February 2007 Peace Presence Update
Newsletter
- Take Action! February 21 National Call-in and rally in Washington
- Peace Community and ACIN nominated for Nobel Peace Prize
- Breaking News: Colombia's Foreign Minister resigns amid scandal
- Appeal of conscientious objector Martin RodrÃguez
- News on Colombia "aid" budget introduced by Bush administration
- U.S.-Colombia Ecumenical Petition
- Letter from the Field: Still in the Struggle
- Announcements
Take Action! Wake-Up Call: New Congress, New Policy on Colombia
FOR has organized a national Congressional Call-In Day TOMORROW, Wednesday, February 21, 2007, on the second anniversary of the massacre. This "Wake-Up Call" to Washington is urging Members of Congress to change the course of U.S. policy in Colombia from one that gives a blank check to the Colombian armed forces to one that stands up for human rights and social and economic aid.
FOR also joins Amnesty International and other organizations for a "Wake-up Call Rally for a new Colombia policy" in Washington D.C. on February 21st at noon. The new Democratic majority needs to hear from the grassroots that the failed policy in Colombia that's caused so much suffering must change.
The Call-In and Rally take place on the second anniversary of the massacre in San José in which eight community members were killed, including three children and a co-founder of the community. According to witnesses, Army troops committed the killings. Tomorrow also community members and FOR team members in Colombia will travel to the remote mountain massacre site in Colombia to honor those killed. In Spain, events commemorating the massacre will be held in a dozen cities.
Please help us honor the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó and strengthen the nonviolent movement to end militarism in Colombia! Your phone call takes five minutes. For a suggested message when you call, clikc here.
Learning about your Representative
An important part of a successful conversation with your Member of Congress on Colombia policy is doing your homework. Here are some key places to get the information you need to know the history and background of your legislator:
* Congressional Scorecard on Colombia (Latin America Working Group)
* Congress.org, a comprehensive source of information on Congress
In related news, the Town of Fairfax, California has passed a resolution urging the decrease of U.S. military aid to Colombia. Perhaps your city or town could do the same! Click here for a copy of the resolution, and contact FOR for more information.
Peace Community of San José de Apartadó Nominated for Nobel Peace Prize
The American Friends Service Committee has nominated two Colombian groups for the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of their "extraordinary commitment to nonviolence in the midst of that country's 50-year-old conflict, and their exemplification of organized efforts by many Colombians to end that conflict justly."
One of the two nominees is the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó! The other is the Association of Indigenous Townships of Northern Cauca (ACIN), a grassroots organization of the indigenous Nasa people, whose members describe themselves as "communities in peaceful resistance."
In 1998, FOR honored the Peace Community with its Pfeffer International Peace Prize. Interestingly, last year's Nobel Peace Prize winner, Muhammad Yunus of Bangladesh, received FOR's 1994 Pfeffer award.
FOR adds its voice to all those congratulating both the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó and ACIN of Northern Cauca for this distinguished honor! To learn more about the AFSC nomination, Click here.
Breaking News: Colombia's Foreign Minister Resigns
Maria Consuelo Araujo, a close ally of President Alvaro Uribe, stepped down following the arrest Thursday of her brother and four other lawmakers on charges of links to paramilitaries. With this resignation, the parapolitica scandal in Colombia continues to grow. This resignation adds yet one more layer to growing the para-politica scandal in Colombia.
Read more in an LA Times article.
Appeal of Conscientious Objector Martin RodrÃguez
Achieving Higher Education in Colombia, Impeded by the Military
This is an excerpt; read the full appeal here
In Colombia the percentage of youth who reach higher education is very small. This is in part due to the growing influence of the neoliberal model that has made this fundamental right a consumer good, subject to the growing gap between the rich and poor, which has meant that quality education has become a privilege.
On May 19, 2006, the Colombian armed forces sent higher education institutions a statement in which they asked for collaboration in fulfilling the 1993 law that establishes obligatory military service for males between 18 and 50. Now, each new student must resolve the obligations of military service before being admitted, regardless of what the student thinks about being required to serve in order to enroll, or what they think about the political regime that the military defends, or about the legitimacy of the military and in general the state?s forces of coercion that operate throughout the country.
Given this situation, a friend Daniel and I have decided to reclaim our right to conscientious objection and to not be excluded from an education system because of our ethical, moral and conscientious convictions. In this we join many young activists in conscientious objector groups in MedellÃn and other cities who have had to once more reclaim their right to non-cooperate with the militarism imposed on Colombian society. For us this implies separating ourselves in order to construct a more just society that respects the rights of its people.
Despite Colombian Plan, US Still Requesting Mostly Military Aid
The Colombian government rolled out what is being called "Plan Colombia II" in January, and it proposes focusing primarily on social and economic needs. Only 14% of the seven-year plan (which includes funding from all sources) is slated for security forces. But the Bush administration appears to be deaf to even the plan of Alvaro Uribe's government, hardly a bastion of anti-militarism.
Colombian analysts say that Colombia is instituting a new tax, and also that privatizations of state entities are funneling funds in the general treasury - effectively available for fighting the war. In a meeting with human rights groups, Colombian Ambassador Carolina Barco reportedly said that Colombia would like to change the percentage of military to non-military aid from the US from the approximately 80+ percent military that it has been since 2000 to a 50-50 mix of military to social and economic assistance.
Instead, the Bush administration budget request continues the same failed formula of mostly funds for helicopters, military training and fumigation. More than three quarters of the $586 million requested for Colombia in the Foreign Operations budget are military and police assistance. Taking into account the separate budget request for funds through the Pentagon, which in recent years has been between $120 and $200 million, the administration's Colombia assistance budget request is more than 80% military and police aid.
Some Congressional Democratic leaders, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi, have been vocal critics of the military approach to drug policy and to political violence in Colombia. The question is: Will these Democrats act on their values - and ours - and move to cut military aid?
U.S.-Colombia Ecumenical Petition: Peace is Possible
Lutheran World Relief (LWR) is pleased to announce the release of the U.S.-Colombia Ecumenical Petition to President George W. Bush. Through the petition, LWR joins leaders of denominations and faith-based organizations, as well as people of faith across the country, to call for a serious reassessment of current U.S. policy toward Colombia.
Since 1985, an estimated 3.6 million Colombians have been deliberately and violently forced from their homes in the country's ongoing conflict. Colombia's population of internally displaced persons (IDPs) is second only to Sudan?s, and the country's humanitarian crisis is the worst in the hemisphere. Churches, religious leaders, and communities committed to peace have often been caught in the crossfire of the violence. Among these communities are the Colombian Peace Sanctuary Churches, partner organizations with LWR in both local-level peace-building and solidarity with faith communities in the United States.
Through the petition, more than 1,800 individuals and 28 organizations join in requesting humanitarian aid for IDPs, a balancing of aid for military purposes and sustainable development, measures to improve human rights, commitment to a negotiated peace process, the dismantling of paramilitary structures, and "truth, justice, and reparations" for victims of the violence.
The petition has been sent to President Bush and copied to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Colombian Ambassador Carolina Barco Isakson and all members of the U.S. Congress. Though the petition is closed to further signatures, the full text is available.
LWR commends the many organizations and individuals contributing to the imperative work of peacemaking, including those organizations in the Ecumenical Working Group on Colombia who also worked to make this petition a reality.
For more information contact: Emily Sollie, 410-230-2802, esollie@lwr.org
Letter from the Field
Still in the Struggle: A Nobel Nomination
By Amanda Jack
I have never before delivered the news of an international accolade to anyone before last week. Actually, I've never even known anyone to be singled out on the international stage. Now I am proud to know an entire community.
On February 9, when the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) announced its nomination of the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó and the Association of Indigenous Townships of Northern Cauca for the Nobel Peace Prize, they asked that we deliver news of the nomination to the Community. We had a chance to do so that very day in a meeting with the Community's internal council. They chose to save the "big surprise news" for the end, and as Janice read aloud the AFSC announcement I eagerly looked around for first reactions from this group that governs the community. I'm not sure what I was expecting - perhaps folks to jump out of their seats and engage in dramatic airborne high-fives culminating in a raucous group hug while chanting "We"re number 1!" Instead I saw humble smiles and nods of agreement that this was indeed a great honor, that this attention would be important for the community because a greater international profile increases their safety. There was a palpable sense of pride but none of the chanting or parading around that I had expected.
In the days since, talking with community members, I have fished out more of the same response. They nod and smile when I mention the nomination but don't say much more. This muted response at first seemed strange, but it quickly began to make more sense. The Peace Community has not been nominated for some past struggle that they have resolved and can look to as a moment in their history. They are still deep in the daily non-violent struggle for the right to live free of armed conflict and constantly living out the values that earned them this nomination. As such, the nomination is more utilitarian than laudatory. It focuses international attention to their community process, and by doing so hopefully creates more space for the community to safely sustain its neutrality and extend its protective reach.
One of the ways in which the Peace Community has ventured to extend more protection to civilians in outlying villages is through the creation of Humanitarian Zones. These are physical spaces located centrally in areas where there is no village center. These zones are designated as safe spaces for civilians to seek refuge should combat take place. Just last week there was combat between the Colombian Army and FARC guerrillas in a nearby area straddling two settlements, La Linda and La Cristalina. The shots from each side and the bombs dropping from the Army helicopter could be heard from our house. We later found out that the combat had taken place near the school in La Cristalina, the designated Humanitarian Zone. Luckily, no civilians were hurt, but the disregard for this ?safe? zone by both armed groups is reckless and potentially-life threatening to the civilian population.
A couple days later we watched as a helicopter came straight overhead, circled one and a half times and flew so low it seemed as though it might land in our backyard. That night community members told us that military were camping out on the path used to walk between community settlements. The next day we saw them for ourselves, at least forty men with guns on the path, camouflage blending them into the thick forest as most of them looked out towards the clearing and hills that rose up from the field. Walking through them was chill-inducing, and combined with a nearby military presence just up from La Unión has us all a bit on edge, especially considering the approaching anniversary of a massacre in the Community.
This week we will accompany the community to the site of that 2005 massacre of eight people, including three children and community leader Luis Eduardo Guerra, who at the time of his death was in charge of initiating Humanitarian Zones. This grim anniversary will be remembered by a pilgrimage to the site, which is a twelve-hour hike from La Unión. In the US, the Congressional Call-In Day and the Washington DC rally to change US policy towards Colombia have been scheduled for the 21st, the anniversary of the massacre. This is a wonderful chance for people to be in true solidarity with the community. These kinds of simple actions build on efforts to change the misinformed U.S. aid to Colombia, all the while making more visible the Peace Community?s stance and thereby increasing the safety of this civilian population.
The Nobel Peace Prize nomination is another act of solidarity, a clarion call urging the world to take notice of this extraordinary community. The news might not have generated the spontaneous celebration my U.S. upbringing leads me to expect, but it was received with the thoughtful and humble gratitude of a community daily engaged in staking out its survival through nonviolent means - a daily struggle deserving of international notice and solidarity.
Read more from A.J. on her blog
"Lotus in Muddy Water" Buddhist Delegation, April 25-May 12 application deadline:
If you are interested in participating in our April Buddhist delegation, please submit your application by March 15. More information about the.
Save the date:
August delegation to take place August 4-18, 2007. Participants will visit various Colombian peace movements, including the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó, the Medellin Youth Network, Antioquia Peasant Association, meet with Colombian and US officials, and more. Cost is $1400 from Bogotá. Participation will include a four-week on-line course before traveling to Colombia. For more information/applications, contact: FOR, forcolombia@igc.org, 415-495-6334.
Training for new Colombia Team Members:
We will train our next round of Colombia Peace Presence volunteers this August. Application deadline is May 31st; info and application available here. If you know someone with a passion for supporting nonviolent initiatives of Colombians and respect for their rights, speaks Spanish and English, is prepared to live and work in Colombia for a year (in Bogotá or in rural San José), has good judgement and works well in a group - maybe you are this person! - please forward this information to him, her, them.
