jueves, 23 de febrero de 2012

Seventh Anniversary of the Masacre in Mulatos and La Resbaloza

Luis Eduardo Guerra"We have always said, and in that we are clear, that until this very day we are resisting. And our work is to continue resisting and defending our rights. We don't know until when, because the truth we've lived in our story is this: today we are here talking; tomorrow we may be dead."
--Luis Eduardo Guerra, 37 days before his death

Demand justice for San José de Apartadó!


ACT NOW

Take action now to protect Peace Community Leaders -- and demand justice seven years after the massacre.
Yesterday, members of the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó traveled, on foot and by mule, through heavy rains and oppressive sun, to visit the grave of Luis Eduardo Guerra. Built in the typical campesino style, it is a small wooden house with an aluminum roof, weathered and hidden among tall grasses and guava trees. The journey commemorates the 2005 massacre of seven Peace Community members and a local man. Among the community members was Luis Eduardo, co-founder and celebrated leader.
Seven years ago, on February 21, 2005, armed uniformed military patrolled the Peace Community near the Mulatos River together with paramilitary "guides." They detained Luis Eduardo, his girlfriend, and his 11-year old son. Army and paramilitary gunmen also attacked a family on a nearby farm. In the days that followed, their bodies were found: killed by machete and mutilated. The dead included Luis Eduardo and Alfonso Bolivar and their families, including Alfonso's six-year-old daughter and an 18-month-old son. The massacre triggered the displacement of most of the Peace Community families in the area, leaving their farms and homes empty.
Interested in visiting the Peace Community? Join FOR's summer delegation to Colombia!
Although today some of them have returned, slowly repopulating the area surrounding the Mulatos River, their struggle continues. Both legal and illegal armed groups remain throughout the region, wandering from place to place and camping inconspicuously in nearby hillsides. Their presence is a reminder that the persecution of members and leaders continues to afflict the community.
Jesús Emilio TuberquiaTheir persecution continues. Less than three weeks ago, on February 4, Jesús Emilio Tuberquia, Peace Community legal representative, was violently attacked in the town center of Apartadó. It was one of many situations that have made him fear for his own life. Recounting his experience, he was shaken: "This was just another attempt to destroy our community. It's obvious that they want to see it fall apart."
The Peace Community continues to resist. This February's commemoration marks seven years since the massacre alongside the Mulatos River. It marks the death of Luis Eduardo and his family and the loss of various leaders, children, and campesinos throughout the years. It marks a struggle that, despite fear, persecution, and loss, continues to live. Today, Peace Community members will find, once again, the courage to continue.
These kinds of attacks are a reminder that the Peace Community continues to face threats and harassment.
Gracias/Thanks,

Liza, Susana, John, Gina, Isaac, Elisabeth, Jonathan, Charlotte, Emily, and the FOR team
P.S. Your continued support helps us protect leaders like Jesús Emilio and push for justice in the case of the 2005 massacre. Make a tax-deductible donation toward our anniversary campaign, as we celebrate 10 years of FOR's presence in La Union and 15 years since the community was first founded.

martes, 7 de febrero de 2012

HAPPY 10 YEARS TO FOR'S COLOMBIA PEACE PRESENCE!

FOR celebrates 10 years of protective accompaniment in the Peace Community of San Jose de Apartado... TODAY! Here is a letter I received from Liza, which talks about her first trip up to La Union. I thought I should share....

The first time I visited the village of La Union in the peace community of San José de Apartadó was in November of 2002. I was working for Global Exchange at the time and had stepped in last minute to lead a joint Global Exchange-FOR delegation to Colombia. Earlier that year FOR had sent its first team of volunteers to accompany the peace community, but after completing their six month term, there were no new volunteers to replace them and the community was left without FOR's presence for a few months. During that time, there was a paramilitary incursion and the people of La Union fled for their safety to a village farther down the valley.

When we arrived the town was empty; except for Soila (the village crazy lady) and some chickens running around. There was an eerie silence, a kind of silence that comes with violence and fear and the threat of death.

Shortly after our delegation, the people of La Union returned and in 2003, the second team of FOR volunteers arrived. Both the residents of La Union and FOR volunteers have been there every day ever since.

Today marks ten years since that first FOR accompaniment team arrived in La Union. Soila is still there and so are plenty of chickens, along with houses full of people, music playing, televisions on, food being prepared, seeds being planted, corn and yucca and sugar cane being harvested and babies being born. In fact, this March it will be fifteen years since the peace community of San José de Apartadó was founded. Through organizing, speaking out, marching and connecting with national and international organizations, these brave farmers have managed to stay on their lands. This is a feat that is hard for us in the global north to imagine -- the courage it takes to face death and stay put. This anniversary is their success and comes from their incredible perseverance. But we celebrate this as a success of our own as well. With our (and others') accompaniment, the community has been able to face the constant pressures of this conflict while building their alternative vision into the future.

It's hard for me to believe that it's been ten years since that first time I walked up to La Union; and fifteen years since I first set foot in Bogota, as a wide-eyed exchange student with no idea what I was getting myself into. This thing with Colombia has been a potent love affair!

I feel blessed to be living in Bogota these days, and to be connected to this place, these people and this struggle throughout these past years. I feel humbled to be working for an organization like FOR, which has included many great activists in its ranks over its almost 100 year trajectory. I feel fortunate to be using the tool of accompaniment, one of the best ways I think us northerners can express our solidarity with the struggles of people in other places (without sticking our noses into their business and telling them how to organize their movements) while at the same time building bridges between us and them, weaving their and our worlds together.

Many of you have supported my work or FOR in general over the years... We've collaborated, thought and dreamed together.
I invite you to celebrate our ten year anniversary with us by making a donation towards our work here:www.imforfor.org

And thank you for conspiring to believe in a different world!!!

With love and in solidarity,

liza

jueves, 2 de febrero de 2012

Heading back to the war zone...


I can’t believe two months have passed already… so many transitions- mental, physical- and I feel there is still a lot to be processed.  It is hard to believe I am headed back to Uraba on Tuesday!

Coming out of the rural jungle war zone to the capital metropolis of Bogota provided for some of the strangest and most intense culture shock I had every experienced. It never ceases to amaze me the different realities in which people live in this world, and it never ceases to amaze me how adaptable we are as human beings. The transition is always hard and intense and seemingly shakes up everything inside me, but then it is just over… without so much as a goodbye. Here I am, two months later, feeling as if I have always been in Bogota. As if it has always been home. As if two months ago the turmoil of my mind and body in the transition never actually existed. How strange.

In Bogota, the work is different. In December Jon and I quietly accompanied contentious-objector clowns in their direct actions in public parks, as they tried to spread the word about the army’s illegal recruitment practices.  We drank chai teas at meetings inside the US Embassy compound, where the words coming out of my mouth about our concern for Peace Community members under paramilitary threats were pumped with mental images of the families I know there. We talk with our counterpart organizations not only about Uraba, but about Colombia as a whole and learn about different communities and different movements and the world of human rights in this country. We read the paper. We have internet. We publish articles and work on pop-ed materials. We plan for the Autstrian delgates, who arrive this week- setting up meetings and logistics and picking restaurants for their visit. We respond to our team in La Union, and we back them up in meetings with other organizations and state entities, and with the diplomatic core. We plan events around the upcoming anniversaries of the community and we participate in planning for the alternative Summit of the Americas. We deal with the escalation from our December urgent action of paramilitary threats in La Esperanza to a New Year 2012 full  Paramilitary take-over of  the entire Uraba region (more on that in a later post). We work a lot on a wide-array of issues. I dig it.

In Bogota, life is different. On a personal level, December was spent mainly culture shocking in Bogota. We wear our own clothing. We shop in markets where we can get any and all food items, not only what is in season. We take hot showers and drink cold drinks. We have good cell phone service and access to the internet. We are anonymous and unimportant in a large urban space; our presence gives no more life to this city than anyone’s. And all of that, once I settled into it, was extremely refreshing.

Over the holidays, I went home to Minneapolis, where the lack of snow had my culture shock pumped with even more confusion and a general feeling of of ‘where am i?’ and ‘when am i?’.  I marinated in the love of friends and family and I reconnected with people whom I hadn’t seen all year. The life pf an ex-pat means missing so many things and so I met new babies and heard about missed weddings. I heard engagement announcements and agreed to be maid of honor in my best friend’s wedding. I saw live music. I played broomball on ice. I fattened up on delicious north country foods. I let old friends and close family fill me up with their warm love and caring support.  I talked about Colombia and work and I talked about other places and people and things and it was all a holidazzle whirlwind pumped with my culture shock. I rung in the New Year state-side with dear friends and then I flew back to Bogota. I landed in the metropolis for the second time in two months, but this time I didn’t feel overwhelmed at all. This time I felt: ahh, this is where I am meant to be.

I started dating a boy named Cristian. At his cousin’s wedding, I wore a long silk dress and high-heeled shoes. His mother’s side of the family is from Cali (salsa dancing capital of the world) and the bride and groom’s first dance as a married couple was a fast-paced salsa. In fact, watching some of the best salsa I have ever seen (in formal wear, mind you) was pretty much a highlight of my Colombian existence so far. Salsa in formal wear… a far cry from vallenato in rubber boots.

Jon’s birthday weekend took us to Choachi, a town outside of Bogota. With one $4, 1 hr bus ride you can disappear over the mountains from Bogota and find yourself in a landscape that resembles pastoral England. There was literally no sign of the city in site. We went to this lazy town during the city’s municipal festival (which means we went there with half of Bogota) and danced salsa to La 33 in the plaza and strolled small towns streets eating Feria food. We hiked to “hot springs” (which turned out to be cold pools) and enjoyed fresh country air. I am still in my honeymoon phase with the city, but it felt good to know I can easily escape the concrete jungle, if I ever need to.

Last night Jon and I had dinner at Liza and Mika’s. They live in an old house in the historic downtown of Bogota. Their landlord estimates the home is some 500 years old. The entryway mosaicked floor includes stone and brick and pig bone (a show of wealth from the time). Mika’s dog has been digging up and eating the pig bone. That’s right, gnawing on 500 year old pig-bone. This, along with much of our warm and happy dinner conversation, blew my mind.

My life in the capital has been filled with dinner parties (my wild rice soup was a hit- even among the Colombians!) and north country food contraband, including all sorts of delicious cheeses. My life has been weekend strolls in city parks and silly city evening dates with Cristian. My life has been dancing salsa in clubs and in kitchens and making people laugh with my ability to sing vallenato hits. My life has been sunny early mornings with a cup of coffee, overlooking the mountains that surround the city and late afternoon puddle jumping in the typical evening downpours. My life has been images of the 11 million residents, each of them an individual: 100s of people walking over bridges on their way to the office in the morning, bike messengers weaving through traffic, store owners mopping the concrete outside their tiendas, bus drivers hanging out of the side of their busses to smoke a cigarette.  My life has been adjusting to these people being the life of the concrete jungle, breathing life into the city’s walls. My life has been exploring neighborhoods and picturing myself living in them, walking crosstown for meetings in various parts of the city and observing my co-inhabitants along the way.  My life has been reflecting on the time I spent in the war zone and preparing to live there again. My life has been delicious foods and evening cocktails, cold drinks and hot showers, house parties, weekend getaway trips and skype calls to make far-away friends seem closer. I have settled into it. I have been completely taken by Bogota, and am looking forward to life here again come April.

This weekend a dear friend from Guatemala is visiting, we have Isaac and Elisabeth in town (they are leading the arriving Austrian delegation), the Austrian delegation taking over our apartment, and Gina in full-on pack, organize and move mode. Should provide for a flurry of activity leading up to my departure. 

On Tuesday I head back to the community for two months. I will travel the same day that, 10 years ago, the very first FOR volunteers hiked to La Union to begin permanent accompaniment. I will go back to the community on FOR’s 10th Anniversary with the Peace Community of San Jose Apartado, and that feels wonderful.