Stewart in Colombia

Let us Prey!

2012-02-13T16:29:00.000-05:00

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Let us Prey!

Twothousand years ago I tried to teach you the Lord's Prayer. I thoughtI knew it all back then, but actually I was pretty naive! I thought I was the one making theinvisible hand of God visible! Can you believe it?! It's prettyembarrassing actually... Please remember that back in my day Israelhad no mass communication; it was pretty hard to grasp global truthsbased on such a limited localized experience.

Butthese days I'm enjoying the benefits of an excellent bird's-eye-viewfrom up here, and let me assure you, what I've learned from justwatching you all hasbeen most illuminating!

Mostof you have already figured this out for yourselves long ago, asthese truths are pretty self-evident. But because a significant number ofyou are still confused by my deluded rantings 2,000 years ago, I feelI owe you an apology and a clarification. Sorry, it turns out that Salvationactually lies in strict adherence to two major commandments:

subordinating yourselves to God's invisible hand by refraining from regulating or otherwise interfering in the marketplace; and the second, like unto it
Respect and protect Private property

All the other 10 rules, including the ones on intellectual property rights, the payment of debts at all costs, etc. are all really only complimentary details to these two fundamentals. They areall you really need to know.

Butif you still feel that you need a prayer, I will oblige you. (Besides, although he bestows his blessing on people based purely on their obedience to the above commandments, Dad alwaysreally gets a kick out of it when people take a little time to show their gratitude):

TheLord's Prayer take two:

Letus Prey:

OurFather who are in heaven,

Wethank you for the guidance of your invisible hand in all things

Weunderstand that by allowing unregulated free-market economics todetermine the allocation of the word's resources, your will will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. We know this because we enjoy your blessings,as is self-evident in the wealth of all countries who Trust in You; Who trust that issues like poverty, hunger, the environment etc. will be dealt with in a just and timely manner by your Almighty invisible hand if we keep your commandments. Thank you.

Wepray for (and prey on) the less-deserving, who reject free marketeconomics in favour of lesser communist, socialist, populist,bleeding-heart-liberal and other false gods, and who do not recognizeYou as thebeginning and end of history –the alpha and the omega. Thank youfor converting them to your ways (the former Soviet Union for example), and thank you for delivering the resources of unbelievers intoour hands, even when they feebly but obstinately resist You/us andthe self-evident truths manifest in works of thy invisible hand.

Grantthat all nations and all peoples on the entire planet may one day seethat by your grace you have transformed our greed into a virtue;your blessings cascade down (or trickle in the case of the newlyconverted) on your people in direct proportion to their hard work,entrepreneurial spirit, ingenuity, ability to compete, technologicalexpertise and control, patent and intellectual property rights, wisere-investment of profits, general business acumen, and respect for free market economics.

Wethank you that you have granted us the divine right to administer thetalents, land and resources of all those who refuse to willinglyplace them in your/our service –the service of the global family via theglobal marketplace. (At least I got thatpart right 2,000 years ago! “Forto every person who has something, even more will be given, and hewill have more than enough; but the person who has nothing, even thelittle that he has will be taken away from him.” --Seemy parable of the talents --Matthew 25: 14-30)

Forgive us our failure in colonizing all the remote old growth forests, deserts, wetlands, park-lands, and mountainous regions of the world, but under the benevolent guidance of your invisible hand our mineral extraction and other industries will soon see to it that your influence is felt in these regions as well.

Deliverus from the unbelievers who resists us, the false anti-globalizationprophets, and the subterfuge of the environmental dooms-dayprophecies.

Forours are the empire, the military hardware, the World Bank, IMF and the financialinstitutions, the technology and all related patent protection, and all the major media!

Forever and ever

Amen

--Jesus

____________________________________________________________

P.S.

Theabove is meant to challenge contemporary blending of Christianitywith neo-liberal market economics, not affirm it. Below is anotherfictitious piece pretending to be authored by Jesus. I did not write this piece, but it iscloser to my heart. I don't know what its tittle was so I've calledit Jesusolatry (The idolatry of Jesus, i.e. paying lip-service to themessenger while ignoring the message):

Anonymous

Jesusolatry

Do not trustthe people who

Hang me likea millstone

around yourneck

Do not lookat me

but what I ampointing at

The Jesus whokeeps saying saying

“I amJesus, look at me,

there is nosubstitute”

is animposter.

Do not trustthe Christian

cult ofpersonality,

I came toturn you on

and not toturn you off

To make youfree

and not totie you up.

My yoke waseasy

and my burdenlight

Until theymade

salvationcopyright,

And all inthe name of Jesus

so forget myname

was everJesus

I amanonymous.

--anonymous

For the millions in a prison,
That wealth has set apart –
For the Christ who has not risen,
From the caverns of the heart –

For the innermost decision,
That we cannot but obey -
For what’s left of our religion,
I lift my voice and pray:
May the lights in The Land of Plenty
Shine on the truth some day.

--Leonard Cohen

Mining Injustice Video and Discaussion

2012-02-13T12:58:00.000-05:00

My friends at CASA --the Toronto-based Colombian Action and Solidarity Alliance, who are part of LACSN --the Latin American and Caribbean Solidarity Network, informed me of the following, which I want to share with you all.

I also want to remind my fellow Canadians to help ensure that the Corporate Social Responsibility Bill before Parliament gets passed (see Pass Bill C 3-323):

--Stewart

_________________________________________________________________

* *My

Urgent! End Canadian Impunity in Colombia! Pass Bill C-323

2012-02-06T23:11:00.000-05:00

“We havefound the enemy. He is us.”

Barrik Gold Protest, 2011

Colombiaisn't the only place where criminals who dispossess poor indigenous,Afro-Colombian and campesinos of their land, cultural identity andlivelihoods enjoy complete impunity. Canadiancorporations—particularly the Canadian Mining sector—are alsocomplicit and benefiting from the victimization of Colombian and other marginalized peoples around the world, and also enjoy completeimpunity. This has to stop! Human Rights should be universal, and notthe sole purview of Canadian citizens!

MiningInjustice Solidarity Network –an organization at the forefrontof pushing for corporate accountability in the Canadian mining sectorwith which I worked with closely during my speaking tour lastspring—are hosting an event to garner public support forNDP MP Peter Julian'sBill C-323. It will take place inToronto this Thursday,February 9th at7PM atTequillaBookworm, 2nd Floor located at 512 Queen St. West, betweenBathurst and Spadina on the North side.

TheBill “calls for extending theauthority of the Federal Court system to compensate all personsincluding foreign citizens for a broad range of human rightsviolations committed by Canadian and non-Canadian corporations andpersons operating outside Canada. It would allow lawsuits in Canadafor a host of universal human rights violations, such as genocide andtorture, as well as activities that significantly destroy theenvironment or violate key international labour rights.” (See BillC-323)

Whether or not you can attendMining Watch's event, please do all you can to see thatthis bill gains all the support it needs to pass! There are hundredsof thousand of lives and cultures at stake, including here inColombia! Contactyour member of parliament; Sign the petition. Use your emaillists, facebook accounts and any other social media you have accessto to make sure that this Bill does not suffer the same fate as didBill C -300. We cannot let that happen again! (See my earlier post“CanadianMineral Extraction Industry and Cultural Genocide”)

For those of you who are notfamiliar with Mining Injustice, here is a short incomplete list of afew alternative organizations also working for corporateaccountability in the Canadian mining industry:

Protest Barrik [Gold]
Mining Watch Canada
The Canadian Council for International Cooperation's Americas Policy Group (PDF) (of which CPT Colombia is a member)
Canadian Network on Corporate Accountability
Kairos Canada
Interpares: see “Blood Money: Doing Business in Colombia” or a lengthy but detailed PDF file “Land and Conflict – Resource Extraction, Human Rights, and Corporate Social Responsibility: Canadian Companies in Colombia” Excerpt: “Testimony gathered in the course of this study suggests consistent and clear patterns in key areas where companies risk benefiting from human rights violations and/or benefiting those responsible for human rights violations. Under these circumstances, increased investment in the extractive sector is at risk of entrenching and even expanding the already astonishing toll on the human rights of Colombians.”
Latin America and Caribbean Solidarity Network LACSN
Colombian Action and Solidarity Alliance CASA
Halifax Initiative
Development and Peace

* * * * * *

Hold them in the light!

2012-01-23T19:44:00.000-05:00

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--byStewart Vriesinga

Thosewho do evil things hate the light and will not come to the light,because they do not want their evil deeds to be shown up. But thosewho do what is true come to the light in order that the light mayshow that what they did was in obedience to God.

(John3: 20-21)

ReverendSalvador Alcántaraof Garzal:

WhenI posted about Reverend Salvador Alcántarahaving to leave the Middle Magdalena region because paramilitarieswere looking to kill him, my friend Sara emailed me to say shewondered why I had not asked for prayers. Very concerned, andfeeling powerless to do much else (Sara is intimately familiar withthe realities of Colombia), she informed me that she was going to“hold him in the light”. I felt somewhat chagrined for not havingasked for prayers. Holding someone in the light is very consistentwith Quaker practice that had become such an important part of myspiritual sustenance while I was living in Canada over ten years ago.

Beingheld in the light is something Reverend Salvador and his family verymuch need right now. The paramilitaries who came to kill him werearmed and dressed completely in black—the typical uniform of theBlack Eagles paramilitary group operating here in Colombia. Theyhate it when someone is “held in the light” because it makes theevil deeds they wish to do more risky and less effective. A greatpart of our work is not only making the evil and the violence thatgoes on here in Colombia more visible; we also attempt to make theeffortsof those who resist evil in obedience to Godmore visible. Salvador Alcántarafalls very squarely into this category. His tireless work in tryingto secure land tittles and security for his community, his unwaveringfaith and obedience to God's calling, convinced him to return toGarzal despite the dangers and threats to his life and the lives ofhis loved ones. “Holding them in the light” is not only effectivein terms of bringing about divine intervention; raising the profileof potential victims and their struggle for justice also makes itmore difficult to deny them justice and kill them with impunity. Thegranting of land tittles by INCODER—the Colombian Institute forRural Development—would also go a long way in providing statesupport, security and legitimacy to the communities of Garzal andNueva Esperanza. So by all means, in every sense of the word, pleasecontinue to hold Salvador, his family, and the communities of Garzaland Nueva Esperanza, INCODER, and all those who seek to do him harm, in the light!

AbelardoSánchez Serrano of CREDHOS:

Whileyou're at it there is another member of the human rights communityhere in Barrancabermeja that needs “holding in the light”--AbelardoSánchez Serrano. Abelardo is a member of CREDHOS—the RegionalCorporation for the Defence of Human Rights. Perhaps it is notcoincidental that Abelardo was one of the chief spokespersons at apress conference about the commemoration of a massacre in Rochela tobe held the following week. The massacre remains in impunity—a factthat was underscored at the press conference. (More on thecommemoration of the massacre in Rochela later.) The followingmorning two people on a motorbike approached him and put a gun tohis head, telling him to “stop denigrating the armed forces. Wealready have one son-of-a-bitch guerrilla of CREDHOS in jail and ifit is necessary to give it to the rest of them we will do it to shutyou up”.

Ifthe intent was to dissuade the organizers from going ahead with thecommemoration, it was unsuccessful. It took place on the 18^thof January, 2012, and was attended by close to two thousand people.Christian Peacemaker Teams spent five days accompanying bus-loads ofpeople, many themselves threatened, to, during, and back home fromthe event.

Butit was before the commemoration of the Rochela Massacre, the morning after the press conference, when Abelardo's life was threatened. Hewas about to purchase and arrange for the transport of food, cookingutensils and other goods to Rochela for the commemoration. Because ofthe threats against him, Abelardo was unable to continue with thatwork, and it was assumed by members of CAHUCOPANA (Corporation forCoexistence and Peace in Northeast Antioquía) and ASORVIM (TheMagdalena Medio Victims' Association), amongst others. Gladys Gomezand yours truly—Stewart Vriesinga—of Christian Peacemaker Teams,Colombia accompanied them as the went about making purchases andother necessary arrangements.

LikeSalvador, Abelardo and CREDHOS are exposing present and past evils tothe light of day. They know that those who prefer to hide under thecover of darkness, including the perpetrators and beneficiaries ofthe massacre in Rochela, will try to stop them. But they know whatmust be done, and will not allow anything or anyone to deter them.They embody the words of our Lord in their actions:

WhatI am telling you in the dark you must repeat in broad daylight, andwhat you have heard in private you must announce from the housetops.Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.

(Matthew10: 27-28)

HoldingSalvador and Abelardo in the light will inevitably also shed light onthe injustices, as well as the perpetrators and beneficiaries ofthese injustices, past and present. It cannot be otherwise. Ourconcern is not with the spiritual well-being of these two friends;rather, it is their physical safety and the success of their valiant struggle for justice. Soplease let us do all we can to hold them and their struggle forjustice, all who advocate for them and all who oppose them, in thelight!

Whatyou can do:

Inaddition to keeping Salvador and Abelardo and both their allies andadversaries in your prayers, there are things you can do to ensurethat truth and justice are served. In justice is less likely toprevail if it is seen as plain as day. Holding injustice in the lightcan expose and transform it.

REVERENDSALVADOR: As already mentioned above, in the case of ReverendSalvador and the communities of Garzal and Nueva Esperanza, it isINCODER that is in a position to deter further violence byrecognizing the community members' legitimate claim to land they haveoccupied and cultivated for decades, and grant the the correspondingland tittles. According to Colombia's Right of Possession Laws(squatter's rights), this should be routine. It is INCODER's decadesof negligence and failure to rule on this matter that encouragesunsavoury armed actors to continue to pressure the community toabandon its claim on these lands and join the millions of alreadyinternally displaced peoples in Colombia. Any correspondence you havewith Colombian authorities regarding Reverend Salvador Alcántarashould include a demand that INCODER grant the communities of Garzaland Nueva Esperanza, both part of the municipality of Simití,in south Bolívar, tittles to their lands immediately. The contactinformation provided by Amnesty International's Urgent Action requestregarding Abelardo of CREDHOS below will alsoserve to communicate your concerns for Reverend Salvador and thecommunities of Garzal and Nueva Esperanza.

ABELARDOof CREDHOS: Amenesty international suggests the following urgentaction on behalf of Abelardo of CREDHOS: (For their full report clickhere.)

Pleasewrite immediately in Spanish or your own language:
* Expressingconcern for the safety of Abelardo Sánchez Serrano and other membersof CREDHOS, and calling on the authorities to protect them, in linewith their wishes;
* Urging the Colombian authorities to orderfull and impartial investigations into the death threats againstAbelardo Sánchez Serrano; to publish the results and bring thoseresponsible to justice;
* Remind the Colombian authorities tofulfil their obligations regarding the protections of human rightsdefenders as specified in the 1998 UN Declaration on Human RightsDefenders, to which Colombia is a state party;
* Urging theauthorities to take immediate action to dismantle paramilitary groupsand break their links with the security forces, in line with statedgovernment commitments and recommendations made by the UN and otherintergovernmental organizations
PLEASESEND APPEALS TO:
President
SeñorJuan Manuel Santos
Presidente de la República,
Palacio deNariño, Carrera 8 No.7-26, Bogotá, Colombia
Fax:                 011 57 1 596 0631
Salutation:     DearPresident Santos/Excmo. Sr. Presidente Santos

DefenceMinister
Señor Juan Carlos Pinzón
Ministerio deDefensa
Carrera 54, no.26-29
BogotáColombia
Fax:                 011 57 1 266 1003
Salutation:     DearMinister Pinzón/Sr. Ministro Pinzón

And copiesto:

NGO
CREDHOS
Av. 52 No. 25-49
Barrancabermeja, Santander
Colombia

TheHonourable Diane Ablonczy
Minister of State for Consular andForeign Affairs (Latin America)
House of Commons
Ottawa ON K1A0A6
Fax:                 (613) 992-2537
Email:             ablonczy.d@parl.gc.ca/calgary@ablonczy.com
Her Excellency Clemencia ForeroUcros
Ambassador for Colombia
360 Albert Street, Suite1002
Ottawa, Ontario K1R 7X7
Fax:                 (613) 230-4416
E-mail:            embajada@embajadacolombia.ca
Note: When emailing the Embassy, please consider turning on yournotification device to ask for a receipt of delivery. (In my system,when I’m ready to send a message, I go to Options, then Request aDelivery Receipt.) If you do so but get an email saying your messagewas deleted, please let the UA office know. Thank you.

* * *

Las Pavas: The Criminalization of Victims.

2012-01-16T08:16:00.000-05:00

Intwisted and perverse judicial manoeuvres the victims of paramilitaryand military crimes are increasingly being denied justice, reparationand protection on the grounds that they are in fact perpetratorsrather than victims of crimes.

LasPavas public action in Bogota: The sign on the left reads "Madeinvisible --now before we can ask for land restitution, we must askfor the restitution of our classification as victims."

LasPavas is one of several recent examples of this phenomenon. It is notthe paramilitaries who displaced the community, nor the palm-oilcultivators Daabon and Aportes San Isidro responsible for theenvironmental degradation and continued occupation of the land thatare the subjects of judicial investigations; on the contrary, it isthe dispossessed and displaced campesinos themselves who are underinvestigation for allegedly fabricating the story of theirdisplacement, illegally invading and occupying land that is nottheirs, while their leadership is also under investigation forallegedly being guerrilla insurgents.

Unlikevictims, perpetrators of crimes in Colombia continue to enjoyimpunity:

Despitethe earlier “Law of Justice and Peace”, and its more recentreplacement, the “Law of Victims”, impunity for theperpetrators of extrajudicial killings, falsepositivesand forced displacement and the appropriation of lands of Colombianfirst nation, Afro and campesino communities continues unabated.President Santos is now proposing toexpand themilitary courts 's jurisdiction to include human rights crimescommitted by the military itself; in other words, putting the foxin charge of the hen-house. Human rights, victims of state crimes,displaced peoples, labour unions and other organizations have longdemanded an end to impunity, reparation, and guarantees that thesethings will not be repeated in the future. So far they have not beensuccessful. Perpetrators go unpunished, impunitycontinues and new extrajudicial killings, forced displacementsand death threats continue.

Whenvictims of crimes cannot be easily silenced through threats orextrajudicial killings they are simply redefined as criminals:

Attemptsto silence victims seeking justice and restitution here in Colombiaare generally dealt with primarily through intimidation, deaththreats threats and extrajudicial killings. Victims who dare nameperpetrators are often assassinated, their families and loved onesthreatened, while those responsible for these assassinations andthreats enjoy the same impunity as the perpetrators of the originalcrimes. They may very well be in the employ of the intellectualauthors of the original crimes!

Butin some cases, like that of Las Pavas, the national and internationalprofile of the victims is simply too high to kill them withimpunity—the resulting scandal would be counterproductive to theinterests of those wishing to silence them. It is in such cases,often based on the testimony of demobilized paramilitaries, that thevictims are simply redefined and prosecuted as criminals. Redefiningvictims of paramilitary and military crimes and their advocates ascriminals not only ensures that they will be denied justice,reparation and protection; it could also undermine their supportbase. Those who knowingly continue to advocate for these newly-criminalizedvictims would be seen as willing accomplices, and could therefore expect to be treated as such. Thus theguilty continue to enjoy impunity and the spoils of their criminalacts, while the real victimsand those who advocate for them in their quest justice and reparation are criminalized.

LasPavas is by no means the onlyexample of this. Recently here in Barrancabermeja two leaders of theCoca Cola bottlers' union, SINALTRAINAL, WilliamMendoza and Juan Carlos Galvis—leaders who receive armedprotection from the state because of paramilitary threats againstthem—are now also being investigated as perpetrators rather thanvictims of crimes. Here in the Magdalena Medio TeofiloAcuña,the president of FEDAGROMISBOL, and numerousleaders of the Campesino Association of the Cimitara Valley(ACVC) have been incarcerated for being or collaborating with theguerrilla. DavidRavelo of the RegionalCorporation for the Defence of Human Rights (CREDHOS)was and continues to be incarcerated for that same reason. Althoughnone of these false accusations has resulted in the disbanding of theorganizations the incarcerated leaders belong to, they haverequired these organizations tofind new leadership and dedicate precious time and resources todefendingtheir own falselyaccused leaders—time and energy that would otherwise be dedicatedto defending the human rights of others.

TheEffect on Las Pavas:

Thoseof you who have been following and advocating for the community ofLas Pavas will know that this community, which has been displacedfrom their land by both paramilitaries and the state security forcesthemselves, is still struggling to get formal recognition and tittlesto their land. As the result of a Constitutional Court ruling,INCODER –the Colombian Institute for Rural Development—has beenordered to review the case of Las Pavas. So far that has not resultedin land tittles for the people of Las Pavas, who nevertheless, withthe support of their allies and without state authorization, havereturned to their land. The palm-oil producer, Aportes San Isidro,continues to occupy most of their territory.

Thesenew allegations and investigations into the community of Las Pavasquestion whether or not the community ever lived on the land in thefirst place, thereby also calling into question whether they wereever forcefully displaced from that land by paramilitaries —remarkable allegationsgiven that the state itself had recognized and assisted the community after it was displaced! The local prosecutor of the state of Bolívar, basedin Cartegena—Miryam Martínez Palomino—accuses thecommunity of having fabricated the whole story, and deceiving the nationaland international non-governmental organizations into supporting thecommunity's claims. These allegations imply that thecommunity's unsanctioned return to their land was a criminalillegal invasion and occupation of private property. Additional allegations allege that several of the leaders of the Las Pavas community are/have connections withthe guerrillas—an equally preposterous allegation!

Forthe community of Las Pavas these allegations were both shocking andalarming. Their first response was to let their national andinternational allies know of this absurd development. They wererelieved to know that, not only did none of their allies believe theallegations; all of them—including Christian Peacemaker TeamsColombia—publicly reiterated their intention to continue to standwith the community in their struggle for justice, land restitutionand land tittles. Furthermore, none of Las Pavas' allies withdrew their support as a result of the state prosecutors' postulation thatallies and advocates of Las Pavas had been deceived by the community,and, upon learning the truth, would presumably withdraw their support ratherthan be willing accomplices in fraud and illegal occupation of land.

Nevertheless,these developments have created a lot of stress, and do require the LasPavas community members to reassert their status as victims of forceddisplacement. Without that recognition they are unlikely toget the land tittles and protection from future displacement that they seek. The communityappealed to the Federal Prosecutor, Viviane Morales, who then paid a visitto the community. Many allies of the community as well as a lot ofnational media were also there to cover the event, not to mention hundredsof police and military personnel who provided the visiting officialswith security. There she heard testimony from the people of Las Pavasthemselves—something the state prosecutor from Cartegena neverbothered to do. The community is hopeful that, after having launchedher own investigation and hearing the testimonies of variouscommunity members, the national prosecutor will affirm thecommunities status as victims of forced displacement, rather than thecriminal invaders and occupiers of private property that the localstate prosecutor for the province of Bolívaralleges them to be.

Thecommunity remains cautiouslyhopeful. However, experience has taught them thatthey cannot sit on their laurels and wait for due process to bringthem justice. They and their allies, joinedby other organizations and victims, did a public action in the PlazaSimon Bolívar inColombia's capital—Bogotá. Thismobilization was a major undertaking. It required transporting 80members of the Las Pavas community, and a equal number of people fromother supporting communities from the South of Bolivar, as well as members of supporting organizations, toBogotá --a 24-hour trip for most of them. Once in Bogotá we all also had to be fed and housed thethree days. All this required, not only a lot oftime and effort, but a great deal of financial resources—financialresources that the community of Las Pavas does not have. Without thecontinued support of allies none of this would have been possible.

Evenso, instead of continuing to dedicate their time and resources to furtheringtheir goal of getting, land tittles and state protection,both the community and its allies must now dedicate precious time and energy and scarce financial resources intore-establishing that community status as victims offorced displacement, not the perpetrators of fraud and an illegalland invasion that the Bolívar's state-prosecutor alleges them tobe.

Conclusionsand observations:

Thebalance of power in Colombia continues to favour those who profit from crime.Justice would eat into those profits, so rather than prosecute theperpetrators of forced displacement, extrajudicial killings, andother human rights abuses, the victims are being criminalized. The perpetrators enjoy impunity. Judicial investigations seeking to discredit and criminalize victims and their advocatesare vigorously pursued, while the perpetrators of crimes against victimsare seldom, if ever, brought to justice. It seems that judicialprocesses here in Colombia has been corrupted and commodified, and“justice”, far from being blind, serves only the highest bidders.

Consequentlyjustice for the community of Las Pavas is far from assured, and thecommunity is still very much in need of the support of its allies.Christian Peacemaker Teams in Colombia is one of several alliesthat remain committed to supporting the community of Las Pavas. Wehope you are too!

Looking for Canadian participation in Jan 14-22 Delegation to Marmato Colombia.

2012-01-11T14:28:00.001-05:00

Looking for Canadian participation in Delegation to Threatened Traditional Mining Town of Marmato, Colombia.

Yesterday we received a letter from the Americas Policy Group (APG) of the Canadian Council for International for Cooperation asking us to use our networks to help find Canadian delegates the US-based Colombia Support Network 14^th to 22^nd of January 2012. The delegation is going to Marmato –a community threatened with displacement by the Canadian mining company Gran Colombian Gold:

“The presence of Canadians on the delegation may help to secure meetings with Colombian government officials.”

Please put this out on your lists as quickly as possible (LACSN, CASA, Mining Watch, etc.) I know that many of you have been actively involved in trying to promote corporate accountability for the Canadian mining industry abroad, and this may be an opportunity to further that objective. If you're interested in joining contact Cecilia. Her address is ceci8787@charter.net. (Itinerary of the delegation below).

CBC documentary on Marmato (Gran Colombia Gold was the Colombia Goldfields):

Why the Delegation (Itinerary and cost of the delegation below):

The Colombia Support Network (CSN) received an invitation from the Comite Civico Pro-Defensa de Marmato (Civic Committee for the Defense of Marmato, CCDM) to organize a delegation of persons from the United States and Canada to observe first-hand the situation involving the threat of displacement and destruction of their small town, Marmato, which is located in the central mountain range of the Colombian Andes in the Department (province) of Caldas. Marmato was founded in 1536 and during the Spanish colonies it was one of the principal sources of gold. Thus it has a mining tradition that is many generations old, with small-scale miners removing the gold in artisan form, generating employment and sustaining their families, in addition to providing income to the municipality. In recognition of this long mining tradition, the Colombian government a few years ago awarded the town the classification of “historical patrimony”. However, recently the Colombian government revoked this classification, in order to be able to authorize development of an open-pit mine on the top of the mountain, called “el Burro”, where the small town is located and which is the site of the legendary gold mine. With the revocation of the “historical patrimony” classification, the government gave a green light to the Canadian mining company Gran Colombia Gold to develop the open-pit mine. The mountain contains an estimated 9.8 million ounces of gold and 59 million ounces of silver. The government claims that the town of Marmato is located in a high-risk area for landslides, but the townspeople argue that if the open-pit mine were to be developed immense damage would be caused to the biodiversity of the region and to the ground water used for human consumption. Expert geologists say that the open-pit mine would use large quantities of cyanide, it would carve out enormous craters, and would use each day the quantity of water consumed by a population of 600.000 inhabitants. The mining company and the government wish to transfer the townspeople to a recently-built town in the lowlands at the base of the mountain. For these reasons the people of Marmato, the majority of whom would be unemployed if the mining plan were carried out, joined together to set up the CCDM.

Father Restrepo, Marmato advocate, assassinated

A tragedy recently took place near Marmato. Shortly after the CCDM was formed, the directors of the organization, accompanied by the town’s parish priest, Father Jose Reynel Restrepo, went to Bogota to explain their bitter situation to a wider segment of Colombian society. Upon their return to Marmato, a documentary was made in which Father Restrepo strongly opposed the mining plan and said that the only way he would leave the town of Marmato was if he were to be killed. Four days after the documentary was placed on You Tube, Father Restrepo was murdered by a person or persons the police have not yet identified. Given the resort to violence in which many multinational corporations in Colombia have been complicit in order to carry forward their projects, the assassination of Father Restrepo has caused great revulsion at the national and international levels. See the video:

Itinerary of the delegation:

The CCDM has sent the following agenda for the delegation’s visit to Marmato:

Sunday, January 15: Visit, accompanied by the CCDM, and become acquainted with historical sites and other places which have been made vulnerable by Gran Colombia Gold, and then participate in a discussion of what was seen.

Monday, January 16: Visit the settlement of Echandia, where there is a conflict between the multinational mining corporation and local miners, with some 300 artisan miners’ livelihood at stake.

Tuesday, January 17: Visit and become acquainted with the situation facing small-scale miners, who work in mines called La Socorro, El Corozo, Patacon and others nearby. These mines had been acquired by the multinational mining corporation, but it abandoned them 5 years ago, leaving 833 miners without work. While the delegation is in Marmato, the CCDM suggests that we speak to the mayor, the municipal councilm and the local police.

Wednesday, January 18: In Manizales, the capital of the Department (province) of Caldas, in which Marmato is located, the delegation will seek meetings with the Governor of Caldas, the Office of Mining Affairs of the provincial government, the Public Defender’s (Defensoria’s) Office, the regional Police and the Army. In the afternoon the delegation will travel to Bogota.

Thursday, January 19: In Bogota arrangements are being made to meet with the Minister of Mines, the Minister of Culture, officials of Ingeominas, and the Gran Colombia Gold mining company. The presence of Canadian citizens on the delegation would be important as we seek to meet with Canada’s ambassador to Colombia.

Friday, January 20: Meetings are planned at the Minisrty of Interior; the Jesuit think-tank CINEP; ILSA, the Institute for Alternative Legal Services; the environmental NGO Censat; unions; and other human rights organizations.

Saturday, January 21: Visit to museums, libraries and other places of interest in Bogota.

Cost: The total cost for the delegation, including round trip international travel between Chicago and Bogota, is $2,000.00 per person. The cost without the round trip travel between Chicago and Bogota is $1,250.00.

Colombia Support Network P.O. Box 1505 Madison, WI 53701-1505

Phone: (608) 257-8753

Fax: (608) 255-6621

E-mail: csn@igc.org

Contact Info:

My Year-end Fund-Raising Appeal:

2011-12-27T20:58:00.000-05:00

* * * * *

Specificallyan appeal for for donations to CPT so the Colombia team can continueworking in solidarity with our local partner communities andorganizations here in Colombia.

I would likeyou to think of it as an investment in justice rather than and act of charity tothe deserving poor. Everyone deserves justice. But that would imply your investment would guarantee justicefor the communities and organizations we partner with. I can offer nosuch guarantees. Nor can I point to specific cases where ourinterventions have guaranteed land rights, eliminated death threats, or guaranteed protection against forced displacement for the communities andorganizations we partner with and accompany here in Colombia. Recent events related to LasPavas, the communities of Garzal and Nueva Esperanza, to name buttwo, are clear examples of on-going struggle. But, although they have yet toreceive land titles and guarantees, perhaps, if it were it not for the workthat we, the work that you, and work other allies have done to raise the profile ofthese communities, they too would have had to abandon their land,and perhaps have had their leaders assassinate as was the case for so many other communites in similar situations here in Colombia..

Certificate of recognition of CPT

What I cantell you with certainty is that the communities and organizations we work with greatly appreciatethe work we do. How do I know that? They tell us so! And because welack personal we are always having to tell the majority of people whoask us to accompany them, “no”, we simply don't have the human resources to provideyou with the accompaniment you need right now. It is not so much that thekind of work we do is ineffective; it is that there simply aren't enough ofus doing it!

Butthis year for the first time I became aware of another clearindicator that our Colombian partners highly value the work we do.This year, for the first time, occasionally we actually had the humanresources to do the accompaniment, but we lacked the financialresources to travel to all the place we were being asked to go. Andorganizations and communities, struggling economically themselves,said they would find the money to help pay for our travelexpenses!! This to me is a very clear indication of how much thevalue and need our accompaniment!

Ifelt embarrassed about having to accept financial support from peoplewho I know are much poorer than I am. Don't get me wrong, when I think of the sacrifices I have made–my own now-nearly-depleted savings account, my lack of a retirementsavings plan, all the volunteer work I do—I can get caught up inself-pity. (My previous blog post provides ample evidence of that.) But asa white westerner I have sooomuch more privilege and opportunity than most of the people weaccompany! In addition to my room here in Barranca, for example, Ihave two permanent bedrooms in two different homes in Canada, as wellas dozens of other friends and families who provide me with excellentfood and comfortable beds whenever I need one, and many who evensupport me financially. Noneof the people we accompany have ever had their own room anywhere!Many live in houses with dirt floors and no running water and noelectricity. The nearest bus-stop may be a two-day hike from where they live! And here they are, offering to pay our travelexpenses! It is not simply that they love our company; we providethem with a feeling of security that allows them to continue theirstruggle for justice, human rights and peace in what for them is avery hostileenvironment. We have not been successful in making that environmentsignificantly less hostile, but our work and presence does allow themto keep up the struggle despiteon-going hostilities. And clearly they value our contributions,however ineffective it may seem to be to us at times.

Yoursupport is desperately needed! Justice postponed is justice denied. Iknow many of you feel you can't afford to be charitable during thesetrying economic times, but our local partner communities and organizations are not begging for charity; they are demanding justice!! If you cannot support us financially I trust you will find other ways to help!

Inthe words of our human rights partner organization CAHUCOPANA:

May your new year be filled with newchallenges and commitments on the road toward justice and peace!

I thank all of you who are already supporting us and our work, both financially and otherwise! I hope you will continue to do so into the new year.

Once again, donors can support us by sending donations to:

Inthe USA:

CPT,PO Box 6508; Chicago IL 60680-6508

and

InCanada:

CPT,25 Cecil Street, Unit 310; Toronto, ON M5T 1N1

and

OtherCountries:

Sendcheques to CPT's Chicago office in the USA:

POBox 6508; Chicago IL 60680-6508

Over 80% of our income comes from donors like you. Donations in the US and Canada are tax-deductible. In the US, CPT is a 501(c)3 charity.

Makeyour check out to Christian Peacemaker Teams.

Or if you prefer to use a credit card go to the Donor's page of our Web Site:

http://www.cpt.org/participate/donate

(Pleaseindicate somewhere on your cheque or on a separate note that I, Stewart, inspired your donation so it will be clearthat I am doing at least someof my share of the fund-raising.)

Peace.

AndJustice!

StewartVriesinga

How I spent my three weeks before Christmas Vacation:

2011-12-26T11:19:00.002-05:00

* *

How I spent my three weeks before ChristmasVacation:

Ihave decided to give you all a glimpse of what our life here on team islike by describing in this photo-essay how I filled my time betweenwhen I arrived in Bogotá Colombia up until the 22^nd ofDecember –when we began our Christmas break. I have included detailthat seems superfluous to our objectives, but I wanted you to get anappreciation and understanding of the day-to-day work here inColombia. It is only now that I am finding time to write about someof this stuff, and often we spend so much time doing that we don'tget around to the writing.

Ihave just checked my calendar, and confirmed what I suspected: I havenot spent more than four consecutive nights in the same bed since I leftColombia on September 28^thto do do speaking tours in Canada and the US (and visit friends andfamily). I had hoped that once I got back to our CPT Colombiahome/office I could dig in for a few days. As it turned out, that wasnot to be.

November29^th –Arrival in Colombia:

Iarrived in Bogotá on Tuesday November 29^th after havingspent three days in Ciudad Romero, El Salvador. (Ciudad Romero is acommunity I spent a lot of time with in 1991 when they repatriated toEl Salvador after living as refugees in Panama for ten years. I metthem in November 1990 in Panama when I was a member of Peace Brigades International, and accompanied the community for several months inEl Salvador after their repatriation. The civil war was in ElSalvador was still raging at that time.) My flight to Colombia had astop-over in El Salvador and I extended it to three days because Ifelt I just had to see how my friends over there were faring. Apartfrom the challenges of living in poverty they were doing all right.

It was good to see some of the folks of Ciudad Romero in El Salvador. Those who had not gone to the US or Panama looking for work, or died during my fifteen-year absence that is!

Iarrived in Bogotá the night of the 29^th. I spent the dayin Bogotá, where I met up with my teammate Julie Myers, who waspassing through Bogotá before flying to her home in the US for a break.That evening I planned on taking the overnight bus to our home inBarrancabermeja. I figured that if I left by 9:00 PM I should begetting into Barranca by 6:00 or 7:00 AM. There were no more seatsavailable. Not in that bus nor the following bus (which would havebeen the last bus of the day.) I ended up travelling to Barranca viaBucaramanga.

All the buses that go directly from Bogota to Barranca were full. I had to make the alternative 14-hour overnight trip to Barranca via Bucaramanga

Dec.1^st to 4^th—Home at last!

The welcome sign posted on my bedroom door --I don't think I should translate it all for you.

Aftertravelling for about thirteen-and-a-half hours, I arrived inBarrranca at about 11:00 AM on Thursday the 1^st ofDecember. I was warmly welcomed by my lovely team members as well asa couple of other friends here in Barranca. Barranca has been my homefor almost seven years now, but still we have to pack up all ourbelonging into suitcases every time we leave the country so thatothers can use our rooms in our absence. (In Canada I have twopermanent bedrooms at the homes of two different close sets of veryfriends, one rural and one urban. But the reality is that in Canada Ispend much of my time travelling, doing presentations and visitingfriends and family, and don't end up spending very much time ineither of my two rooms. Still it is so nice to have a permanent roomthat you don't have to dis-occupy when you're not there! I reallyappreciate that!)

Myexpectation was that I would unpack, settle in, and catch up a littlebefore accompanying an international delegation for the day to Garzelon Monday. However, there had been a change in plans. (Nowhere is myfavourite saying “life is what happens to you while you're makingother plans” more true than here in Colombia!) It turned out thatthe Fiscal (the state Prosecutor) of the province/state of Bolivia had just publiclydeclared that the community of Las Pavas, whom we have beenaccompanying for years, never existed, was never forcefully displaced from theirland; that they had falsely claimed this in order to acquire landthat was not theirs; that they had deceived their national andinternational allies into helping them invade and occupy landillegally! The community'sleaders, were now allegedly guerrillas. Through a slight of hand, instead of justice, the victimsof forced displacement had suddenly become the perpetrators of a crime, and we,their allies, unwitting accomplices! (Or, implicitly, willing accomplices should we continue to support them!) The national Fiscal, althoughshe had initially backed the claims of Bolivar's Fiscal, was going tovisit the community to investigate for herself. See "Las Pavas: another miracle urgently required") The community, fearful for it's safety and of a second forced displacement by state securityforces, wanted us to send a team there. Jenny Rodriguez and I handbeen selected.

Ispent the next three days unpacking, editing some material for ourblog, attending a meeting between Human Rights Organizations and theMinister of the Interior, accompanying Barranca's first Gay Pridemarch (members of the local LBTG community had received deaththreats), attending a meeting and supper for the international Garzaldelegation (now being accompanied by two other team members), andpacking to leave for Las Pavas. My teammates made a wonderful bannerfor Las Pavas to reaffirm our solidarity with the community.


Meeting with Minister of the Interior

Barrancabermeja's first Gay Pride parade

Meeting with international delegation in Barranca before they left for Garzal the following morning.

My Colombian Teammates made a wonderful banner to reaffirm our continued solidarity with Las Pavs

Dec.5^th to 9^th –Las Pavas

Jennyand I took a taxi to the port at 5:00 AM to begin the five-hour tripby Chalupa (a roofed 25 passenger 200 hp outboard water taxi) to ElBanco. There we would have breakfast/lunch and catch the line –alarge motorized canoe—for the three-hour trip to Buenas Aires. Wewould arrive there at about 5:00 PM –too late to make the last legof the journey. We spent the night at the home of a community leaderin Buenas Aires. The following day we completed the journey which, it being the rainy season, consisted of a two-hour trip by a paddle/pole man-poweredcanoe ride to the farm of Las Pavas. I helped paddle when the weeds and vegetation weren't so dense as to make it useless. We arrived in the late afternoon on Tuesday December the 6^th.It was here we expected the national Fiscal (Prosecutor) to arrive byhelicopter on Thursday.

After travelling down-river for five hours we got to El Banco


El Banco was flooded, as it often is during the rainy season

Its a three our trip in the lower large motorized canoe from El Banco to Buenas Aires

And another two hours or so (by paddle canoe during the rainy season) to Las Pavas

Being on the land gives them access to fish and other wildlife. They had also just harversted the second crop of rice they had planted after their first crop got washed away.

Thefollowing day we learned that the Fiscal was not coming to thefarm of Las Pavas, but rather to Buenas Aires. That afternoon wereturned, this time hiking in our rubber boots for a while beforegetting into another paddle canoe, arriving in Buenas Aires latethat afternoon. I was relieved to know that I was not showingsymptoms of diarrhoea as I had on my two previous visits to the LasPavas farm.

That afternoon wereturned, this time hiking in our rubber boots for a while...

...beforegetting into another paddle canoe, arriving in Buenas Aires latethat afternoon.

Thenext day the Fiscal did indeed arrive by helicopter. Many of LasPavas other international and national allies were also inattendance, as was much of the mainstream and alternative media, notto mention hundreds of police and military personal. At the end ofthe day, after having presented the Fiscal with first hand testimonyof numerous witnesses, Las Pavas community members and their alliesremain cautiously hopeful that the investigation of the false accusationsagainst the community and their leaders will vindicate them and openthe way for them to receive state recognition and titles for theirland. The case remains unresolved.

Thenext day the National Fiscal did indeed arrive by helicopter (Far right).

Many of LasPavas other international and national allies were also inattendance, as was much of the mainstream and alternative media, notto mention hundreds of police and military personal.

Father Gallego doing a press interview in Buenas Aires during Fiscal visit

At7:00 AM the next day (Friday December 9^th ) Jenny and Ijoined some other allies who were also returning to Barranca. Wetravelled up-river by a specially contracted canoe (unaffordable hadwe been travelling alone). After a couple of hours we werereached a road where we all crowded into the back of a pick-up truck for an houror so on the road to Rio Viejo. From there we took a short water-taxi ride acrossthe river to La Gloria, taxis for the one-hour trip to Agua Chica,and contracted yet other taxis to take us on the three-hour trip backto Barranca. We arrived in Barranca in time for supper.

After the Fiscal left by helicopter many left by chalupa

Jenny and Ijoined some other allies who were also returning to Barranca. Wetravelled up-river by a specially contracted canoe (un-affordable hadwe been travelling alone) for a couple of hours, where we werecrowded into the back of a pick-up truck, and travelled for an houror so to Rio Viejo.

Dec.9^th to 12^th –Barrancabermeja:

Uponarriving in Barrancabermeja we learned of yet another crisis.Reverend Salvador Alcanatara of Garzel, along with his family, had toleave Garzel after being warned by acquaintances that men werelooking for him to kill him. Whether this was a a reprisal for having hosted the international delegation earlier in the week, or a desperate attempt to permanently silence the man who consistently refused to be cowed, is unclear. In any case Salvador and his family were forced to flee. They spent the night at ourhouse before leaving the Magdalena Medio region the next day. I spentthe evening with his two young grand sons (neither of which had everbeen in a city as big as Barrancabermeja before). Early the followingmorning (Saturday December 10^th ) Jenny and I accompaniedthe family to the terminal. It was very sad to see them go. (See "Garzal's President, Salvador Alcantara forced to flee for his life")

Insteadof doing laundry, as I had planned, I spent much of the remainder ofthe Saturday attending the Wedding of William (One of the leaders of theCoca Cola workers union SINATRAINAL) and his new lovely wife Majorly.I happily agreed to postponing the team meeting we had scheduled forSaturday until Monday.

It was Salvador's grandsons' first time in a big city. I hope they aren't displaced so many years that they lose their rural campesino values and cultural identity!

We had a short worship service service and said prayers for the now-displaced Reverend Salvador and his family on our patio before accompanying them to the terminal to seek safer havens.

I spent much of the remainder ofthe day attending the Wedding of William (One of the leaders of theCoca Cola workers union SINATRAINAL) and his new lovely wife Majorly.

Sundayafternoon I attended an end-of-the-year celebration of ASORVIM –theAssociation of Victims of State Violence in the Magdalena Medio. I was kind oflooking forward to seeing some of my friends, not only from ASORVIM,but many of the other human rights organizations in Barranca. I was not disappointed! DonMisael, one of the leaders of Las Pavas, who was spending the nightin our house on his way to Bogotá, joined me. As I suspected, helearned that Las Pavas has more allies in Barranca (200km from Las Pavas) than he realized.While still at the ASORVIM gathering I learned that Yordano, afriend and leader of CAHUCOPANA, was in town and had invited Jennyand I to a party with his dad in Barranca. Although we had an all-dayteam meeting scheduled for the next day (Monday December 12^th), I was confident that having just got back from a week-long trip to LasPavas I would be not be leaving town again immediately, and be ableto do the write-ups and releases about previous trips, finallydo my laundry, and catch up on my sleep. After accompanying Misealback to our house in a rainstorm I went to Yordano's at about 9:00PM. My friend and teammate Jenny was already there. It was good to spend time with goodfriends! The only dark spot was that we saw the military truck go by. I knew they were clearly recruiting again! Shortly we learned that one ofthe youth who had been in the back of the truck was Chucho –Jenny'sboyfriend's younger brother. I made some phone calls to a close friend whobelongs to the Quinto Manadamiento –The Fifth Commandment (thoushalt not kill), a group of organized conscientious objectors here inBarranca. I put my friend directly in contact with Chuchos brotherand he relayed the information to Chucho. Chucho ended up being releasedthe following day. Jenny and I got home from the party a little after 1:00 AM.


Not only did Don Misael (far right) meet a lot of Las Pavas allies he didn't know they had; he very nearly walked away with the first prize at the ASORVIM bingo! In the end he lost the tie-breaking draw for the highest number

At Yordanos's party: Yordando and I with Jenny and other friend in background

Thenext morning we had our team meeting. Usually it took most of the dayto discuss all the tasks before us related to past events and newrequests, who was going to do what by when, writing and translatingwhich news articles for our list-serves and web page, plan out the schedulefor the next several days, etc. As I had hoped and expected, I wasn'tscheduled to attend any events or meetings outside of the city forthe next several days. We finished early; before 3:30 PM!.

Shortlyafter the meeting the phone rang. It was Chele from Las Pavas.“Which of us were going to accompany the caravan leaving forBogotá?” she wanted to know. Caravan leaving for Bogotá? Whatcaravan? When? Now?!! Today?!!! We had heard that there might be apublic action in Bogotá one of these days, but nobody had told uswhen. Life was again happening while we were making other plans. Thevery same day we had set up our schedule we had to reconvene the team fora second meeting to see which of us could possibly meet up with andaccompany this caravan that was already en-route to Bogotá. Itturned out that Gladys and I were those with the least pressingcommitments, and therefore should be the ones to go. We hurried to ourrooms to pack. It was more complicated packing for a very coldbus-ride to the often-chily city of Bogotá andtheir home journey back to thehot sweltering climate of the Las Pavas community. Should I bring themosquito net and hammock or the wool poncho? There wasn't room for both. I opted for the poncho. No rubber boots either. I knew we were going to have to carry this stuff around Bogota. I did bring mosquito repellent though. And my camera and the cell-phone charger. Clearly my laundry would just have to wait!

December12^thto 16^th–Bogota, Buenas Aires, and home to Barranca:

Gladysand I rushed off to buy bus tickets to Dagota. It was only about anhour out of town, and the caravan of three buses would pass throughthere in an hour or so on its way to Bogota we thought. After getting the tickets we went for supper. We both likepollo arabe –Arabic chicken—and the restaurant was very nearthe terminal. While we were still eating we got another phone call.The caravan would notbe passing through Dagota as we were told. Because of the road conditions (floodingand washouts etc.) we should change our tickets from Dagota to Bucaramanga. Wedid. Bucaramanga was two-and-a-half hours away. Even so we ended up having to waitfor over an hour before the caravan finally caught up with us in Bucaramanga. We got onone of the buses –Gladys with her jacket and blanket, me with myjacket and wool poncho. Both of us knew that these items wereabsolutely necessary to travel by bus at night because of theair-condition which is always on full blast. We would freeze without them!Not everyone had come so well prepared. Some of the campesinostravelling in the buses –80 or so from Las Pavas, a dozen fromMicoahumado, and a few dozen from the artisanal miningcommunities—didn't have warm clothing. Many probably didn't even ownany! Even with my warm poncho I ended up having to get up every twenty minutes or so to let the oldergentlemen from Micoahumado by me so he could go to the bathroom. “It'sthe cold!” he said. “It makes me have to pee!” Suffice it tosay that neither he nor I were getting very much sleep. Shortly afterdawn the bus stopped somewhere and I lent my wool poncho to a youthfrom Las Pavas who was dressed only in a t-shirt and clearly needed it more that I did! The gentlemennext to me had found seating elsewhere, and I managed to sleepuninterrupted for the remaining four hours of the trip. We rolledinto Bogotá at about 10 AM on Tuesday, December 13^th.

Wespent the afternoon planning for the demonstration in the Plaza ofBolivar in central Bogotá the following day. We met up with some of Las Pavas' other allies and members of other displaced communities,and prepared for the big event on Wednesday. Gladys hadarranged for us to stay at her sister's place (finding affordablelodging for all these folks in Bogotá was a big enough challenge without havingto accommodate us as well!). On the way to her sister's we stopped to buy an umbrella andget haircuts. Pretty much as soon as we got to Gladys sister's weleft again to buy materials to make another banner for the protest.(The one my teammates had made earlier got left on the Las Pavasfarm.) It was after 1:00 AM before the banner was completed and wefinally went to bed. A great very comfortable hard-to-get-out-of bedI might add! Thank you Fanny for hosting us!

Wespent the afternoon planning for the demonstration in the Plaza ofBolivar in central Bogotá the following day.

Thefollowing morning we set out to meet up with the folks at the Plaza.Some were already there. We had provided space on the banner fordifferent partner organizations to add their logos/ names/ messagesso we went about looking for them. By the time the event started wewere ready. We were joined by several other CPT reservist team-memberswho live in Bogotá. There were many speakers, singers and postersand banners, all demanding respect for the land rights andtraditional territory, not only for the people of Las Pavas, butseveral other displaced communities as well. Although there was somemedia there, the low turnout of mainstream media was by-and-largedisappointing.

Demonstration in Bogota

CPTers Gladys and Adriana, and Angelica from CAHUCOPANA, holding the banner Gladys and I made the night before: "We continue to walk together in faith for the right to land and a life with dignity" ECAP is CPT in Spanish.

Don Efrein of Las Pavas sings a song about the displacement of Las Pavas

Theevent was followed by lunch, and an evaluation. Gladys and I wentback to her sister's to pack up, and by 5:30 PM we were ready toaccompany the bus caravan for the long return journey to Buenas Airesand Las Pavas –a 23-hour journey as it turned out. I will spare youthe details.

Travelling to Buenas Aires for the second time in as many weeks --this time with my teammate Gladys

Aftera brief meeting with the community leaders and spending the night inbeds at a friend's in Buenas Aires, Gladys and I were up by 5:00 AM tobegin our return journey to Barranca. The first leg of the trip waswith the line –the regular large motorized canoe that daily broughtpeople back and forth on the three-hour trip between Buenas Aires andthe port town of El Banco on the Magdelene River. We had hoped thatby leaving at 5:30 AM we would get to El Banco in time to take a Chaluapa scheduled to arrive in Barranca at about 3:00 PM. We missed it. It was the only one. Weended up taking a mini bus with no bathroom that left El Banco at 10 AM and arrived inBarraca at 8 PM. Maybe it was a good thing. The bus cost $45 for theboth of us. The chalupa would have cost $60. These days the number ofaccompaniments we can do depends not only on the availability ofpeople; it also depends on whether or not we still have themoney in our budget for additional accompaniments.

December17^thto 22^nd--Barranca

OnSaturday the 17^th I finally got around to doing laundry.By this time I hardly had a stitch of clothing that wasn't dirty. Itwas well into the afternoon before I finished. I did very little elsethat day other than answer some emails and attend a short teammeeting. Sunday too was pretty relaxed. We attended a Sancocho lunchprepared by the Quinto Madamiento –the conscientious objectors ofBarrancabermeja. In the evening I wrote some emails and reflectionsfor my blog.

Sancocho lunch with Barranca's Conscientious objectors

Maritza, teammates Sandra Caldwell and Jenny enjoying Sancocho lunch with Quinto Madamiento

OnMonday there were several things going on. I was supposed to preparelunch for us all, but since we were hosting a supper for friends andpartners at our home that evening it was decided that I didn't haveto make lunch. Instead Jenny and I represented the team elsewhere --a planning meeting over lunch with Espacio to plan for the up-coming meeting with the Vice President, who was scheduled tocome to Barranca on Thursday. (Espacio is the Barranca umbrella human rights organization of which we are members.) I spent the remainder of the afternoon writing, while Jenny prepared a wonderful meal for our guests. The evening, of course, was spent with our guests.

On Monday we hosted a supper on our patio for our Colombian friends and partners

OnTuesday we had our last team of the year. Iwas also due to lead morning prayers that morning –good timing becauseon days of team meetings we usually have a check-in with all of theteam-members to see how we are doing, what we are feeling etc. and I didnot actually have to prepare a worship service. And I was also once againscheduled to prepare lunch, but because it was our team meeting that day,and because there were a lot of left-overs from the supper the nightbefore, I got off on that one too! At the meeting, amongst otherthings, we discussed new accompaniment requests, and, since many of myteammates were leaving over Christmas, we had to plan which of thosefew remaining team members would be available for any kind ofemergency accompaniment should the need arise. I had already decided I couldn't afford to accept the invitation I had to travel to Ecuador to visit myfriends and godchild. I offered to be one of the available people. In any case I don't have a lot of energy to do much more travelling just now, except maybe to the coast for a few days if I can find someone to go withme. (I had learned from past experience that by oneself one can't even go for aswim without first bringing all valuables back to the hotel first. Caldwell said he might be interested ...)

Later thatevening I treated Gladys to Pollo Arabebefore seeing her off at the bus station. I decided to walk homefrom there. On the way I again saw the military out with their truckloading up youth into the back like cattle. I guess they must havesome kind of year-end recruiting quota that they have to meet...

Thefollowing day –Wed. Dec. 21^st –I was on lunch duty. No getting out of it this time! Itis something I usually enjoy, and my teammates generally look forwardto my cooking. Because of all the travelling this was the firstmeal I prepared since my arrival. But I turned off the wrong burner and burnt the vegetables. It could have been worse I suppose. Nobodycomplained, and they even praised the liver and onions! Not one of my best efforts though... I spent the afternoon in the office writing and sorting photos etc.

Thursday Pierre and I were off as the team's representatives to the meeting withthe Vice President. Several of our Espacio human-rights colleagueswere also in attendance. The human rights organizations made theirpresentations and expressed their concerns about on-going humanrighrts abuses, and impunity. The military also presented, also claiming to be human rights defenders. I remembered theirform of recruiting –an illegal practice which they had promisedrepeatedly to discontinue. Despite the Vice Presidents assurancesthat human rights violations would not be tolerated and that impunitywould end and reparation and land restoration of the dispossessedwould definitely happen, we were not convinced. There is simply toomuch evidence to the contrary! That afternoon Jenny and I attended anevaluation of the whole event and of the whole year at a special Espaciomeeting and wonderful supper prepared by the Popular Women's Organization. We got home just in time to accompany our teammateSandra to the bus station as she left for her Mother's home in Madrid(near Bogotá).

Espacio at meeting with Vice President in Barrnca

Thatpretty much brings me to the end of this informal, but ratherpersonal account of my first three weeks of being back on team here in Barranca. Ihope it gives you a sense of what I and my teammates do, and an idea of the kind of work you are supporting.

Imight as well warn you now! My next article will be a request forfinancial support for our work.I will try to get it out before theend of the year for those of you seeking charitable donation taxexemptions. Don't think of it as charity though. Think of it as aninvestment in the expedition of justice. Justice delayed is justicedenied.

Iwill only add that I had a good, albeit rather quiet Christmas. Hopeyours was good too!

Season's Greetings from Stewart in Colombia

2011-12-24T18:30:00.000-05:00

Thank you all for your support over the year. I hope it will continue into the New Year. In the words of CAHUCOPANA, one of our Colombia partner organizations:

Les desea atodos un feliz navidad, y un año nuevo lleno de nuevos retos ycompromisos en el camino hacia la paz.

Or:

I wish you all a merry Christmas and a New Year filled with new challenges and commitments on the road towards peace.

I couldn't say it any better than that!

I've been so busy doing that I haven't got around to doing much writing. Now that we're on Christmas break I hope to catch you all up on what we have been up to.

But for the moment I just want to extend my own:

¡Season's Greetings!

There are others who know about this miracle birth. The humblest of people catch a glimpse of their worth! For it isn't to the palace that the Christ child comes; but to shepherds and street people, hookers and bums!

--Bruce Cockburn lyrics

Then they returned to their country by an other road,
since God had warned them in a dream not to go back to [Herod's palace].

(Click on the Wise Men image to view my revised Christmas reflection)

_________________

(Below myever-so-slightly modified version of my favourite Christmas Carol. The original was written by CarolBemmels and Ross Flanagan)

CHRISTMASMORNING

It’swinter and light is alive on the earth

Wakeup! It’s Christmas morning

Starlightand firelight and sunlight give birth

Wakeup! The Christ-child’s a-borning

CHORUSI

He’sman and He’s woman, He’s old and He’s young

He’sMuslim and Christian and Jew

She’swealthy, She’s poor, She’s black and She’s white

And,oh yes, the Christ-child is you

Sistersand brothers, whatever your sleep

Wakeup! It’s Christmas morning

Bringwith you dreams for the daylight to keep

Wakeup! the Christ-child’s a-borning

CHORUSII

He’sman and He’s woman, He’s old and He’s young

He’sBuddhist and agnostic too

She’swealthy, She’s poor, She’s black and She’s brown

And,oh yes, the Christ-child is you

Jesuswas good and He lived long ago

Wakeup! It’s Christmas morning

Youare good too, and are living now, so

Wakeup! The world needs re-forming

A Golden Calf, a Bronze Bull and Three Wise Men

2011-12-22T00:34:00.003-05:00

* * *

–a Christmas reflectionby Stewart Vriesinga.

TheLORD said to Moses, "Hurry and go back down, because yourpeople, whom you led out of Egypt, have sinned and rejected me. Theyhave already left the way that I commanded them to follow; they havemade a bull-calf out of melted gold and have worshipped it andoffered sacrifices to it. They are saying that this is their god, wholed them out of Egypt.

(Exodus32:7-8)

Thethree wise men went into the house, and when they saw the child withhis mother Mary, they knelt down and worshipped him. They brought outtheir gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, and presented them tohim. Then they returned to their country by another road, since Godhad warned them in a dream not to go back to Herod.

(Matthew2:1-12)

The WallStreet Bull is a 7,100 lb bronze sculpture byArturo Di Modica that stands in a Park near Wall Street, New YorkCity. Standing 11 feet tall and measuring 16 feet long, the over-sizesculpture depicts a bull, the symbol of aggressive financial optimismand prosperity, leaning back on its haunches and with its headlowered as if ready to charge. The sculpture is "one of themost iconic images of New York" and a "Wall Street icon"symbolizing "Wall Street" and the Financial District.

Wikipedia

TheIsraelites, after having fled Egypt, wanted a more tangible god towhom they could appeal for favours in exchange for sacrifices. Theyoffered their gold to Moses' brother, Aron, to make a golden calfwhich they intended to credit for their emancipation from Egypt. Aron obligedthem. But God was not pleased.

Thingshaven't changed much. People still prefer worshipping Mammon toworshipping God. On Wall Street in Manhattan, New York, there is abronze statue of a bull, representing the bull-market (increasinginvestor confidence, and increased investing in anticipation offuture price increases). Let's call him King Herod II. Let's be clear here: King Herod II and high priests don't actually claim that King Herod II is God; only that he represents the invisible hand of God, and that all of humanity should adjust their behaviour accordingly.

The Bull-Market Wall Street Bull --His name is Mammon, but we'll call him King Herod II

Likehis predecessor---the golden calf of the Israelites, King Herod II isconstantly demanding sacrifices. He has a voracious appetite! His high priests in the new world-economic-order insist that King HerodII must be kept well fed and obeyed or all the economic prosperity and securitywe, his worshippers, have come to expect and take for granted willsuddenly cease. King Herod's high priest attribute their own wealth and success to their ability to emulate their King --their attempts to live be as Herod-like as they possibly can.

Foryears King Herod II followers –mostly white westerners in Europe andNorth America along with a few ex-patriots and local agents tooversee the plunder of their colonies and satellites—had managed tosatisfy Herod's ever-growing appetite. For the first while theymanaged to feed him with their own local resources, but soon thiswasn't enough to satisfy the needs of both the local population andKing Herod II. Unrest on the part of the local population was gettingtotally out of hand!. King Herod II's high priests devised a plan.They suggested that by colonizing and plundering the wealth andresources of other lands and other peoples both KingHerod II's appetite and the needs of the local population could besatisfied, and Herod would continue to bestow his blessings on them.Both King Herod II's and his worshippers could live very well. The plan was implemented and for along time King Herod II-worshipping nations prospered.

Butas King Herod II grew, so did his appetite! Processing his foodand feeding him required ever more gold, oil, electricity, metal andother minerals. But the civil unrest that had been brought under controllocally by looting the resources of weaker nations had now begun to spring up in the colonies and satellite nations as well. The colonized wanted independence and autonomy, and despite the repression of dissent by imported and local agents of King Herod's court, the colonized locals were becoming increasing uncooperative and even militant in defending wealth and resources they considered to be rightfully theirs. Fortunately King Herod II had provided his followers with a mighty industrial complex. The high priests of the King Herod II world-order decreed that this industrial complex shouldproduce more high-tech armaments and less consumer goods (whilesteadily increasing Herod's food supply of course). Although theappetites of consumers in King Herod II's domain had grown almost asquickly as Herod's own, they understood that in order to protecttheir way of life many of their processing plants would have tobe refitted to produce armaments instead of food and consumer goods. Armaments were clearly essential to deal with increasing resistance in the colonies andsatellite nations. Many were irked that they would have to consumeless if resources were dedicated to the building of arms instead of consumer goods, but most of them really didn't care where or how their food and consumer goods where provided, just so long as they didn't stop coming.

A few ofthem who were aware that military might was being used to force foreign populations to grow, extract or fabricate their consumer goods even felt kind of bad about it, and tried to find alternative more just ways to procure the goods they wanted. ("Fair Trade" they called it.) But for the most part the high priests were able to persuade their followers that colonies were too backward and too uneducated to know what was good for them; that after being forced to feed King Herod II for a while (and his primary beneficiaries and supporters of course), they would eventually come to appreciate the inherent benefits of feeding and serving Herod; they would concede that the high priests had been right all along, and by following Herod's ten commandments they were far better off than they would ever have been denying him.

Even so, KingHerod II and his appetite continued to out-grow his food supply. He simply wasn't being fedenough fast enough! He was hungry, and when he was hungry he was in avery bad mood. Alarmed, the high priests came up with a new plan. They noticedthat those who were processing the plundered resources shipped in from the colonies and satellite nations wereconsuming significant amounts of the resources themselves. They reasoned thatif the colonies and satellite countries processed Herod's food athome before shipping them to Herod, they could besatisfied with a far smaller percentage of than Herod's current home-workforce, and therewould be more for Herod (and his closest and loyal supporters --the hifh priests themselves). Furthermore the new jobs might mitigate the civil unrest and resistance in the satellite countries, and bolster their theological argument that all who willing worshipped and satisfied King Herod II would be receive a share of Herod's blessing. .

Thehigh priests plan seemed to work very well at first. But soon thenow-unemployed workers in Herod's own traditional territory found themselves almost as bad off as the colonized themselves. Civil unrest once again threatened to raise its ugly head in the homeland; locals were once again discontent and gettingrestive. Since the processing of plundered resources was now taking place in the colonies the now-unemployed localsdidn't get much of a chance to get their hands on any of the goods! Those whocould not find alternative employment in the service industry, government orfinancial sectors were starting to get grumpy and hungry. The high priests, who had long realized that without trade contracts, military aid, and purchased governments, the local populations of the colonies to willing send and dedicate their labour and resources to the sustenance of Herod were next to nil, But they now feared that ifthe unrest of the newly unemployed at home continued people at home might also eventually revolt against King Herod II.Their own privileged place in the hierarchy of benifits was at stake! The financial and retail sectors also needed consumers to maintain their privilege. None ever doubted that their own economic prosperity, security and survival depended on keeping King Herod II happy and bullish. In order to stave off a revolution at home the high priests decided to hide the fact that they had been disenfranchised from the newly disenfranchised; they extended easy lines-of-credit to those whosemeans had fallen below their accustomed levels of consumption so that they could carry on much as if nothing had changed. Significant portions of Herod's food reserves were lent todissatisfied would-be consumers, and even governments of entire countries. All on the strict non-negotiable condition that when things gotbetter, borrowers, or their children, or their grandchildren, or failing all of the former, tax-payers and citizens in general would pay interest on these loans and eventually repay them.This commandment ranked third in King Herod II's ten commandments, right behind "You shall have no other gods (ideologies) before me" and "Thou shalt not defile the sanctity of private property rights". Who repaid the debt was open to interpretation --the interpretation of the high priests to be specific. They were the only ones theologically sophisticated enough to understand that only lenders should be bailed out, not the borrowers. Bailing out the latter would violate the third commandment and violate the sanctity of debt.

But despite the increasing challenges of feeding him, Herod just continued on growing, and so did his voracious appetite. Eventually therewas no choice but to call in the loans, because Herod was goingabsolutely berserk, crashing into stock-markets all over the place. He was like a bull in a china shop, only the china shop was the entire planet! He was threatening to cut them all off if is insatiableappetite wasn't immediately satisfied. So his biggest and most loyal supporters --the very same high priests that ayear or two earlier had told the people that borrowing money and going shopping was the best way to currythe favour of King Herod II---now began toblame the borrowers for their inability to pay off their loans. They blamed them for failing toadjust to the new realities of the marketplace; for not being competitive in the global marketplace; for demanding higher wages than workers in the colonies and satellite nations; for taking out student loans andthen using them studying useless obsolete arts and social sciences; for foolishly puttingdown-payments on houses and cars that they couldn't afford; formaxing out their credit cards; or in the case of countries, for running a deficit to maintain social programs and bail out banks instead of cutting social spending. (They cleverly side-stepped suggestions that the bailing out of the banks and cleaning up oil spills etc. were major contributing factors to increase in public debt.)

Needless to say, KingHerod II, not to mention the high priests themselves, had all their reserves invested in these financial institutions. Failing to protect these institutions would give a whole to meaning to the phrase like "God is dead", or "The end of history". It was unthinkable! They wouldn't even go there.

The high priests were not particularly worried though. They simply ordered governments to transfer the debt burden to the populations as a whole --by assuming public responsibility for private debt all constituents, their children, their grandchildren and even the yet-to-be-born future generations were to be sold into debt-slavery. The debts of whomever couldn't pay would be payed by the general population through increased taxes and cuts in social spending. One way or another, the sanctity of debt would be preserved, and loans would be repaid. Herod, they knew, was completely inflexible on this point, and without Herod where would they be?

Still the high priests continued to proclaim that once King Herod II had been properly fed he wouldonce again be his old benevolent self, and everyone would once again prosper. People believed them. Having no knowledge, understanding or experience with other gods or ideologies, and unaccustomed to questioning the superior knowledge of the high priests, the people tightenedtheir belts so that Herod could have what was “rightfully” his.Over tea the reminisced about the "good old days", before production was moved off-shore, way back when the plundering of the colonies was enough to satisfy not only King Herods wants, but their own as well. They held tea-parties and discussed the many times the local population had sinned against Herod's ten commandments. They were convinced that if they and their fellow countrymen repented of their sins things would go back to the way they were before, when everyone had jobs and everyone was upwardly mobile with a bright future. They formed political movements preaching repentance and a speedy return to the ten commandments so that King Herod II would once again bless them and lead them out of the land of slavery into the land of milk and honey.

Of course there were a few who recognized that they themselves, like the overseas colonies and satellite nations, were now being colonized. They denounced King Herod II as a false god and imposter. They identified themselves as the ninety-nine percent who were not part of the Herod's beneficiaries and chosen people. They fearlessly and openly mocked Herod. These dissenters were allowed to express themselves for a while, but it soon became clear that there were strict limits on how much dissent Herod's security was willing to tolerate.State security forces were called in to maintain order and prevent anarchy.

But for the most part, even representatives and presidents of indebted countries felt it was their Herod-given-duty to tell their people that they must suck it up and dowithout for a while, until King Herod II was feeling better and got back to his oldbenevolent self again. Of all those who had shared in the prosperity, when only the food being plundered from the colonies and thecolonized was enough to keep Herod relatively content, few ever doubted that King Herod's way was and remains the onlyway; there were/are no viable alternatives!

But there are dissenters. Among them were three wise oriental-looking foreigners. Insteadof acknowledging the legitimacy of King Herod's kingship, they decided to cut the bull and place their gifts and hope in the hands of new baby King --a Kingdom still in its infancy! They did not believe King Herod could lead them out of this wilderness and into the promised land, so they wisely decided to go home by anothernew way.

Wise up people! Cut the bull! It doesn't have to be like this! There is another way!

* * *

Merry Christ-mass!

Las Pavas: Another miracle urgently required

2011-12-21T17:50:00.000-05:00

--by Stewart Vriesinga

Thereturn of Las Pavas to their land was miraculous indeed. Instead oftheir leaders being killed, as is so often the case when displacedpeoples try to return to their lands here in Colombia, with thesupport of many national and international allies, the people of LasPavas were able to return to their land last April. Their prospectsof obtaining official titles to those lands looked good. All of thatis now in jeopardy.

Onthe 30^thof November the Colombia'sProsecuter Generals's Office accused Las Pavasfarmers of having lied about being displaced and that their claimsfor restitution was unjustified. She has called for a reinvestigationof the case on the assumption of “false victims” and also a probeinto the organizations that have supported the community through theprocess.

TheCommunity of Las Pavas was removed

from their land by state security forces at the

request of the Labrador Palm Oil Consortium

in July of 2010

The community from Las Pavas was initially displaced in 2006 byparamilitary and later in 2009 evicted off the land by state securityforces at the request of the consortium Labrador (a palm oil companycomprised of Aportes San Isidro and Daabon). Labrador had obtainedtitle to the land after having purchased it from Jesús EmilioEscobar Fernández. However, earlier this year the ConstitutionalCourt determined that Jesús Emilio Escobar Fernández may haveforfeited his title to these lands by failing to cultivate them foran extended period of time, thereby making its sale to the consortiumLabrador illegal. They ordered the Colombian Institute for RuralDevelopment (INCODER) to look into the matter. Doing so would notonly have deemed the sale of the land illegal; it would also havelegitimized Las Pavas community's claim to land titles under theright of possession after having occupied and cultivated it for aperiod more than five years. None of that happened. Instead thestate, which had earlier recognized and assisted the community of LasPavas when they were displaced from their land by paramilitaries in2006, now denies that the community has ever lived there. It nowclaims the community is lying about its former occupation anddisplacement from these lands, and may once again resort to usingstatesecurity forces to remove them!

CPThas been accompanying the community since 2009. Thank you for havingsupported us and the community through the process and the Body ShopCampaign to bring about international awareness and justice about theconnection between commerce and displacement in the context ofColombia.

Thisis once again a time of uncertainty and your prayers and support areneeded once again. Not only is this case a situation ofdelegitimizing the trauma, violence and displacement alreadyexperienced by the community but also a harassment of local andinternational organizations that have acted as allies of thecommunity. We ask that you:

Pray for the community of Las Pavas, not only for their well being but also for their safety.
Pray that truth will emerge, and that justice will be done.
Pray for the representatives, lawyers and activists who are under a lot of stress.
Pray that peace and non-violence will always prevail.

Thepeople of Las Pavas would be reassured to know that their nationaland international allies continue to stand by them. If you wish tosend prayers, words of affirmation and support to the community dowrite to us and we will make sure they to get it to them.

(From CPT Colombia's list-serve. Follow Christian Peacemaker Teams Colombia on FacebookandTwitterfor the latest.)

We --Christian Peacemaker Teams in Colombia--and other national and international allies of the Las Pavas quest for justice and reparation fully intend to continue to stand by them through this new threat to their security and their right to stay on their lands. My wonderful team-mates have prepared a beautiful banner (below) expressing our commitment, which we will deliver to the community this week.


*The Miracle [of] Las Pavas Continues: We will continue to walk together in faith for the right to land and life with dignity --ECAP (Christian Peacemaker Teams)*

For more information on Las Pavas see:

Previous Blog entry entitle "Miracle of Las Pavas"
The Las Pavas Community's Blog

The video below is the history of the community in song, written and sung by a displaced community member (Subtitles in English):

* * * * *

Garzal's President, Reverend Salvador Alcántera, Forced to Flee for His Life

2011-12-21T17:42:00.001-05:00

* *

* -by Stewart Vriesinga

On Friday, December 9th, shortly after Salvador was warned that armed actors wearing balaclavas had come looking for him, Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) Colombia accompanied Salvador and his family safely out of the Magdalena Medio region. CPT has been accompanying Garzal and Nueva Esperanza's struggle to remain on their lands for more than four years now.

Salvador's situation is not exceptional. Here in Colombia leaders of millions of campesinos seeking to remain on their land or return to the lands from which they were displaced are more likely to be killed than receive state protection and titles to their lands that would guarantee their safety. (To verify this claim try typing "displaced, leader, killed" into your browser search engine. Including the word Colombia in your search is optional).

Salvador in 2009, demanding land titles for his community in front of the Colombian Institute for Rural Development (Accompanied by the CPT Colombia Team during a public action)

Despite years of campaigning, both nationally and internationally, the communities of Garzal and Nueva Esperanza along with their national and international allies (including CPT) have been unable to convince the state to recognize and protect the right to land titles and protection from those who seek to displace them. This most recent threat threat came only one day after a delegation of supporters including national and international church representatives, Swiss embassy and Swiss non-governmental organizations (NGOs), national NGOs, and CPT visited the community and heard first-hand reports of the situation.

Although the forced displacement of one of their strongest leaders underscores the precariousness of their situation, community members remain determined to stay on the land that is rightfully theirs. CPT Colombia affirms that right and continues to accompany the communities of Garzal and Nueva Esperanza. Receiving a great deal of national and international attention helps keep them safe. Please hold him, his family and the communities of Garzel and Nueva Esperanza in the Light and circulate this article widely!

To view my earlier post about Garzal's leader see Reverend Salvador Alcántera
For further information see recent newspaper article on Garzal and Nueva Esperanza in El Espectador (in Spanish)

* * * *

Undoing Racism and Colonialism: of glass ceilings and titanium floors

2011-09-15T13:52:00.000-05:00

* * * * * *

Undoing Racism and Colonialism:

of glass ceilings and titanium floors

--by StewartVriesinga

Racism is one of thestructures of oppression that prevent the upward mobility ofracialized peoples and their access to the upper echelons of power–structures that are sometimes referred to as glass ceilings. Thesebarriers are real. The dominant culture has certainly createdstructural barriers that inhibit the upward mobility of non-whites,women, sexual minorities, etc. Because the ceilings are glass we canreadily see that the demographics of those in the upper echelons ofpower do not reflect the numbers, demographics or the racial identityof those living below the glass ceiling.

But, in addition to glassceilings there are also what might well be described as nearlyimpenetrable titanium floors. Those living below titanium floorsexperience even greater obstacles and difficulties in terms of theirupward mobility than those living below glass ceilings. They aregenerally out of sight and out of mind, practically invisible tothose living above them. There is no direct contact andvery little media coverage about the lives of those hidden belowtitanium floors. While trade policies and free trade agreementsensure that their resources can be easily and quickly transferred towealthy populations and individuals, immigration policies, travelvisa requirements etc. effectively keep them in their place –out ofsight and out of mind. Indeed humanitarian and human rightsorganizations that attempt to advocate for them are often stigmatizedand re-branded with such labels as anti-mining or anti-globalizationorganizations.

Concern about theconsequences of the structural oppression of racism is better focusedon the demographics of and impact on those living beneath thetitanium floors than on equal access to the high-life enjoyed bythose few living above the glass ceilings. The continued downwardmobility of the people living below the titanium floor is a farbetter indicator of the lack of progress on the perverse effects ofracism and neocolonialism than are the occasional glimpses of ahandful of black presidents and chief executive officers ofcorporations who can occasionally be spotted amongst their whitecolleagues by the somewhat less fortunate who wistfully peer up at themthrough the glass ceilings.

If thedemographics of those living above the glass ceiling seems more varied and lessracist than before, below the titanium floor things haven't changedmuch. There many continue to experience downward mobilityinstead of upward mobility. However, the same cannot be saidof their resources –their land, water, minerals etc.; Resourcesfrom the traditional lands of the overwhelming majority of theearth's invisible peoples and cultures are in a matter of days (ifnot hours) being delivered into the hands of a small,over-privileged, wealthy, still overwhelmingly white, minority ofsuper-consumers. This systematic oppression is maintained throughmechanisms such as free trade deals, increased global trade, culturalimperialism on the part of the dominant culture, and the use of theInternational Monetary Fund and World Bank to enforce terms of tradethat favour an over-privileged minority while forcing austerityprograms on debt-ridden poorer countries. Forced integration into asingle monolithic, neo-liberal global economic development modelincreases global disparity while it threatens the environment of theentire planet.

The Trickle Down Theory in Practice

Thisover-privileged group of super-consumers asserts it right to defendits way of life –a way of life that in large part comes at theexpense of that invisible majority entrapped beneath the titanium,carefully-constructed apartheid floor. The political leaders of thedominant culture repeatedly mollify their over-privileged supporterswith the mantra that the benefits of their superior economy willeventually somehow trickle down to all those impoverished masses,provided they are willing to get on board by signing free trade dealsand allowing unfettered access to their local resources. It matterslittle that the majority of the voiceless victims remain unconvincedand resist the imposition of this development model, so long as thoseof us who do have a voice are appeased enough to buy into andaccept the trickle-down theory.

These are, in myopinion, the ugliest and deadliest consequences of on-going racismand neo-colonialism which, for the most part, are not beingaddressed. The titanium apartheid floor itself, along with the racialized,exploited, marginalized and dispossessed peoples entrapped beneath it,remains largely invisible.

(While the above doesn't refer specifically toColombia, the people we as Christian Peacemaker Teams work with arevery much part of the invisible majority two-thirds world trappedbeneath the titanium floor.)

Peoples' Forum for Peace in Colombia:

2011-08-26T13:43:00.000-05:00

* * * * *Peoples' Forum for Peace in Colombia: Dialogue is the Answer

--by Stewart Vriesinga

"The fruits of this meeting are exclusive the product of our collective sacrifice and effort and desire to find paths to peace." --Article 2 of the Manifesto

Those most impacted by the conflict in Colombia are seldom heard from and almost never consulted. They are the indigenous, Afro-Colombian and campesinos from rural sectors all over the country. They have long understood that the social root-causes of the conflict must first be addressed before there can ever be a real peaceful resolution. They travelled great distances in order to get together in Barrancabermeja from the 12^th to 15^th of August, to work out and propose their own solution to a conflict that continues to threaten their lives, their traditional lands, their livelihoods and their very cultural identities. According to Miguel Cifuentes, one of the organizers:

"We have verified that there are over 15 thousand people from all regions of the country, with the active participation of over 600 social organizations in Colombia to share their organizational processes, their work towards creating the conditions for peace, and the defence of their territory."

The visitors to Barrancabermeja accommodated

themselves as best they could in tents, or on the

floors of the coliseum and football stadium

Over the course of the weekend participants shared experiences, participated in workshops, presented and attended theatrical and musical presentations. Each sector was responsible for organizing their own kitchens (huge kettles on open fires), and accommodated themselves as best they could in tents, or on the floors of the coliseum and football stadium. By the end of the weekend they had come up with their own manifesto for peace in Colombia. Here are some excerpts from that manifesto:

“We consider our meeting to have been a great success. The goals we set for ourselves –to analyze the situation of the country—have been more than fulfilled. We gave special attention to our concerns about the future of our land, our territory and our resources, democracy, the situation of and guarantee for our rights, the state of war, and the possibilities for a political solution. ..The fruits of this meeting are exclusively the product of our sacrifice and collective effort and desire to find paths towards peace.

“...We reject the government policies which have been implemented in the country over the last decade to promote an economic model that requires the intensive exploitation of our land and natural resources. It gives preferential treatment to transnational corporations and economic interests, thereby exacerbating conflicts for land and the struggle for territory, resulting in even more appropriation of land, plunder and forced displacement. All this completely compromises all social initiatives, undermines our sovereignty, and threatens food security. This economic model destroys the peasant economy, the territories of indigenous and Afro Colombians, and produces an escalation of the social and armed conflict that afflicts our country. ...Democracy in our country and the creation of better conditions to effectively secure our rights demand a new model that allows us to administer our own local resources and wealth for the benefit of the local population. This will help overcome deep economic and social inequalities in our country.”

The manifesto was published and sent to Colombian society (through different media), to the central government and other branches of government, the guerrillas of the FARC-EP and ELN, “in order to express our willingness and desire to dialogue because actions are urgently needed to untie the knot of confrontation and move towards a political solution and peace.”

Videos and statements by both the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia –Popular Army (FARC-EP) and the National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrillas were also briefly presented during the forum. Both guerrilla groups expressed their desire to enter into negotiations to find a solution to the conflict. The Colombian State, however, seems to be investing most all its resources into a military solution, and has not so far expressed any willingness to dialogue with the guerrilla. The people's manifesto made mention of this:

“We are aware that the prospect of a political solution has many enemies, especially those that benefit from the status-quo. ...Ending the war is not in the interests of those who who have made it into a lucrative business. ...It is urgent that we all work together to consolidate a culture of peace. We believe that all parties involved directly in the confrontation should adopt a bilateral cessation of hostilities, opening the possibility of dialogue...

“We are concerned that, despite the formal recognition of the Colombian conflict by the present government, ... the pursuit of a military solution is at the top of the government agenda and relates to a misguided concept of a peace between 'victors and vanquished.' ...”

Whether the State is more willing to negotiate with the indigenous, Afro-Colombian and campesino victims of the conflict than it is with the armed insurgents remains to be seen. These three groups continue to be the primary victims of the conflict. The massacres and targeted killing of these groups by all armed actors, including state security forces, remain in impunity. More are killed every day. There has been no reparation to the victims, and millions of those dispossessed of their land never got it back. New displacements continue, some because of further violence, and others because of State legal manoeuvrings that dispossess indigenous people, Afro-Colombians, and campesinos of their traditional territories to make way for transnational mining interests, palm oil plantations, and other mega projects.

Clearly if the Colombian State were to agree to negotiate a new social contract that protects the rights, cultural identity and territory of all indigenous, Afro-Colombian and campesino Colombians, many powerful business interests here in Colombia and abroad would lose their easy access to Colombia's mineral wealth and natural resources. So far the Colombia state's preferred solution to the conflict seems to be eliminating both the armed resistance and the civil resistance in favour of powerful national and international economic interests that seek to gain control over local wealth and resources in the traditional territories of indigenous, Afro-Colombian and campesino peoples. The challenge for the allies of Colombia's victims of violence is to do what the armed resistance could not: transform the balance of power to such an extent that civil society can actually force the State to come the bargaining table!

(The entire Peoples' Forum for Peace manifesto can be found on line here.)

(Some CPT Colombia team members attended the Forum, but did not actively participate in the dialogue. Our primary contributions were: (i) Accompanying people in and out of Segovia, Remedios, and surrounding vilages along with our Colombian partner organization CAHUCOPANA, (ii) Taking part in a public action in July by a CPT international delegation in Remedios in which the event was promoted, and (iii) Accompanying people from CAHUCOPANA as they visited different cities in north-east Antioquia to invite them to participate in the event.)

Impunity: A powerful video analysis of the state of affairs in Colombia

2011-07-26T21:37:00.000-05:00

* * * *

Impunity: A powerful video analysis of the state of affairs in Colombia

(The video is at the very bottom of this blog post)

This video shows the real reasons behind the so-called counterinsurgency war in Colombia; the winners and losers in an on-going class war. The continued impunity of the perpetrators of crimes against humanity described in this video show why these crimes are likely to continue into the foreseeable future, and why there is unlikely to be reparation or justice for the victims of past and future crimes.

The video shows how the Uribe government's Peace and Justice Law, that was supposed to result in truth, justice, reparation and reconciliation, was in fact a complete sham. It served to protect the perpetrators of crimes against humanity, but did nothing to compensate or protect past and future victims, nor did it offer any assurances that perpetrators wouldn't new crimes.

Victims of paramilitary listen to confessions and testimonies of demobilized paramilitaries on closed-circuit television.

Under the Peace and Justice Law all paramilitaries that willing confessed their crimes and provided accurate information about the intellectual authors of crimes --who they massacred/ordered to be massacred, why, where and when, what happened to the bodies, etc. --would receive a maximum sentence of only 5 to 8 years. Many received no jail time at all and in fact received public money for housing and reeducation while their victims remained destitute.

But many of those few who did testify implicated senior government officials from all levels of government in their crimes–high-ranking military personal, Uribe party members, other senate and congress members, members of state security forces, departmental (state or provincial) governors, politicians, mayors and people from almost every state institution. When this story broke it made para-politics –the collaboration of paramilitaries and state—public knowledge, and officials named in the testimonies of demobilized paramilitaries, no longer able to deny their collusion, were being summoned to court to answer for their collusion with terrorists. Of course government officials were not offered the same leniency being offered to demobilized paramilitaries; they were looking at much longer jail sentences than the paramilitaries themselves. Rather than continuing to allow paramilitary confessions to implicate more senior government officials in para-politics the government quickly reneged on its earlier guarantees, and began to extradite demobilized paramilitaries to the United State before they could give more incriminating testimonies. Others implicated in the para-politic scandal were given diplomatic posts overseas to keep them safely out of reach of the Colombian courts.

Since many of the demobilized paramilitaries were also wanted by the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and extradited to the US for drug trafficking or money laundering, justice for victims was consequently indefinitely delayed. Victims and their advocates had hoped for a bit of closure and justice: news of what had happened to their loved ones, and maybe find out in which mass grave their remains were likely to be found so they could maybe recover a bone or something and have a proper burial; or they were hoping to get the land from which they were displaced back, or perhaps receive some other kind of compensation for their losses so they could resume their lives. They were outraged when they learned that they may have to wait another twenty to thirty years for the perpetrators to finish serving a US prison sentence before they would finally answer to the victims of crimes against humanity hear in Colombia, and to learn that in the interim government paramilitary collaborators would also remain unpunished.

The words of demobilized paramilitary Evar Veloza Garcia during his testimony are disturbingly prophetic:

I ask the victims and the Colombian People, is this country truly ready to hear the truth? Each time we discuss who truly profited from this war, the Colombian “Patriots” call us liars. So maybe we should stop talking about the “untouchables” and just focus on the peasants that nobody cares about who cultivate yucca or coffee. Then we can say we cut off his head, his arms, we raped his wife, we took his land, and nobody is shocked. But when we talk about the people who profited from the war or had paramilitary ties, we're suddenly attacked. Everyone is shocked. They say we are 'dishonouring' them. What about the people who were decapitated? The widows who watched their husbands and their sons be chopped up, murdered? Weren't they 'dishonoured'? Why don't you say “They were dishonoured! We must answer to them!”? Otherwise everybody thinks “It's to be expected” “They must have killed her husband for being a guerrilla.” No! The peasants were dishonoured. The orders and money of those “Patriots” saw to it that they were killed, displaced, robbed of their property. That's the real dishonour.

The video provides a good understanding of why violence and impunity in Colombia continue, effectively refuting false claims that Colombia has entered into a post-conflict era. The renewed confidence on the part of national and foreign investors is due to on-going impunity and continued threats of violence against millions of defenceless and largely voiceless dispossessed campesinos and oppressed workers. The video is graphic and brutally honest. Not for the faint of heart.

IMPUNITY

(Click to enlarge)

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Maybe you shouldn't join our Christian Peacemaker Team's July delegation

2011-06-11T13:59:00.000-05:00

Maybe you shouldn't join our Christian Peacemaker Team's July delegation

--by Stewart Vriesinga

Some of the Activists i Admire in the Global North

Maybe you shouldn't join the Christian Peacemaker Colombia team's delegation to north-east Antioquía. Maybe you are like those activists I met during my speaking tour in Canada last month. The ones I admire so much because they are actively in solidarity with the victims resisting oppression and violence here in Colombia without ever even having met any of them. If you are such a person there is probably no good reason for you to spend money and contribute to global warming by taking a flight to Colombia to join a delegation. Your energy and commitment are needed to do work in Canada or the US on behalf of victims of violence and neo-colonialism here in Colombia.

Speaking for myself I need to be here in order not to feel overwhelmed by the magnitude of the problem. I know the statistics, and understand the root of the problem: The violent dispossession and displacement of peoples from their traditional territory to pave the way for corporate looting of Colombian peoples' resources by Canadian and other mining, lumber, oil, agro-industrial, bio-fuel and other corporate interests. But in my case the cerebral understanding of the problem only depresses me, and I just end up feeling overwhelmed and powerless. For me it is only through a personal relationship with the victims and witnessing their tireless and courageous struggle for justice in the face of incredible odds that keeps me going.


CAHUCOPANA denounces false positives

The last delegation to north-east Antioquía that I helped lead ended up joining our hosts (CAHUCOPANA –a rural grass-roots human rights organization) in a public action in Puerto Berrío in front of the 14^th Brigade. Soldiers of the 14^th Brigade are the unpunished perpetrators of fourteen false positives in north-east Antioquía –extrajudicial killings of civilians which postmortem were dressed up in fatigues and presented as guerrillas who had died in combat. It is when I witness the courageous denouncement of the perpetrators of these atrocities by people who live and work in the area and could very well end up being the next false positives themselves, or the victims of paramilitary retaliatory killings, that I overcome my own inertia and am able to resume my activism. When the people involved cease to be statistics, but living breathing human beings that I have come to know and care about, I can no longer stand idly by and watch. It becomes clear to me that there is no such thing as an innocent bystander. I will either be a guilty bystander or must become actively involved!

I know from experience that I cannot sustain my activism living full-time in Canada. I end up feeling defeated and overwhelmed and an important part of me dies inside. But after being re-energized by our Colombian partners, who cannot afford to wallow in despair, I am once again ready to do what I can, both here in Colombia and during periodic speaking tours in Canada.

Maybe you are not like me. Maybe you are one of those people with boundless energy who don't need to meet the victims in order to hold their oppressors accountable. I admire you!

But maybe you feel that you too need to be re-energized; or feel that you need to see and experience things for yourself to get a better understanding of the situation; or feel you would have more credibility if you visited some of those you are in solidarity with; or you are considering joining Christian Peacemaker Teams. If you fall into one of these latter categories maybe you should consider joining the July delegation to north-east Antioquía.

It begins on July 14^th and continues through to July 27^th. It will be demanding. And it will once again involve our local partner organization CAHUCOPANA, and will include visits to Bogota, rural north-east Antioquía, and Barrancabermeja where we have our home base and office. It will be led by my two wonderful Colombian teammates –Gladys and Jenny—(I will be playing some kind of supportive role) and include visits with other Colombian social and human rights organizations. And it will include participating in a public direct action here in Colombia.

Apply for the July 14 ^th - 27 ^th delegation
More information on alternative CPT delegations to Colombia and elsewhere.
Photos of the previous delegations: see the CPT Colombia photo albums.
A reflection I wrote after a delegation to north-east Antioquia

(Please consider re-posting this on your own lists.)

The Miracle of Las Pavas continues

2011-06-03T18:42:00.000-05:00

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The Miracle of Las Pavas continues

—by Stewart Vriesinga

The Miracle of Las Pavas

CPTer Jenny Rodriguez and I visited the community of Las Pavas last month (May 2011). It was good to see them back on their land, where I first met them in March of 2009!

The Colombian Constitutional Court has recognized that the community's claims on these lands have merit and must be re-examined, so the likelihood of further displacements seems remote.


Oil-palm workers protected by police 10 meters away

Nevertheless much remains to be done: Despite the court ruling, and despite the Ministry of the Environment's assessment that these lands would be adversely affected by palm-oil cultivation, the palm-oil company Aportes San Isidro continues to occupy these same lands. Some of its personal, protected by police, are living in a building not ten meters from the community's homes. Aportes San Isidro is unlikely to cease its operations until its tittle to the land has been annulled. Only after this can the community be registered as the legitimate tittle-holders.

Las Pavas claim to these lands is based on land forfeiture by the previous tittle-holder and their right of possession. Under Colombia's land reform laws a landlord forfeits his tittle to lands which he fails to cultivate or otherwise occupy for an extended period. These same land reform laws grant squatters rights—the right of possession—to third parties who have occupied and cultivated such lands (or state-owned lands) for period of five years or more. It was under this critirium that the community of Las Pavas applied to the Colombian Institute for Rural Development (INCODER) for the the right of possession back in 2006. The Constitutional Courts ruling in favor of the community requires INCODER, which so far has denied the community's claims to the land, to reopen the case.

However INCODER has a conflict of interest. They are simultaneously responsible for both land reform and rural development in Colombia. Aportes San Isidro's palm-oil cultivations complement INCODER's neo-liberal economic development plans for the area, since they are likely to contribute to economic growth by supplying global demand for bio-fuel. The Las Pavas community's development plans, on the other hand, are not focused on national economic growth, but rather place a strong emphasis on food security, the environment, the future well-being of the community and community development of the local population. These factors could very well make INCODER sympathetic to Aportes San Isidro's palm-oil production, and therefore reluctant to comply with the Constitutional Courts ruling that requires the reopening of the Las Pavas community claims to these lands.

The Miracle of Las Pavas: Even so, here in Colombia the return of the community of Las Pavas to their land is described as a miracle. Indeed very few of the 4 million internally displaced Colombians have regained access to their land. Despite the promises of truth, justice, reparation and reconciliation set out in the Peace and Justice Law during the demobilization of the right-wing paramilitary groups back in 2005, the vast majority of the dispossessed have not received any reparation, compensation or justice. Testimonies indicate that much of the forced displacement was not collateral damage of armed conflict, but in fact a very deliberate organized effort to usurp Afro-Colombian, indigenous and campesino communities of their land:

“Christian Aid is funding an effort to protect peasants who are trying to reclaim land from the paramilitaries, said Dominic Nutt, who has visited the plantations. "It is the dark side of biofuel."

"The paramilitaries are not subtle when it comes to taking land," said Nutt, a British specialist with Christian Aid who recently visited Colombia. "They simply visit a community and tell landowners, 'If you don't sell to us, we will negotiate with your widow.'" (Source: The Global Report "Massacres and paramilitary land seizures behind the biofuel revolution" . Also see Inter Press Service “Palm Planters and Displaced People Wait for New Government” & The Sunday Times “Biofuel gangs kill for green profits”)

The Uribe government's Peace and Justice Law that was to result in the demobilization of the paramilitaries, provide justice and reparation to its victims, and eliminate possibilities of further threats of extra-judicial killings, intimidation and internal displacement failed on all counts.

President Santos' not-yet-ratified Land Restitution Law is equally unlikely to produce results as long as those responsible for past displacements have not been brought to justice and continue to act with impunity. Intimidation and extra-judicial killings continue to ensure that the majority of dispossessed campesinos, Afro-Colombians and indigenous communities remain landless. Those few who dare to identify themselves as victims and demand land restitution are often killed:

Since the new government of Juan Manuel Santos was inaugurated at the start of August 2010, the number of land rights activists murdered is heartbreaking. At least eight leaders of displaced communities directly involved in advocating for return of their families’ or their communities’ land have been assassinated, presumably by paramilitary or criminal gangs that benefited from stolen land. (Source: Latin American Working Group, Feb. 18 th 2011, “Dying for Land:Colombian Displaced Leaders Murdered”. See also Colombia Reports' “Leader for the displaced killed in Cordoba, northern Colombia"

Given these realities the return of Las Pavas is indeed a miracle. The efforts of a host of national and international allies—campaigns against Body Shop, Daabon Organics (which many of you contributed to), pressure on INCODER, support from various embassies, legal support from allies such as the Program for Peace and Development in the Middle Magdalen (PDPMM) –helped raise the community's profile, ensuring that, despite threats against them, the community leaders were not killed and the community was actually able to physically return to their land, and that the Constitutional Court of Colombia, unlike the lower courts, aligned itself with the court of public opinion and actually ruled in favour of the community.

Planting for a better future

More miracles are required: The Constitutional Court's ruling must be followed up by the annulment of Aportes San Isidro's land title, and their removal from the lands in question; Land tittles must be issued to the community; and the community must be compensated for all the environmental and property damage done by the Daabon and Aportes San Isidro consortium. Only then will the community be empowered to begin the work of rebuilding their lives and a better future for their children.

And even greater miracles are required if the case of Las Pavas is not to be a rare exception to the norm in Colombia, but rather set a new standard, guaranteeing land rights and life with dignity for all Colombians; miracles that will i) ensure that all communities (such as the communities of Garzal and Nueva Esparanza) are granted tittles to their traditional lands and protected against threats of forced displacement, and ii) that ensure that the lands of the other four-million-and-something dispossessed Colombians are also restored to their rightful owners.

By continuing to raise the profile of targets and victims of forced displacement and their struggle for justice you can help bring these miracles about!

Las Pavas: The ball is in your court! --by Stewart Vriesinga

2011-04-02T15:58:00.000-05:00

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Las Pavas: The ball is in your court now!

--by Stewart Vriesinga

“Our dignity is not for sale, it is not up for negotiation, nor will we barter it in exchange for something else!” --Don Misael, Las Pavas community leader

Unable to obtain justice from Colombian authorities the community of Las Pavas has appealed to you –the court of public opinion—for justice. Hopefully the court has finished its deliberations and is now ready to deliver an unequivocal verdict that will respect this displaced and dispossessed community’s right to truth, justice and reparation –this last being a prerequisite to reconciliation.

The case of Las Pavas is emblematic. This community is only one of hundreds of communities that have been dispossessed of their lands, livelihoods and cultural identity through forced displacement. In most cases the land they were displaced from has been acquired by paramilitaries and/or those who sought the paramilitaries help in acquiring land that belonged to indigenous, Afro-Colombian and campesino communities. Despite numerous laws and declarations that ostensibly could have righted these wrongs –the 2005 Justice and Peace law for instance, which was supposedly going to result in the demobilization of the paramilitaries in a process that would start with truth, justice, reparation, and ultimately end in reconciliation—the truth still goes unacknowledged, impunity rather than justice remains the norm, reparation and restorative justice are not happening, and paramilitary and state violence continue.


In 2009 the community was displaced by the State itself.

Make no mistake. What happens to the community of Las Pavas has major implications for various interests in Colombia. It will set precedents for, and put limits on how the palm-oil industry, mining conglomerates and other mega projects relate to and impact the local populations in areas in which they operate; it will require that the Colombian Government’s plans for rural development not deny or ride rough-shod over the rights, needs and wishes of the local population in favour of huge capital investors; it will determine whether or not rights of the victims of violence and forced displacement are respected in Colombia. It may mean an end to death threats and extrajudicial killings of other community leaders who had the audacity to demand their rights. (See Dying for Land: Colombian Displaced Leaders Murdered and Colombia: Displaced People Challenge Victims Act )

Perhaps the major difference between the community of Las Pavas and the other four million internally displaced peoples of Colombia is the relatively high profile the community of Las Pavas has received in the national and international media due to a joint investigation by Body Shop and Christian Aid, resulting in the former cutting its ties with Daabon Organics. (Daabon is a major stake-holder in the Palm Oil plantation that is occupying and destroying the lands of the displaced community. The struggle of the people of Las Pavas clearly demonstrates:

The lack of restitution and restorative justice for victims of violence in Colombia.
The lack of political will on the part of Colombian authorities to facilitate the return of displaced peoples to lands from which they have been dispossessed. In 2006 Las Pavas was displaced by paramilitary violence, which was recognized by entity responsible for internally displaced peoples --Acción Social, but in 2009 they were once again displaced, this time by state security forces at the behest of the palm-oil plantation occupying the land. (a consortium comprised of Daabon Organics and Aporters San Isidro)
Instead of supporting the community’s right to return, a police investigation was launched against community leaders at the request by Aportes San Isidro, who accuse the community leaders of illegally holding clandestine meetings to plan a crime –an illegal land invasion.
Para-politics –state-paramilitary collusion—is also in evidence, since the police conducting the investigation came in the company of Mario Mármol, one of the paramilitaries involved in their earlier displacement and now an employee of Aportes San Isidro.

How the court of public opinion rules, and whether or not it allows its verdict to be ignored, depends on you. We must all do our part to ensure that justice will be done for the community of Las Pavas, and hopefully set a precedent that will be followed for the reparation of the other four million internally displaced Colombians awaiting justice!

Land Tenure in Colombia

2011-03-17T14:59:00.000-05:00

A teammate alerted me to a video on Facebook. It was put together by an organization that we are part of, and the video describes the issue of land tenure, and how mega-projects --large scale mining and Oil-palm cultivation--threaten the lives and life-styles of Colombians. Two of the communities --Garzal and Las Papavas--described in this video are communities the we --Christian Peacemaker Teams--have been working very closely with for a long time.

International Women's Day --A tribute to the women of Colombia

2011-03-09T00:03:00.000-05:00

Here in Barrancabermeja the women of the Middle Magdalene region weren't celebrating International Women's Day. Instead they used the occasion to march for justice, and end to violence and impunity. Many carried now-faded photos of their lost loved ones --sons, husbands, fathers. Many of them were murdered, some disappeared. The photos may well be faded, but the memories are not. In all cases the perpetrators of the violence have gone unpunished.

The march was organized by the Association for the Victims of violence in the Middle Magdalena river region. It ended in front of the Palace for Justice --one more attempt to end impunity and seek guarantees that these things will not continue to happen.

I made a video by putting slides of photos I took during the march to the music of a song Todavía Cantamos --We are still Singing, written by Victor Heredia and sung here by Mercedes Sosa. Here is the video:

Despite Threat of Arrest, Las Pavas Continues to Struggle for their Land | retornoalaspavas

2011-03-06T00:00:00.000-05:00

The link below is to an article written by my friend and teammate Eloy Garcia, about the the displaced community of Las Pavas which may of you will remember from the campaign against Body Shop. Body shop itself, you may recall, dropped the palm-oil grower Daabon Organics as its supplier, but Daabon itself, despite promises to withdraw, continues to occupy the land and threaten the 123 displaced communities with legal action should they attempt to return to their farms.

Despite Threat of Arrest, Las Pavas Continues to Struggle for their Land | retornoalaspavas
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A Deadly Vicious Circle --by Leonardo Boff

2011-01-09T13:08:00.000-05:00

I wanted to share this article with you all because it expresses so well, not only that another world is possible, but also why another world (paradigm) is absolutely essential; moving the deck-chairs around on the Titanic is not going to do it. --Stewart

A Deadly Vicious Circle --by Leonardo Boff

We find ourselves now in the midst of failed civilization and economic paradigms. That is what the present global crisis with its various ramifications reveals to us. In the short and medium term nothing appears consistent. We are passengers on a plane in a blind flight. What is being offered would make corrections and controls a la Keynes, which in fact are changes within the system, and not changes of the system. But it is the system that produces unsustainable results, and cannot offer humanity a promising horizon. This is why we need different systems, and paradigms, for inhabiting this old, small, devastated and overpopulated planet. It is urgent because time is running out, and we have too little wisdom and the spirit of cooperation is all too scarce.

Given the interests of the powerful, who do not take the necessary steps to avoid their lethal consequences, the solutions that are being enforced throughout the world are essentially "more of the same." This is absolutely irrational, because it has been that "same" that has brought us to this crisis, which can evolve into complete tragedy.

Whether the economists -- the "saviours" of the world -- like it or not, we are within sight of two deadly ends: one humanitarian and another ecological.

We are, then, caught up in a lethal vicious circle. Whether the economists -- the "saviors" of the world -- like it or not, we are within sight of two deadly ends: one humanitarian and another ecological. The first is of an ethical nature: the worldwide consciousness, arising from globalization, begs the question: how much inhumanity and cruelty can the human spirit support, when 20% of the population consumes 80% of the Earth's resources, condemning the rest to the cross of desperation, walled in by the demands of subsistence? Will humanity accept this death sentence... or will it resist, be indignant, and finally, given the instinct for survival, will it revolt? The capitalist ideal of unlimited growth in a limited planet can no longer be enforced, except through tremendous violence.

The second is the ecological limit. Capitalism created a culture of consumption and waste, whose prototype is the North American society. To expand this culture -- the calculations have already been done -- two or more Earths like ours would be needed, which makes the project unrealizable. Moreover, we have pressed the resources and services of the Earth to their limits, and have exceeded them by 40%. All the alternatives to fossil fuels, maintaining the present level of consumption, would only supply 30% of global demand. We can see that, following the same model, we are like a toad slowly being cooked with no possibility of getting out of the pot.

An economy based on solidarity, not on the capitalist objective of profit maximization or individual appropriation

There are three creative proposals: an economy based on solidarity, not on the capitalist objective of profit maximization or individual appropriation; a change to regional currencies, and the third, the bio-civilization and Earth of Good Hope, of Ignacy Sachs, the Polish economist who runs the research center on Brazil in Paris. This proposal gives a central place to life and to nature, taking Brazil as the place where it could be anticipated. The three are possible, but none has yet accumulated enough strength to attain hegemony.

They could perhaps save us. But do we have still enough time? Gramsci said it well: "the old does not stop dying and it is hard for the new to be born." A culture is not abandoned from one day to the next. One who is used to eating sirloin steak, will hardly resign himself to eggs.

Possibly we will all become socialists, not from ideology but from necessity

My sense of the world tells me that we are headed towards an encounter with a formidable generalized crisis, one that will take us to the very limits of survival. When we are under water up to our noses, we will do anything to save ourselves. Possibly we will all become socialists, not from ideology but from necessity: the scarce natural resources will be distributed impartially between humans and the other beings within the community of life.

Saint Augustine wisely taught that there are two factors that produce great transformations: suffering and love. We must learn now to love and to suffer for this unique Common House, that she may be a big Noah's Arc that shelters all. Then the Earth of the Good Hope will be the sign of a Garden of Eden yet to come.

(Free translation from the Spanish by Melina Alfaro, done at Refugio Del Rio Grande, Texas)

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Leonardo Boff was born 14 December 1938 in Concórdia, Santa Catarina state, Brazil. He is a theologian, philosopher and writer, known for his active support for the rights of the poor and excluded.

He currently serves as Professor Emeritus of Ethics, Philosophy of Religion and Ecology at the Rio de Janeiro State University.

He became one of the best known (along with Gustavo Gutiérrez) of the early Liberation theologians.

He has always been an advocate of human rights causes, helping to formulate a new, Latin American perspective with "rights to life and the ways to maintain them with dignity". The work of liberation theologians helped lead to the creation of more than 1,000,000 "ecclesial base communities" ("Comunidades Eclesiais de Base" or CEBs) among poor Catholics in Brazil and in Latin America.

Dirty Gold Tour: Canadian Mining Operations in Central America

2011-01-08T16:41:00.000-05:00


Nely Rivera de Silva: Nely is an organizer with the Centre for Research on Investment and Commerce (CEICOM), an organization that conducts research and education on the impacts of mining investment in El Salvador.

TOUR EVENTS
January 8th, 2011 - 6:30PM(Toronto)
COMPANIAS MINERAS CANADIENSES Y DERECHOS HUMANOS EN CENTRO AMERICA
Casa Maiz
1280 Finch Ave. West, Suite 200

11 Janvier 2011, 19h(Montreal)
Opérations minières canadiennes en Amérique Centrale: Organisation transfrontalière et violation des droits humains
A-2780, pavillon Hubert-Aquin, UQAM
400 rue Ste-Catherine est, métro Berri-Uqam

January 12th, 2011 - 7pm - 10pm(Ottawa)
CONFERENCE/PUBLIC LECTURE
Canadian Mining Operations in Central America: Crossborder organizing and human rights violations
University of Ottawa
Hall(tbc) Room(tbc)

January 15th - 8:30PM(Toronto)
DIRTY GOLD FUNDRAISING EVENT
(TBC)

Help Organizing Meeting and Events: We are asking you to support the organizing of an event/meeting in your community. We feel that engaging communities in public dialogues about the role of Canadian corporations overseas is the best way of raising public awareness about the issue. Nelly will be in Toronto Jan. 8-9, 15-17, Montreal Jan. 10-11 and Ottawa Jan 12.

Dirty Gold Tour: Canadian Mining Operations in Central America:

Nely Rivera de Silva
Nely is an organizer with CEICOM, the Centre for Research on Investment and Commerce, an organization that conducts research and education on the impacts of mining investment in El Salvador. She is currently engaged in intensive cross border organizing in Guatemala and El Salvador linking local communities and national anti-mining networks of both countries to stop the Cerro Blanco, Goldcorp mine in Guatemala. The Cerro Blanco mine is located on the Guatemala/El Salvador border and threatens to contaminate water and eco-systems on both sides of the border. Nely and other staff members of CEICOM have recently been victims of kidnapping, robbery and death threats by unknown individuals while working in Guatemala...

(A few additional excerpts from the blog appear below, but it would be better to click the link and access the original article.)

Dirty Gold Tour: Canadian Mining Operations in Central America:

... The recent deaths of environmental and anti-mining activists in Guatemala and El Salvador and the continued intimidation against anti mining organizers indicate an urgent need to intensify actions to pressure companies and the governments that support them to ensure that free and informed consent is exercised by local communities affected by extractive industries....

... Specifically this tour aims to further the dialogue between Canadian and Salvadorean civil society organizations opposed to mining operations and encourage support for Central American and wider anti mining struggles from within Canada in order to find creative solutions to holding Canadian-based mining companies accountable for their actions...

...We are seeking to engage labour, faith, and grassroots organizations in this dialogue. We are particularly interested in networking with diasporic communities from Central America to help engage Canadians and to help strategize for future joint actions.

Christendom: the Keys to the Kingdom? Or spin-doctors for Empire?

2010-12-28T21:04:00.000-05:00

--by Stewart Vriesinga

Can we truly celebrate the birth of King Jesus and the genesis of the Kingdom of God without also rejecting empire and other competing social orders?

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you shut up the kingdom of heaven before men; for you do not enter, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you travel around land and sea to make one proselyte, and whenever he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you.

(Matthew 23:14-15)

The three wise men realized that dual citizenship was not an option. They could not serve two masters. They could not claim allegiance to both Herod and Jesus. They chose to celebrate the genesis of a new social order, with a different, incompatible set of values –the Kingdom of God. They anticipated resistance to the new world order. They chose not to inform Herod and his death squads of the whereabouts of the founder of this alternative kingdom. They went home by some other way. (See Mathew 2:12)

First Blood: Herod, we are told, also sensed that this new king represented a threat to his sovereignty. In a pre-emptive strike he sent death squads to Bethlehem to kill all male children under two years of age. His parents smuggled him out of the area, first to Egypt, and when they returned to Israel they relocated to Galilee. Before Jesus could even walk or talk he had already become both a political refugee and an internally displaced person starting a new life in Nazareth. Some of his former neighbours in Bethlehem were less fortunate:

When Herod realized that the visitors from the East had tricked him, he was furious. He gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its neighbourhood who were two years old and younger---this was done in accordance with what he had learned from the visitors about the time when the star had appeared. In this way what the prophet Jeremiah had said came true: "A sound is heard in Ramah, the sound of bitter weeping. Rachel is crying for her children; she refuses to be comforted, for they are dead."

(Matthew 2:16-18)

National opposition: Throughout the course of his life, as Jesus expounded on details of the “Good News of the Kingdom”, resistance grew. The benefactors of the existing social order were clearly threatened by a new kingdom in which “the first will be last”, and in which the “meek shall inherit the earth”. Initially it was primarily the local religious establishment and the local monarchy that recognized that the growing popularity of this new kingdom had the potential of seriously undermining their own legitimacy, and consequently, their power and prestige. They took preventative action. With the complicity of the Roman Empire they had Jesus crucified, and persecuted all surviving advocates for the Kingdom of God.

Global opposition: When advocates for the Kingdom of God began to recruit outside of Israel, the meek and marginalized –those who where oppressed by the Roman Empire—were attracted to the new social order embodied in the Kingdom of God. Eventually the Roman Empire itself recognized the Kingdom of God as a serious subversive threat to Roman Imperialism which could not be ignored. It was clear that those loyal to King Jesus and the Kingdom of God would no longer be docile, complacent and loyal subjects of the Roman Empire. Initially Christians were persecuted, and fed to the lions, etc. but this proved to be ineffective, and the Kingdom of God continued to grow. Eventually a far more subtle, devious and effective course of action was decided upon and implemented: In 313 AD the Roman Emperor Constantine declared himself to be Christian. By attributing his successful militarily conquests to divine assistance of Jesus himself, he convinced Christians that the Roman Empire was now itself holy and there was no longer need to replace it with the Kingdom of God. In exchange for embracing the Messenger Constantine was able to squelch the message itself –the “Good News of the Kingdom of God”. The unholy matrimony of Christendom and Empire all but eliminated any threat stemming from a social order in which “the first shall be last”, or in which “the meek shall inherit the earth”. Seemingly, in 312 the King who was once the advocate and hope of the oppressed switched his allegiance and was henceforth the Holy and omnipotent ally of the Oppressive Roman Empire.

Paradise lost: Successive empires followed suite. For the most part Christendom and Empire—now the Dominant Global Culture—ceased to offer hope to the marginalized, disenfranchised and oppressed of the world. First under the pretext of saving the souls of the conquered, and later by bringing them "economic development", they continued to expand their unholy empires. They completely discarded the pursuit of the alternative social order envisioned by Jesus—the Kingdom of heaven—opting instead for a military and hierarchical social structure modelled on the Roman Empire. Under the theology, ideology and dominion of what had become the Dominant Global Culture the only hope of the meek even retaining a small part of the earth—never mind inheriting the earth—is for them to assimilate into the Dominant Culture and somehow convince this new empirical and skeptical 'God' that the meek of the earth too, like their wealthy and powerful 'benefactors', are deserving of at least small part of 'God’s' blessings; deserving of retaining a portion of what was once their traditional lands and 'God's' providence. Such is the Kingdom of Christendom and Empire!

This is not the Kingdom and World order that Jesus envisioned:

But Jesus, having summoned them, said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, shall be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave; just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many."
(Matthew 20:25-28)

Then He lifted up His eyes toward His disciples, and said: "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be filled. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh. Blessed are you when men shall hate you, and when they shall exclude you, and shall revile you, and cast out your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy! For behold, your reward is great in heaven; for in like manner their fathers did to the prophets.

"But woe to you who are rich, because you have received your consolation. Woe to you who have been filled, for you shall be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. Woe to you when men speak well of you, for in like manner their fathers would do to the false prophets. "But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you…”

(Luke 6:20-27)

It should not come as a surprise that those who benefit from membership in Empire—the Dominant Culture—reject Jesus’ vision of the Kingdom of Heaven:

Now when one of those who sat at the table with Him heard these things, he said to Him, "Blessed is he who shall eat dinner in the kingdom of God!"

Then He said to him, "A certain man gave a great dinner, and he invited many, and he sent his servant at dinnertime to say to those who were invited, 'Come, for all things are now ready.' But they all with one accord began to excuse themselves. The first said to him, 'I bought a field, and I must go and see it. I ask you, have me excused.' And another said, 'I bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to test them. I ask you, have me excused.' Still another said, 'I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.' So that servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, 'Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind.' And the servant said, 'Master, it is done as you commanded, and still there is room.' Then the master said to the servant, 'Go out into the roads and hedges, and compel them to come in, so that my house may be filled. For I say to you that none of those men who were invited shall taste of my supper.' "

(Luke 14:15-24)

Alas, Christendom has lost the keys to the kingdom. But if we embrace both the Messenger and the message, like the wise men who visited baby Jesus in Bethlehem, we too can go “home”, not through Constantine's Triumphal Arch, but through some other much narrower gate.

"Enter in through the narrow gate; because wide is the gate, and broad is the way which leads to destruction, and many are those who enter in through it. How narrow the gate, and confined the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it! "But beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grape clusters from thorns, or figs from thistles? Thus every good tree produces good fruit, but a rotten tree produces evil fruit. A good tree cannot produce evil fruit, nor can a rotten tree produce good fruit. Every tree not producing good fruit is cut down and cast into the fire. Consequently, by their fruits you shall know them. "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven.

(Matthew 7:13-21)

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The Church, The Kingdom of God, and Empire

2010-12-28T19:39:00.000-05:00

--by Stewart Vriesinga

For the millions in a prison,
That wealth has set apart –
For the Christ who has not risen,
From the caverns of the heart –

For the innermost decision,
That we cannot but obey -
For what’s left of our religion,
I lift my voice and pray:
May the lights in The Land of Plenty
Shine on the truth some day.

--Leonard Cohen

The current Empire (world order) is controlled by, and primarily benefits Westerners of European origin, living for the most part in North America and Europe. Merely replacing the previous un-holy Roman Emperor with a new holy "Christian" Emperor was presumably enough to give Empire's expansionist agenda God's stamp of approval. The conquest continued. During the conquest of North America self-proclaimed "Christian" colonialists considered it their Manifest Destiny to take over the territory and resources of Native North Americans. Then as now Empire had God on its side, and its proponents and supporters considered themselves to be God's chosen people.

" Having been led out of the land of Egypt, Empire continues its Joshua-like

genocidal conquest of the 'Promised Lands'. "

Only those who collude and collaborate with Empire and its systems of economic, social, political, cultural and military control were/are allowed to share in the benefits and wealth. Having been led out of the land of Egypt, Empire continues its Joshua-like genocidal conquest of the "Promised Lands". Today they consider it their duty to police, democratize, liberalize, and commoditize the entire planet. The current focus seems to be on the traditional territories, resources and markets of the Middle East, while augmenting and retaining control over their previous conquests.

Today membership in Empire does not discriminate as much on the basis of religious affiliation. Even Muslim collaborators are rewarded, while the repression of non-Western Christian dissidents is pretty much as vigorous as that of their non-Christian counterparts. The degree of reward or oppression seems to be based more on the degree of cooperation with, or opposition to Empire than on religious or ideological affiliations. Nevertheless the "Christian" Western Nations continue to dominate the current World Order. Indeed, it is difficult to imagine the existing Empire surviving without the collaboration and complicity of Westerners who identify as "Christian".

For those who take the Gospel message of The Good News of the Kingdom of Heaven seriously, it should be pretty clear that the existing Empire in no way resembles what Jesus described as the Kingdom of Heaven/God. Christians who have allowed themselves to be co-opted by Empire are very much like those of whom their founder said: "You hypocrites! You lock the door to the Kingdom of heaven in people's faces, but you yourselves don't go in, nor do you allow in those who are trying to enter! … You hypocrites! You sail the seas and cross whole countries to win one convert; and when you succeed, you make him twice as deserving of going to hell as you yourselves are!" (Mat 23:13-15)

" It is, of course, much easier for those who have already been rejected by Empire

to reject Empire; they have almost nothing to lose! "

The Kingdom of Heaven/God that Jesus described is a place where those who come first in Empire become last, while those who were most marginalized shall become the first to receive attention and consideration. The Kingdom of Love is based on a different set of values that are completely incompatible with those of Empire. There is no middle ground; no room for compromise. In order to accept the Kingdom of Love one must by definition reject Empire. It is, of course, much easier for those who have already been rejected by Empire to reject Empire; they have almost nothing to lose. But those of us who benefit from Empire, rather than leave our privilege behind, are tempted (and encouraged) to reach through the eye of the needle and try to drag as many of the marginalized and destitute as possible though to our (Empire's) side of the needle --sail the seas to win one convert; and when we succeed, make him twice as deserving of going to hell as we are. Maybe if they joined us, we tell ourselves, and adopted our ways, God would deem them to be as deserving of his blessing and providence as we ourselves obviously are. This is not, however, how Jesus described the Kingdom of Love:

"Happy are you poor; the Kingdom of God is yours! "Happy are you who are hungry now; you will be filled! "Happy are you who weep now; you will laugh! "Happy are you when people hate you, reject you, insult you, and say that you are evil, all because of the Son of Man! Be glad when that happens and dance for joy, because a great reward is kept for you in heaven. For their ancestors did the very same things to the prophets. "But how terrible for you who are rich now; you have had your easy life! "How terrible for you who are full now; you will go hungry! "How terrible for you who laugh now; you will mourn and weep! "How terrible when all people speak well of you; their ancestors said the very same things about the false prophets. (Luke 6:20-26)

" Empire, unable to compete without the capitulation of the dispossessed, oppressed

and marginalized masses (who would desert Empire and join the Kingdom of Love),

would eventually collapse in on itself. "

Jesus clearly expected Empire to fall, and expected those who put their faith in Empire to fall with it. (I hope he is right!!) Dorothy Day believed it. She planned to live her life so close to the bottom that she wouldn't have far to fall when the whole system collapses.

But the means by which Empire is brought down will determine the sort of empire that replaces it. (As Gandhi said, the means is the end in embryo.) Jesus wasn't merely talking about overthrowing a tyrant and handing the reigns of power over to one of his own guys –replacing the un-holy emperor with a new and holy emperor. On the contrary, like Samuel before him (1Sa 8:5-22), he was opposed to all earthly Empires and emperors:

"The kings of the pagans have power over their people, and the rulers claim the title 'Friends of the People.' But this is not the way it is with you; rather, the greatest one among you must be like the youngest, and the leader must be like the servant. Who is greater, the one who sits down to eat or the one who serves? The one who sits down, of course. But I am among you as one who serves. (Luke 22:24-27)

Unlike traditional empires, the Kingdom of Love would not have visible institutions and power structures designed to control, to force capitulation and compliance: "The Kingdom of God does not come in such a way as to be seen. No one will say, 'Look, here it is!' or, 'There it is!'; because the Kingdom of God is within you." (Luke 17:20-21) It would only be known by its fruits. Jesus believed the benefits of the Kingdom of Love far exceeded those of empire; that Love was stronger than fear and hatred and death. He believed that the Empire, unable to compete without the capitulation of the dispossessed, oppressed and marginalized masses (who would desert Empire and join the Kingdom of Love), would eventually collapse in on itself. While in the short term members of the Kingdom of Love could expect extreme opposition, and to be severely persecuted and killed, if they persevered they would eventually triumph. The struggle for the Kingdom of Love would employ battle tactics very different from those of their opponents. Subjects of the new Kingdom of Love were told:

Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who mistreat you. If anyone hits you on one cheek, let him hit the other one too; if someone takes your coat, let him have your shirt as well. Give to everyone who asks you for something, and when someone takes what is yours, do not ask for it back. Do for others just what you want them to do for you. "If you love only the people who love you, why should you receive a blessing? Even sinners love those who love them! And if you do good only to those who do good to you, why should you receive a blessing? Even sinners do that! And if you lend only to those from whom you hope to get it back, why should you receive a blessing? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount! No! Love your enemies and do good to them; lend and expect nothing back. You will then have a great reward, and you will be children of the Most High God. For he is good to the ungrateful and the wicked. (Luke 6:27-35)

" Have we passed through the eye of the needle? Or are we merely trying to pull

the oppressed, dispossessed and marginalized through to our side of the needle,

retaining our own privilege while trying to tweak and moderate some the worst

and most repulsive and violent aspects of Empire? "

Members of the Kingdom of Love accept/believe/acknowledge that Love is stronger than hate, fear, death or violence. While force and violence may be an effective weapon against tyrants, it is completely impotent and ineffective in terms of fighting tyranny. Adopting the methodology of its opponents would be adapting their values, and resigning ourselves to the inherent limitations of their basis of power, complete with its fear-based need for dominance and control. It would hardly be liberating! But in the Kingdom of Love apparent weaknesses become strengths. Truth spoken from a position of vulnerability rings truer than words spoken from behind the cover of a big gun. You can't even kill Truth; it will rise from the dead! (Witness the Truth spoken by Jesus, Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Oscar Romero, and so many more.)

So where does all that leave me and the Church in terms of the incompatible-but-competing forces of the Kingdom of Love verses Empire? Have we rejected Empire? Has Empire deemed me/the Church to be a subversive threat to its existence? Or do I/we still enjoy the privilege of membership? If so, why? Do we include too many "Christians" so firmly entrenched in Empire that they make no distinction between Empires plunder and God's providence? Does the Church integrate or take direction from self-proclaimed "Christians" who continue to collaborate and comply with the dictates of Empire while screening out non-Christians who have indeed passed through the eye of the needle? Have we passed through the eye of the needle? Or are we merely trying to pull the oppressed, dispossessed and marginalized through to our side of the needle, retaining our own privilege while trying to tweak and moderate some the worst and most repulsive and violent aspects of Empire? These are some of the questions that arise as I reflect on my own and the Church’s relationship with Empire. I'm not sure there are definitive answers. Being based and living in Pharaoh's court (Empire) certainly has its privileges. To a large extent I, the Church and its supporters continue to cooperate with Empire and continue to recognize its authority by continuing to negotiate with it, notwithstanding occasional acts of civil disobedience. I'm not sure we can completely avoid this…

" Empire forgiving the transgressions of, and re-integrating its victims would only

perpetuate itself. "

As long as the primary objective is replacing Empire with the Kingdom of Love it is clear that we can't support and align ourselves with any and every initiative to overthrow Empire. It will not do to sponsor mini fiefdoms that aspire to become Empires. We must discern whether or not efforts to topple Empire will actually promote liberation and end tyranny, or merely replace one form of tyranny with another. It is equally clear that we cannot be effective instruments for ushering in the Kingdom of Love without unequivocally and totally rejecting the legitimacy and authority of Empire. Consequently we must be prepared to be totally rejected by Empire and to lose the privilege Empire confers on its collaborators.

The revolution will be from the bottom up. It must be so. Empire forgiving the transgressions of, and re-integrating its victims would only perpetuate itself. Only when the oppressed forgive and successfully integrate the last oppressor into the Kingdom of Love will tyranny and empire be completely defeated.

Thy Kingdom come! Thy will be done on Earth (as it is in Heaven).
________________________________________________________________________________

(This essay was first published in 2005 for an internal CPT list-serve. I have re-worked it a bit in order to post it here on my Stewart in Colombia blog. )

Canadian Mineral Extraction Industry and Cultural Genocide

2010-12-25T17:39:00.001-05:00

View this movie at cultureunplugged.com

A Canadian Mining Corporation’s attempt at a neo-colonial land-grab and one communities courageous struggle for survival:

In previous posts I have advocated for passing Bill C-300 in Canadian Parliament. Bill C-300 would have introduced a modicum of accountability to the Canadian Mineral Extraction Industry abroad, but unfortunately, despite all of our combined efforts, the Bill was defeated last fall.

In earlier posts I have opposed the Canadian Free Trade Agreement with Colombia, which unfortunately, again despite our best collective efforts, was ratified by Canadian Parliament last June.

In Canada the myth persists that Canadian foreign investment by the mineral extraction industry is a benign thing that creates jobs, introduces new superior technology, and contributes to the economic development of countries who invite Canadian Mining interests to extract and export their national wealth. Nothing could be further from the truth.

In fact this type of foreign investment often provides no benefit to the local population in which the mining operations take place. Often the local population is dispossessed of their land, either by force or some more-often-than-not corrupt judicial process, in what can only be described as cultural genocide. Dispossessed of their land local populations are also disposed of their cultural identities, cultural values, and cultural community development models –models far more sustainable and therefore superior to the neo-liberal, neo-colonial economic development model that seeks to assimilate and incorporate them. Those who are not displaced from their lands suffer the consequences of environmental devastation caused by the large-scale mining operations.

For further insight read my friend Evans Rubara's "Mother Africa" Blog entry Canadian Envoys to Kenya & Tanzania: Uninformed or Arrogant? as well as his other mining-related blog entries. I had the honour of meeting Evans last year while he was on a speaking tour in Canada.

Excerpt: Canada have for decades now been spitting right on the face of local communities under the same old facade of “Canadian mining activities in Africa (are) a force for good.”

By registering in Canada Mining corporations can literally get away with murder.

That fact that the Canadian mining industry is a major global player in this industry is not because of its superior expertise, but rather that mining corporations, by registering in Canada, can literally get away with murder. By registering in Canada mining corporations enjoy nearly complete legal immunity and avoid international oversight, regulation and accountability regarding their overseas operations. Canada provides the industry with a “Flag of convenience” akin to Liberian-registered ships travelling through international waters, or Banks and corporations using the Cayman Islands as a tax haven.

Barrick Gold sues book publisher for libel :

The book, Imperial Canada Inc.: Legal Haven of Choice for the World's Mining Industries, was to be published in spring 2010, but in February, the publisher and everyone else involved with the book got a threatening letter from Barrick lawyers. Imperial Canada Inc. was inspired by a French-language book published in Quebec called Noir Canada: Pillage, corruption et criminalité en Afrique by the same lead author Alain Deneault...

...But Vince Borg, vice-president of corporate communications at Barrick Gold, said the company is just defending its reputation. "Discourse is a very good thing in democracy, but it has to be based on the facts, [but] If I was about to publish a book about your criminal misdeeds, and you saw it on my website, would you not take action to protect your reputation?"

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2010/05/12/barrick-gold-mining-book.html#ixzz19ATquwYS

Those who resist cultural genocide and the corporate take-over of their land are up against very powerful deep-pocketed opponents. There are many examples of such resistance here in Colombia where we (Christian Peacemaker Teams –CPT) live and work, in Central America, and in Africa, but I have chosen to highlight a video which tells the story of an Ecuadorian community’s successful struggle to defend their territory and cultural identity in a confrontation with a Canadian Mineral Extraction industry. The above video clearly illustrates the cultural values and cultural identity which are at stake, and the absolute necessity of regulating the activities of the Canadian mining industry abroad.