men with chainsaws and sticks to break down the doors of supermarkets like Éxito and
La 14, Olympic, ATMs, the commercial centre of Pueblo Nuevo and later loot them. It was incredible
to see how they stole fridges, beds, stoves, computers, food, cell phones and you could see
hundreds of people late at night and into the early hours of the morning carrying all stolen
merchandise. Just after all the merchandise was looted the ESMAD appeared everywhere, to which
the community, indignant, shouted over and over asking why they arrived now that the looting was
over, and where were they during the looting?
However by forming a large human chain unarmed people managed to prevent the Olimpica
supermarket in Bellavista neighbourhood from being looted. The community itself, outraged by the
looting which was organised to delegitimize the civic strike took control in some neighbourhoods
where they confiscated merchandise from the passers-by who had taken advantage of the act of
vandalism, and returned them to supermarkets.
All this could have been avoided, but perversely the ESMAD and the police did not appear. Where
were the more than a thousand troops? They were gassing, shooting with firearms, physically and
verbally abusing peaceful demonstrators at the meeting points of the Piñal Bridge and La Delfina,
with all their force attacking demonstrators who had no weapons, while allowing the vandals with
chainsaws and sticks to rob all the commerce of Buenaventura.
10. In the communal onslaught, while the vandals literally plundered the trade of the city as a
strategy to delegitimize the strike, the young person Breyner Valencia, 25 years old, inhabitant of the
neighbourhood San Fancisco, lost his right eye because the ESMAD forces shot gases directly into
the eyes.
11. On 26 May at 6:00 in the morning, the ESMAD attacks began again, attacking the communities of
Isla de la Paz, Ciudadela Nueva Buenaventura and the El Oriente, communities that are on the
exclusive rout for transport of trucks (the alternative internal road). The community was surprised at
six in the morning with shots from firearms, and tear gas which were launched into the doors and
windows of the houses and residents of these neighbourhoods were vilely hit. Due to the tear gas
attacks by the ESMAD against homes and the community, the minors Dayan Faisuri Tejada and Evan
Jhoel Garcia, 4 years of age, suffered severe asphyxia. Below are attached images of the events of
May 26.
12. It should be noted that in the midst of acts of war committed by the public forces, they
threatened the wounded victims so that they would not report the facts, a situation that in the
middle of the terror that already exists in the Port of Buenaventura, has prevented the human rights
commission from obtaining the full stories from the victims. The commission has been able to verify
that part of the strategy to intimidate and prevent the community from denouncing the police is
that they have totally militarized the only clinic in Buenaventura which attends emergencies, the
Santa Sofia clinic5.
13. The Public Order situation was aggravated with a communiqué which advised all the "personnel
of Buenaventura" of a curfew which would begin at 18:00 threatening to attack the life of any
person who is in the street after the stipulated time. The statement does not have a specific date
and the authorship is not recognized:
"Greetings for all Buenaventura. I have the pleasure of informing you that we are the protectors of our paramilitary port. We ask you please at 18:00 we do not want to see young children or adults, there will be a general clean-up due to what is happening. Our indigenous territory was abused by the supposed authority, they are nothing but sons of bitches assholes, but the time came for us to defend and to counter attack everyone who is in the streets. We cannot be responsibility if people and families fall, we are warning we are going to defend our territories. If you do not want your families to fall send them our communiqué."
14. May 28, 2017 The young person LUIS HERNAN ARBOLEDA MOSQUERA, 27 years of age, was shot
to death by the joint attack by the ESMAD and SIJIN against the San Buenaventura seminary, when
the ESMAD dispersed the young people were at the mi barquito meeting point near the Bagno Regio
seminary.
We come to you in this state of emergency in order to prevent incidents that infringe on the
fundamental wellbeing of the life and physical and psychological integrity of the whole Community
of Buenaventura. To ensure the right of communities to manifest their nonconformities, the state of
unconstitutionality, the lack of political will and the abusive and disproportionate use of force, given
the imminent risk facing the lives of the communities of Buenaventura and of the leaders who
represent the community at the negotiating table within the framework of the civic strike with the
national government, and after repeated calls by the civic strike committee to stop the war on the
defenceless and unarmed community whose only crime has been to demand fundamental rights to a
State which has the missionary responsibility to ensure the life and honour of all its citizens.
We ask you to write to:
Carlos Negret Mosquera,
National Ombudsman of Colombia
Atte: María Clara Galvis Montaño
National Director of Promotion y education on Human Rights
[email protected]
Mauricio Redondo
Risk Prevention and Early Alert
Urgent action to safeguard the life of the people of Buenaventura Valle
[email protected]
Urge the National Ombudsman to publicly condemn the violent actions and abuses of ESMAD,
particularly those actions committed during late night when people is in their houses sleeping, that
clearly are human rights violations, and recommend to the national authorities to immediately halt
the questionable actions of ESMAD, SIJIN and police.
Urge the National Ombudsman to provide comprehensive public report on the situation of those
who were arrested, the state of their cases and whether or not they are receiving legal assistance,
and a report on the situation and guaranties for those who’s physical integrity and health was
affected by the actions of ESMAD, SIJIN, army and police.
Below we share some of the information (in Spanish) that can further illustrate the Urgent Action
request:
- (Report on the looting of merchandise in Buenaventura, the media say that it was the population
but really the public forces called on the paramilitaries to create chaos and delegitimize the civic
strike. The police did nothing to prevent it, yet they attacked the population that was in
peaceful manifestation), https://youtu.be/His1cRVDd7g
- Declarations by the mobilization by water, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4dhubrhuQ&
feature=youtu.be
- Videos showing the pacific and cultural character of the strike, https://youtu.be/5-nd6HGzqc;
https://youtu.be/VzuVCQUwVbs
- Day 6 of the strike, https://youtu.be/VzuVCQUwVbs
- Civic strike leaders send messages to the community to keep calmof and remind peaceful,
after the attacks of the anti-riot forces https://youtu.be/X39MgxDwW-w ;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RR5Hc1jhXpM&feature=youtu.be
https://youtu.be/NqC23664IM0;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RR5Hc1jhXpM&feature=youtu.be
https://youtu.be/NqC23664IM0
- The issues of health in Buenaventura, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwfiWwwLWX0
- ESMAD attacks on the night of May 28 and early morning of 29th at the place Sabrosuras
https://youtu.be/sr6JB1SoCuU; https://youtu.be/Sdby24TzAl8
Yours sincerely;
PROCESO DE COMUNIDADES NEGRAS
ASOCIACIÓN NOMADESC
FUNDESCODES
PASTORAL AFRO COLOMBIANA
MOVIMIENTO DE VICTIMAS DE ESTADO
SINTRAUNICOL
COMITÉ POR EL AGUA
COMITÉ POR LA DEFENSA Y SALVACIÓN DE BUENAVENTURA
ASOCIACIÓN DE LOS TERRENOS GANADOS AL MAR
JUNTA DE ACCIÓN COMUNAL BARRIO ISLA DE LA PAZ
JUNTA DE ACCIÓN COMUNAL BARRIO LA CIMA
Footnotes:
1 See, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=His1cRVDd7g&feature=youtu.be and also intervention by Senator Alexander López about slave-like conditions of port workers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86KqONdWQ24&t=490s
2 Leading voices of the strike explain the police accident and the manipulation from the government using the
accident to force the removal of the control points set by the strike https://youtu.be/cGfV0z4w-3M
3 Media shows testimonies of ESMAD attacks, https://youtu.be/fPZ_1IMbcg0
4 See, https://youtu.be/NXO9GGmv07Y
5 Declarations by the family of the young men killed, Https:r//youtu.be/nYExLugDRy0
and the coalition of organizations the Inter-organizational Committee for the Defence of Territories
gained from the Sea in Buenaventura, made up of the following human rights organizations in
Buenaventura; FUNDESCODES, Proceso de Comunidades Negras-PCN (Process of Black
Communities), Pastoral Afro, Colectivo Juvenil Transformando Mentes (Transforming Minds Youth
Collective), Jesuit Refugee Service-SJR, Nomadesc, Movice, Sintraunicol juntas de acción comunal de los barrios Isla de la Paz y la Cima, (Neighbourhood councils of the districts of Isla de la Paz and
the Cima), we alert and request the international community, multilateral human right bodies and
international human rights organizations to monitor and request urgent action for the extreme
situation human rights violations and resultant extreme risks to which the population of
Buenaventura was submitted on 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27 and 28 May of the
present year (and for the days that the indefinite strike continues). Since May 16 the community of
Buenaventura decided to exercise the right to social and peaceful protest to call for fundamental
rights such as drinking water, sewerage systems, a hospital that provides tertiary health care, quality
education and improvement of roads among other rights1; We emphasize that Buenaventura is the most important maritime port of Colombia, Latin America and one of the most important ports in the Pacific world. The geostrategic location allows communication with more than 500 ports of the world, in less time than any other port in world. In that sense the economic and geopolitical alliances that are woven into the port of Buenaventura are extremely strategic for the global and regional economy. The port of Buenaventura propels 60% of Colombia's economy.
During 13 days of indefinite civic strike geo-economy is already beginning to be affected. The
Colombian State, lead by the current Novel Peace Laurite President Juan Manuel Santos has decided
since last Friday May 19th to address an organized, planned and official social mobilization, as a
major problem of public order and with this perspective has literally waged a bloody fight against a
population who only ask for the guarantees and effective enjoyment of their fundamental rights to
live in dignity, rights such as drinking water, sewerage, quality education and tertiary healthcare
among others. In the face of peaceful civil resistance where the people have peacefully taken the
streets, we stress this great historical mobilization for Buenaventura where approximately 200
thousand people were mobilized. The indefinite civic strike includes cultural civic activities such as
gatherings, concerts, plays among others.
According to reports from the National Government, in Buenaventura there are 2,500 public security
force agents including members of the Marine Corps, the Army, Police, ESMAD (Mobile Anti-
Disturbances Squadron) and SIJIN (Judicial Investigation Section). As will be discussed below, various
actions have been carried out against the black and indigenous communities that are currently on
Civic Strike, which violate in particular the right to life and security. The excessive and abusive use of
force has left two people dead, hundreds seriously injured, some of them from firearms, children
affected by tear gas, and permanent photographic and film records of the communities in the
different meeting points.
From the first day the human rights watchdog of the civic strike has been able to verify that in the
official meeting points throughout the city where communities were congregated there were agents
of the SIJIN (police) technical intelligence body, dressed in civilian clothes, recording and
photographing the coordinators of each meeting point. Bulletin # 1 of the human rights situation of
the strike states that; "We are concerned that the recording and photographing of leaders in
different concentration points do not comply with legal procedures and regulations under which the
security forces must operate."
The harmony of the civic strike broke down from the morning of May 19 when the following events
took place, and were recorded in the Bulletin # 2 on human rights of civic strike, which will be
attached:
1. The unfortunate accident in which the agent NEIVER ENRIQUE CRUZ, member of the Highway
Police lost his life as he travelled to the scene. Lieutenant Colonel ELICEO SUAREZ stated early on,
without due process of investigation that the accidental death of the policeman was a homicide and
incriminated both the community that was coordinating this meeting point and the civic strike
committee. In that vein the second human rights report Bulletin # 2 states that; “At the scene, the
corpse of NEIVER ENRIQUE CRUZ, the deceased police agent was being managed by the CTI, the
state’s criminal forensic body. According to established law, the organisations responsible for
handling such incidents is the highway patrol or traffic police. It was noted that at there were other
individuals without gloves and manipulating objects from the scene.”
2. At the meeting point of La Delfina, on May 19, 2017, Members of ESMAD left about 15 people
wounded with tear gas bombs (See Human Rights Bulletin No. 02), among the wounded are: JAMES
LARREA human rights defender, ERISON MOUNTAIN Alto Medio Dagua Community Council, JORGE
OMAR CARRILLO member of the community, OSCAR VILLEGAS, JESÚS ANTONIO OSSA, CARLOS
IBITOHILAMO, MANUEL DAGUA.
3. At the point of the Alto and Bajo Zaragosa Community Council, ESMAD fired teargas against the
community, leaving several children and women affected, victims of severe suffocation. Four bikes
with 8 road police officers and ESMAD persecuted a young man from the community upon whom
they inflicted blows and rubber bullets. The Human Rights Commission managed to rescue him and
the members were recorded with a video camera carried by one of the motorized patrols of the
ESMAD that had attacked2.
4. At the same time as the events that took place on the Cabal Pombo highway, in the Municipality
of Buenaventura, the ESMAD undertook a violent attack against the community located at the
meeting point of the Piñal Bridge. The community raised their arms and declared themselves to be
peaceful and unarmed demonstrators, to which the ESMAD personnel responded by firing tear gas
at point-blank range against the protesters, leaving several people injured. The public force also
spread a rumour that the leaders of the strike had been arrested, generating more distress and
confusion in the population. The leaders publicly denied this version and attempted communication
with high levels of government but with no response3.
5. Likewise, three children, one of them four months old, were evacuated with severe asphyxia
following the impact of the tear gas launched against the civilian population. The community
recorded this event. Police officers entered a neighbourhood to round up the population and during
this incident this woman was mistreated by the troops while in the patio of her house. (All of the
above recorded on May 19th of this year).
6. During the night of May 19th, 21 year old Jorge Alex Peña Guerrero, who was soon to turn 22 on
the 31st of this month and a student of foreign trade, became one of the victims of this violent
intervention by the public forces on May 19, 2017. The events took place on the corner of Guavito
near the house of the young man where he was hit by a bullet, facts which are being investigated.
7. During the acts of violence provoked by the security forces on May 19, approximately 200 arrests
were made, of which 45 under legal procedures. The detainees spent the night in police trucks
handcuffed to each other and the arrest was not legalized until the following day. Many of the
detainees reported that whilst in hands of the police they were made to sign a blank document in
the early hours of the 20th May. Among the detainees were the young people HAMINSON
CAMCHIMBO BANGUERA, 28 years old AND LEWIS STEVEN DÍAZ LOPEZ, 26 years old, a public service
vehicle driver.
8. Likewise on May 19th at around 5:00 p.m., the tension and the hostile environment began to
spread and from one moment to the next, the streets were invaded by a large number of young
people on motorcycles armed with large sticks, stones and even chainsaws. Within about an hour
these men on motorcycles had already taken the whole of the Simón Bolívar Avenue and passed
violently by all the strike meeting points towards the Éxito Shopping Centre. By 7:30pm social
networks were already inundated with videos4, audios, photographs denouncing the looting that the
motorized men undertook in supermarkets such as La 14 located in the barrio Bellavista and Éxito
shopping centre.
9. Local broadcasters impotently narrated the facts receiving calls from the indignant population
who demanded the presence of the more than 500 police officers that the State had directed to
Buenaventura to repress peaceful demonstrators. For over six hours the public security forces made
way for the men with chainsaws and sticks to break down the doors of supermarkets like Éxito and
La 14, Olympic, ATMs, the commercial centre of Pueblo Nuevo and later loot them. It was incredible
to see how they stole fridges, beds, stoves, computers, food, cell phones and you could see
hundreds of people late at night and into the early hours of the morning carrying all stolen
merchandise. Just after all the merchandise was looted the ESMAD appeared everywhere, to which
the community, indignant, shouted over and over asking why they arrived now that the looting was
over, and where were they during the looting?
However by forming a large human chain unarmed people managed to prevent the Olimpica
supermarket in Bellavista neighbourhood from being looted. The community itself, outraged by the
looting which was organised to delegitimize the civic strike took control in some neighbourhoods
where they confiscated merchandise from the passers-by who had taken advantage of the act of
vandalism, and returned them to supermarkets.
All this could have been avoided, but perversely the ESMAD and the police did not appear. Where
were the more than a thousand troops? They were gassing, shooting with firearms, physically and
verbally abusing peaceful demonstrators at the meeting points of the Piñal Bridge and La Delfina,
with all their force attacking demonstrators who had no weapons, while allowing the vandals with
chainsaws and sticks to rob all the commerce of Buenaventura.
10. In the communal onslaught, while the vandals literally plundered the trade of the city as a
strategy to delegitimize the strike, the young person Breyner Valencia, 25 years old, inhabitant of the
neighbourhood San Fancisco, lost his right eye because the ESMAD forces shot gases directly into
the eyes.
11. On 26 May at 6:00 in the morning, the ESMAD attacks began again, attacking the communities of
Isla de la Paz, Ciudadela Nueva Buenaventura and the El Oriente, communities that are on the
exclusive rout for transport of trucks (the alternative internal road). The community was surprised at
six in the morning with shots from firearms, and tear gas which were launched into the doors and
windows of the houses and residents of these neighbourhoods were vilely hit. Due to the tear gas
attacks by the ESMAD against homes and the community, the minors Dayan Faisuri Tejada and Evan
Jhoel Garcia, 4 years of age, suffered severe asphyxia. Below are attached images of the events of
May 26.
12. It should be noted that in the midst of acts of war committed by the public forces, they
threatened the wounded victims so that they would not report the facts, a situation that in the
middle of the terror that already exists in the Port of Buenaventura, has prevented the human rights
commission from obtaining the full stories from the victims. The commission has been able to verify
that part of the strategy to intimidate and prevent the community from denouncing the police is
that they have totally militarized the only clinic in Buenaventura which attends emergencies, the
Santa Sofia clinic5.
13. The Public Order situation was aggravated with a communiqué which advised all the "personnel
of Buenaventura" of a curfew which would begin at 18:00 threatening to attack the life of any
person who is in the street after the stipulated time. The statement does not have a specific date
and the authorship is not recognized:
"Greetings for all Buenaventura. I have the pleasure of informing you that we are the protectors of our paramilitary port. We ask you please at 18:00 we do not want to see young children or adults, there will be a general clean-up due to what is happening. Our indigenous territory was abused by the supposed authority, they are nothing but sons of bitches assholes, but the time came for us to defend and to counter attack everyone who is in the streets. We cannot be responsibility if people and families fall, we are warning we are going to defend our territories. If you do not want your families to fall send them our communiqué."
14. May 28, 2017 The young person LUIS HERNAN ARBOLEDA MOSQUERA, 27 years of age, was shot
to death by the joint attack by the ESMAD and SIJIN against the San Buenaventura seminary, when
the ESMAD dispersed the young people were at the mi barquito meeting point near the Bagno Regio
seminary.
We come to you in this state of emergency in order to prevent incidents that infringe on the
fundamental wellbeing of the life and physical and psychological integrity of the whole Community
of Buenaventura. To ensure the right of communities to manifest their nonconformities, the state of
unconstitutionality, the lack of political will and the abusive and disproportionate use of force, given
the imminent risk facing the lives of the communities of Buenaventura and of the leaders who
represent the community at the negotiating table within the framework of the civic strike with the
national government, and after repeated calls by the civic strike committee to stop the war on the
defenceless and unarmed community whose only crime has been to demand fundamental rights to a
State which has the missionary responsibility to ensure the life and honour of all its citizens.
We ask you to write to:
Carlos Negret Mosquera,
National Ombudsman of Colombia
Atte: María Clara Galvis Montaño
National Director of Promotion y education on Human Rights
[email protected]
Mauricio Redondo
Risk Prevention and Early Alert
Urgent action to safeguard the life of the people of Buenaventura Valle
[email protected]
Urge the National Ombudsman to publicly condemn the violent actions and abuses of ESMAD,
particularly those actions committed during late night when people is in their houses sleeping, that
clearly are human rights violations, and recommend to the national authorities to immediately halt
the questionable actions of ESMAD, SIJIN and police.
Urge the National Ombudsman to provide comprehensive public report on the situation of those
who were arrested, the state of their cases and whether or not they are receiving legal assistance,
and a report on the situation and guaranties for those who’s physical integrity and health was
affected by the actions of ESMAD, SIJIN, army and police.
Below we share some of the information (in Spanish) that can further illustrate the Urgent Action
request:
- (Report on the looting of merchandise in Buenaventura, the media say that it was the population
but really the public forces called on the paramilitaries to create chaos and delegitimize the civic
strike. The police did nothing to prevent it, yet they attacked the population that was in
peaceful manifestation), https://youtu.be/His1cRVDd7g
- Declarations by the mobilization by water, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4dhubrhuQ&
feature=youtu.be
- Videos showing the pacific and cultural character of the strike, https://youtu.be/5-nd6HGzqc;
https://youtu.be/VzuVCQUwVbs
- Day 6 of the strike, https://youtu.be/VzuVCQUwVbs
- Civic strike leaders send messages to the community to keep calmof and remind peaceful,
after the attacks of the anti-riot forces https://youtu.be/X39MgxDwW-w ;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RR5Hc1jhXpM&feature=youtu.be
https://youtu.be/NqC23664IM0;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RR5Hc1jhXpM&feature=youtu.be
https://youtu.be/NqC23664IM0
- The issues of health in Buenaventura, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwfiWwwLWX0
- ESMAD attacks on the night of May 28 and early morning of 29th at the place Sabrosuras
https://youtu.be/sr6JB1SoCuU; https://youtu.be/Sdby24TzAl8
Yours sincerely;
PROCESO DE COMUNIDADES NEGRAS
ASOCIACIÓN NOMADESC
FUNDESCODES
PASTORAL AFRO COLOMBIANA
MOVIMIENTO DE VICTIMAS DE ESTADO
SINTRAUNICOL
COMITÉ POR EL AGUA
COMITÉ POR LA DEFENSA Y SALVACIÓN DE BUENAVENTURA
ASOCIACIÓN DE LOS TERRENOS GANADOS AL MAR
JUNTA DE ACCIÓN COMUNAL BARRIO ISLA DE LA PAZ
JUNTA DE ACCIÓN COMUNAL BARRIO LA CIMA
Footnotes:
1 See, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=His1cRVDd7g&feature=youtu.be and also intervention by Senator Alexander López about slave-like conditions of port workers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86KqONdWQ24&t=490s
2 Leading voices of the strike explain the police accident and the manipulation from the government using the
accident to force the removal of the control points set by the strike https://youtu.be/cGfV0z4w-3M
3 Media shows testimonies of ESMAD attacks, https://youtu.be/fPZ_1IMbcg0
4 See, https://youtu.be/NXO9GGmv07Y
5 Declarations by the family of the young men killed, Https:r//youtu.be/nYExLugDRy0
URGENT - Sign Letter to Colombian President!!
Toronto, May 10, 2017
Excmo. Señor Juan Manuel Santos Calderón
Presidente de la República de Colombia
http://syscopre.presidencia.gov.co/publico/frmCiudadano.aspx
[email protected]
Excmo. Señor Juan Fernando Cristo
Minister of the Interior
Excmo. Señor Luis Guillermo Guerrero Pérez
President of the Constitutional Court
REF.: HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS COMMITTED AGAINST SOCIAL ORGANIZATIONS AND THEIR LEADERS IN COLOMBIA
We, the signatories of the present letter would like to express our deep concerns regarding the great human rights violations committed against social organizations and their leaders in Colombia. It is a public knowledge that these 37 assassinations have been carried out by the paramilitary forces, which have been happening since January 1, 2017.
Multiple killings of human rights advocates pose a grave threat to the ongoing peace process. For instance, in 2016 170 activists and community leaders were assassinated. This is a very troubling trend for the achievement of peace. It is urgent to take action to stop this crime against humanity such as the infamous case of the Patriotic Union in the 80s, whereby, 3500 leaders were killed. We reject the National Security Doctrine according to which civil protest and political opposition are enemies of the establishment to be silenced.
It is extremely important to protect social areas of distension that are most vulnerable to attacks. This has to be an absolute priority to give peace a reasonable chance. Since peace accords were signed with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in December 2016, legal and constitutional reforms have been systematically violated by the government. Several Colombian social organizations such as indigenous, Afro-descendants, labour and community organizations demand that their rights to be respected. Particularly, the accord on Indigenous chapter.
We demand that:
- The government of Colombia be transparent, take urgent action to protect the lives of social leaders, dismantle the paramilitary and self-proclaimed self-defence forces and cut off their political and financial support.
- The Congress use the so-called “fast-track” process to adopt provisions aimed at implementing the Indigenous Peoples’ Chapter.
- The prompt implementation of all of the peace accords signed in Havana, Cuba in 2016.
Regards,
Signatures attached,
(Send your full name and email address to LACSN below)
cc:
The Right Honourable Justin Trudeau, Prime minister of Canada,
The Honourable Chrystia Freeland, Canadian Foreign Affairs minister,
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights,
Amnesty International,
International Labour Organization.
Leader of the Congress of the Peoples
Murdered in Colombia
Congreso de los Pueblos / The Dawn News
September, 12, 2016
We regret to inform and denounce to the world that in the afternoon of Sunday September 11, 2016, Néstor Iván Martínez, member of the Congress of the Peoples and Spokesman of the Dialogue Commission was murdered in the region known as Centro del César.
Armed men that were travelling by motorcycle arrived in the farm owned by the brother of the communitary leader, located in the rural area of Sierrita. There, they tied down the estate’s administrator and his wife. As Néstor Iván Martínez arrived to the farm, they murdered him by shooting him twice in the head.
Néstor Iván Martínez was also a member of the Community Council of black communities of La Sierra, El Cruce and La Estación CONESICE in the same region, and he was leading the community in a fight in defense of their territory and the environment and against mining.
Last July, Martínez had also led a protest against the closing of the San Andrés Public Hospital of the Chiriguaná municipality. Another important detail is that during the days of protest, a young member of the Community Council of La Sierrita called Neiman Agustín Lara was murdered and the community as a whole was a victim of many aggressions and violations by the public repressive forces.
The men and women who lead the Dialogue Commission are at great risk. On August 25, a pamphlet was distributed in many municipalities in the South of Centro del César with violent threats against the members of the Dialogue Commission. The pamphlet is signed by a group that calls itself Armed Group of Social Cleansing. In the pamphlet, the group warns they are heading towards the departments of César, Bolívar and Santander and give the full names of the people they are targeting. For example, the extensive communiqué refers to the Commission for Dialogue of South Bolivar, and Center and South César (CISBCSC) and reads: “they are taking refuge in a dialogue roundtable made up of guerrillas like Iván Cepeda. We’re going to cut a leg off this table so that it can’t stand”.
The text expresses the group’s disconformity with the occupation of several farms that weren’t being economically productive, where hundreds of victims of the armed conflict have settled and at last glimpsed an opportunity for subsistence. By cultivating the land they were able to end their hunger and homelessness, after suffering from poverty, forced migrations and abandonment due to the inaction of the armed groups and the Colombian State.
WE DEMAND THE STATE OF COLOMBIA…
September 11, 2016
Commission for Dialogue of South Bolivar, and Center and South César
Commission for Human Rights of the Congress of the People
Armed men that were travelling by motorcycle arrived in the farm owned by the brother of the communitary leader, located in the rural area of Sierrita. There, they tied down the estate’s administrator and his wife. As Néstor Iván Martínez arrived to the farm, they murdered him by shooting him twice in the head.
Néstor Iván Martínez was also a member of the Community Council of black communities of La Sierra, El Cruce and La Estación CONESICE in the same region, and he was leading the community in a fight in defense of their territory and the environment and against mining.
Last July, Martínez had also led a protest against the closing of the San Andrés Public Hospital of the Chiriguaná municipality. Another important detail is that during the days of protest, a young member of the Community Council of La Sierrita called Neiman Agustín Lara was murdered and the community as a whole was a victim of many aggressions and violations by the public repressive forces.
The men and women who lead the Dialogue Commission are at great risk. On August 25, a pamphlet was distributed in many municipalities in the South of Centro del César with violent threats against the members of the Dialogue Commission. The pamphlet is signed by a group that calls itself Armed Group of Social Cleansing. In the pamphlet, the group warns they are heading towards the departments of César, Bolívar and Santander and give the full names of the people they are targeting. For example, the extensive communiqué refers to the Commission for Dialogue of South Bolivar, and Center and South César (CISBCSC) and reads: “they are taking refuge in a dialogue roundtable made up of guerrillas like Iván Cepeda. We’re going to cut a leg off this table so that it can’t stand”.
The text expresses the group’s disconformity with the occupation of several farms that weren’t being economically productive, where hundreds of victims of the armed conflict have settled and at last glimpsed an opportunity for subsistence. By cultivating the land they were able to end their hunger and homelessness, after suffering from poverty, forced migrations and abandonment due to the inaction of the armed groups and the Colombian State.
WE DEMAND THE STATE OF COLOMBIA…
- … To fulfill the agreements signed between the National Government and the Agrarian Summit, and therefore to immediately protect the leaders and spokespeople of the Congress of the Peoples and the Agrarian Summit.
- … To protect the lives of all leaders of the Community Council of La Sierrita, and of the spokespeople of the Commission for Dialogue of South Bolivar, and Center and South César.
- … To Protect the lives, physical integrity and freedom of the communities that are settled on several lands to demand the state to immediately provide a solution for their difficult situation.
- … To immediately and effectively investigate and sanction the murderers of our leader Néstor Iván Martínez and Neiman Agustín Lara.
- … To immediately send a commision of verification that is made up of national authorities, and to which the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights is invited, in order to provide support to the community, verify the acts of aggression against its members, initiate the corresponding investigations and take immediate protection measures.
- … To immediately reactivate the Dialogue Roundtable of South Bolivar, and Center and South César, with the goal of further moving on to comply with the convened agenda of dialogues, which was postponed indefinitely and unilaterally by the national government.
- … To immediately send the National Agency of Land, the National Unit of Victims, the Foreign Ministry, the Ombudsman, and other organisms to the region in order to meet with the delegates of the CISBCSC, to design a strategy to solve the serious humanitarian crisis and the conflicts over land in the region. All of this should be carried out in accordance to the agreements signed with the Agrarian, Ethnic and Popular Summit, in the context of the agenda of the Regional Roundtable of Dialogue.
- … The disarticulation of paramilitarism in that region of the country and investigation and sanction to those who are threatening the community and creating terror in the region.
September 11, 2016
Commission for Dialogue of South Bolivar, and Center and South César
Commission for Human Rights of the Congress of the People
High Concern due to Homicide Wave in Northern Cauca
wradio.com.co / The Dawn News
August 3, 2016
The Francisco Isaías Cifuentes Human Rights Network of South West Colombia issued a warning and expressed concern about the wave of homicides that’s hitting the north of the Cauca department, where 21 people have been murdered in the Corinto municipality this year.
The organization denounced that the most recent murder had been registered in the village of Los Andes, where farmer Evaristo Dagua Tróchez, 64, was killed. He was tge founder of the Farmers’ Association of the Area of Farming Reserves of Corinto and member of the political organization Marcha Patriótica [Patriotic March].
According to the denounce, the man was heading to his workplace, 400 metres away from his home, when, apparently, two hooded men approached him and shot him six times with a rifle, “one bullet in his right shoulder, one in his hip, and four in his skull, causing him an instant death”.
The coordinator of the Human Rights Network, Deivi Hurtado, said that the situation is concerning because, so far this year, 21 people have been murdered in the municipality of Corinto. Last year, 25 homicides were registered.
“It’s very concerning. On Friday July, 29, the first humanitarian audience was held, a verification mission with the Interior Ministry, but they stepped down the day before”, he added.
The spokesman said, however, that the community carried out an act with the presence of Human Rights organizations and local authorities and the attendance of more than a thousand people. The community made a call to the National Government to take action on this matter and to prevent new violent actions from breaking the tranquility in the region.
The organization denounced that the most recent murder had been registered in the village of Los Andes, where farmer Evaristo Dagua Tróchez, 64, was killed. He was tge founder of the Farmers’ Association of the Area of Farming Reserves of Corinto and member of the political organization Marcha Patriótica [Patriotic March].
According to the denounce, the man was heading to his workplace, 400 metres away from his home, when, apparently, two hooded men approached him and shot him six times with a rifle, “one bullet in his right shoulder, one in his hip, and four in his skull, causing him an instant death”.
The coordinator of the Human Rights Network, Deivi Hurtado, said that the situation is concerning because, so far this year, 21 people have been murdered in the municipality of Corinto. Last year, 25 homicides were registered.
“It’s very concerning. On Friday July, 29, the first humanitarian audience was held, a verification mission with the Interior Ministry, but they stepped down the day before”, he added.
The spokesman said, however, that the community carried out an act with the presence of Human Rights organizations and local authorities and the attendance of more than a thousand people. The community made a call to the National Government to take action on this matter and to prevent new violent actions from breaking the tranquility in the region.
Para alcalde de Quibdó no hay presencia del Estado
por ser "comunidad negra"
¿Qué es el plebiscito por la paz, el umbral
y por qué es vinculante?
Resumen Latinoamericano/El Colombiano
20 de julio de 2016
La Corte Constitucional decidió darle vía libre a la realización de un plebiscito para que los colombianos decidan en las urnas el futuro del proceso de paz con la guerrilla de las Farc.¿Qué significa eso? ¿Cuándo y cómo iremos a las urnas? ¿Qué es el umbral? Estas, y otras preguntas, son resueltas en este abecé sin tecnicismos jurídicos:
¿Qué aprobó la Corte?
La Corte Constitucional aprobó un proyecto de ley estatuaria que reguló un Plebiscito para la refrendación del Acuerdo Final al que lleguen el Gobierno y las FARC para la terminación del conflicto y la construcción de una paz estable y duradera. La Corte señaló que es plebiscito especial para esta particular consulta, por lo que no afecta la figura establecida en la Constitución para posibles futuros plebiscitos.
¿Cómo se hará la convocatoria?
El presidente de la República, Juan Manuel Santos, con la firma de todos los Ministros, informará al Congreso su intención de realizar el plebiscito y la fecha para tal evento. El Congreso dará su aprobación en el plazo máximo de un mes. La convocatoria debe definir la pregunta que responderán los colombianos.
¿El resultado es obligante?
Aunque el proyecto de ley aseguraba que el resultado era obligante tanto para el Sí, como para el No, y para el Presidente, el Gobierno y el Congreso, la Corte dijo que el resultado es solo vinculante para el presidente Santos porque fue él quien impulsó el Acuerdo de Paz.
¿Qué es el umbral?
Es el margen mínimo de votos que se necesitan para que el ‘Sí’ o el ‘No’ en el plebiscito tengan poder de decisión. La cifra quedó en 13 %, es decir, que se necesitan 4’387.118 de votos para que una de las dos opciones gane.
¿Habrá voto en blanco?
No.
Si gana el ‘Sí’, ¿qué pasa?
En este caso, el presidente Santos está obligado a respetar la decisión y deberá iniciar los trámites para implementar el Acuerdo. Esto consiste en un desarrollo legal especial que fue aprobado en el Congreso.
Si gana el ‘No’, ¿qué pasa?
En este caso el presidente Santos también está obligado a respetar la decisión y directamente ya no podría implementar los acuerdos de La Habana.
Si gana el ‘NO’, ¿otros poderes podrán seguir impulsando la paz?
Sí. El plebiscito es vinculante solo para el Presidente. Aunque no se ha conocido el comunicado oficial de la Corte, fuentes consultadas por COLPRENSA al interior ´de la corporación señalan que otros poderes como el Congreso podrían idear mecanismos para implementar los acuerdos.
Si gana el ‘No’, ¿Colombia habrá votado contra la paz?
No. Aunque no son claros los alcances del escenario del ‘NO’, si gana el ‘No’ los colombianos habrán votado contra el contenido de los acuerdos y no contra el derecho a la paz que sigue siendo de carácter fundamental y esto no se somete a discusión. Lo que se afecta es la implementación de los acuerdos.
¿Qué característica tiene el Acuerdo Final?
El acuerdo final es un acuerdo de índole política, una decisión política, que no se incorpora inmediatamente a la Constitución sino que necesitará de reformas legales y constitucionales para ser implementados.
¿Cómo se hará la campaña?
La campaña para el Plebiscito podrá hacerse solo por el ‘Sí’ y por el ‘No’, pues no incluye la abstención. Ambos casos tienen idénticos deberes y garantías, espacios y participación en los medios y mecanismos señalados en el presente artículo.
¿Servidores públicos pueden hacer campaña?
Sí, pero la misma no podrá tener tintes políticos, ni incorporar contenidos que promuevan un partido, movimiento político o grupo significativo de ciudadanos, o que se relacione con la promoción de candidaturas de ciudadanos a cargos de elección popular.
¿Cómo se conocerá el acuerdo?
El día que el Presidente manifieste al Congreso su intención de hacer el plebiscito, el Acuerdo deberá ser publicado. Para la divulgación del mismo, el Gobierno acudirá a los medios de comunicación y canales digitales, de manera imparcial y transparente. Esta difusión debe tener en cuenta a las personas con discapacidad, a aquellas comunidades que no se comunican en español y que se deben crear estrategias de difusión en zonas apartadas del país.
¿En qué espacios se transmitirá el contenido del Acuerdo?
En el sitio web de las entidades públicas y de las Fuerzas Militares, así como en sus redes sociales; en periódicos de amplio tiraje nacional; en los Servicios de Radiodifusión Sonora Comercial de alcance nacional y comunitarias que cederán a título gratuito en horario prime time un espacio de cinco minutos diarios, así como en los canales de televisión pública y privada y en el espacio ‘urna de cristal’, que es la principal plataforma del Gobierno para la participación ciudadana y la transparencia gubernamental.
Tras la decisión de la Corte, ¿qué sigue?
La Corte debe enviar en máximo quince días la sentencia a los Presidentes del Senado y de la Cámara de Representantes para que estos la remitan al presidente Santos y éste la sancione. Una vez sancionada la ley estatutaria, el Presidente podrá hacer la convocatoria, aunque ya anunció que lo hará cuando se firme el Acuerdo Final.
¿Qué aprobó la Corte?
La Corte Constitucional aprobó un proyecto de ley estatuaria que reguló un Plebiscito para la refrendación del Acuerdo Final al que lleguen el Gobierno y las FARC para la terminación del conflicto y la construcción de una paz estable y duradera. La Corte señaló que es plebiscito especial para esta particular consulta, por lo que no afecta la figura establecida en la Constitución para posibles futuros plebiscitos.
¿Cómo se hará la convocatoria?
El presidente de la República, Juan Manuel Santos, con la firma de todos los Ministros, informará al Congreso su intención de realizar el plebiscito y la fecha para tal evento. El Congreso dará su aprobación en el plazo máximo de un mes. La convocatoria debe definir la pregunta que responderán los colombianos.
¿El resultado es obligante?
Aunque el proyecto de ley aseguraba que el resultado era obligante tanto para el Sí, como para el No, y para el Presidente, el Gobierno y el Congreso, la Corte dijo que el resultado es solo vinculante para el presidente Santos porque fue él quien impulsó el Acuerdo de Paz.
¿Qué es el umbral?
Es el margen mínimo de votos que se necesitan para que el ‘Sí’ o el ‘No’ en el plebiscito tengan poder de decisión. La cifra quedó en 13 %, es decir, que se necesitan 4’387.118 de votos para que una de las dos opciones gane.
¿Habrá voto en blanco?
No.
Si gana el ‘Sí’, ¿qué pasa?
En este caso, el presidente Santos está obligado a respetar la decisión y deberá iniciar los trámites para implementar el Acuerdo. Esto consiste en un desarrollo legal especial que fue aprobado en el Congreso.
Si gana el ‘No’, ¿qué pasa?
En este caso el presidente Santos también está obligado a respetar la decisión y directamente ya no podría implementar los acuerdos de La Habana.
Si gana el ‘NO’, ¿otros poderes podrán seguir impulsando la paz?
Sí. El plebiscito es vinculante solo para el Presidente. Aunque no se ha conocido el comunicado oficial de la Corte, fuentes consultadas por COLPRENSA al interior ´de la corporación señalan que otros poderes como el Congreso podrían idear mecanismos para implementar los acuerdos.
Si gana el ‘No’, ¿Colombia habrá votado contra la paz?
No. Aunque no son claros los alcances del escenario del ‘NO’, si gana el ‘No’ los colombianos habrán votado contra el contenido de los acuerdos y no contra el derecho a la paz que sigue siendo de carácter fundamental y esto no se somete a discusión. Lo que se afecta es la implementación de los acuerdos.
¿Qué característica tiene el Acuerdo Final?
El acuerdo final es un acuerdo de índole política, una decisión política, que no se incorpora inmediatamente a la Constitución sino que necesitará de reformas legales y constitucionales para ser implementados.
¿Cómo se hará la campaña?
La campaña para el Plebiscito podrá hacerse solo por el ‘Sí’ y por el ‘No’, pues no incluye la abstención. Ambos casos tienen idénticos deberes y garantías, espacios y participación en los medios y mecanismos señalados en el presente artículo.
¿Servidores públicos pueden hacer campaña?
Sí, pero la misma no podrá tener tintes políticos, ni incorporar contenidos que promuevan un partido, movimiento político o grupo significativo de ciudadanos, o que se relacione con la promoción de candidaturas de ciudadanos a cargos de elección popular.
¿Cómo se conocerá el acuerdo?
El día que el Presidente manifieste al Congreso su intención de hacer el plebiscito, el Acuerdo deberá ser publicado. Para la divulgación del mismo, el Gobierno acudirá a los medios de comunicación y canales digitales, de manera imparcial y transparente. Esta difusión debe tener en cuenta a las personas con discapacidad, a aquellas comunidades que no se comunican en español y que se deben crear estrategias de difusión en zonas apartadas del país.
¿En qué espacios se transmitirá el contenido del Acuerdo?
En el sitio web de las entidades públicas y de las Fuerzas Militares, así como en sus redes sociales; en periódicos de amplio tiraje nacional; en los Servicios de Radiodifusión Sonora Comercial de alcance nacional y comunitarias que cederán a título gratuito en horario prime time un espacio de cinco minutos diarios, así como en los canales de televisión pública y privada y en el espacio ‘urna de cristal’, que es la principal plataforma del Gobierno para la participación ciudadana y la transparencia gubernamental.
Tras la decisión de la Corte, ¿qué sigue?
La Corte debe enviar en máximo quince días la sentencia a los Presidentes del Senado y de la Cámara de Representantes para que estos la remitan al presidente Santos y éste la sancione. Una vez sancionada la ley estatutaria, el Presidente podrá hacer la convocatoria, aunque ya anunció que lo hará cuando se firme el Acuerdo Final.
LEA: “La Paz Sí es Contigo”
Llamamiento Unitario a la Gran Jornada Nacional por la Paz del 15 de Julio:
"La PAZ si es contigo! Vamos por mas"
Los representantes de las organizaciones que realizan la convocatoria abogan por una paz con justicia social.Diversos sectores sociales, políticos, sindicales, agrarios, étnicos y personalidades de Colombia convocan a una Gran Jornada Nacional por la Paz para el próximo 15 de Julio en todo el territorio nacional.
“Encontrémonos en la gran movilización del 15 de julio, convirtámosla en un torrente de alegría, para festejar por la vida y la paz y hacer un canto de esperanza por los tiempos que vendrán”, subraya la convocatoria.
“Encontrémonos en la gran movilización del 15 de julio, convirtámosla en un torrente de alegría, para festejar por la vida y la paz y hacer un canto de esperanza por los tiempos que vendrán”, subraya la convocatoria.
“Dejemos atrás la guerra y abramos entre todos y todas una senda de transformaciones que garantice la construcción de una nueva Colombia”
El derecho de hacer política contra el statu quo
por Allende La Paz/ Cambio Total/ Resumen Latinoamericano
1 julio 2016
Cuestiones que en otros países ni siquiera se contemplan como insumos para el debate político, en Colombia nos toca ir una y otra vez sobre ellos a fin de que se esclarecan lo máximo posible.
Uno de esos puntos –importantísimo por demás- es el relativo al Terrorismo de Estado. Sabemos que en Colombia las fuerzas militares han recurrido a lo indecible –modalidades criminales como las desapariciones forzadas, las ejecuciones extrajudiciales, las masacres, la tortura, el desplazamiento forzado etc- para tratar de ganar la Guerra o mostrar que la estaban ganando.
Durante los períodos presidenciales el Estado desarrolló el Terrorismo de Estado de la DSN usando su aparato de guerra y represión, las fuerzas militares, las cuales realizaron la más atroz violación de derechos humanos usando su herramienta narco-paramilitar en conocido contubernio impúdico criminal.
Especialmente durante la administración Pastrana, al tiempo que adelantaba los Diálogos del Caguán, la maquinaria narco-paramilitar desarrollaba su atroz accionar contra personal civil, en cumplimiento del principio de “secarle el agua al pez”. Pastrana tiene en su haber casi 30.000 víctimas mortales. Además 2.317 masacres (con 10.000 víctimas), 4.123 desapariciones forzadas, 1´360.000 desplazados forzados, 13.839 ejecuciones extrajudiciales ahora llamados “falsos positivos” y más de 600 sindicalistas asesinados, en una escalofriante marca de sangre de su administración.
Durante los 8 años del también narco-paramilitar presidente Uribe Vélez los narco-paramilitares al tiempo que adelantaban una negociación con el gobierno, utilizaban el “corralito de Santa Fé de Ralito” para continuar con su macabra danza contra el pueblo inerme, desarmado. Es de señalar, como si fuera poco, la participación directa de las fuerzas militares en los más de 3.500 casos de ejecuciones o ”falsos positivos” para demostrar que iban ”ganando la guerra” cuando lo que hacían era asesinar indefensos jóvenes de las barriadas de Bogotá y otras ciudades.
No podemos dejar de señalar que el presidente Santos fue ministro de Defensa durante las administraciones Uribe Vélez y su participación en los eventos mencionados le cabe una máxima responsabilidad, después del entonces presidente ya que el presidente es el máximo comandante de las fuerzas militares y el ministro de defense su segundo.
Durante la administración Santos ha continuado a cuenta-gotas la aplicación del Terrorismo de Estado y sólo ahora con la firma del Cese Bilateral de Fuegos se empieza a oír de parte del Estado la intención de ”atacar” a los narco-paramilitares, que en una maniobra estatal (military-policial) ahora llaman BACRIM, Águilas Negras, Uribeños, etc.
”Aunque la mona se vista de seda, mona se queda” y llámense como se llamen será siempre Terrorismo de Estado. No porque sean 1, 10, 20, 50 víctimas al tiempo dejan de ser Terrorismo de Estado, mucho más si se repiten en tiempo y escenario en el territorio nacional.
Teniendo en cuenta lo anterior, a raíz de la firma del Cese Bilateral de Fuegos se clarifica el derecho que a las FARC-EP les asiste de hacer política, y no sólo de ellas sino también del derecho del pueblo colombiano de participar en la arena política. El país merece la oportunidad del accionar político legal de las FARC ya que como fuerza popular remozarán la política en nuestro país y demostrarán sus principios éticos-morales, principios del que adolecen los partidos del establecimiento profundamente inmersos en la corrupción ”normal” y la corrupción narcotraficante.
Si no hay la verdadera intención del gobierno colombiano de desmontar el Terrorismo de Estado de la DSN y dotar las fuerzas militares de una nueva doctrina militar, autóctona, mal podríamos hablar del silenciamiento de las armas. Se habrán silenciado del lado popular –las FARC-, pero seguirán trepidando y enviando su mensaje de muerte mordiendo la carne de los campesinos, los indígenas, los estudiantes, los obreros, las mujeres, en continuidad de las políticas neoliberales de éste gobierno.
Quisieramos creerle a Santos y equivocarnos, pero ”por sus hechos los conoceréis”…
Uno de esos puntos –importantísimo por demás- es el relativo al Terrorismo de Estado. Sabemos que en Colombia las fuerzas militares han recurrido a lo indecible –modalidades criminales como las desapariciones forzadas, las ejecuciones extrajudiciales, las masacres, la tortura, el desplazamiento forzado etc- para tratar de ganar la Guerra o mostrar que la estaban ganando.
Durante los períodos presidenciales el Estado desarrolló el Terrorismo de Estado de la DSN usando su aparato de guerra y represión, las fuerzas militares, las cuales realizaron la más atroz violación de derechos humanos usando su herramienta narco-paramilitar en conocido contubernio impúdico criminal.
Especialmente durante la administración Pastrana, al tiempo que adelantaba los Diálogos del Caguán, la maquinaria narco-paramilitar desarrollaba su atroz accionar contra personal civil, en cumplimiento del principio de “secarle el agua al pez”. Pastrana tiene en su haber casi 30.000 víctimas mortales. Además 2.317 masacres (con 10.000 víctimas), 4.123 desapariciones forzadas, 1´360.000 desplazados forzados, 13.839 ejecuciones extrajudiciales ahora llamados “falsos positivos” y más de 600 sindicalistas asesinados, en una escalofriante marca de sangre de su administración.
Durante los 8 años del también narco-paramilitar presidente Uribe Vélez los narco-paramilitares al tiempo que adelantaban una negociación con el gobierno, utilizaban el “corralito de Santa Fé de Ralito” para continuar con su macabra danza contra el pueblo inerme, desarmado. Es de señalar, como si fuera poco, la participación directa de las fuerzas militares en los más de 3.500 casos de ejecuciones o ”falsos positivos” para demostrar que iban ”ganando la guerra” cuando lo que hacían era asesinar indefensos jóvenes de las barriadas de Bogotá y otras ciudades.
No podemos dejar de señalar que el presidente Santos fue ministro de Defensa durante las administraciones Uribe Vélez y su participación en los eventos mencionados le cabe una máxima responsabilidad, después del entonces presidente ya que el presidente es el máximo comandante de las fuerzas militares y el ministro de defense su segundo.
Durante la administración Santos ha continuado a cuenta-gotas la aplicación del Terrorismo de Estado y sólo ahora con la firma del Cese Bilateral de Fuegos se empieza a oír de parte del Estado la intención de ”atacar” a los narco-paramilitares, que en una maniobra estatal (military-policial) ahora llaman BACRIM, Águilas Negras, Uribeños, etc.
”Aunque la mona se vista de seda, mona se queda” y llámense como se llamen será siempre Terrorismo de Estado. No porque sean 1, 10, 20, 50 víctimas al tiempo dejan de ser Terrorismo de Estado, mucho más si se repiten en tiempo y escenario en el territorio nacional.
Teniendo en cuenta lo anterior, a raíz de la firma del Cese Bilateral de Fuegos se clarifica el derecho que a las FARC-EP les asiste de hacer política, y no sólo de ellas sino también del derecho del pueblo colombiano de participar en la arena política. El país merece la oportunidad del accionar político legal de las FARC ya que como fuerza popular remozarán la política en nuestro país y demostrarán sus principios éticos-morales, principios del que adolecen los partidos del establecimiento profundamente inmersos en la corrupción ”normal” y la corrupción narcotraficante.
Si no hay la verdadera intención del gobierno colombiano de desmontar el Terrorismo de Estado de la DSN y dotar las fuerzas militares de una nueva doctrina militar, autóctona, mal podríamos hablar del silenciamiento de las armas. Se habrán silenciado del lado popular –las FARC-, pero seguirán trepidando y enviando su mensaje de muerte mordiendo la carne de los campesinos, los indígenas, los estudiantes, los obreros, las mujeres, en continuidad de las políticas neoliberales de éste gobierno.
Quisieramos creerle a Santos y equivocarnos, pero ”por sus hechos los conoceréis”…
BREAKING NEWS: Bilateral Ceasefire to be
Announced Tomorrow in Havana
V. Bouvier, Wordpress
June 22, 2016
Early this morning, the Colombian government and the FARC-EP reached a historic agreement for a bilateral ceasefire and on the concentration zones where FARC fighters will lay down their weapons, ending more than half a century of armed conflict. President Juan Manuel Santos, UN General Secretary Ban Ki-Moon, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, and Cuban President Raul Castro, among others, are expected to gather in Havana on Thursday for the signing of this latest agreement. A final peace deal is expected to follow soon, perhaps by July 20th. (More here.)
Just days ago, rumors of the incipient agreement began to garner steam. On Sunday night, President Juan Manuel Santos told members of his National Unity governing coalition, “I believe that by July 20 we will have been able to close the negotiations in Havana and from there enter a new stage for our country,” President Juan Manuel Santos told Congressional members of Sunday night. (More here.) No sooner had Santos made the statement, than Rodrigo Londoño Echeverry, alias ‘Timochenko’, the head of the FARC-EP peace delegation called for prudence. He tweeted that “practice has demonstrated that setting dates hurts the process… although we are advancing, there’s not enough hair yet to make a bun.” (“aún falta pelo pal moño”.)
Subsequent news reports nonetheless had suggested that by week’s end there would be agreement on the terms of a bilateral ceasefire as well as on the number and nature of the temporary concentration zones where FARC soldiers and militias will stay while weapons are being turned in. (More here.) Those were the issues that had prevented the parties from reaching their self-imposed March 23 deadline earlier this year. (More here.)
Santos’s announcement of an imminent accord comes on the heels of two remarks this week that have caused a bit of a stir. First, the president warned that he had information that the FARC would return to urban warfare if a peace accord were not approved; two days later, he announced that he would need to increase taxes if the talks didn’t end satisfactorily.
Meanwhile, the parties have resumed their 50th cycle of peace talks in Havana. The cycle, originally scheduled to begin on Monday, was postponed to accommodate meetings between the Colombian negotiating team and its advisors in Bogotá. (See more here.) In addition, the ethnic delegation that was to have been received this week has run into some tensions when some of the Afro-Colombian leaders objected to elements of the process. (More here.)
At the peace table, the negotiators are now working to refine elements of agenda item three, ending the conflict. In an article in El Espectador, Gloria Castrillón gives a detailed summary of the pending issues related to ending the conflict. (Read it here.) This morning’s news reports from Bogota suggest that the agreement to be announced tomorrow includes sections relating to the steps to be taken for the ceasefire and end to the hostilities to go into effect, including the mechanisms for verification and the characteristics and number of concentration zones. According to El espectador, there will be 26 concentration zones, and 22 concentration zones have been agreed, according to El colombiano. There may be some further negotiating to be done…but the will to reach agreement is clearly at a peak, and dozens of pending decisions remain from the provisional agreements once the mechanisms for the ceasefire and laying aside weapons are finalized.
A press conference will be held this morning at 10 am Colombian time /11 am EST with further details.
Just days ago, rumors of the incipient agreement began to garner steam. On Sunday night, President Juan Manuel Santos told members of his National Unity governing coalition, “I believe that by July 20 we will have been able to close the negotiations in Havana and from there enter a new stage for our country,” President Juan Manuel Santos told Congressional members of Sunday night. (More here.) No sooner had Santos made the statement, than Rodrigo Londoño Echeverry, alias ‘Timochenko’, the head of the FARC-EP peace delegation called for prudence. He tweeted that “practice has demonstrated that setting dates hurts the process… although we are advancing, there’s not enough hair yet to make a bun.” (“aún falta pelo pal moño”.)
Subsequent news reports nonetheless had suggested that by week’s end there would be agreement on the terms of a bilateral ceasefire as well as on the number and nature of the temporary concentration zones where FARC soldiers and militias will stay while weapons are being turned in. (More here.) Those were the issues that had prevented the parties from reaching their self-imposed March 23 deadline earlier this year. (More here.)
Santos’s announcement of an imminent accord comes on the heels of two remarks this week that have caused a bit of a stir. First, the president warned that he had information that the FARC would return to urban warfare if a peace accord were not approved; two days later, he announced that he would need to increase taxes if the talks didn’t end satisfactorily.
Meanwhile, the parties have resumed their 50th cycle of peace talks in Havana. The cycle, originally scheduled to begin on Monday, was postponed to accommodate meetings between the Colombian negotiating team and its advisors in Bogotá. (See more here.) In addition, the ethnic delegation that was to have been received this week has run into some tensions when some of the Afro-Colombian leaders objected to elements of the process. (More here.)
At the peace table, the negotiators are now working to refine elements of agenda item three, ending the conflict. In an article in El Espectador, Gloria Castrillón gives a detailed summary of the pending issues related to ending the conflict. (Read it here.) This morning’s news reports from Bogota suggest that the agreement to be announced tomorrow includes sections relating to the steps to be taken for the ceasefire and end to the hostilities to go into effect, including the mechanisms for verification and the characteristics and number of concentration zones. According to El espectador, there will be 26 concentration zones, and 22 concentration zones have been agreed, according to El colombiano. There may be some further negotiating to be done…but the will to reach agreement is clearly at a peak, and dozens of pending decisions remain from the provisional agreements once the mechanisms for the ceasefire and laying aside weapons are finalized.
A press conference will be held this morning at 10 am Colombian time /11 am EST with further details.
Dialogos de Paz en Colombia
Proceso de Comunidades Negras (PCN)
Quinimayo, 6 de junio 2016
Las comunidades negras en Colombia también están en el paro agrario junto con el campesinado y las comunidades indígenas. Escuche la entrevista a José Santos, líder afrodescendiente de PCN (El Proceso de Comunidades Negras) y ANAFRO (Autoridad Nacional Afrocolombiana). Santos es también vocero Nacional de la Cumbre Agraria Campesina Étnica y Popular e integrante de la Mesa Única Nacional del Paro Agrario aqui: https://app.box.com/s/lov0t7nwax74hoxjf3wypuz6kr7wrkyr
Urgent situation facing indigenous protestors
in Colombia
Informativo Nacional edición N° 4
Bogotá D.C / Colombia
Viernes 03 de junio de 2016
Presentamos la información que se produce en el marco de la Minga Nacional en el territorio colombiano: En declaración de prensa Marilen Serna Vocera del Congreso de los Pueblos le pide al presidente Santos le declare la Paz al Movimiento Social, Radican en presidencia de la república el pliego de la Minga Nacional e invitan al presidente a reactivar las mesas de negociación, Cada día crece El paro y la minga se fortalece, reporte de las ciudades de Colombia.
Desde la ruta del sol los campesinos del Catatumbo alertan agresiones contra pueblos movilizados, Desde el Suroccidente colombiano los campesinos se organizan y fortalecen la minga, La defensa de los ecosistemas estratégicos una exigencia de la Minga, Desde la región del Centro Oriente de Colombia el paro crece y se fortalece, La región Caribe dice presente en la Minga Nacional.
Para este viernes se tiene programada en todas las ciudades de Colombia un cacerolazo nacional en apoyo al paro nacional.
Informativo Nacional AUDIO aqui: https://co.ivoox.com/es/11764524
AfroColombian Solidarity Network - ACSN Condemns Repression of Protestors, Urges Dialogue
Desde la ruta del sol los campesinos del Catatumbo alertan agresiones contra pueblos movilizados, Desde el Suroccidente colombiano los campesinos se organizan y fortalecen la minga, La defensa de los ecosistemas estratégicos una exigencia de la Minga, Desde la región del Centro Oriente de Colombia el paro crece y se fortalece, La región Caribe dice presente en la Minga Nacional.
Para este viernes se tiene programada en todas las ciudades de Colombia un cacerolazo nacional en apoyo al paro nacional.
Informativo Nacional AUDIO aqui: https://co.ivoox.com/es/11764524
AfroColombian Solidarity Network - ACSN Condemns Repression of Protestors, Urges Dialogue
Paro Nacional: Gobierno incumple acuerdos
y no hay mesa de negociación
Las mejores imágenes de la Minga Agraria y Popular aqui
En Colombia el diálogo sigue siendo la ruta
Por Javier Calderón Castillo, CELAG
Resumen Latinoamericano
27 mayo 2016
Los procesos de paz se hacen entre rivales (enemigos), por ello, todos los manuales de buenas prácticas de resolución de conflictos y las experiencias más serias como la de Irlanda, indican que la construcción de confianza en la concreción de lo pactado es fundamental.
Después de dos años de espera, con mucha expectativa y esperanza, el pasado 30 de marzo el pueblo colombiano y la comunidad internacional conocimos la gran noticia sobre la formalización pública delos diálogos de paz entre el Gobierno de Colombia y la guerrilla del ELN. Desde la ciudad de Caracas, ambas partes, explicaron al mundo la agenda pactada de 6 puntos y las pautas metodológicas para su desarrollo, anuncio que daba la impresión de concluir una larga e intensa fase de desacuerdos en torno a los puntos de agenda, los países de la sede del diálogo y los temas de participación social. En apariencia todo estaba listo para el inicio de los ciclos de discusión en el mes de mayo, teniendo como sede Ecuador.
La alegría y expectación duró poco, casi dos meses después y a punto de terminarse el mes de mayo, la lamentable noticia es que los diálogos aún no comenzarán. El presidente J.M Santos decidió condicionar el comienzo del debate sustantivo de la agenda hasta que el ELN abandone la práctica del secuestro. Una exigencia post scriptum que se asemeja a aquella en la que el presidente colombiano reversó la firma del acuerdo de Justicia Especial para la Paz, pactada con las Farc-Ep en la Habana, todos recuerdan que después de la foto de Santos y Timochenko el 23 de septiembre de 2015, el gobierno decidió retractarse de la firma de dicho acuerdo, poniendo en riesgo la credibilidad del proceso y la paz misma.
Los procesos de paz se hacen entre rivales (enemigos), por ello, todos los manuales de buenas prácticas de resolución de conflictos y las experiencias más serias como la de Irlanda, indican que la construcción de confianza en la concreción de lo pactado es fundamental. ¿Qué puede pensar la contraparte cuando antes de firmar un acuerdo de paz, las reglas del juego son cambiadas y los papeles firmados son despreciados?, por lo menos, en este caso,de seguro se habrá socavado la poca confianza lograda entre las partes en la fase inicial.
continue leyendo aqui ....
Después de dos años de espera, con mucha expectativa y esperanza, el pasado 30 de marzo el pueblo colombiano y la comunidad internacional conocimos la gran noticia sobre la formalización pública delos diálogos de paz entre el Gobierno de Colombia y la guerrilla del ELN. Desde la ciudad de Caracas, ambas partes, explicaron al mundo la agenda pactada de 6 puntos y las pautas metodológicas para su desarrollo, anuncio que daba la impresión de concluir una larga e intensa fase de desacuerdos en torno a los puntos de agenda, los países de la sede del diálogo y los temas de participación social. En apariencia todo estaba listo para el inicio de los ciclos de discusión en el mes de mayo, teniendo como sede Ecuador.
La alegría y expectación duró poco, casi dos meses después y a punto de terminarse el mes de mayo, la lamentable noticia es que los diálogos aún no comenzarán. El presidente J.M Santos decidió condicionar el comienzo del debate sustantivo de la agenda hasta que el ELN abandone la práctica del secuestro. Una exigencia post scriptum que se asemeja a aquella en la que el presidente colombiano reversó la firma del acuerdo de Justicia Especial para la Paz, pactada con las Farc-Ep en la Habana, todos recuerdan que después de la foto de Santos y Timochenko el 23 de septiembre de 2015, el gobierno decidió retractarse de la firma de dicho acuerdo, poniendo en riesgo la credibilidad del proceso y la paz misma.
Los procesos de paz se hacen entre rivales (enemigos), por ello, todos los manuales de buenas prácticas de resolución de conflictos y las experiencias más serias como la de Irlanda, indican que la construcción de confianza en la concreción de lo pactado es fundamental. ¿Qué puede pensar la contraparte cuando antes de firmar un acuerdo de paz, las reglas del juego son cambiadas y los papeles firmados son despreciados?, por lo menos, en este caso,de seguro se habrá socavado la poca confianza lograda entre las partes en la fase inicial.
continue leyendo aqui ....
Colombia: the Displaced & Invisible Nation
Counterpunch, by Dan Kovalik
May 20, 2016
The latest thematic report by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) concerning Colombia makes for shocking though quite important reading.
[1] In short, it details human rights abuses on a massive scale, and lays the blame for these abuses chiefly upon the right-wing paramilitaries aligned with the Colombian State. Citing Colombia’s Center for Historical Memory, the IACHR concludes that Colombia, with its over 6 million internally displaced persons, is indeed “a displaced nation.”
As the IACHR explains, the paramilitaries were responsible for 72% of the attacks recorded in the first half of 2015. Incredibly, the Colombian State, along with its U.S. sponsor, insist that the paramilitaries (also known as Autodefensas) no longer exist as a result of a demobilization (largely faked) back in 2003-2006. And, it is this very denial, the IACHR points out, which allows the paramilitaries to carry out their reign of terror with near complete impunity. After all, the State will not dismantle or prosecute what it claims does not even exist.
As explained in the report, “during 2015 the IACHR has continued receiving information about actions of the illegal armed groups that ...
CONTINUE READING HERE!
ARTICULO RELACIONADO:
PARAMILITARES DE LAS ÁGUILAS NEGRAS AMENAZAN DE MUERTE A CUATRO LÍDERES DE LA ASOCIACIÓN DE CABILDOS INDÍGENAS DEL NORTE DEL CAUCA ACIN
[1] In short, it details human rights abuses on a massive scale, and lays the blame for these abuses chiefly upon the right-wing paramilitaries aligned with the Colombian State. Citing Colombia’s Center for Historical Memory, the IACHR concludes that Colombia, with its over 6 million internally displaced persons, is indeed “a displaced nation.”
As the IACHR explains, the paramilitaries were responsible for 72% of the attacks recorded in the first half of 2015. Incredibly, the Colombian State, along with its U.S. sponsor, insist that the paramilitaries (also known as Autodefensas) no longer exist as a result of a demobilization (largely faked) back in 2003-2006. And, it is this very denial, the IACHR points out, which allows the paramilitaries to carry out their reign of terror with near complete impunity. After all, the State will not dismantle or prosecute what it claims does not even exist.
As explained in the report, “during 2015 the IACHR has continued receiving information about actions of the illegal armed groups that ...
CONTINUE READING HERE!
ARTICULO RELACIONADO:
PARAMILITARES DE LAS ÁGUILAS NEGRAS AMENAZAN DE MUERTE A CUATRO LÍDERES DE LA ASOCIACIÓN DE CABILDOS INDÍGENAS DEL NORTE DEL CAUCA ACIN
Paramilitaries are present in 27 out of 32
Colombian Departments
Contagio Radio / The Dawn News
April 6, 2016
Although the Ombudsman himself has assured that in 27 of the 32 Colombian departments there is paramilitary presence, the Minister of Defense, Luis Carlos Villegas said that this is nothing more than a ghost invented by FARC to delay the peace process. Guerrillas responded that this fact is “an irrefutable reality that was just thrown into Colombian people’s face”.
In turn, on Tuesday, in front of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, social organizations demonstrated the existence and strengthening of paramilitary structures.
As an example, Danilo Rueda, member of the Commission for Justice and Peace, reviewed the violent actions that took place during the recent armed strike declared by the Gaitanistas Self-Defense Group, which exercised paramilitary control of 82 districts of Buenaventura (despite the constant militarization of the municipality), the presence of more than 300 armed paramilitaries in Bajo Atrato and the free movement of at least 200 armed men dressed in camouflage in Putumayo a few meters away from a military base financed by the United States.
CONTINUE READING HERE ...
ALSO READ:
Contra el avance de la derecha y los paramilitares: Las movilizaciones por la paz con justicia social siguen siendo cruciales, para lograr la igualdad y la unidad popular
In turn, on Tuesday, in front of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, social organizations demonstrated the existence and strengthening of paramilitary structures.
As an example, Danilo Rueda, member of the Commission for Justice and Peace, reviewed the violent actions that took place during the recent armed strike declared by the Gaitanistas Self-Defense Group, which exercised paramilitary control of 82 districts of Buenaventura (despite the constant militarization of the municipality), the presence of more than 300 armed paramilitaries in Bajo Atrato and the free movement of at least 200 armed men dressed in camouflage in Putumayo a few meters away from a military base financed by the United States.
CONTINUE READING HERE ...
ALSO READ:
Contra el avance de la derecha y los paramilitares: Las movilizaciones por la paz con justicia social siguen siendo cruciales, para lograr la igualdad y la unidad popular
Agreement between the National Government and the National Liberation Army to establish
peace talks in Colombia
March 2016
The government of the Republic of Colombia (National Government) and the National Liberation Army (ELN), hereby known as “the delegations,” as a result of the confidential and exploratory talks, and due to their disposition for peace, have called for the installation of a public talks, to address the points that have been established in the agenda, with the goal of reaching a final agreement to end the armed conflict and agree to transformations to create a Colombia in peace and equality.
The exploratory talks were carried out between January 2014 and March 2016 in the Republic of Ecuador, the Federative Republic of Brazil and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, whose governments acted as guarantors along with the government of Norway: during this phase the governments of the Republic of Cuba and the Republic of Chile acted as observers. To all of them the National Government and the ELN express deep recognition and gratitude. The continuation of the accompaniment by the international community is essential. Recognizing that peace is a supreme good of all democracy, and with the objective to put an end to the armed conflict, the political violence must be eradicated; centering the treatment of the situation of the victims; and advancing towards the national reconciliation by having active participation of the society in the construction of a stable and lasting peace.
As the delegations we have agreed to:
1) Install a table of public talks in Ecuador 2) The sessions of the table will be held in Ecuador, Venezuela, Chile, Brazil and Cuba. These countries along with Norway will be the guarantors. 3) To advance the talks direct and without interruption between the delegations of the Government and the ELN. 4) Execute the agenda with the great speed and rigor. 5) Carry out the following agenda:
FIND COMPLETE AGENDA IN THIS LINK
The exploratory talks were carried out between January 2014 and March 2016 in the Republic of Ecuador, the Federative Republic of Brazil and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, whose governments acted as guarantors along with the government of Norway: during this phase the governments of the Republic of Cuba and the Republic of Chile acted as observers. To all of them the National Government and the ELN express deep recognition and gratitude. The continuation of the accompaniment by the international community is essential. Recognizing that peace is a supreme good of all democracy, and with the objective to put an end to the armed conflict, the political violence must be eradicated; centering the treatment of the situation of the victims; and advancing towards the national reconciliation by having active participation of the society in the construction of a stable and lasting peace.
As the delegations we have agreed to:
1) Install a table of public talks in Ecuador 2) The sessions of the table will be held in Ecuador, Venezuela, Chile, Brazil and Cuba. These countries along with Norway will be the guarantors. 3) To advance the talks direct and without interruption between the delegations of the Government and the ELN. 4) Execute the agenda with the great speed and rigor. 5) Carry out the following agenda:
FIND COMPLETE AGENDA IN THIS LINK
Diálogos de Paz en Colombia:
“Una salida negociada no es sinónimo de paz”
Por Francisco J. Cantamutto/Resumen Latinoamericano
29 marzo, 2016
Tras la postergación del plazo “definitivo” para la firma del acuerdo de paz entre el gobierno colombiano y las FARC, el escenario sigue abierto. Conversamos con el sociólogo Jairo López Pacheco para repasar los aspectos fundamentales de las negociaciones.
A 6 meses del histórico apretón de manos entre el presidente colombiano Juan Manuel Santos y el líder de las FARC, Rodrigo Londoño –Timochenko-, finalmente la fecha del 23 de marzo como plazo para la firma de la paz en Colombia no se cumplió.
La postergación se veía venir, ya que el propio Santos había dicho en los días previos que no iba a “firmar un mal acuerdo de paz” solo para cumplir los plazos. A la espera de que se defina una nueva fecha o continúen las negociaciones sin plazo fijo, conversamos con el sociólogo colombiano y especialista en movimiento de derechos humanos, Jairo López Pacheco, quien rescata los avances que han tenido las conversaciones entre la guerrilla y el gobierno, como el acuerdo de solicitar al Consejo de Seguridad de la ONU la creación de una comisión especial para verificar y monitorear el desarme, el acuerdo de tierras –para muchos el eje central del conflicto-, la participación política de la guerrilla una vez desmovilizada y el reconocimiento de la diversidad de victimarios y la justicia transicional.
Sin embargo, reconoce el momento de tensión en las negociaciones, principalmente en el punto de las zonas de ubicación de los guerrilleros una vez acordado el cese definitivo: “Para la guerrilla de las FARC la propuesta de ubicar a los futuros excombatientes en un terreno rural muy delimitado sería claudicar y entregarse”, afirma.
Pese a la no firma de la paz en el plazo estipulado inicialmente, López recalca que este hecho no echará abajo todo lo avanzado hasta ahora.
CONTINUE LEYENDO LA ENTREVISTA AQUI ....
A 6 meses del histórico apretón de manos entre el presidente colombiano Juan Manuel Santos y el líder de las FARC, Rodrigo Londoño –Timochenko-, finalmente la fecha del 23 de marzo como plazo para la firma de la paz en Colombia no se cumplió.
La postergación se veía venir, ya que el propio Santos había dicho en los días previos que no iba a “firmar un mal acuerdo de paz” solo para cumplir los plazos. A la espera de que se defina una nueva fecha o continúen las negociaciones sin plazo fijo, conversamos con el sociólogo colombiano y especialista en movimiento de derechos humanos, Jairo López Pacheco, quien rescata los avances que han tenido las conversaciones entre la guerrilla y el gobierno, como el acuerdo de solicitar al Consejo de Seguridad de la ONU la creación de una comisión especial para verificar y monitorear el desarme, el acuerdo de tierras –para muchos el eje central del conflicto-, la participación política de la guerrilla una vez desmovilizada y el reconocimiento de la diversidad de victimarios y la justicia transicional.
Sin embargo, reconoce el momento de tensión en las negociaciones, principalmente en el punto de las zonas de ubicación de los guerrilleros una vez acordado el cese definitivo: “Para la guerrilla de las FARC la propuesta de ubicar a los futuros excombatientes en un terreno rural muy delimitado sería claudicar y entregarse”, afirma.
Pese a la no firma de la paz en el plazo estipulado inicialmente, López recalca que este hecho no echará abajo todo lo avanzado hasta ahora.
CONTINUE LEYENDO LA ENTREVISTA AQUI ....
Unión Patriótica dice que hay un plan para asesinar
a sus jóvenes militantes
Resumen Latinoamericano
24 de Marzo 2016
La presidenta de la coletividad, Aida Avella, dijo que se siente como en los años 80 y 90, volviendo al exterminio.
Escuche aquí sus declaraciones en LA F.m.
La oficina del alto comisionado para los Derechos Humanos de Naciones Unidas, está realizando seguimiento a ocho de los 12 asesinatos de líderes sociales y políticos de izquierda que se han registrado entre el primero de enero y el 10 de marzo en el país. “Casi la mitad de estas personas están relacionadas con el Partido Comunista, la Marcha Patriótica y la Unión Patriótica”, señaló Todd Howland.
El Gobierno nacional también está preocupado por el tema y por ello decidió que instalará comités regionales de protección. Se iniciará en Cauca y Sucre. “Claramente existen en el país estructuras criminales que quieren sabotear el proceso de paz y por eso están amenazando y asesinando a líderes de izquierda”, dijo el alto consejero para los DD.HH. de la Presidencia, Guillermo Rivera.
Además, preocupa la falta de avance en las investigaciones por los crímenes ocurridos durante los últimos cinco años. “Pero también de mejorar el nivel de productividad de la Fiscalía”, añadió Howland. El seguimiento de la ONU a estos casos ha mostrado que la tercera parte de los mismos podrían estar relacionados con actividades en contra de la minería ilegal.
Escuche aquí sus declaraciones en LA F.m.
La oficina del alto comisionado para los Derechos Humanos de Naciones Unidas, está realizando seguimiento a ocho de los 12 asesinatos de líderes sociales y políticos de izquierda que se han registrado entre el primero de enero y el 10 de marzo en el país. “Casi la mitad de estas personas están relacionadas con el Partido Comunista, la Marcha Patriótica y la Unión Patriótica”, señaló Todd Howland.
El Gobierno nacional también está preocupado por el tema y por ello decidió que instalará comités regionales de protección. Se iniciará en Cauca y Sucre. “Claramente existen en el país estructuras criminales que quieren sabotear el proceso de paz y por eso están amenazando y asesinando a líderes de izquierda”, dijo el alto consejero para los DD.HH. de la Presidencia, Guillermo Rivera.
Además, preocupa la falta de avance en las investigaciones por los crímenes ocurridos durante los últimos cinco años. “Pero también de mejorar el nivel de productividad de la Fiscalía”, añadió Howland. El seguimiento de la ONU a estos casos ha mostrado que la tercera parte de los mismos podrían estar relacionados con actividades en contra de la minería ilegal.
Colombia y un genocidio gota a gota: Asesinan a escolta del partido Unión Patriótica y a un indígena Sikuani en
Mapiripán, Meta
Carolina Tejada, Resumen Latinoamericano
18 marzo, 2016
“Señor presidente, díganos si tenemos derecho a vivir y hacer política en nuestro propio país”
“Milton Yesid Escobar Ramírez era hijo del dirigente del partido Unión Patriótica, Rigoberto Escobar que fue diputado en Arauca. Este joven de 30 años, había sido de la JUCO y cuando pasó a trabajar con el partido se vinculó a la Unidad Nacional de Protección, UNP, con el ánimo de apoyar mi esquema de seguridad en Arauquita hace dos años”, asegura Martín Sandoval.
A Milton Yesid junto a su otro compañero del esquema de seguridad de Martín Sandoval, presidente de la UP en Arauca, le correspondía viajar junto con su protegido a la ciudad de Bogotá para acompañarlo en unas diligencias nacionales, pero la UNP, como en otras ocasiones les negó los pasajes para viajar. Milton se encontraba a pocos metros de la sede del Comité Permanente por la Defensa de los Derechos Humanos, cuando fue asesinado por hombres armados que se desplazaban en moto, en las horas de la tarde del día jueves 10 de marzo.
Crímenes políticos Para Martín Sandoval, este es un crimen político. “Desde que iniciaron los diálogos de La Habana y la declaratoria del cese al fuego unilateral por las FARC desde el 20 de julio, eso dio una tranquilidad de sosiego en la región. Pero con la muerte de Milton y el asesinato simultáneo de Gil de Jesús Silgado, dirigente campesino de la vereda Santa Ana, municipio de Arauquita, afiliado de la Asociación Campesina de Arauca-ACA, las muerte ascienden a 20 en 20 días, y nos sorprende que una región como esta que es una de las más militarizadas del país tengamos 20 muertes y las autoridades militares no hagan nada”.
Según menciona Martín, estas muertes hacen parte de una supuesta limpieza social adelantada por los paramilitares, las principales muertes han sido de jóvenes señalados de consumir drogas o jalar carros, “pero ninguno de esos motivos justifica el que les quiten la vida”.
CONTINUE LEYENDO AQUI ...
Vigilia permanente por la vida y la paz - Marcha Patriotica
Vigilia permanente por la vida y la paz. Galeria Fotográfica
“Milton Yesid Escobar Ramírez era hijo del dirigente del partido Unión Patriótica, Rigoberto Escobar que fue diputado en Arauca. Este joven de 30 años, había sido de la JUCO y cuando pasó a trabajar con el partido se vinculó a la Unidad Nacional de Protección, UNP, con el ánimo de apoyar mi esquema de seguridad en Arauquita hace dos años”, asegura Martín Sandoval.
A Milton Yesid junto a su otro compañero del esquema de seguridad de Martín Sandoval, presidente de la UP en Arauca, le correspondía viajar junto con su protegido a la ciudad de Bogotá para acompañarlo en unas diligencias nacionales, pero la UNP, como en otras ocasiones les negó los pasajes para viajar. Milton se encontraba a pocos metros de la sede del Comité Permanente por la Defensa de los Derechos Humanos, cuando fue asesinado por hombres armados que se desplazaban en moto, en las horas de la tarde del día jueves 10 de marzo.
Crímenes políticos Para Martín Sandoval, este es un crimen político. “Desde que iniciaron los diálogos de La Habana y la declaratoria del cese al fuego unilateral por las FARC desde el 20 de julio, eso dio una tranquilidad de sosiego en la región. Pero con la muerte de Milton y el asesinato simultáneo de Gil de Jesús Silgado, dirigente campesino de la vereda Santa Ana, municipio de Arauquita, afiliado de la Asociación Campesina de Arauca-ACA, las muerte ascienden a 20 en 20 días, y nos sorprende que una región como esta que es una de las más militarizadas del país tengamos 20 muertes y las autoridades militares no hagan nada”.
Según menciona Martín, estas muertes hacen parte de una supuesta limpieza social adelantada por los paramilitares, las principales muertes han sido de jóvenes señalados de consumir drogas o jalar carros, “pero ninguno de esos motivos justifica el que les quiten la vida”.
CONTINUE LEYENDO AQUI ...
Vigilia permanente por la vida y la paz - Marcha Patriotica
Vigilia permanente por la vida y la paz. Galeria Fotográfica
Así avanza la jornada de paro nacional en el país
Marzo 17, 2016
La jornada de paro nacional de este jueves ha avanzado con relativa calma en las principales ciudades del país. Consignas como la mejora de salarios, subsidios de transporte, reducción de los precios del combustible, rebajas en los servicios públicos y medidas urgentes para ayudar al pueblo guajiro han estado presentes en las movilizaciones.
Vea fotos aquí....
OTROS ARTICULOS:
Paro en Bogotá, desahogo contra Peñalosa y el Gobierno Nacional
Se prevé que 15.000 personas se concentren en la Plaza de Bolívar por paro
Bogotanos vencieron la lluvia y acudieron masivamente a jornada de paro cívico
Así se vivió la jornada de protestas en Bogotá
Paro nacional y movilización contra políticas neoliberales de Santos
Vea fotos aquí....
OTROS ARTICULOS:
Paro en Bogotá, desahogo contra Peñalosa y el Gobierno Nacional
Se prevé que 15.000 personas se concentren en la Plaza de Bolívar por paro
Bogotanos vencieron la lluvia y acudieron masivamente a jornada de paro cívico
Así se vivió la jornada de protestas en Bogotá
Paro nacional y movilización contra políticas neoliberales de Santos
Cuatro líderes sociales asesinados la última semana
en Colombia
Resumen Latinoamericano /Marcha Patriótica
08 Marzo 2016
William Castillo, dirigente agrario de la región de Guamocó, fue el cuarto activista asesinado en la última semana en el país. El líder de la Asociación de Hermandades Agroecológicas y Mineras “Aheramigua” fue baleado en el municipio de El Bagre (Antioquia) este 7 de marzo.
Un día antes, el joven comunista Klaus Zapata había sido victimizado por desconocidos en Soacha, Cundinamarca, cuando jugaba fútbol en esa localidad limítrofe con Bogotá.
El primero de marzo, las víctimas habían sido Marisela Tombe y Alexander Oime dirigentes sociales asesinados en el Cauca.
Esta serie de crímenes preocupan al movimiento social y popular en momentos en que se buscan garantías de cara a la implementación de los acuerdos de paz con la insurgencia.
“Presidente Santos, el fortalecimiento del paramilitarismo y asesinato de líderes sociales demuestra que estamos en emergencia humanitaria”, fue el reclamo de David Flórez, vocero nacional de Marcha Patriótica, al jefe de Estado.
CONTINUE LEYENDO AQUI
Un día antes, el joven comunista Klaus Zapata había sido victimizado por desconocidos en Soacha, Cundinamarca, cuando jugaba fútbol en esa localidad limítrofe con Bogotá.
El primero de marzo, las víctimas habían sido Marisela Tombe y Alexander Oime dirigentes sociales asesinados en el Cauca.
Esta serie de crímenes preocupan al movimiento social y popular en momentos en que se buscan garantías de cara a la implementación de los acuerdos de paz con la insurgencia.
“Presidente Santos, el fortalecimiento del paramilitarismo y asesinato de líderes sociales demuestra que estamos en emergencia humanitaria”, fue el reclamo de David Flórez, vocero nacional de Marcha Patriótica, al jefe de Estado.
CONTINUE LEYENDO AQUI
Claudia Julieta Duque: A landmark case
Foundation for Press Freedom
March 2, 2016
This statement was originally published on frontlinedefenders.org on March 1, 2016.
Today a trial starts in Colombia which has no precedent anywhere in the world. Claudia Julieta Duque will testify in the trial against three members of the now-disbanded Administrative Department of Security (DAS), who are accused of having tortured her psychologically. This case marks a milestone in the fight against impunity in Colombia, amidst serious human rights violations committed by state institutions.
This is the first case in the world where the criminal justice system has succeeded in identifying the alleged perpetrators who are responsible for the crime of psychological torture recognised as a specific crime, not as part of other crimes. In addition to this, the crime is being investigated as a crime committed by the state and which was was carried out by the intelligence service when ex-president Álvaro Uribe Vélez was in power. This is also the first time that a case of this kind is supported by evidence provided by the intelligence service and which proves the modus operandi of Álvaro Uribe's government against human rights defenders and journalists. It is an emblematic case that shows how counter-intelligence tactics were used as an instrument for social and political control.
Duque became a victim of DAS following her investigation into the murder of Jaime Garzón Forero, a journalist who was killed in 1999. After a long battle against impunity and years of being subjected to threats, smear campaigns and stigmatisation, Duque managed to prove that the serious harassment she suffered was real. Today her case is the only one where three high level state officials have confessed and have been charged with having committed psychological torture.
In the meantime, the investigations against former President Álvaro Uribe and former DAS director Jorge Noguera ordered by the General Prosecutor ordered years ago, haven't started yet.
In the past few years, the undersigned national and international human rights organisations and freedom of speech organisations have accompanied Claudia Julieta Duque and supported her fight for justice, as this fight has been incredibly difficult for the human rights defender and her family. We are concerned because, over the last year, as the date of the trial approached, acts of intimidation have increased and threats have also been directed against her lawyer Víctor Javier Velásquez Gil, and both their families.
Therefore, we announce that we will be observing the trial and we urge the Colombian authorities to:
- Implement the necessary measures to guarantee judicial independence and the protection of all the people involved in the process, including victim Claudia Julieta Duque, and to prevent Claudia Julieta Duque from becoming victim of further threats during the trial.
- Implement without further delay the arrest orders against Carlo Auqué De Silvestri, Rodolfo Medina Alemán y Enrique Alberto Ariza Rivas, who have so far escaped justice.
- Follow up the investigations against former president Álvaro Uribe and DAS ex-director Jorge Noguera for psychological torture, as these investigations have been paralysed for years.
- Open a joint investigation into the various serious attacks suffered by the journalist, her lawyer and their families in the past few years.
We will continue to support Claudia Julieta Duque and to monitor progress in the investigations and the trial, and we urge the Colombian authorities to investigate similar attacks suffered by other human rights defenders and journalists. We also urge the authorities to implement the necessary measures to prevent these abuses from happening again.
Signatories:Foundation for Press Freedom - FLIP
Equipo Nizkor
Front Line Defenders
UDEFEGUA
Free Press Unlimited
Organización Mundial Contra la Tortura - OMCT Red SOS – Tortura
Federación Colombiana de Periodistas - Fecolper
Today a trial starts in Colombia which has no precedent anywhere in the world. Claudia Julieta Duque will testify in the trial against three members of the now-disbanded Administrative Department of Security (DAS), who are accused of having tortured her psychologically. This case marks a milestone in the fight against impunity in Colombia, amidst serious human rights violations committed by state institutions.
This is the first case in the world where the criminal justice system has succeeded in identifying the alleged perpetrators who are responsible for the crime of psychological torture recognised as a specific crime, not as part of other crimes. In addition to this, the crime is being investigated as a crime committed by the state and which was was carried out by the intelligence service when ex-president Álvaro Uribe Vélez was in power. This is also the first time that a case of this kind is supported by evidence provided by the intelligence service and which proves the modus operandi of Álvaro Uribe's government against human rights defenders and journalists. It is an emblematic case that shows how counter-intelligence tactics were used as an instrument for social and political control.
Duque became a victim of DAS following her investigation into the murder of Jaime Garzón Forero, a journalist who was killed in 1999. After a long battle against impunity and years of being subjected to threats, smear campaigns and stigmatisation, Duque managed to prove that the serious harassment she suffered was real. Today her case is the only one where three high level state officials have confessed and have been charged with having committed psychological torture.
In the meantime, the investigations against former President Álvaro Uribe and former DAS director Jorge Noguera ordered by the General Prosecutor ordered years ago, haven't started yet.
In the past few years, the undersigned national and international human rights organisations and freedom of speech organisations have accompanied Claudia Julieta Duque and supported her fight for justice, as this fight has been incredibly difficult for the human rights defender and her family. We are concerned because, over the last year, as the date of the trial approached, acts of intimidation have increased and threats have also been directed against her lawyer Víctor Javier Velásquez Gil, and both their families.
Therefore, we announce that we will be observing the trial and we urge the Colombian authorities to:
- Implement the necessary measures to guarantee judicial independence and the protection of all the people involved in the process, including victim Claudia Julieta Duque, and to prevent Claudia Julieta Duque from becoming victim of further threats during the trial.
- Implement without further delay the arrest orders against Carlo Auqué De Silvestri, Rodolfo Medina Alemán y Enrique Alberto Ariza Rivas, who have so far escaped justice.
- Follow up the investigations against former president Álvaro Uribe and DAS ex-director Jorge Noguera for psychological torture, as these investigations have been paralysed for years.
- Open a joint investigation into the various serious attacks suffered by the journalist, her lawyer and their families in the past few years.
We will continue to support Claudia Julieta Duque and to monitor progress in the investigations and the trial, and we urge the Colombian authorities to investigate similar attacks suffered by other human rights defenders and journalists. We also urge the authorities to implement the necessary measures to prevent these abuses from happening again.
Signatories:Foundation for Press Freedom - FLIP
Equipo Nizkor
Front Line Defenders
UDEFEGUA
Free Press Unlimited
Organización Mundial Contra la Tortura - OMCT Red SOS – Tortura
Federación Colombiana de Periodistas - Fecolper
Intentan asesinar al líder indígena Feliciano Valencia
Resumen Latinoamericano
Nov. 18, 2015
Los presuntos sicarios dispararon seis veces, pero la rápida actuación del Guardia Indígena neutralizó el ataque.
El líder y consejero de la Asociación de Cabildos Indígenas del norte del Cauca (suroccidente de Colombia), Feliciano Valencia, fue objeto de un atentado la noche del pasado lunes.
Cuatro hombres buscaron ingresar al Centro de Armonización Indígena Gualanday en Santander de Quilichao (Colombia) donde Valencia permanece recluido de manera injusta. Los hombres dispararon en seis oportunidades. La reacción de la Guardia Indígena neutralizó el ataque pero los presuntos sicarios huyeron.
¿Quién es Feliciano Valencia?
Valencia se ha destacado por la defensa y la visibilización de los derechos indígenas. Recientemente presentó una propuesta de paz para las comunidades del Cauca en el marco del conflicto armado.
Fue condenado injustamente a 18 meses de cárcel por secuestro simple y lesiones personales, luego de que en 2008 supuestamente retuvo y causó malos tratos al cabo tercero del Ejército, Jairo Danilo Chaparral Santiago, en una protesta indígena.
En 2010 fue detenido por el extinto Departamento Administrativo de Seguridad (DAS), durante la gestión del expresidente Álvaro Uribe Vélez, a quien enfrentó en varias ocasiones. La medida fue rechazada por las comunidades indígenas Nasa y Guambiana. Posteriormente, fue puesto en libertad.
¿Qué hay detrás del asesinato de líderes campesinos?
En 2010 fue candidato a la alcaldía de Santander de Quilichao y en la actualidad es vocero del Congreso de los Pueblos e investigador de las Rutas para la Paz de los pueblos indígenas de Colombia.
La represión no cesa
El pasado viernes el líder social Daniel Abril, reconocido defensor de derechos humanos en Colombia, fue asesinado en Trinidad (Casanare) en manos de paramilitares.
El dirigente comunitario se había destacado por sus posiciones a favor de las comunidades de las zonas de influencia de la industria petrolera y la protección de los recursos naturales de la region.
Estos líderes campesinos e indígenas son perseguidos, desaparecidos y asesinados por denunciar la explotación, el saqueo de los recursos naturales y la contaminación que provocan las transnacionales en sus regiones.
El líder y consejero de la Asociación de Cabildos Indígenas del norte del Cauca (suroccidente de Colombia), Feliciano Valencia, fue objeto de un atentado la noche del pasado lunes.
Cuatro hombres buscaron ingresar al Centro de Armonización Indígena Gualanday en Santander de Quilichao (Colombia) donde Valencia permanece recluido de manera injusta. Los hombres dispararon en seis oportunidades. La reacción de la Guardia Indígena neutralizó el ataque pero los presuntos sicarios huyeron.
¿Quién es Feliciano Valencia?
Valencia se ha destacado por la defensa y la visibilización de los derechos indígenas. Recientemente presentó una propuesta de paz para las comunidades del Cauca en el marco del conflicto armado.
Fue condenado injustamente a 18 meses de cárcel por secuestro simple y lesiones personales, luego de que en 2008 supuestamente retuvo y causó malos tratos al cabo tercero del Ejército, Jairo Danilo Chaparral Santiago, en una protesta indígena.
En 2010 fue detenido por el extinto Departamento Administrativo de Seguridad (DAS), durante la gestión del expresidente Álvaro Uribe Vélez, a quien enfrentó en varias ocasiones. La medida fue rechazada por las comunidades indígenas Nasa y Guambiana. Posteriormente, fue puesto en libertad.
¿Qué hay detrás del asesinato de líderes campesinos?
En 2010 fue candidato a la alcaldía de Santander de Quilichao y en la actualidad es vocero del Congreso de los Pueblos e investigador de las Rutas para la Paz de los pueblos indígenas de Colombia.
La represión no cesa
El pasado viernes el líder social Daniel Abril, reconocido defensor de derechos humanos en Colombia, fue asesinado en Trinidad (Casanare) en manos de paramilitares.
El dirigente comunitario se había destacado por sus posiciones a favor de las comunidades de las zonas de influencia de la industria petrolera y la protección de los recursos naturales de la region.
Estos líderes campesinos e indígenas son perseguidos, desaparecidos y asesinados por denunciar la explotación, el saqueo de los recursos naturales y la contaminación que provocan las transnacionales en sus regiones.
Misrepresentation of the Colombian Conflict
By Matt Peppe
October 5, 2015
A week and a half ago news emerged from Havana that the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) and the Colombian government had reached a framework for a final peace agreement to be signed within six months. This was hailed as a breakthrough in the half-century-old conflict and an opportunity to bring peace to the people of Colombia. But by adopting the government’s narrative, mainstream media have failed to recognize the primary cause of the violence and the inevitability that it will continue in the future.
The decades-long policy of the Colombian government has been a national security strategy of counterinsurgency, developed in the late 1950s under the sponsorship of the US military. The goal of the US government was to maintain a business-friendly political system that would implement economic policies amenable to multinational corporations and foreign capital. Resistance to such policies was deemed subversion, and people who sympathized with such resistance were branded as internal enemies to be eliminated or neutralized by military means.
Read More Here ...
The decades-long policy of the Colombian government has been a national security strategy of counterinsurgency, developed in the late 1950s under the sponsorship of the US military. The goal of the US government was to maintain a business-friendly political system that would implement economic policies amenable to multinational corporations and foreign capital. Resistance to such policies was deemed subversion, and people who sympathized with such resistance were branded as internal enemies to be eliminated or neutralized by military means.
Read More Here ...
Support the Black Women’s Movement
in Defense of Life and the Ancestral Territories
Dear Friends,
There are only two days left to support the Black Women’s Movement in Defense of Life and the Ancestral Territories as they start their own community radio station and found a self-sustainable agricultural program.
Read our last update to learn more about the transnational campaign connecting the Black Women's Movement in Cauca, the Afro-Colombian Solidarity Network, and #BlackLivesMatter in the U.S.
Please click here to donate and help us meet our goal of reaching $8,000!
We greatly appreciate your commitment to making black lives matter in Colombia and throughout the world.
Abrazos.
Afro-Colombian Solidarity Network (ACSN)www.afrocolombian.org
We are committed to defending the rights of Afrodescendants by working with communities and organizations in Colombia. We provide analysis and opportunities to take action in English and Spanish.
E-mail us at [email protected] to get involved!
---
Dear Friends,
We are feeling energized after participating in a meeting of hundreds of black activists in Colombia between August 20 and 24! They are working to transform society and eliminate racism in solidarity with many other social movements throughout the world.
Please read Ajamu Baraka's recent report back over at Counterpunch on the "street heat" at the 9th Meeting of the National Council of Palenques in Colombia and its relevance for Black Lives Matter in the United States.
We hope that you will consider donating to our joint campaign with Black Lives Matter to continue supporting the Black Women’s Movement in Defense of Life and the Ancestral Territories.
Please check out Angela Davis's video in support of the campaign!
Donate here!
There are only two days left to support the Black Women’s Movement in Defense of Life and the Ancestral Territories as they start their own community radio station and found a self-sustainable agricultural program.
Read our last update to learn more about the transnational campaign connecting the Black Women's Movement in Cauca, the Afro-Colombian Solidarity Network, and #BlackLivesMatter in the U.S.
Please click here to donate and help us meet our goal of reaching $8,000!
We greatly appreciate your commitment to making black lives matter in Colombia and throughout the world.
Abrazos.
Afro-Colombian Solidarity Network (ACSN)www.afrocolombian.org
We are committed to defending the rights of Afrodescendants by working with communities and organizations in Colombia. We provide analysis and opportunities to take action in English and Spanish.
E-mail us at [email protected] to get involved!
---
Dear Friends,
We are feeling energized after participating in a meeting of hundreds of black activists in Colombia between August 20 and 24! They are working to transform society and eliminate racism in solidarity with many other social movements throughout the world.
Please read Ajamu Baraka's recent report back over at Counterpunch on the "street heat" at the 9th Meeting of the National Council of Palenques in Colombia and its relevance for Black Lives Matter in the United States.
We hope that you will consider donating to our joint campaign with Black Lives Matter to continue supporting the Black Women’s Movement in Defense of Life and the Ancestral Territories.
Please check out Angela Davis's video in support of the campaign!
Donate here!
In Landfill Atop Medellin, Colombia Begins Work on
Exhuming Bodies in Mass Grave
By Joe Parkin Daniels July 30, 2015
Authorities began excavating what could be the world's largest urban mass grave in Colombia this week, with the buried bodies of unknown numbers of victims thought to date back to 2002.
The grave, located under a landfill on the mountainous outskirts of Medellin, Colombia's second largest city, may contain the bodies of up to 300 people who were "disappeared" in and around the city's most embattled neighborhood.
The work around the grave stands in contrast to the media hype surrounding Colombia's most in vogue city, which has been seeking to shed its violent reputation by pumping resources into promoting tourism and investment.
The site, La Escombrera — literally "The Dump" — climbs the mountains of Comuna 13, a hillside slum that has been a byword for disappearances since a military campaign named "Operation Orion" launched there in October 2002. The operation forced out left-wing rebel groups, leaving right-wing paramilitaries in their place.
Read more here ....
The grave, located under a landfill on the mountainous outskirts of Medellin, Colombia's second largest city, may contain the bodies of up to 300 people who were "disappeared" in and around the city's most embattled neighborhood.
The work around the grave stands in contrast to the media hype surrounding Colombia's most in vogue city, which has been seeking to shed its violent reputation by pumping resources into promoting tourism and investment.
The site, La Escombrera — literally "The Dump" — climbs the mountains of Comuna 13, a hillside slum that has been a byword for disappearances since a military campaign named "Operation Orion" launched there in October 2002. The operation forced out left-wing rebel groups, leaving right-wing paramilitaries in their place.
Read more here ....
Afro-Colombians Should be at the Negotiation Table
Press Release July 17, 2015 (translation from Spanish)
On behalf of organizations and communities that make up The Afro-Colombian National Peace Council (CONPA), and in the context of the announcements made on Sunday, July 12, 2015 by the negotiating parties on agreements to de-escalate the internal armed conflict, and an eventual bilateral and definitive cease-fire, we express that: Our black, Afro-Colombian, Palanquero and Raizal people—one of the most disproportionately impacted groups by the internal armed conflict that has always expressed support to a negotiated solution as the only way to end the confrontation and to create conditions for building peace with social justice—salutes the agreement and considers it of utmost importance in achieving what many generations of Colombians have never had: days without armed confrontation.
De-escalating the confrontation is urgent not only for the country in abstract terms and for the hope of all Colombians, but in particular for the millions of Colombians like us, who have suffered and continue to suffer the many effects of war and confrontation; from our children being recruited by legal and illegal armed groups, forced internal displacement, aerial fumigations, and our rivers, estuaries and mangroves being contaminated by oil spills, as it recently occurred in Tumaco, to the huge tragedies like the ones in Machuca, Bojayá, Naya, and Montes de Maria.
De-escalating the conflict must also involve reducing the military occupation of our collective, ancestral and urban territories, with all the implications this has on our communities’ territories, the pressure on natural resources, and the empowerment our communities, organizations, and leaders. Therefore, we demand that the parties establish a humanitarian commitment to respect the rights of Afro-Colombian people.
Our community has not been heard as a victim, which is necessary if a perspective of truth, justice, reparation and non-repetition that is inclusive, comprehensive, and respectful of social, democratic and ethical values that represents cultural diversity is to be advanced. Therefore, CONPA requests that the parties respond to the communication delivered in December 2014 by the Afro-Colombian National Authority (ANAFRO) which proposed that a delegation of black, Afro-Colombian, Palanquero and Raizal people be received by the parties and that, along with indigenous, and Rom people, the black, Afro-Colombian, Palanquero and Raizal community can work with the parties on guaranteeing our rights in the agreements and their implementation. The history of other negotiation processes, such as the one in Guatemala, has demonstrated to us that it is not enough to be told that our rights will be respected.
From our perspective, the national government and the FARC only have one mandate- to leave the negotiating table having reached a full agreement to end the armed conflict and to advance the peace that Colombians have desired for so long. In order for this possibility to fully occur, it is essential that the negotiations between the Government and ELN also advance. As organizations we will do our best to contribute and observe from our territories the compliance of the announcements made by the parties.
AFRO-COLOMBIAN PEACE COUNCIL – CONPA
Afro-Colombian National Authority ANAFRO
National Association of Displaced Afro-Colombians AFRODES
Association of Community Councils of Northern Cauca ACONC
Afro-Colombian Pastoral Center CEPAC
Afro-Colombian Labor Council CLAF
National Conference of Afro-Colombian Organizations CNOA
Interethnic Solidarity Forum of Chocó FISCH
Process of Black Communities in Colombia PCN
National Network of Afro-Colombian Women Kambiri
De-escalating the confrontation is urgent not only for the country in abstract terms and for the hope of all Colombians, but in particular for the millions of Colombians like us, who have suffered and continue to suffer the many effects of war and confrontation; from our children being recruited by legal and illegal armed groups, forced internal displacement, aerial fumigations, and our rivers, estuaries and mangroves being contaminated by oil spills, as it recently occurred in Tumaco, to the huge tragedies like the ones in Machuca, Bojayá, Naya, and Montes de Maria.
De-escalating the conflict must also involve reducing the military occupation of our collective, ancestral and urban territories, with all the implications this has on our communities’ territories, the pressure on natural resources, and the empowerment our communities, organizations, and leaders. Therefore, we demand that the parties establish a humanitarian commitment to respect the rights of Afro-Colombian people.
Our community has not been heard as a victim, which is necessary if a perspective of truth, justice, reparation and non-repetition that is inclusive, comprehensive, and respectful of social, democratic and ethical values that represents cultural diversity is to be advanced. Therefore, CONPA requests that the parties respond to the communication delivered in December 2014 by the Afro-Colombian National Authority (ANAFRO) which proposed that a delegation of black, Afro-Colombian, Palanquero and Raizal people be received by the parties and that, along with indigenous, and Rom people, the black, Afro-Colombian, Palanquero and Raizal community can work with the parties on guaranteeing our rights in the agreements and their implementation. The history of other negotiation processes, such as the one in Guatemala, has demonstrated to us that it is not enough to be told that our rights will be respected.
From our perspective, the national government and the FARC only have one mandate- to leave the negotiating table having reached a full agreement to end the armed conflict and to advance the peace that Colombians have desired for so long. In order for this possibility to fully occur, it is essential that the negotiations between the Government and ELN also advance. As organizations we will do our best to contribute and observe from our territories the compliance of the announcements made by the parties.
AFRO-COLOMBIAN PEACE COUNCIL – CONPA
Afro-Colombian National Authority ANAFRO
National Association of Displaced Afro-Colombians AFRODES
Association of Community Councils of Northern Cauca ACONC
Afro-Colombian Pastoral Center CEPAC
Afro-Colombian Labor Council CLAF
National Conference of Afro-Colombian Organizations CNOA
Interethnic Solidarity Forum of Chocó FISCH
Process of Black Communities in Colombia PCN
National Network of Afro-Colombian Women Kambiri
Canadian Neocolonialism in Colombia
By Asad Ismi, Policy Alternatives, July/August 2015
In May, the board of Pacific Rubiales, a Canadian firm and the biggest private oil producer in Colombia, announced its support for a takeover bid by the Mexican conglomerate Alfa and U.S.-based Harbour Energy. Pacific Rubiales operates Colombia’s biggest oil field, in the province of Meta, and during the past seven years the company has become synonymous with a doubling of oil exports, from half a million to a million barrels a day. Oil came to account for half of Colombia’s exports and 20% of official revenue, making Pacific Rubiales the most valuable company on the Colombian stock market.
However, by January, the sharp drop in oil prices, and the firm’s trouble developing new oil fields, had cut share prices by 90% from their 2011 high. It was unclear whether Pacific Rubiales shareholders would accept the takeover offer when the Monitor when to print, but Alfa chairman Armando Garza Sada was optimistic: “We maintain our positive view regarding Pacific Rubiales’ excellent track record and on the strength of their people. Thus, by incorporating ALFA and Harbour Energy as new equity holders, we foresee Pacific Rubiales successfully developing investment projects in Colombia.”
The emphasis in the above statement is added, because outside the business pages of daily newspapers, there is nothing excellent about the company’s track record. Pacific Rubiales is just as synonymous with human rights and labour rights violations as with oil export success, and if new production is to occur, there’s slim evidence it will benefit anyone outside the corporate boardroom. Still, the problem in Colombia is much bigger than one company. And the case of Pacific Rubiales, regardless of whether it remains a Canadian firm, holds important lessons on the evolution of Canadian neocolonialism going back 20 years.
Read more here..... (Go to page 47 for this article)
However, by January, the sharp drop in oil prices, and the firm’s trouble developing new oil fields, had cut share prices by 90% from their 2011 high. It was unclear whether Pacific Rubiales shareholders would accept the takeover offer when the Monitor when to print, but Alfa chairman Armando Garza Sada was optimistic: “We maintain our positive view regarding Pacific Rubiales’ excellent track record and on the strength of their people. Thus, by incorporating ALFA and Harbour Energy as new equity holders, we foresee Pacific Rubiales successfully developing investment projects in Colombia.”
The emphasis in the above statement is added, because outside the business pages of daily newspapers, there is nothing excellent about the company’s track record. Pacific Rubiales is just as synonymous with human rights and labour rights violations as with oil export success, and if new production is to occur, there’s slim evidence it will benefit anyone outside the corporate boardroom. Still, the problem in Colombia is much bigger than one company. And the case of Pacific Rubiales, regardless of whether it remains a Canadian firm, holds important lessons on the evolution of Canadian neocolonialism going back 20 years.
Read more here..... (Go to page 47 for this article)
Communique from the Inter-Ethnic (Indigenous and Afrodescendent Communities and Organizations) Encounter regarding the Colombian Peace Process currently underway in Havana, Cuba between the leftist guerrilla group FARC and the Colombian government
The 60 year old conflict in Colombia has coincided with global and national interests in mining, oil and other geostrategic interests, has severely affected rural, Indigenous and Afro-descendent communities through systematic and brutal violence and displacement, as well as ecological devastation. Yet despite the violence of colonialism, globalization and the internal armed conflict in Colombia, Indigenous and Afrodesdendent movements and communities continue to organize and have their voices heard, gaining significant recognition within the Colombian Constitution, including the titling of their territories, and the rights to free prior and informed consent. They are involved in movements to liberate Indigenous territories from speculation, illegal and legal mining, and other globalizing interests, and continue to assert traditional forms of governance and self-defined development.
While encouraging the peace process to continue, there is an ongoing concern that it also stands to continue to adversely affect the rights and territories of Indigenous and Afrodesdendent people throughout Colombia, if their voices are not heard.
While encouraging the peace process to continue, there is an ongoing concern that it also stands to continue to adversely affect the rights and territories of Indigenous and Afrodesdendent people throughout Colombia, if their voices are not heard.
Colombia es el Segundo Pais donde se Asesinaron mas Activistas Ambientales en 2014
"Cada semana son asesinados dos activistas medioambientales en el mundo", esta es la revelación más reciente de la ONG Global Witness que este lunes presentó un informe titulado '¿Cuántos más?'. La organización encargada de investigar casos de corrupción y abusos en la explotación de recursos naturales, aseguró que las cifras pueden ser mucho mayores al no existir datos oficiales por parte de varios gobiernos a quienes la problemática parece no importarles.
Tan solo en el 2014 se registraron 116 asesinatos, 21 más que en 2013. Por países, Brasil lidera la lista con 29 asesinatos, luego está Colombia con 25, Filipinas con 15 y Honduras con 12. A nivel regional Latinoamérica registró 90 asesinatos. Mientras que Honduras, considerado el país más violento del mundo según las Naciones Unidas, es el lugar con más asesinatos de activistas per cápita ya que de 2002 a 2014 se produjeron 111 asesinatos de activistas ambientales.
Vea aqui el informe completo.
Tan solo en el 2014 se registraron 116 asesinatos, 21 más que en 2013. Por países, Brasil lidera la lista con 29 asesinatos, luego está Colombia con 25, Filipinas con 15 y Honduras con 12. A nivel regional Latinoamérica registró 90 asesinatos. Mientras que Honduras, considerado el país más violento del mundo según las Naciones Unidas, es el lugar con más asesinatos de activistas per cápita ya que de 2002 a 2014 se produjeron 111 asesinatos de activistas ambientales.
Vea aqui el informe completo.
As Colombian Oil Money Flowed To Clintons, State Department Took No Action To Prevent Labor Violations
International Business Times
By Matthew Cunningham-Cook
April 08 2015
For union organizers in Colombia, the dangers of their trade were intensifying. When workers at the country’s largest independent oil company staged a strike in 2011, the Colombian military rounded them up at gunpoint and threatened violence if they failed to disband, according to human rights organizations. Similar intimidation tactics against the workers, say labor leaders, amounted to an everyday feature of life.
For the United States, these were precisely the sorts of discomfiting accounts that were supposed to be prevented in Colombia under a labor agreement that accompanied a recently signed free trade pact liberalizing the exchange of goods between the countries. From Washington to Bogota, leaders had promoted the pact as a win for all -- a deal that would at once boost trade while strengthening the rights of embattled Colombian labor organizers. That formulation had previously drawn skepticism from many prominent Democrats, among them Hillary Clinton. Read More Here ...
For the United States, these were precisely the sorts of discomfiting accounts that were supposed to be prevented in Colombia under a labor agreement that accompanied a recently signed free trade pact liberalizing the exchange of goods between the countries. From Washington to Bogota, leaders had promoted the pact as a win for all -- a deal that would at once boost trade while strengthening the rights of embattled Colombian labor organizers. That formulation had previously drawn skepticism from many prominent Democrats, among them Hillary Clinton. Read More Here ...
Francisco Ramirez - SINTRAMINERCOL
Mining / Colombia
Video: Enzo Moreno
Mar 24, 2015
Message from Francisco Ramirez to the Canadian union members, explaining that some of the retirement funds handled by their unions are invested in mining companies!!
Colombia: is the end in sight to the
world’s longest war?
The Guardian, March 15, 2015
Ed Vulliamy
Since 1948,
a four-sided civil war has raged in Colombia, bringing misery and displacement
to millions. Now, with talks under way involving left-wing group Farc, there’s
the best chance of peace in decades.
On the frayed, far south-western outskirts of Bogotá, the largest, poorest and most violent barrio in the Colombian capital stretches into the haze up the mountainside as far as the eye can see. No one knows how many people live in the redbrick and pebble dash dwellings along the pitted streets of Ciudad Bolívar; estimates range from 700,000 to more than a million. Read more here …
On the frayed, far south-western outskirts of Bogotá, the largest, poorest and most violent barrio in the Colombian capital stretches into the haze up the mountainside as far as the eye can see. No one knows how many people live in the redbrick and pebble dash dwellings along the pitted streets of Ciudad Bolívar; estimates range from 700,000 to more than a million. Read more here …
Bernardo Jaramillo Ossa, Union Patriotica
(QEPD) 1956 - 1990
20 aniversario del asesinato
de Bernardo Jaramillo
Hace 20 años asesinaron a Bernardo Jaramillo en momentos en que desarrollaba la campaña electoral como candidato presidencial de la Unión Patriotica. Fue el 22 de marzo de 1990. En esa campaña murieron tres candidatos presidenciales.
Veinte años despues el país esta en manos del poder político de la mafia y el paramilitarismo. Contra el olvido y la impunidad ayudémos a difundir este mensaje.
Hace 20 años asesinaron a Bernardo Jaramillo en momentos en que desarrollaba la campaña electoral como candidato presidencial de la Unión Patriotica. Fue el 22 de marzo de 1990. En esa campaña murieron tres candidatos presidenciales.
Veinte años despues el país esta en manos del poder político de la mafia y el paramilitarismo. Contra el olvido y la impunidad ayudémos a difundir este mensaje.
Por: TATIANA ESCÁRRAGA |
1:10 a.m. | 22 de marzo de 2015
Bernardo
Jaramillo rechazó la lucha armada y pidió a la guerrilla y al Gobierno que se
sentaran a negociar la paz.
Paula Tatiana Jaramillo Zapata murió el 30 de marzo del 2014. Tenía 34 años y una afección en los pulmones que la había postrado en cama durante un largo periodo. Cuando niña, se volvió triste. A veces, parecía ausente. Tímida. El último día de su vida, le preguntó a su madre si la muerte era horrible. “Creo que mi papá ya viene por mí”, le dijo. Y comenzó su adiós. (Lea también: 'Bernardo Jaramillo murió en mis brazos').
Read More here ...
Paula Tatiana Jaramillo Zapata murió el 30 de marzo del 2014. Tenía 34 años y una afección en los pulmones que la había postrado en cama durante un largo periodo. Cuando niña, se volvió triste. A veces, parecía ausente. Tímida. El último día de su vida, le preguntó a su madre si la muerte era horrible. “Creo que mi papá ya viene por mí”, le dijo. Y comenzó su adiós. (Lea también: 'Bernardo Jaramillo murió en mis brazos').
Read More here ...
ALBA IS THE BEST
This year’s themes are food and water sovereignty. Our conversations will focus on understanding what is food and water sovereignty? How communities and nations ensure their access to nutritional food and clean water today and in the future. And, looking at how communities and nations in Latin America and the Caribbean have responded to the commodification of food and water?
The commodification of food and water happens when basic human needs are seen as things to be bought and sold for profit. increasingly, corporations are taking control of food and water resulting in increased food and water insecurity for most of the world’s population, the proliferation of genetically modified organisms, the privatization of water, corporate land grabbing and unsustainable agricultural practices which has resulted in the destruction of the environment.. This has been and continues to be resisted globally!
Please join us as we discuss, debate and strategize together and continue to vision and build food and water sovereignty!
The commodification of food and water happens when basic human needs are seen as things to be bought and sold for profit. increasingly, corporations are taking control of food and water resulting in increased food and water insecurity for most of the world’s population, the proliferation of genetically modified organisms, the privatization of water, corporate land grabbing and unsustainable agricultural practices which has resulted in the destruction of the environment.. This has been and continues to be resisted globally!
Please join us as we discuss, debate and strategize together and continue to vision and build food and water sovereignty!
April 21 - The Colombian Peace Talks between the Government of Colombia and the FARC-EP currently sponsored by the Government of Cuba and Norway
5:30 PM
Beit Zatoun, 612 Markham St.
Organized by: Cabildo Manuelita Saenz
For more info contact: [email protected]
5:30 PM
Beit Zatoun, 612 Markham St.
Organized by: Cabildo Manuelita Saenz
For more info contact: [email protected]
Colombia: Mining Injustice Chronicles and Social Conflict
Join us for an afternoon of videos and discussion exploring the impacts of large-scale mining and resource extraction in Colombia and how communities are resisting and mobilizing to defend their rights and livelihoods.
Organized by: Colombia Action Solidarity Alliance, a working group of the Latin American & Caribbean Solidarity Network, an action group of OPIRG-Toronto.
For More information: [email protected]
Regarding the murder of Father Reinel Restrepo
Joint statement urging protection for human rights defenders following murder of Father Reinel Restrepo of Marmato, Colombia
Send to: Canadian Embassy in Colombia
CC: Angelino Garzón, Vice President of Colombia
Carlos Rodado, Minister of Mining
Maria Paulina Riveros, Minister of the Interior for Human Rights
Viviane Morales, Attorney General
Peter Volk, Gran Colombia Gold General Counsel and VP
In response to news of the murder of Father José Reinel Restrepo, parish priest of the municipality of Marmato in the department of Caldas, Colombia, we would like to express our sadness at this loss of a young community leader, along with our deep concern that Canadian mining companies may well be aggravating or benefiting from violence in this area.
News of Restrepo’s shooting comes little more than two weeks after Prime Minister Harper celebrated the coming into effect of the Canada Colombia Free Trade Agreement in Bogotá. He belittled anyone who puts human rights before free trade, calling them “protectionist.” But recent events once again raise the question about who needs greater protections: Canadian corporations or human rights defenders in Colombia standing up for collective interests in their communities.
On September 2nd, the body of Father Restrepo was found shot dead near his motorcycle on the road between Viterbo and Belén de Umbría in the department of Caldas, south of the municipality of Marmato. The 36 year-old priest had served for two years in the parish church of Marmato. No perpetrators in this crime have yet been identified, nor has a motive for Father Restrepo’s killing been determined.
In a communiqué, however, the Civic Committee for the Defence of Marmato, the Association of Small Scale Miners of Marmato, and the Regional Indigenous Committee of the Department of Caldas point out that Restrepo was an outspoken opponent to the development of an open-pit gold mine
that would require the relocation of the entire town of Marmato. He had recently been on a trip to Bogotá in order to investigate information allegedly circulated by Medoro Resources, which recently merged with Toronto-based Gran Colombia Gold, saying that the parish church was up for sale.
“This Canadian multinational company wants to take advantage of the population; they want to drive them out.,” said Father Restrepo during a recent interview for a Colombian television special. They have even gone so far as to want to relocate the parish church, and they’ve come and asked
me if I agree with the relocation of the town. I’ve ignored them, I’ve avoided them, and I’ve also responded saying, no. I’ve openly told them that I’m not in agreement with this.’
“The church is a defender of the poor, the church declares itself in defence of the poor, and the small scale miners of Marmato are at real risk of losing their jobs in this situation… The company doesn’t
provide them with an alternative to their jobs because the company wants to use open-pit mining by displacing the population and exploiting this area in a short period of time.”
The municipality of Marmato has historically relied on small-scale mining activities. Indigenous artisanal mining has taken place for centuries in this area, with afro-colombians and more recently other miners joining in. Besides requiring relocation of the heritage mining town, the proposed large-scale open pit gold mine would compound pressures small-scale miners are already experiencing, having been being declared illegal by the Colombian State. Miners are being cut-off from the supply of explosives, forcing them to use home-made, unsafe techniques. This project also impacts on ongoing land claims to the area by the Indigenous Embera people whom companies have not recognized.
The Canadian company Colombia Goldfields Ltd originally began working in Marmato in 2005, before Medoro Resources bought them out in 2010. Medoro Resources then merged with Gran Colombia Gold Corp in June 2011. Gran Colombia Gold issued a statement on September 2nd with regard to Restrepo’s murder stating, “We hope the authorities will fully investigate this crime and swiftly establish what took place. The company reiterates our complete rejection of any acts of
violence.”
Such statements are not enough.
Echoing the demands of committees and associations in Marmato and Caldas, we urge Canadian authorities to cooperate with all investigations into this matter in order to ensure that the facts surrounding Restrepo’s murder are brought to light. Furthermore, we emphasize that it is vitally important that the Canadian government ensure that Canadian mining companies operating in Colombia, in the context of the ongoing internal armed conflict, are not causing, aggravating, or benefiting from violence and human rights violations. If this cannot be determined or guaranteed, the Canadian government should be compelled to reconsider its policy of aggressive economic expansion and the shoring up of corporate investments through trade and investment agreements.
"Speaking tour on Colombians' struggle for Peace and Justice"
April - May
Stewart Vriesinga - Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT)
Speaking Tour's Main Objective:
From April 9th, 2011 to May 14th 2011, Stewart Vriesinga, of Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT), plans to be doing a speaking tour in Ontario on CPT work with Colombian communities in their struggle for Peace and Justice. CPT works primarily with communities who are victims of violence and at risk of losing/have already lost their lands as a result of violent internal displacement. Stewart will try to address the context of this struggle at various levels: locally, nationally and globally with a special emphasis on how Canadian-Colombian relations are affected by, and affecting the conflict and perpetuate injustice and Human Rights abuses.
Stewart's Bio:
Stewart is a Quaker, a pacifist and an activist, full-time volunteer with Christian Peacemaker Teams. He works with communities and organizations threatened by violence and struggling for justice in the Magdalena Medio region and also does advocacy work for these communities in Canada.
His academic studies included technical training electronics etc., but he is also graduated from Trent University's Comparative Development studies program --the study of different types of development models at macro and micro levels, barriers to development, the roles of global institutions and self determination, grass-roots development.
He has served with Peace Brigades International in El Salvador (1990 - 1991), worked with the experiential-learning program One World Global Education in Canada and Central America (1995 - 2001), and volunteered with Christian Peacemaker Teams (2002 - Present) in Canada, Iraq and since 2005, Colombia.
Schedule:
1. April 6 – 10th Various presentations in Ottawa / Kingston
2. April 9th , Entrevista Radio La Esquina. (Spanish)
3. April 11th, MP Communications, programa Radial de los Vecinos 4. April 14th -15th CUPE Mining Justice. (English)
5. April 17th, Radio interview with CKLN - "Aqui Nuestra America"
6.- April 18-19 CUPE - Locals (English)
7 April 20th LACSN - General Assembly (English)
8. April 24th Easter Sunday, San Lorenzo Church (Spanish) Santiago??
9. April 24th, Radio Interview with Sembradoras (Spanish)
10 April 26 - 30th Various presentations in Ottawa / Montreal
11 May 4 o 11, York University, CERLAC, Latinas (English)
12 May 6 – 8. Mining Injustice Conference - Displacement Panel. (English)
13 May 13th Public Forum LACSN, OISE, 6:30pm to 9:00pm, Room # 5-150
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For more info:
http://stewart-in-colombia.blogspot.com/2011/03/april-may-2011-presentation-schedule-in.html
US banana firm hired Colombian paramilitaries
Chiquita has been more involved with Colombian paramilitaries than previously believed, newly released documents reveal.
http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/features/2011/04/20114813392621189.html
March 28, 2011
CARTA ABIERTA AL PRESIDENTE DE COLOMBIA
OPEN LETTER TO COLOMBIAN PRESIDENT
Dear friends:
A vigil organized by Christian Peacemaker Teams Colombia was held today Monday, March 28, 2011, 12 noon, at the Colombian Consulate, in solidarity with 123 farming families of 'Las Pavas Community'. Colombia. There were also vigils held in Boston, New York City, Chicago, New Orleans, Washington D.C in the U. S., and Berlin, Germany.
These families are returning today to a piece of land that they previously farmed for food. They were forcibly removed from this land by riot police about two years ago so that the land could be used by a disputed absentee landlord to grow palm trees for export of palm oil to be used for biofuel and cosmetics. CPT Colombia has accompanied this community since that time.
CPT Colombia was also one of the sponsors of a successful campaign to have 'the Body Shops' corporation stop buying palm oil for its cosmetics from the Daabon Corporation whose subsidiary has taken this land. A more complete history can be read at http://tinyurl.com/6blpgfu
A letter was delivered to the Colombian Consul in Toronto. Copy of a similar letter is found at the end of this message. We are now asking you to send email letters to Colombian President and three other government officials.
Finally, for those living in Toronto, we invite you to respectfully express concern for the people of Las Pavas and their situation by calling (416) 977-0098; 977-0475 or by writing to the Consul of Colombia at [email protected]
Dr. Juan Manuel Santos
Presidente de la República de Colombia [email protected]
Sr. Argelino Garzón
Vicepresidente de la República [email protected] )
Sr. Diego Andrés Molano Aponte
Acción Social [email protected]
Dr. Juan Camilo Restrepo
Ministro de Agricultura ([email protected])
Apreciado Señor Presidente:
Recibimos noticias que las 123 familias que fueron desalojadas forzosamente el 14 de julio de 2009, por miembros
de la del Policía Nacional y del Escuadrón Móvil Antidisturbios, han decidido retornar al predio rural conocido como
Las Pavas, ubicado en el corregimiento de Buenos Aires, jurisdicción del municipio de El Peñón, al sur del
departamento de Bolívar. Esto porque consideran que es la única medida que les queda para asegurarse el acceso
a los medios de subsistencia de los que fueron privados como consecuencia del desalojo.
Estas familias campesinas desplazadas, que conforman la Asociación de Campesinos de Buenos Aires (ASOCAB)
entraron a ocupar en 1997 la finca Las Pavas cuyas tierras, antes ocupadas por el presunto narcotraficante
Jesús Emilio Escobar Fernández, se encontraban abandonadas desde 1992. Desde entonces las familias
ejercieron actos de posesión pacífica y explotación agrícola de las tierras, mediante la cual garantizaban
su supervivencia. La posesión pacífica de las tierras por parte de estas familias se vió interrumpida varias
veces debido a acciones intimidatorias y desplazamiento forzado causado por grupos paramilitares.
En el 2006 ASOCAB inició trámites solicitando que se declarase la extinción de dominio sobre una extensión
de tierra que se encontraba abandonada y sin ser explotada por parte de su propietario. Al mismo tiempo
que se adelantaban estos trámites, en el 2007 el propietario del predio vendió las tierras en cuestión
al Consorcio El Labrador. En enero de 2009, estas empresas solicitaron una acción policial de desalojo en
contra de las familias y a favor de la posesión por ellos detentada. El desalojo forzoso se hizo efectivo el
14 de julio del 2009.
La comunidad ha interpuesto sin éxito, recursos administrativos y judiciales solicitando que se revoquen las
órdenes de desalojo, se regularice la posesión del predio que ocuparon desde 1997 y para buscar protección a sus
derechos en general, incluyendo su derecho a la alimentación. La ineficacia de dichas acciones evidencia la
desprotección de la que es víctima comunidad que ha confiado en los medios pacíficos e
institucionales para exigir sus derechos.
Esta situación coloca al estado colombiano en incumplimiento de sus obligaciones internacionales bajo la
carta de derechos humanos. La continua falta de protección de parte de las autoridades estatales y las
condiciones indignas de subsistencia que padecen, incluyendo una preocupante situación alimentaria, ha
llevado a la comunidad a decidir retornar a Las Pavas. Es de suma importancia que el Estado colombiano
asegure que dicho retorno se realice de manera pacífica, segura, garantizando la vida e integridad
física, así como su derechos a alimentarse: acciones en este sentido son inminentes, considerando tanto
las amenazas, la campaña de desprestigio y los actos de hostigamiento de los cuales han venido siendo
víctimas líderes de la comunidad, como su grave situación alimentaria en que se encuentran.
El estado Colombiano ha ratificado el Pacto de Derechos Económicos, Sociales y Culturales y el Pacto de
Derechos Civiles y Políticos, así como los instrumentos del Sistema Interamericano de Derechos Humanos.
Bajo estos instrumentos está obligado a respetar, proteger y garantizar el derecho a la alimentación y otros
derechos de todos los habitantes de su territorio, incluyendo los de las familias miembros de ASOCAB.
Con base en estas obligaciones internacionales le solicitamos que:
- Instruya a las fuerzas del orden y seguridad, para que se abstengan del uso indiscriminado
de la fuerza contra las familias durante el proceso de retorno y para que protejan a las 123 familias
de cualquier uso de la fuerza en su contra a manos de terceros o en nombre de las otras partes interesadas
en dicho predio, asegurando un retorno pacífico.
- Adopte medidas para facilitar que las familias tengan acceso a alimentación adecuada durante y
después del proceso. Especialmente le solicito dar prioridad al uso que las familias puedan dar a las tierras
para alimentarse y sólo considerar la asistencia alimentaria como una medida subsidiaria o complementaria
durante el tiempo en que ellas no pueden recoger cosechas suficientes para el sustento de sus familias.
Medidas de esta naturaleza estarían en consonancia con la observación General No. 12 del Comité DESC de la ONU.
- Ordene Iniciar una investigación de los actos de hostigamiento contra miembros de la comunidad y
adoptar medidas para el cese de los actos de hostigamiento.
- Adopte las medidas necesarias para que se regularice la propiedad de la tierra por parte de ASOCAB.
- Garantizar el acceso de la comunidad a mecanismos jurídicos efectivos que les permitan obtener la
restitución de sus derechos y en especial la indemnización por los daños que han sufrido a causa del
desplazamiento.
- Establecer un sistema para dar seguimiento a la situación de la comunidad y evitar que se produzcan
nuevos desalojos o acciones u omisiones estatales o privadas que impidan a la comunidad ejercer su derecho a
alimentarse y derechos correlativos.
Agradecemos su atención a la presente y le solicitamos que nos tenga informados sobre las medidas
adoptadas, que según la información que poseemos, están en línea con las políticas agrarias y de
restitución que han sido uno de los lemas principales de su Gobierno.
Atentamente,
LACSN
Asociación internacional de estudiantes protesta por presencia de Álvaro Uribe en universidad francesa
Estudiantes y jóvenes colombianos, franceses y latinoamericanos de la asociación TEJE, residentes en Francia y Europa, redactaron el siguiente comunicado que les compartimos:
Rechazo al nombramiento de Alvaro Uribe como profesor en Francia
Nosotros, miembros de la Asociación TEJE, compuesta principalmente por estudiantes colombianos y egresados de instituciones de educación superior en Francia, expresamos nuestra indignación frente a la nominación reciente de Alvaro Uribe Vélez como profesor en la Escuela Nacional de Ingenieros de Metz (ENIM).
Personaje controversial en la historia reciente de Colombia, Presidente de la República de 2002 a 2010, Alvaro Uribe ha estado implicado en numerosos casos de violación de Derechos Humanos, principalmente por haber ingresado al panorama político gracias a las maniobras perpertradas en contubernio con narcotraficantes y líderes de los ejércitos paramilitares, los cuales ayudó a fundar desde los años 80.
Decenas de parlamentarios de su partido y de partidos aliados, algunos de sus colaboradores más cercanos y miembros de su familia – entre los cuales se encuentra su primo y aliado político Mario Uribe, condenado el 20 de febrero de este año – están siendo juzgados y están hoy en la cárcel por haber sido instigadores y cómplices de crímenes, cometidos en connivencia con los narco-paramilitares.
Además, Alvaro Uribe espió, por medio de los servicios secretos del estado (DAS), a opositores, periodistas, defensores de derechos humanos e incluso a algunos miemrbos del Parlamento Europeo, operando una campaña para desacreditarlos. Sus declaraciones públicas han puesto en peligro la vida de todo opositor a su gobierno y algunos han tenido que exiliarse.
Más grave para nosotros, la juventud colombiana ha sido la principal víctima del señor Uribe. Instauró políticas de recompensas de doble filo. Por un lado, prometió a los soldados primas e incentivos por cada guerrillero caído en combate lo que desencadenó uno de los fenómenos más macabros de la última década: los « falsos positivos ». Se trata cerca de 3.000 personas, según las estimaciones, de los cuales muchos eran jóvenes de barrios, asesinados a sangre fría y presentados como guerrilleros muertos en combate.
Esta misma política de recompensas ha obrado al interior de las universidades y de los liceos. Nuestos jóvenes han sido incitados a participar en el conflicto armado. Alvaro Uribe, aprovechando su vulnerabilidad financiera, les ofreció un sueldo a cambio de denunciar a sos condiscípulos de quienes sospecharan tener nexos con las guerrillas. Esta puesta en práctica de una política vergonzosa de cazarrecompensas es ampliamente reprochable desde un punto de vista ético.
En la misma medida, por encima de la libertad y la autonomía de las universidades, la policía y el ejército colombianos han ingresado en las instituciones escolares, utilizando balas reales y ocasionando víctimas mortales entre los estudiantes, como son los casos de Jaime Acosta en Bucaramanga, Nicolas Neira en Bogotá, Jhonny Silva en Cali, entre otros.
En circunstancias similares, en el 2010, Alvaro Uribe fue objeto de polémicas en la Universidad de Georgetown, donde 80 profesores de Estados Unidos firmaron una carta de rechazo por su presencia allí, como en otras instituciones educativas. La universidad entendió la amplitud y el peso de las protestas y dió fin a su misión.
Según un comunidado de l'ENIM, « La Escuela Nacional de Ingenieros de Metz no podía pretender tener mejor embajador. No se tiene todos los días al antiguo presidente de un país como profesor ». Ciertamente, esto no se produce muy seguido y es por esta razón que la Escuela debería escoger mejor a sus invitados. Resulta inexcusable, por los tiempos que corren, legitimar a personajes que generan controversia e incluso sanciones por parte de su propio pueblo, víctima de las derivas de su poder. La caída de los dictadores en el mundo árabe, quienes fueron antes recibidos en pompa por el gobierno francés, nos lo prueba.
En nombre de los millones de víctimas de las masacres, los desplazamientos por la fuerza (l'ACNUR habla de 3,4 millones), los ataques contra la libertad de expresión, ejercemos nuestro deber de ciudadanos haciendo oir nuestra voz y la de las colombianas y colombianos que han sido y que continúan siendo víctimas de la guerra absurda que se libra en nuestro país. Una guerra exarcebada durante los ocho años de Alvaro Uribe en el poder.
Association TEJE
TEJE es una red de Asociaciones en Francia, compuesta principalmente por jóvenes colombianos, latinoamericanos y franceses que desarrollan actividades de solidaridad con America Latina.
Contacto:
[email protected]
http://www.teje.fr/
facebook.com/teje.association
Rechazo al nombramiento de Alvaro Uribe como profesor en Francia
Nosotros, miembros de la Asociación TEJE, compuesta principalmente por estudiantes colombianos y egresados de instituciones de educación superior en Francia, expresamos nuestra indignación frente a la nominación reciente de Alvaro Uribe Vélez como profesor en la Escuela Nacional de Ingenieros de Metz (ENIM).
Personaje controversial en la historia reciente de Colombia, Presidente de la República de 2002 a 2010, Alvaro Uribe ha estado implicado en numerosos casos de violación de Derechos Humanos, principalmente por haber ingresado al panorama político gracias a las maniobras perpertradas en contubernio con narcotraficantes y líderes de los ejércitos paramilitares, los cuales ayudó a fundar desde los años 80.
Decenas de parlamentarios de su partido y de partidos aliados, algunos de sus colaboradores más cercanos y miembros de su familia – entre los cuales se encuentra su primo y aliado político Mario Uribe, condenado el 20 de febrero de este año – están siendo juzgados y están hoy en la cárcel por haber sido instigadores y cómplices de crímenes, cometidos en connivencia con los narco-paramilitares.
Además, Alvaro Uribe espió, por medio de los servicios secretos del estado (DAS), a opositores, periodistas, defensores de derechos humanos e incluso a algunos miemrbos del Parlamento Europeo, operando una campaña para desacreditarlos. Sus declaraciones públicas han puesto en peligro la vida de todo opositor a su gobierno y algunos han tenido que exiliarse.
Más grave para nosotros, la juventud colombiana ha sido la principal víctima del señor Uribe. Instauró políticas de recompensas de doble filo. Por un lado, prometió a los soldados primas e incentivos por cada guerrillero caído en combate lo que desencadenó uno de los fenómenos más macabros de la última década: los « falsos positivos ». Se trata cerca de 3.000 personas, según las estimaciones, de los cuales muchos eran jóvenes de barrios, asesinados a sangre fría y presentados como guerrilleros muertos en combate.
Esta misma política de recompensas ha obrado al interior de las universidades y de los liceos. Nuestos jóvenes han sido incitados a participar en el conflicto armado. Alvaro Uribe, aprovechando su vulnerabilidad financiera, les ofreció un sueldo a cambio de denunciar a sos condiscípulos de quienes sospecharan tener nexos con las guerrillas. Esta puesta en práctica de una política vergonzosa de cazarrecompensas es ampliamente reprochable desde un punto de vista ético.
En la misma medida, por encima de la libertad y la autonomía de las universidades, la policía y el ejército colombianos han ingresado en las instituciones escolares, utilizando balas reales y ocasionando víctimas mortales entre los estudiantes, como son los casos de Jaime Acosta en Bucaramanga, Nicolas Neira en Bogotá, Jhonny Silva en Cali, entre otros.
En circunstancias similares, en el 2010, Alvaro Uribe fue objeto de polémicas en la Universidad de Georgetown, donde 80 profesores de Estados Unidos firmaron una carta de rechazo por su presencia allí, como en otras instituciones educativas. La universidad entendió la amplitud y el peso de las protestas y dió fin a su misión.
Según un comunidado de l'ENIM, « La Escuela Nacional de Ingenieros de Metz no podía pretender tener mejor embajador. No se tiene todos los días al antiguo presidente de un país como profesor ». Ciertamente, esto no se produce muy seguido y es por esta razón que la Escuela debería escoger mejor a sus invitados. Resulta inexcusable, por los tiempos que corren, legitimar a personajes que generan controversia e incluso sanciones por parte de su propio pueblo, víctima de las derivas de su poder. La caída de los dictadores en el mundo árabe, quienes fueron antes recibidos en pompa por el gobierno francés, nos lo prueba.
En nombre de los millones de víctimas de las masacres, los desplazamientos por la fuerza (l'ACNUR habla de 3,4 millones), los ataques contra la libertad de expresión, ejercemos nuestro deber de ciudadanos haciendo oir nuestra voz y la de las colombianas y colombianos que han sido y que continúan siendo víctimas de la guerra absurda que se libra en nuestro país. Una guerra exarcebada durante los ocho años de Alvaro Uribe en el poder.
Association TEJE
TEJE es una red de Asociaciones en Francia, compuesta principalmente por jóvenes colombianos, latinoamericanos y franceses que desarrollan actividades de solidaridad con America Latina.
Contacto:
[email protected]
facebook.com/teje.association
CSN Delegations to Colombia
Dear friends:
We received quite late the information from Colombia in order to calculate the costs. Here is the in
Colombia Support Network (CSN) has received an invitation to lead a delegation to the city of Bucaramanga, Colombia, in order to be present and accompany civil society groups which are concerned about the plan of Greystar Resources, a Canadian mining company, to remove gold and silver with an open pit mine in the environmentally sensitive highlands known as the Santurban paramo. We have been invited by the Association to Defend the Santurban Paramo to vist the proposed mine site and attend a public hearing scheduled by Colombia’s Minister of the Environment for March 4,2011. Greystar is seeking approval of its plan for Santurban by the Ministry of the Environment and we seek to prevent the Santurban mining project.
CSN is an organization in solidarity with Colombian communities in non-violent resistance to Colombian Government plans to take their lands and to carry out develpment programs which would severely harm these communities. Formed in 1988, CSN is a non-profit 501 (c)(3) organization incorporated in the State of Wisconsin and headquartered in the city of Madison. CSN has as its general goal a change in United States foreign policy towards Colombia to a policy in agreement with CSN’s principles, which are:
1. Peace with justice in Colombia
2. A negotiatied solution to the conflict
3. Strengthening of civil society in Colombia
4. Non-alignment with any of the armed actors in Colombia
5. Strengthening U.S. democracy itself by giving the tools to common citizens to contact their Senators and Representatives in Congress.
To achieve its goals, one ot the tools CSN uses is taking delegations to Colombia. For the last 24 years CSN has taken an average of 3 delegations per year. There are two kinds of delegations: 1) sister community delegations in order to strengthen relations between communities in the U.S. and their respective rural organized communities in Colombia and 2) fact- finding delegations in specific cases such as massacres or fumigations. This delegation to Santurban would be a fact-finding delegation.
Why Santurban? The reasons for Santurban now are explained in the following paper.
The delegation will have two stages. One will be from March 2 through 6 to visit Santurban, to be present in the mentioned hearing in Bucaramanga, and to carry out outreach to local organizations that oppose the open pit mine because it will contaminate water sources and endanger the delicate eco-system of the paramos which produce water.
The second stage will be in the city of Bogota from March 6 - 8 where we will visit several government offices and meet with other environmental groups that also want to stop this project.
The total calculated cost is about $1,700 leaving from Milwaukee and $1,800 leaving from Chicago includes international flight, flight to Bucaramanga, hotel, meals and local transportation.
For people from Canada if you buy your round trip international flight ticket the cost of local travel in Colombia, plus lodging plus meals would be $700
If anyone is interested please contact us as soon as possible and we will send you the application forms.
Cecilia Zarate- Laun CSN
=====================================================
Please be generous - Support our work! Click "Make a donation" from our home page: http://www.colombiasupport.net
Find us on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Colombia-Support-Network/139226906108828
Colombia Support Network
P.O. Box 1505
Madison, WI 53701-1505
Phone: (608) 257-8753
Fax: (608) 255-6621
E-mail: [email protected]
We received quite late the information from Colombia in order to calculate the costs. Here is the in
Colombia Support Network (CSN) has received an invitation to lead a delegation to the city of Bucaramanga, Colombia, in order to be present and accompany civil society groups which are concerned about the plan of Greystar Resources, a Canadian mining company, to remove gold and silver with an open pit mine in the environmentally sensitive highlands known as the Santurban paramo. We have been invited by the Association to Defend the Santurban Paramo to vist the proposed mine site and attend a public hearing scheduled by Colombia’s Minister of the Environment for March 4,2011. Greystar is seeking approval of its plan for Santurban by the Ministry of the Environment and we seek to prevent the Santurban mining project.
CSN is an organization in solidarity with Colombian communities in non-violent resistance to Colombian Government plans to take their lands and to carry out develpment programs which would severely harm these communities. Formed in 1988, CSN is a non-profit 501 (c)(3) organization incorporated in the State of Wisconsin and headquartered in the city of Madison. CSN has as its general goal a change in United States foreign policy towards Colombia to a policy in agreement with CSN’s principles, which are:
1. Peace with justice in Colombia
2. A negotiatied solution to the conflict
3. Strengthening of civil society in Colombia
4. Non-alignment with any of the armed actors in Colombia
5. Strengthening U.S. democracy itself by giving the tools to common citizens to contact their Senators and Representatives in Congress.
To achieve its goals, one ot the tools CSN uses is taking delegations to Colombia. For the last 24 years CSN has taken an average of 3 delegations per year. There are two kinds of delegations: 1) sister community delegations in order to strengthen relations between communities in the U.S. and their respective rural organized communities in Colombia and 2) fact- finding delegations in specific cases such as massacres or fumigations. This delegation to Santurban would be a fact-finding delegation.
Why Santurban? The reasons for Santurban now are explained in the following paper.
The delegation will have two stages. One will be from March 2 through 6 to visit Santurban, to be present in the mentioned hearing in Bucaramanga, and to carry out outreach to local organizations that oppose the open pit mine because it will contaminate water sources and endanger the delicate eco-system of the paramos which produce water.
The second stage will be in the city of Bogota from March 6 - 8 where we will visit several government offices and meet with other environmental groups that also want to stop this project.
The total calculated cost is about $1,700 leaving from Milwaukee and $1,800 leaving from Chicago includes international flight, flight to Bucaramanga, hotel, meals and local transportation.
For people from Canada if you buy your round trip international flight ticket the cost of local travel in Colombia, plus lodging plus meals would be $700
If anyone is interested please contact us as soon as possible and we will send you the application forms.
Cecilia Zarate- Laun CSN
=====================================================
Please be generous - Support our work! Click "Make a donation" from our home page: http://www.colombiasupport.net
Find us on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Colombia-Support-Network/139226906108828
Colombia Support Network
P.O. Box 1505
Madison, WI 53701-1505
Phone: (608) 257-8753
Fax: (608) 255-6621
E-mail: [email protected]
(VIDEO) DOCUMENTAL VOLVER A NACER
Memoria desde el exilio del genocidio de la Unión Patriótica en Colombia
En 1984 el gobierno colombiano y la guerrilla de las FARC acordaron el cese el fuego para iniciar conversaciones de paz. Un año después surgía un movimiento político en el cual los guerrilleros participarían cambiando el fusil por el discurso: la Unión Patriótica. Al proyecto se sumaron excombatientes, las principales fuerzas de izquierda e incluso liberales, conservadores y dirigentes sociales que buscaban una vía pacífica para llevar a cabo los profundos cambios que Colombia necesitaba. Los magníficos resultados obtenidos en las elecciones de 1986 desencadenaron el comienzo del genocidio político de la UP: en menos de una década fueron asesinados, desaparecidos, torturados y encarcelados unos 5.000 simpatizantes y militantes, la mayoría a manos de paramilitares, militares y policías plenamente identificados, a pesar de que no ha habido casi ninguna condena. Quienes dieron la orden de matar todavía permanecen ocultos bajo el oscuro manto de la impunidad. Unos y otros actuaron conjuntamente por miedo a que la UP se convirtiera en una opción real de poder en Colombia. Durante todos estos años de persecución, centenares de militantes de la UP abandonaron Colombia para escapar de las balas. Volver a nacer reconstruye la trágica historia de este partido a través de los testimonios de las y los exiliados en España. Sus vidas son un ejemplo de lucha por la defensa de los derechos humanos en su sentido más amplio y representan una alternativa al conflicto que desangra su país desde hace décadas. Fueron hombres y mujeres valerosos que lo dieron todo por sus ideales y en el camino perdieron a sus compañeros, hijos, padres, amigos, conocidos… Hoy, en medio del dolor por tantas ausencias, se sienten orgullosos de lo que fueron y de lo que son aunque no puedan regresar a Colombia.
Hace tres años la Fundación CEPS inició una investigación sobre el exilio de la UP en el Estado español, lo que permitió identificar a 34 sobrevivientes del genocidio. Con algunos de los casos se produjo el documental Volver a nacer, que hasta la fecha, ha obtenido tres reconocimientos: premio de periodismo solidario IV Memorial Joan Gomis (Barcelona, 2009); mejor película de la sección memoria y justicia universal del I Festival Internacional de Cine y Derechos Humanos de Santa Coloma de Gramenet (Barcelona, 2009); finalista al Premio Aula 7 de la III Muestra de Cine Documental de Montaverner (Valencia, 2010). Sin embargo, adaptar esas intensas vivencias al formato audiovisual implicó necesariamente renunciar a parte de la historia del exilio. En 50 minutos no es posible incluir los testimonios de todas y todos los exiliados identificados, ni siquiera se puede mostrar todo lo que querían expresar las y los protagonistas del documental. Por esta razón, decidimos elaborar un libro que recoja sus historias de vida escritas en primera persona, complementado con testimonios de sus familiares y la descripción del contexto sociopolítico en que se desarrolló la UP. Este libro, financiado gracias al premio IV Memorial Joan Gomis y a las ayudas de la Diputación de Málaga y la Oficina de Promoción de la Paz y de los Derechos Humanos de la Generalitat de Catalunya, es la herramienta que más se aproxima al objetivo de plasmar una historia distinta -desde la óptica del exilio- a la que se ha contado hasta ahora sobre el genocidio de la UP.
Volver a nacer ha sido editado por la Fundación CEPS, una organización política no partidaria dedicada a la producción de pensamiento crítico y al trabajo cultural e intelectual para fomentar consensos de izquierdas. CEPS cuenta con más de 200 profesionales y profesores e investigadores de varias universidades españolas, que pretenden contribuir desinteresadamente con la aplicación práctica de su trabajo intelectual a la transformación de la sociedad en una realidad más justa, democrática y solidaria. Trabaja en el ámbito de la cooperación técnica al desarrollo en América Latina, la sensibilización y la observación electoral, así como en tareas de investigación y promoción del debate científico en el área de las ciencias sociales.
El periodista Paco Simón realizó la investigación sobre la UP y la coordinación del documental y del libro, con la colaboración del sociólogo Jorge Moruno. Simón fue voluntario de Brigadas Internacionales de Paz en Colombia, una ONG que acompaña a defensores de derechos humanos y comunidades en resistencia frente al conflicto, e investigador de Reiniciar, la organización colombiana que trabaja en la reconstrucción de la memoria histórica de la UP y representa a las víctimas en la demanda internacional por el genocidio. Moruno ha formado parte de los equipos de investigación del Instituto de Gobierno y Políticas Públicas de la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona y del Observatorio del Sistema Penal y los Derechos Humanos de la Universitat de Barcelona.
VOLVER A NACER. Memoria desde el exilio del genocidio de la Unión Patriótica en Colombia
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Sinopsis: En 1984 el gobierno colombiano y la guerrilla de las FARC acordaron el cese el fuego para iniciar conversaciones de paz. Un año después surgía un movimiento político en el cual los guerrilleros participarían cambiando el fusil por el discurso: la Unión Patriótica. Al proyecto se sumaron excombatientes, las principales fuerzas de izquierda e incluso liberales, conservadores y dirigentes sociales que buscaban una vía pacífica para llevar a cabo
los profundos cambios que Colombia necesitaba. Los magníficos resultados obtenidos en las elecciones de 1986 desencadenaron el comienzo del genocidio político de la UP: en menos de una década fueron asesinados unos 4.000 simpatizantes y militantes, la mayoría a manos de paramilitares, militares y policías plenamente identificados, a pesar de que no ha habido casi ninguna condena. Quienes dieron la orden de matar todavía permanecen ocultos bajo el oscuro manto de la impunidad. Unos y otros actuaron conjuntamente por miedo a que la UP se convirtiera en una opción real de poder en Colombia.
Durante todos estos años de persecución, centenares de militantes de la UP abandonaron Colombia para escapar de las balas. Volver a nacer reconstruye la trágica historia de este partido a través de los testimonios de las y los exiliados en España. Sus vidas son un ejemplo de lucha por la defensa de los derechos humanos en su sentido más amplio y representan una alternativa al conflicto que desangra su país desde hace décadas. Fueron hombres y mujeres valerosos que lo dieron todo por sus ideales y en el camino perdieron a sus compañeros, hijos, padres, amigos, conocidos… Hoy, en medio del dolor por tantas ausencias, se sienten orgullosos de lo que fueron y de lo que son aunque no puedan regresar a Colombia.
País, año: España, 2008, 50 minutos / Producción: Fundación CEPS / Productora: Produccions Terratrèmol con la colaboración de Produccions Conta Conta / Financiación: Agència Catalana de Cooperació al Desenvolupament / Guión y dirección: Paco Simón, Óscar Bernàcer / Realización: Óscar Bernàcer / Dirección de producción: Alejandra Lucero / Secretaria de producción: Belén Gómez / Producción Terratrèmol: Raúl González / Producción Conta Conta: María Ocaña / Operador de cámara: Arturo Marzal / Montaje y postproducción: Laura Cuello
Postproducción de sonido: Juanjo Pavía
Premios:
-Premio de periodismo solidario, en modalidad obras no inéditas, del IV Memorial Joan Gomis (2009), que tiene por objeto la promoción de un periodismo solidario que contribuya a divulgar experiencias de trabajo en favor de la paz o de lucha contra las desigualdades, la pobreza y la exclusión social.
-Mejor película de la sección Memoria y Justicia Universal del I Festival Internacional de Cine y Derechos Humanos de Santa Coloma de Gramenet (Barcelona), celebrado del 9 al 12 de diciembre de 2009.
-Finalista al Premio AulaSet 2010 de la III Muestra de Cine Documental de Montaverner (Valencia), celebrado del 21 al 28 de noviembre de 2010.
Killer-Coke! The “Coca-Cola Case in Colombia/USA
Dear Sisters & Brothers:
Strong labor unions are critical to improve
wages, working conditions and human
rights for all workers and for democracies
to flourish.
For workers in Colombia and Guatemala, a
strong union can also mean the difference
between life and death.
The Campaign to Stop Killer Coke originated to stop the gruesome
cycle of violence against union leaders and organizers in Colombia in
efforts to crush their union, SINALTRAINAL
Since then, violence, abuse and exploitation leveled against Coke
workers and communities have been uncovered in other countries as
well, notably China, El Salvador, Guatemala, India, Mexico and
Turkey.
http://killercoke.org/
(VIDEO) The Coca-Cola Case (2009 – 86 minutes)
Colombia is the trade union murder capital of the world. Since 2002, more than 470 workers’ leaders have been killed by paramilitaries hired by companies intent on crushing the unions. Among these corporate brands is… Coca-Cola.
DIRECTOR: German Gutiérrez and Carmen Garcia /
PRODUCER: National Film Board of Canada, Canada
LAN: French, English, Spanish (English subtitles)