Vacation in San Gil

We recently took a few days off team for a 4-day vacation in and near San Gil. Nils is leaving for an accompaniment in Nariño (the far southwestern corner of Colombia) so we wanted a vacation together before he left. San Gil is about 5 hours away from Barranca by bus, and the area around there is known for it's natural beauty, and it's beautiful colonial towns, as well as being a center for extreme sports such as whitewater rafting, hang gliding, and spelunking. We didn't do any extreme sports, but we did have a nice getaway, and went on some great hikes together.

In addition to San Gil, we visited the nearby village of Barichara, a beautifully-preserved colonial town. From there we hiked to a waterfall and to Guané, an even smaller village. Here are some pictures from our trip:

San Gil

Video about Small Miners on the web

The British non-profit organization War on Want has produced a short video about mining issues in southern Bolivar province in Colombia. This area is close to Barranacabermeja, and we do a lot of work in the region, including accompanying the miners federation mentioned in the video. Michele and I have met José Uribe, the man interviewed in the film, several times, and accompanied him at times when he felt his life was under threat.

The film does a good job of underlining the issues the small-scale miners are dealing with in the face of development interest by multinational mining companies.
Click here for the video.
It's worth watching.

South America Log - No. 8

Greetings Friends and Family,

After spending two months on vacation and giving presentations about Colombia in Minneapolis, we are writing once again from Barrancabermeja, Colombia. We returned to Barrancabermeja in September and we are excited to be spending another year here working with Christian Peacemaker Teams. (Your memory does serve you correctly if you thought we would only be here another 6 months – we made the decision over the summer to return for another year.)

We arrived to the news that the Colombian Army had begun a campaign of forced recruitment of young men to serve in the Army. Men are required to serve one year in the armed services unless they meet various conditions including being a student or caring for elderly parents. Legally, the Colombian Army can notify a young man that he is not in compliance with the law and order him to appear for his service. Instead, the Army has been driving around neighborhoods in a truck conducting sweeps, stopping every young man in sight and hauling him into the army base if he is not carrying a card verifying his military service.

One afternoon our teammate Pierre was walking when he saw two soldiers pointing at a young man on the sidewalk saying, "get that one there.". Coincidentally, Pierre knew the man, "Rafael", who is the 24-year-old leader of the local conscientious objector movement. Before being taken away, Rafael gave his cell phone number to Pierre and Pierre kept in contact with Rafael while he was detained. Rafael and the men detained with him were some of the lucky ones hauled off the street that day. As a conscientious objector, Rafael knows his rights regarding military service and he educated the other young men who were being detained with him. The Army realized they were worse off with Rafael in their detention area and they let him go the same day. But not before he had educated the other men that they had the right to refuse to sign any paperwork that day. The Army was unable to forcibly recruit anyone in Rafael's group.

A few days later Pierre and Michele met with the sergeant in charge of recruitment to express concerns about men being held, sometimes for days, without notification of their families and without the ability to fulfill work and family obligations. The sergeant admitted, "yes, it is irregular”, which is the official way to acknowledge that a practice violates their own standards without calling it “illegal” which would allow for action against them.

A recent CPT delegation from North America decided to design a public action to educate youth in Barranca about their rights regarding military service. The delegates constructed a large cardboard Army truck and painted it with the words, "NO to recruitment for the war, YES to recruitment for life."

The delegation and their Army truck walked through downtown Barranca passing out pamphlets notifying people of their rights under the recruitment laws. When they stopped in front of the Army battalion they enacted a scene of a person being forcibly recruited who then breaks away from the military to join a joyous celebration of life. Needless to say, this activity brought many soldiers out to the gate and the Commander watched for a few minutes before sending a soldier to get a video camera.

Rafael was with us that day and turned his head at first to avoid being filmed but then resumed his participation with his usual resolve to act on his convictions despite the potential consequences. For Rafael, who is an openly gay, conscientious objector in a city where paramilitaries regularly practice social cleansing by killing anyone they decide does not fit their ideal citizen, Rafael's every move is one of resolve. Instead of hiding in fear after the paramilitaries recently published a death list of young people involved in social movements, Rafael's participation in our recent public action conveys his unwavering determination.

When we gathered after the public action to share our thoughts and feelings about the day's activities Rafael was part of our circle. He tearfully talked about his need to continue to work for peace in honor of his many friends who have been killed in this 40 year old conflict. When we expressed concern that Rafael may be at greater risk now that the Army videotaped him, he told us not to worry and said, "when we do things from our heart then good things will come from them."

There is a saying here, "It is better to live in fear than to stop living because of fear." Every day Rafael and all Colombian peacemakers courageously choose to live and we are so honored to be able to continue for another year to share in peacemaking with them.

In Peace,

Michele and Nils

P.S. Four times per year delegations come to Colombia from North America to spend two weeks learning about the history and politics of Colombia, getting to know numerous human rights and peace organizations and visiting one of the rural areas where CPT works. To learn about future delegations go to www.cpt.org and click on “Delegations” on the left side of the page. We would love to host you and show you our work!

Back to Colombia

Hi Everyone,

After a lot of thought, we've decided to return to Colombia for a full year (not just 6 months as we previously discussed). We really love the work with CPT, and feel like our first year here we devoted a lot of energy to learning the context, and getting to know the people and organizations we work with; a second year will allow us to build on that experience, as well as continue to improve our Spanish.

Some of you have asked about our old fashioned snail mail address. You can send stuff to us at the following address:

Equipos Cristianos de Acción por la Paz
Apartado 280
Barrancabermeja, Santander, COLOMBIA

We've actually had pretty good luck receiving things in the mail from family, but I wouldn't advise sending anything too valuable or perishable.

We hope to resume our e-mail updates pretty soon.
Peace,
Nils & Michele

Back in Minnesota

After a fairly uneventful return trip, Michele and I are back in Minnesota. So far we've only been here a few days, but it's been great to see family and friends again and cathc up on what we've been missing out on. I hope we'll have a chance to see many of you before we return to Colombia in early September.

We're staying with Michele's parents until the end of July. The phone number here is (651) 633-4451. As of August 1st we'll be back in our house in Minneapolis, and back at our old phone number - (612) 822-6653.

We've arranged a number of presentations over the next few months to show our photos and talk about Colombia. Please let us know if you'd like to come to one and we can make sure you receive an invitation.

We're also still looking for a renter. If you know anyone who needs a short-term (probably September through March), furnished rental in Minneapolis, please have them call us or e-mail us (my address is nilsdybvig(at)yahoo.com)

Books about Colombia

A while ago my Dad was asking me about a book on Colombia, and I (Nils) realized that he might not be the only one interested in reading about Colombia. Here are some books about Colombia I've read or had recommended to me; if you have other suggestions let me know.

NONFICTION:
More Terrible than Death: Massacres, Drugs, and America's War in Colombia by Robin Kirk.
A good overview of the Colombian conflict, but because the focus is on political violence, I think it makes the conflict in Colombia seem more intensely violent than it really is. Mom, please don't read this book.

The Profits of Extermination: Big Mining in Colombia by Francisco Ramirez Cuellar.
Michele is reading this book, which uncovers the way foreign corporations have manipulated the law and worked hand in hand with right-wing death squads and the US and Colombian government to ensure profits at the cost of the rights and lives of workers, peasants and miners. Ramirez Cuellar is president of the Colombian mining union Sintraminercol, and has been a speaker for CPT past delegations.
This book is especially relevant to CPT's work in the Sur de Bolivar, where small-scale gold miners are being pressured to displace from their land at the same time that multinational mining companies are moving into the region.

Killing Pablo: the Hunt for Pablo Escobar by Mark Bowden.
This book charts the rise and fall of Colombian drugs baron Pablo Escobar, exposing the massive operation by covert US Special Forces and intelligence services to hunt down and assassinate him in 1993.

The Open Veins of Latin America: five centuries of the Pillage of a Continent by Eduardo Galeano
I am currently reading this analysis of the effects and causes of capitalist underdevelopment in Latin America. It was written in 1973, so it's a little dated, but Galeano is an engaging writer and an excellent analyst, and the dynamics of underdevelopment he describes are even more evident today. He's written some more recent books too, such as Upside Down (2001).

FICTION:
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Colombian writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez is considered one of this century's greatest authors (he was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1982), and this tale of life in a small Colombian town is seen as his greatest work. How can you go wrong?

The Dark Bride by Laura Restrepo
Restrepo is one of Colombia's most acclaimed contemporary writers, and this book is set in the oilfields and slums of a fictional town modeled on Barrancabermeja, where we're living this year. I loved this one, and her other books are also supposed to be excellent.

Read one. Read them all. Propose them to your book club. Happy reading!

South America Log - No. 7

Dear friends and family,

We are just finishing up a 10 day trip visiting the Peace Sanctuary Churches we got to know when we first visited Colombia with a delegation in February 2006. The pastors of all 3 churches have also been guests in our home in Minneapolis so it's been a real blessing to get to connect again. Who could have guessed all the turns our life would take since that trip just 16 months ago.

We arrived in the first peace community after spending 13 hours traveling by bus from Barrancabermeja. Our hosts wanted us to visit one of their new development projects. We went by bicycle taxi to a small farm on the edge of town where several families are collectively raising chickens. We sat talking with a small group under a thatched roof porch as we waited for our lunch to finishing cooking over a small fire.

The talk made the usual twists and turns from weather and farming to politics, and specifically, US foreign policy in Colombia. Just two days earlier in the US House of Representatives, the foreign aid appropriations subcommittee had proposed a new approach to Bush's Plan Colombia by requesting a decrease in military aid to Colombia and an increase in development spending. The increased development aid will help the victims of the conflict, strengthen the judicial system, invest in rural development, and help farmers turn away from growing coca, the raw material for cocaine. We were surprised to discover that these small farmers in rural Colombia had already heard this news about a possible change in funding and they were feeling very encouraged.

This was the first of many similar conversations as we continued our trip. And, each time, the Colombians already knew of the proposed changes to Plan Colombia. Just maybe, we told each other, the advocacy we have been doing together is working.

These peace churches know the realities of the armed conflict in Colombia. One congregation was started by hundreds of families who were forced to flee their farms after the violence towards them became too great. Each church has members who have been disappeared or killed. The pastors themselves have been threatened. Just last year one of our hosts received a series of phone calls from an armed group demanding money and threatening him and his young family. His church responded with a round-the-clock vigil at his house until the threats subsided. In the midst of these realities these churches have resolutely proclaimed themselves peace sanctuaries and rejected any use of violence to end the conflict. Instead they have promoted economic development for their communities, alternatives to military service, and negotiated solutions in an effort to end the conflict.

After we said good-bye to one of our hosts we drove out of their town of 12,000 people in a taxi. Five army tanks and 15 soldiers lined the road. How, we wondered, will these tanks bring peace to this small farming community?

These conversations are a stark reminder of the direct impact that decisions made in Washington, DC are having on the people of Colombia, and the ongoing need to bring their stories back to the United States.

We are buoyed by the news from Washington that Plan Colombia may be facing significant changes. Still, there is much more work to do. A Free Trade Agreement with Colombia is still up for debate and all of our Colombian associates suggest that while this agreement will benefit the large landowners and big business of the US and Colombia, it will further worsen the economic crisis facing the majority of poor Colombians. This economic crisis fuels the conflict as young men join the illegal armed groups for lack of other economic opportunities, and farmers grow coca because the prices they receive for other crops won't support their families. Also, while positive changes to Plan Colombia have been proposed in the House, there is still a lot of work to do before the proposal becomes law. The full House is expected to vote on the foreign aid bill some time next week, so your calls to congress are needed. Visit http://www.lawg.org/countries/colombia/alert_06-07-07.htm for more information on how to call your congressperson and what to say.

Within our team in Barrancabermeja we still have much to learn and, we hope, more to contribute. For this, and so many reasons, we have decided to return to Colombia for another 6 months after spending the summer in Minneapolis. The most difficult part of this decision will be living far from friends and family for 6 more months, but it's the very support and encouragement we have received from so many of you that make it possible to return to Colombia.

We hope to see many of you this summer in Minneapolis. We also hope to arrange some presentations so please let us know if you have a group that is interested. After July 11 we can be reached at Michele's parents at 651-633-4451. The month of August we expect to be back at our house with our former phone number, 612-822-6653.

Finally, we have a house to rent! If you know anyone who needs a short-term (probably September through March), furnished rental in Minneapolis, please pass on our email addresses to them.

In Peace,
Michele and Nils