- What if political action started in kindergarten?
[0] - Learning to Live Together
[0] - Letter from the Field: Breaking borders, breaking structures, breaking guns
[0] - Summit Behind the Smiles and Handshakes
[0] - Authorities Dismiss Libel Claim
[0] - News Briefs and Opportunities [0]
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National Days of Prayer and Action [1] this past April 20, the largest mobilization calling for a change in U.S. policy towards Colombia since 2003? Does it show that the winds of public sentiment are changing?
Massive outpouring of grassroots energy might sound exaggerated, but here are the numbers: more than 100 churches and faith communities participated in holding a prayer or service for peace in Colombia; more than 300 people took to the streets to demand change in seven different cities; 3,000 faxes/emails and 20,000 postcards were sent to President Obama to request a bold new policy towards Colombia. All across the country, schools, churches, community groups, Colombians, and gringos alike came together in over 100 doll-making parties to create, by hand, about 10,000 dolls. Thirty interviews were broadcast on a wide variety of U.S. radio programs and Colombia's media covered the events in both major newspapers and on radio stations as well. Activists met with Congressional offices in most of the cities where the actions took place; in one case the delivery of paper dolls impressed Nita Lowey's staff (D-NY) so much that they were promised a meeting with the Congresswoman herself.
In San Francisco, we started our march with a bit of sage, drums, and a blessing to the four directions. Sixty of us gathered on the sidewalks in the midst of the city bustle while Luis, a local Colombian, gave instructions to turn and face in each of the four directions.
East: To our Congressional representatives and President Obama, may they hear our message loud and clear!
South: To our brothers and sisters in Colombia, may our solidarity be felt!
West: Where the sun dies each day, may it rise again!
North: That's where we are standing right now, look around, see who is next to you.
… up above, look at the sky and the heavens.
…. down below, to our ancestors, those who have come before us …
From there we started our march in the hot sun (it was 92 degrees!), each person holding a long string of paper dolls. After about 40 minutes of walking, sweating, chanting, and handing out yellow flyers to onlookers, we made it to the Federal Building where Nancy Pelosi's office is housed. A commission of three went upstairs, bearing gifts: a strand of paper dolls, a letter signed by those present, and a poster opposing the Free Trade Agreement with Colombia.
Each of our dolls represented 1,000 people who were forced to leave their lands and homes. Four million internally displaced people in Colombia is a number that is extremely difficult for any one person to imagine. As one long-time Colombia advocate expressed "nothing else [like the paper-doll making project] has managed to make the problem visible so well."
Maybe that's part of the explanation for this outpouring of energy -- we are bombarded with numbers about the dire straights of the world's human population and environment. Every day we hear how many people have died in the Sudan, how many kids go without water in India, how many acres of rainforest get destroyed every minute in South America and how many fewer ice caps exist at the North Pole. The numbers are not only overwhelming, but they can immobilize us, leave us feeling helpless and impotent.
The idea of making paper dolls to represent a crisis of epic proportions was precisely to make tangible an issue that is hard to grasp, not only for those of us making them, but also for the general public, our politicians, and reporters from the media. It was a creative, hands-on way to approach the problem.
But there's another explanation: this year's Days of Prayer and Action for Colombia is the fruit of many years of work and the success we experienced encourages us to take a long-view of our struggles. When Plan Colombia was made policy in 2000, activists quickly started to mobilize: in the fall of 2001 and spring of 2002, people joined together in Washington, D.C. to strategize and mobilize against the new policy. In the spring of 2003, five actions took place across the U.S. to target corporations that were implicated in human rights abuses in Colombia. Over the years there have been many delegations, speaking tours, lobbying visits, educational events, and local protests. More recently, faith communities came together to hold services and prayers for peace. Solidarity activists have been working hard since 2000; this year was yet another colorful manifestation of our desire to change harmful U.S. policies towards Colombia.
The lesson learned? Put together nine years of hard work and a bit of kindergarten play and you can create a grassroots uprising.
We have our efforts to celebrate … and a long road ahead.
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interview given by Archbishop Rubén Salazar [2], president of the Colombian Bishops' Conference, with El Tiempo newspaper, in which the archbishop urged reconciliation and put the Church at the service of this search. Such a call prompts us to ask what "reconciliation" is about, and what it might look like in Colombia. It also suggests questions of the Church itself. But the very word "reconciliation" has largely remained absent from political and civil society discourse. This increases the significance of the archbishop's call.
How might we conceive of "reconciliation"? I propose a definition (drawing on many previous attempts by academics): "learning to live together." Thus defined, two important elements are captured: the goal, and the process. Some scholars have called into question the relevance of the word reconciliation in societies that have never been truly conciled with themselves in the first place. It is clear that both of these points find expression in Colombia, a country which has suffered more than 50 years of continuous violence, and is unlikely to be brought together overnight.
So, what might have to happen for Colombians to "learn to live together," to (re)concile with one another? We might start with the release of the hostages held by the FARC rebels (a recent Semana article [3] suggests that the exact figure is unknown, but could sit at 125).
But it cannot stop there - the number of internally displaced people (IDPs) in Colombia now stands at 4.6 million - second in the world only to Sudan. A country that aspires to "live together" should at the very least offer a dignified place to live for all those wishing to go home. The gross social and material inequalities in Colombia would start to be ironed out.
And Colombians will have to face up to the crimes committed by all sides over the years. President Uribe's 2005 Justice and Peace Law has proven controversial owing to the relatively light sentences handed down to some who have admitted their responsibility for major crimes; however, truth for amnesty agreements have been used relatively successfully elsewhere, for example in South Africa. The president has nevertheless undermined his own project by extraditing so many people (some 800) to the USA on lesser charges of drug trafficking, thus reducing the chances of the full truth about certain crimes being arrived at. In this respect, the State itself has a long way to go. It is itself implicated in many crimes. As one former paramilitary has said: "The State asks for the truth, but why, if it cannot bear it."
All of this is set against the background of an armed conflict, the existence of which is, incredibly, denied by some right-leaning politicians. And much of the above is either a cause or a consequence of this violence. An end to hostilities is ultimately a condition for meaningful reconciliation, though steps can be taken towards this goal while the conflict persists.
None of this, it must be said, is particularly new thinking - it has all been expressed before. But the archbishop's exhortation casts a new light on the challenges ahead, and their gravity. What role the Church itself will play in this process has yet to be seen. Archbishop Salazar's admission that its concentration on humanitarian issues alone has cost it credibility with the guerrillas, might suggest that it plans to broaden the scope of its analysis and action. Part of the issue here is that the Church has not always spoken with a unified voice in the past. The differing attitudes of various bishops of Apartadó towards the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó, are one example of this inconsistency. If the Church is to find a position that advances the cause of reconciliation, it will take all of the "creativity" to which the archbishop, in a different context, refers in his interview.
Finally, it is worth considering why it is that the Church has chosen to speak out for reconciliation at this particular point. Though Holy Week is the most important time in the Church´s calendar, the timing has more to do with the 2010 presidential election, campaigning for which is gearing up already. There is a great deal of uncertainty whether President Uribe will stand for a third time, which would involve a change to the constitution. Should this not happen, there are plenty of Uribistas lining up to take his place.
The campaign is shaping up to be contested along one of two lines - a continuation of Uribe's Democratic Security policy (which seeks the defeat or demobilization of FARC guerillas), or pursuing a humanitarian accord, in which guerrilla prisoners would be exchanged for FARC-held hostages. In his interview, the archbishop appeared to support both positions (which may be an example of his diplomatic creativity!), but came out against Uribe's remaining in office for a third term. With a year or so to go before the election, much could yet happen. But it seems as though the Church wanted to put its oar in before the boat gets out to sea.
The next year could prove to be truly significant for Colombia. It this a "ripe moment" for a humanitarian accord, as the basis for a lasting peace? Could this be the start of Colombians learning to live together? These are the big questions beneath the surface of Archbishop Salazar´s call to reconciliation.
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NACLA [4]'s web editor, is a freelance journalist and editor based in Colombia. His web site is www.TeoBallve.com.
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2005 massacre [5] to the international community, and Ramírez spoke before the Inter-American Court of Justice. It was a novel action to accuse those who denounced violations before the Inter-American Court of libel.
Four years later, the Bejarano Battalion's current commander, Colonel Germán Rojas, is adopting an almost identical strategy to counter complaints of threatening accusations against peace community leader Reynaldo Areiza. The peace community recently reported [6] that Rojas told Areiza that "unless he collaborates with the definitive destruction of the Peace Community, he would be prosecuted as the 'financial manger of the 58 Front of FARC' and as a 'drug trafficker,' for which that he has obtained 'witnesses'." Rojas responded to the community's complaints by bringing criminal charges against Areiza for libel and slander.
International pressure [7] mounted over the case against Father Javier Giraldo, Elkin Ramirez and Miguel Angel Afanador. On April 8, the prosecutor leading the investigation against them closed the investigation, saying that "no crime has been committed." But it may be early to rest: Colonel Duque can appeal the ruling.
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this news [8]: forced displacement of Colombians from their homes rose by 25% in 2008, with 380,000 fleeing because of political violence during the year, according to a new report [9] by the Consultancy on Human Rights and the Displaced, CODHES.
Because of FOR's close relationship of accompaniment to the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó, and role in responding to the February 2005 massacre there, has led us to report frequently on developments in the investigation of the massacre. In April, Semana magazine published an English translation by the Colombia Support Network of a remarkable account [10] of the military and paramilitary operation that led to the massacre. Recommended.
Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos confirmed in an interview published April 21 [11] that negotiations to establish a U.S. military facility in Colombia are advancing. U.S. military operations conducted at an airbase in Manta, Ecuador must end by November, under terms of the agreement with Ecuador. He said he expects negotiations to be completed in June, and the operations to begin early next year.
First Ruling Punishing Colombian Army for Killing of Peace Community Member: Peace Community member, and leader of humanitarian zone, Edilberto Vasquez was killed by troops [12] of the Army 17th Brigade's Voltigeros Battalion on January 12, 2006. Early that morning, the army came to his house and asked him to come with them. Shortly after, he has shot dead, a gun, a radio and a grenade planted next to him. Vasquez was presented as "a guerrilla killed in combat."
On April 17, an Apartadó court found [13] seven low-ranking members of the Voltigeros Battalion guilty of the crime, sentencing them to 30 years in prison. While the ruling was presented in the media [14] as a blow to the Colombian army's practice of "false positives" -- the killing of unarmed civilians presented as success in the counterinsurgency war -- the highest-ranking officer sentenced for the crime was a Second Sergeant.
Does U.S. foreign military training affect human rights? The government doesn't know. In this Foreign Policy in Focus article [15], John Lindsay-Poland writes about American lack of accountability in sharing lethal skills.
August 15-29, 2009 Delegation to San José Peace Community, Medellín and Eastern Antioquia
Witness the incredible commitment and experience of the Peace Community of San José and other Colombian grassroots initiatives. $1,500 from Bogotá. For information, contact John Lindsay-Poland, johnlp@igc.org [16]. To download an application, please click here (MS Word document) [17].
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