Free trade and small farmers

Recently Colombia has been in the news a lot in discussions about the proposed "free" trade agreement (FTA) being proposed between the U.S. and Colombia. I recently wrote a short article for CPT's e-mail list about the FTA and the effects it would have on small farmers. A lot of Colombians oppose the FTA, but in trying to write about it I've discovered that the issue is complicated - its easy for multinational companies to see how it benefits them, but it's hard for family farmers, factory workers, and ordinary citizens to understand the economic impacts it will have on them, and on the Colombian civil conflict. My article attempts to explain some of these impacts, without getting too technical.

Unfortunately, although the U.S. congress has refused to vote on the FTA this year, I'm pessimistic that this is more than a short-term victory. There was a great article recently in the Globe and Mail talking about a proposed Canadian FTA with Colombia, and how when that passes - now seen by most observers as almost assured - the U.S. will follow suit.

Extrajudicial killings

The end of March, there were articles in both the Washington Post and the LA Times about Colombian civilians killed by the military. In our work here in the Middle Magdalena, we frequently hear about people, often civilians, who are killed by the Colombian military outside of combat. The LA Times article in particular, titled "Extrajudicial slayings on rise in Colombia", did a good job of describing the underlying incentives for these extrajudicial murders.

118 days

Another book to recommend, although having to do with CPT, not Colombia. Christian Peacemaker Teams is publishing a book "118 Days: Christian Peacemaker Teams Held Hostage in Iraq", about the hostage crisis involving four CPTers in late 2005 and early 2006. The book includes reflections by the surviving hostages, but also talks about the experiences of CPT staff, friends and family who worked for their release while trying to maintain hope.

CPT is launching the book with a June 5th potluck in Chicago. See the 118 Days website for more information about the book.

South America Log - No. 11

March 8, 2008

Greetings friends and family,

Happy International Women's Day! After receiving numerous worried emails about the crisis between Colombia and its bordering countries we decided to write about that situation. Our team in Barrancabermeja is a long ways from all of Colombia's borders, so there has never been direct danger related to these tensions to CPTers or to our partners here.

As of yesterday, March 7, we are thankful to report that tensions between Colombia and Venezuela and Ecuador have eased due to diplomatic conversations at the 10^th annual Rio Summit of leaders of Latin American countries. The Rio Summit was scheduled prior to the events that sparked tensions between Colombia and its border nations. The agenda of the Rio Summit was quickly changed to focus on the crisis between these countries.

Here is a summary of events over the past week for those who have been trying to get a handle on the situation here:

On February 27, through negotiations facilitated by the government of Venezuela, there was another step forward in a peaceful end to the armed conflict when the guerrilla group the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) released four more of the approximately 700 hostages they have kidnapped and held for years. Three days later on March 1, Colombian governmental forces crossed into Ecuador and, through aerial bombardment and an on-ground military raid, killed a key FARC leader, 'Raúl Reyes', as well as twenty others identified in the press as FARC members. Some reports suggest this attack on a FARC base inside of Ecuador was aided by U.S. intelligence. According to Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa, at the time of his death Reyes was in negotiations with the Ecuadorian government regarding a further release of hostages.

On March 2 Ecuador and Venezuela withdrew their ambassadors from Colombia and both countries moved troops and tanks to their borders with Colombia. On March 6 Nicaragua also withdrew its ambassadors from Colombia. On March 7 at the Rio Summit the four countries reached a diplomatic agreement to this conflict.

We recommend Adam Isaacson's blog at the Center for International Policy www.cipcol.org for ongoing concise analysis of events in Colombia, and links to recommended news sources.

*******

In celebration of International Women's Day, the Women's Popular Organization (OFP) hung posters throughout Barrancabermeja opposing the armed conflict. They asked CPT if we would spend time at each of their community centers, as they were concerned about reprisals for the hanging of the posters. Yesterday we went out in pairs to eat lunch at the soup kitchens operated at each of the OFP's community centers. As Nils and I enjoyed our lunch of soup, rice and beans, salad, plantains and fresh lemonade, everyone in the dining room sat silently watching the television news. The media was announcing that the Colombian Army had killed 'Iván Ríos', another member of the FARC's seven-person secretariat or leadership council. The murder the week before of 'Raúl Reyes' was the first death of a FARC secretariat member in their almost 50-year existence.

As I listened to the news of 'Iván Ríos' death, I felt sad to realize that many people will hear the news of the death of two FARC leaders as proof that a military solution to the armed conflict is working. Thankfully, there are also many people who believe non-violent responses and a negotiated solution to the armed conflict is not only possible but necessary. Near our lunch table at the soup kitchen was one of the posters created in celebration of International Women's Day with the slogan, "We do not want a peace that oppresses or a war that kills." The killing of the FARC leaders by the Colombian Army is certainly, "the peace that oppresses." The hanging of these posters is just one of the many courageous acts of resistance to this war that we witness every day.

International Women's Day will be a more somber one for the OFP this year as it will be the first celebration they have held in 30 years without their President, Yolanda Becerra, in attendance. Ms. Becerra was assaulted in her home the night of November 4, 2007 and members of her family have been harassed and threatened. Ms. Becerra has left the city but the women of OFP are as determined as ever to work for women's rights.

In other news, Michele recently returned to Garzal, the community where we spent Christmas. We are organizing a delegation of 11 Colombians to visit Garzal next week to see first hand their struggle for land titles.

Nils recently spent 4 days with the mining community in meetings to hold the Colombian government accountable to agreements they made after the Army killed mining leader, Alejandro Uribe in September 2006.

We also enjoyed two weeks at the Caribbean Coast in February, where highlights included a visit to where the desert meets the ocean in the northernmost tip of Colombia and a morning spent scuba diving. You can see photos of our vacation below in this blog.

We will be back in Minnesota from March 26 to May 6. Then we will return to Colombia where we plan to stay until September 2008.

In Peace,

Michele and Nils

To learn more about the work of CPT or to make a donation in our names please visit www.cpt.org

CPT MISSION STATEMENT: Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) Colombia is a
community made up of trained volunteers from different cultures that forms part of the international, ecumenical organization, CPT. Our work is based in, though not limited to, the Middle Magdalena region of Colombia. We work together on grassroots initiatives to expose and transform structures of domination and oppression through active nonviolence in order to make possible a world grounded in respect, justice and love, even of enemies.

Our trip to the Caribbean

Hi everybody,

We're back form two weeks of relaxing along Colombia's Caribbean coast. It was great. Here are some photos from our trip.

Caribbean Coast Feb 2008

Women's Mobilization in Nariño

Last November when Nils was in Nariño he got to attend an amazing women's march for Peace, bringing together over 4,000 women from all over the country. (He also got to travel 30 hours across Colombia with 40 exultant but sleep-deprived women returning from the march.) Here are some photos of the march that I should have posted a long time ago.

National Women's Mobilization

South America Log - No. 10

Dear Friends and Family,

We are back from our trip to Garzal where we enjoyed experiencing a rural Christmas. Click the picture below to see some of our photos from the trip:

Garzal

We were relieved that it was a quiet week given the communities concerns about increased violence during the holidays. Since we have only recently started working with this community, we spent much of our time visiting families to introduce ourselves and CPT, and to learn a little about their life and experiences.

We found many of the Christmas traditions to be familiar. Families were enjoying out of town guests. A common meal was prepared and shared by many families before going to Christmas Eve church services. Some families gave small gifts to their children. We enjoyed special foods that are usually only prepared at Christmas, including tamales and a spice cake baked over a wood fire. And, some in the community celebrated with drinking beer all through the night and into the next day.

A memorable part of our stay in Garzal was the Christmas Eve vigil at a small evangelical church in the community. (The pastor’s family was our main host for the week so our decision about whether to spend Christmas Eve with the church-goers or beer drinkers was clear.) The pastor, perhaps running short on music to keep the 4-hour vigil going until midnight asked us if we would sing a song. We agreed and sang ‘Joy to the World’ and ‘Silent Night’, explaining that in many churches in the US on Christmas Eve, the lights are extinguished and Silent Night is sung by candlelight. The pastor decided to end their vigil in the same way, so they passed out candles, turned off the generator, and we all sang ‘Noche de Paz’ at midnight. It made us both a little teary to enjoy a tradition from home and to think of many of you singing the same song that night.

We also enjoyed swimming in the Magdalena River, which is the color of chocolate milk, with our host’s family. And, on our last night with the family, we sat around joking and singing before going to bed. They asked us to sing for them and said they would sing for us in return. We sang Jingle Bells and then taught them the chorus. Several people caught on quite quickly while some of the grandchildren got the tune but used the typical “shwah, shwah” sounds to imitate the English words. I imagine we will still be hearing the grandchildren sing “Jingle shwah, Jingle shwah, Jingle shwah, shwah, shwah” to the tune of Jingle Bells when we return to their home.

While this Christmas was free from violence for the people of Garzal, our many conversations with families reminded us that the threats they are facing continue to be very real. Although many have farmed the land for 40 years, they are in the midst of a 6-year-long struggle to gain titles to their land, titles they have a right to under Colombian law. In the past few months the struggle has intensified with increased pressure from illegal armed groups for the families to abandon their farms. Fortunately, more human rights workers and a lawyer have joined with the community to work on their behalf. As we listened to the worry of so many farmers about the possibility of losing their land and their livelihood we were reminded of the words of a Colombian mother we met on our first visit to Colombia. She described peace as “going to bed at night with a roof over your head, food for your family, and freedom from fear”. We pray that 2008 will be the year the families of Garzal receive the titles to their land, and we all can rejoice with them in being just a little closer to Peace on Earth.

May you and your community have a roof over your head, food for your family and freedom from fear in 2008.

In Peace,

Michele and Nils

Bonus Christmas Song -

People who live in rural communities have access to an abundance of fresh food and are happy to share, but by the end of our time we were beginning to feel like we were in a food-themed ‘Twelve Days of Christmas’, which inspired the following:

Seven Days of Christmas in Garzal:

On the seventh day in Garzal, a neighbor gave to me

Seven cups of coffee

Six coconuts

Five kilos of oranges

Four cups of tamarind pulp

Three sour guavas

Two ripe bananas

And a chicken tamale wrapped in banana leaves!

CPT MISSION STATEMENT: Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) Colombia is a
community made up of trained volunteers from different cultures that forms part of the international, ecumenical organization, CPT. Our work is based in, though not limited to, the Middle Magdalena region of Colombia. We work together on grassroots initiatives to expose and transform structures of domination and oppression through active nonviolence in order to make possible a world grounded in respect, justice and love, even of enemies.

Read more or make a donation at www.cpt.org.