Introduction

The following blog is a review of the Christian Peacemaker Team (CPT) delegation trip I took on July 14 - 27, 2009. 

As you are reading, you can check out the "Informative Links" in the left column for more information about the given topic. 

CPT delegations are a group of temporary volunteers that assist long term volunteers of CPT in their work.  Most delegations are about two weeks.

CPT provides encouragement for individuals and communities experiencing violence, challenges violations of human rights and promotes active nonviolence as a means of settling disputes.  Christian Peacemaker Teams was invited to work in Colombia in 2001 by the Mennonite Church of Colombia; the main reasons for CPT involvement in Colombia being the high levels of human rights abuses perpetrated within the country as well as the nature of US and Canadian military and economic involvement in the country.

During our particular delegation we spent much of our time visiting communities that have been affected by violations of human rights through being displaced from their homes, having their community leaders or union leaders assassinated, fumigations of their crops through Plan Colombia and ongoing threats on their lives and way of life.   We also visited a variety of Colombian organizations involved in the work of investigating and challenging human rights abuses and providing aid and solidarity to communities who are being threatened to leave their homes and to those who have left their homes and are either trying to start a new life or are attempting to regain their homes.   

Bogota

Our first few days on the delegation were spent in Bogota where we met with a variety of individuals and organizations involved with human rights work in Colombia.  These meetings helped clarify for us the current situation in Colombia with regards to the economy, the people of Colombia, and the natural resources that have made Colombia so desirable.  

While Colombia is a country that attracts international business on a large scale and has many resources to offer the world, the majority of people of this country have not benefitted from these markets and in many cases have been exploited by multinational companies whose interests lie in economic and monetary progress.  

Below is data relevant to some of the issues we were being exposed to.

Today, about 50% of Colombia's population lives in poverty.   In 2000, only 18% of the population was living in poverty.  Why has the poverty level grown so much?  

Over the same time period from 2000 - 2009, Colombia has seen a rise in GDP.  If GDP is rising why also is the percentage of those living in poverty rising?  The wealth that many multinational companies gain from business in Colombia has not spread to its population.  This type of economic activity is evident in the city of Bogota where you can see beautiful, high rise buildings and expensive shopping centers at one end of the city and squatter settlements without running water or electricity spreading over the hills at the other end of the city.    

Check out the website below to investigate more about the data.

( http://www.indexmundi.com/g/g.aspx?c=co&v=69)

The above questions and data gave us an introduction to the complicated situations in Colombia.  

Barrancabermeja

After Bogota we took a bus to the city of Barrancabermeja in the Magdalena Medio region.  The city, with a population of about 300,000, sits along the Magdalena River - the largest in Colombia providing a major transportation artery from deep within the Andes Mountains to the Caribbean Sea on the northern coast.  Barrancabermeja has been and still is an economic hub.  In addition to its key location along both river and road transportation routes, the city has the countries largest oil refinery as well as many gold and mineral deposits in the surrounding areas. 

Industrial and economic success of the city’s industries brought along with it corruption and violence as well as labor activism and radical populist politics.  The tensions that grew between labor unions and industry have attracted both guerrilla groups working to overthrow the government and paramilitary groups working in conjunction with the government to protect the industries.  Over the past couple of decades the violence has fluctuated from street warfare to a more hidden violence of threats and targeted killings of key community and union leaders.

Today, the guerrilla presence has disappeared in the city and the paramilitary groups are not as visible, but are still present.  Many labor union leaders have disappeared and later show up dead while others have left due to threats on their lives. 

One third of the city’s populations are displaced farmers and miners that moved in from the country due to being forced off their land.  Multinational companies take over the land to grow their crops and mine the land on a mass scale to compete with the global economy.  These companies use paramilitary and military forces to do their dirty work.  The government rarely investigates these types of violations. 

We visited with an organization called Asociacion Campesino de Valle Cimitarra (ACVC) which is a group of farmers who work to mobilize farming communities in their efforts to demand peace and stability in their region.  Some of these farmers have had close family members killed due to their struggle.  Nonetheless, they keep advocating for their rights.  

San Pablo

The next leg of our journey took us north on the Magdalena River to the town of San Pablo.  With a population of maybe 15 – 20 thousand located on the river, this town’s population, like Barrancabermeja, is made up of several displaced farmers and miners, both men and women, who have resettled after being forced off their land.  Much of the land has been taken by multinational corporations who use it to grow their own crops or mine for gold and minerals. 

Our first day was spent meeting with several community organizations that work with displaced populations, small farmers and miners, union leaders, refugees, youth and many other groups working towards a more peaceful existence. 

Programa de Desarrollo y Paz del Magdalena Medio (Development and Peace Program of the Magdalena Medio) works with farmers who have traditionally grown coca (used to make cocaine) and are looking for alternative and economically viable crops, such as cacao (chocolate).  Make this kind of switch can be difficult and costly unless there is organization to help the farmers find ways of transporting and selling cacao.  For many farmers, growing coca has been one of the few ways they can make money because of the high demand by drug cartels for coca. 

OFP (Women’s Popular Organization) works with women who have been displaced from their homes and are heads of their household – single women with children.  The organization provides food, health services and job training in an effort to empower women to advocate for their rights.  Since its foundation in 1972 in Barrancabermeja, leaders and members of the organization have been persecuted and some of been assassinated or have disappeared.  To learn more refer to the link at the top of the blog page under "Informative Links".

El Campo - Cerro Azul, San Juan Medio, San Juan Alto

From San Pablo we traveled by truck into the surrounding mountains to the three farming communities named above.  In San Juan Medio, we took a long hike up the hillside to a farmer’s house where a group of farmers had gathered to tell us about their struggles.  Many of these farmers had at one time grown coca but now had switched to growing cocao in an effort to find a way of living without contributing to the illegal drug industry.  Through a policy called Plan Colombia funded by both the United States and Colombia, many coca fields were being fumigated.  Although these farmers had ended coca production on their fields and had informed the government of their change in crops, the fumigations had continued.  It has become more and more apparent to these communities that the fumigations are more of a covert effort to displace small farmers off their land rather than deter coca growth in the region.  Studies have found that the fumigation solution used only kills about 20% of coca plants in a field while it has a much more detrimental affect on other cash crops and food crops the families use for personal use.  In addition, cocaine production has not diminished as a result of Plan Colombia.  These farmers are in a continual struggle against the government to stop fumigations of their fields. 

In the other two communities we continued to here more and more stories of displacement and struggles with both the Colombian military and paramilitary forces.  In some cases these forces had burned down houses in buildings of an entire community.  Within the past year the returned to their land and rebuilt the buildings.  At this point military forces are present in the area and the people fear that the same thing could happen again.  

Public Action in San Pablo

After two days in with the farming communities, we returned to San Pablo where we participated in the planning and executing of a public action in the town park.  Together with several of the organizations we had met a few days earlier, we discussed what type of message should be sent out during the public action and how it should be done.  We decided the action was to be a general call to stop the persecutions of local communities through displacements, fumigations and other violence and promote the livelihood of community efforts towards peace and then end of human rights abuses.  The primary symbol used for the action was the use of brooms to sweep away the negative actions.  

Las Pavas

Upon our return to Barrancabermeja we visited to with two representatives from a recently displaced community, Las Pavas.  This was one of the more emotional experiences because armed police had just forced these people off their land within the last week.  The struggle had begun in 2006 when the first displacement took place.  Over the past three years the community attempted to go through the legal means to show evidence of their right to the land.  Only July 14, 2009 four civil authorities came with the police to force the people off the land.  The community felt betrayed because they had been working with officials to show proof of rights to their land and now it was these very officials who were forcing them off the land.   We listened to their story and then four CPT members held a television interview with the community leaders expressing their concerns.  CPT is currently conducting an urgent action regarding the situation in Las Pavas.  As part of this action anyone can send a letter to Colombian officials about the situation.  At the top of the blog page under "Informative Links" there is a link to Las Pavas Urgent Action.  This link will take you to the CPT page which further explains the current situation and provides instructions as well as a sample letter that can be used when writing Colombian officials.  

Coca Cola and Union Organizations

Sinaltrainal (National Union of Food Industry Workers) is a national organization with one of its offices in Barrancabermeja.  Many of its members and leaders work for Coca Cola and seek to change the anti-worker policies of Coca Cola and other multinational food companies.  Coca Cola’s factory and warehouse in Barrancabermeja has a long history of human rights abuses that have led to nine killings and 27 disappearances of union workers.  Many more have left due to threats on their lives and their families lives.  It is believed that Coca Cola has used paramilitary forces to do much of its dirty work.  You can view the following link to learn more about Coca Cola and human rights abuses.  (link)  

Reflection

This blog does not include everything we did on the trip but highlights many of the activities and organizations we visited in an attempt to give you an idea of the conflicting situations that has brought CPT to Colombia. 

As I think back of all the people we met and stories we heard, I think of the overwhelming forces that drive a global economy.  For a small percentage of the world's population, these forces bring progress, wealth, buying power, luxury items and many more amenities that we take for granted.  For many others, they bring unemployment, homelessness, hunger, starvation, death, loss of loved ones, no health care or education, shame, and many more things that we would think of as human abuses.

What would it take to stop all the injustices in such a large economic system?  Is it possible to have a global economy without abusing the human rights of others?  What would that economy look like?  What types of policies and regulations would be in place?  How could we keep multinational corporations in check?  What are the roles of government and these corporations in creating an economy that values human rights?  What are our roles as citizens of the world? 

Asking these questions is one step, but will never be good enough.  At some point action will have to be taken.  I am reminded of the many people that are working for the betterment of human life.  At many points during the trip I was happy to see the determined efforts and smiling faces behind so many people that have known suffering as I will never know it.  While I am encouraged to see people who are resilient, I am also saddened to know that despite their efforts people continue to suffer.  The economic forces that all of us participate in are strong.

As one who has benefited immensely from the global economy and whose life has been defined by the very culture that promotes the progress and wealth that has pushed other people down, I find myself in an easily hypocritical position.  How can I profess change when I come from that which is the problem?  There are many things I can do to advocate for change, and I hope that I will take on the challenge.  I also hope that I never think that what I do now, will ever make up for all the suffering that has happened.  We live in a conflicted world and we need to know that.  Though I continue to live with the benefits of the global economy it is my responsibility to understand how I benefit while others suffer.