Accompaniment to Córdoba

A wide riverbed trail surrounded by steep rock walls. Delicious locally harvested rice. Lagoons and rivers met with lush green foliage. Homemade bee and sugarcane honey...
These were the sights and flavors experienced during a recent FOR accompaniment in early March to visit areas whose inhabitants have recently joined the Peace Community of San José.

One of the most dynamic and intriguing elements of the current Peace Community process is its expansion into new areas outside the district of San José de Apartadó and department of Antioquia. Specifically, families from four adjacent veredas in the neighboring department of Córdoba, including Naín (to the east of La Resbaloza), Alto Joaquín, Las Claras and Puerto Nuevo, have joined the Peace Community over the past two years.

A member from Alto Joaquín described the process: “We knew about the work of the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó, and the farmers in this region organized meetings to discuss the possibilities of joining. Then, Community members came to meet with us, to fully explain its principals. We feel much stronger and safer now that we are part of the Peace Community.”

During its first eleven years of existence, the members of the Peace Community shared a common history: displacement in 1996 from their farms and settlements in the district of San José de Apartadó, and then the subsequent struggle to return to their homes, be it to La Unión, La Esperanza or Mulatos. However, these new members from Córdoba are neither victims of that particular displacement nor relatives of the families that founded the Peace Community.

That is not to say they do not share a similarly tragic story. To the contrary, they do, albeit under different circumstances.


In the mid 1990s, the Colombian government authorized a massive hydroelectric project known as Urrá (after the name of the company, Urrá S.A.). Construction began in 1998, and this dam of the Sinú River flooded 7,400 hectares and displaced almost six thousand people. According to a Peace Community member from Las Claras: “This lot here where we are standing has been my family’s since I was a child. Then came Urrá and massive displacement. People were offered a very small amount of money for their homes; those that wouldn’t sell were threatened by paramilitaries. They killed lots of people. We displaced from here in 1995 to a town nearby. It was also dangerous there, and there was no work, so we returned here in 2003.” This plot of land is located on ground still above the reservoir, and is planted with various crops, such as rice, sugarcane and cacao. A wide variety of crops are planted in this region due to its incredibly rich soil.

However, since 2007, Urrá S.A. and the Colombian Ministry of Mines and Energy have urged the construction of another dam, known as the “Sinú River Project,” or Urrá II, which would inundate over 50,000 hectares, seven times as much as Urrá I. Last June, the Ministry of Environment denied the hydroelectric proposal, on grounds that the new reservoir would encroach into part of the protected Paramillo Natural Park. Other concerns include the adverse social consequences for the inhabitants of the area, which include not only Peace Community families, but also other farmers and indigenous Embera Katío communities. Nevertheless, the project’s proponents remain undeterred. Despite the Environmental Ministry’s ruling, the President of Urrá S.A. revealed this March that in order to begin construction as planned in 2011, he will appeal to the State Council for approval.


A resident of Puerto Nuevo told us that the farmers in the region fear being forcibly removed from their homes next year, and that “if they go ahead with Urrá II, about 100,000 families will be displaced.” This would significantly increase the number of the already almost 5 million internally displaced Colombians. It was the struggle to defend itself from displacement and violence that the Peace Community was founded thirteen years ago in San José. Now, the Peace Community extends its resistance against the encroachment of the armed groups and mega-projects across even more territory to encompass these areas in Córdoba.

Yet, many have already been threatened for deciding to organize themselves with the Peace Community. A youth from Las Claras told us, “I recently had to stand up to the Army and guerrillas and tell them that I am a Peace Community member and do not collaborate with nor share information with the armed groups.” In fact, Peace Community communiqués dated January 18th and February 21st record instances of Army soldiers in Naín and paramilitaries in Las Claras threatening civilians, respectively.

Still, throughout the four settlements we visited, common sentiments among the new community members were excitement and hope.

Members in Alto Joaquin said, “We are farmers, and want to work. This rich land gives life and food. We are happy to be part of this community because the Peace Community defends the rights of the peasant population. Before, when there were threats, we had to leave, and that was that.” According a man from Las Claras, however, “there is more security now due to the international support and accompaniment. When there are threats, internationals will bear witness and respond.” A man from Alto Joaquin added, “We hope that as the other farmers see how we work as a community, they will join as well.”

With the expansion into Córdoba, a new and exciting chapter of the Peace Community has begun! Stay tuned for more news about Urrá II and the courageous farmers of Naín, Alto Joaquín, Las Claras and Puerto Nuevo at www.forcolombia.org and www.cdpsanjose.org

Returning to Mulatos and La Resbaloza in 2010

Two years ago, the first major event I accompanied as an FOR volunteer in Colombia was the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó’s “return” to the veredas of Mulatos and La Resbaloza. (A vereda is a small rural district of dispersed rural settlements.) The farmers living there had originally been displaced in 1996, along with thousands of others throughout the country’s northwestern Urabá region, when paramilitaries swept the area in an attempted takeover of territory. The Peace Community began to return to these veredas in 2004, only to suffer the horrendous massacre, attributed to an army and paramilitary operation, of eight of its members on February 21, 2005. Three years later, the Peace Community attempted to return once again.

I remember vividly my first trip to Mulatos, on February 19, 2008. I had only a week earlier arrived in the Peace Community for the first time. The five-hour walk through hills and riverbeds to Mulatos from the settlement of La Unión where FOR’s team lives was brutal on my body, exhausting my legs and knees. Arriving at the site of the 2005 massacre, there was nothing more than a small chapel in what seemed the middle of the bush. In fact, this space to where community members had returned in 2004 was now totally overgrown with tall grasses. The area was subsequently cleared and prepared for the events that would take place two days later: a mass at the massacre site in Mulatos, and a commemoration event honoring those killed in La Resbaloza.

I made this first trip with my teammate at the time, Daniel Malakoff. He had been a FOR accompanier previously in 2005, and in the aftermath of the massacre remembered Mulatos as a desolate place. He commented how much had changed in the previous three years, in seeing various farmers along the trails, houses under construction, and the newly planted crops, such as corn. He told me that he perceived that the Peace Community had responded to the tragedy of 2005 with intense resilience and had become even stronger. (Read his Letter from the Field: http://forcolombia.org/monthlyupdate/feb2008/#letter)

Fast forward to 2010. The area that only two years ago was overgrown with weeds is now a settlement of its own: the Peace Village of Mulatos. In the proceeding weeks, Peace Community members from other veredas such as La Unión, La Cristalina, Alto Joaquín and Las Claras, had come to build the village. The new constructions were numerous: kiosks and homes, a kitchen and a dining hall, toilet and shower stalls.

Hundreds of people participated in the week-long commemoration of the 2005 massacre. Peace Community members were joined by representatives from other communities, such as indigenous Colombians from Cauca and Chocó, as well as internationals from Italy, Austria, France, Brazil, and the United States.

Community families have now returned to over ten veredas since its founding in 1997. Mulatos is emblematic of the community’s process, illustrating the constant obstacles it faces, where attempts to return are stalled through massacres and threats. Today, guerrillas, paramilitaries and army soldiers continue to pressure these farmers to submit to their command or to flee, yet the community remains vigilant and vows to return to and work their lands no matter how long it takes.

Community principles have evolved over time, as well. As explained by a member: “In the founding of the community, our priority was to return to and remain on our lands through nonviolent resistance. However, over the past two years, our principles have grown from simply not collaborating with any armed group to a focus on not replicating in any way the logic of the armed groups. In other words, to not simply reject violence in order to survive in the midst of war, but to work together even harder to develop a true social and economic alternative of peace. This has meant more harmony with the environment, such as cultivating our crops organically and building agricultural centers where we can harvest medicinal plants available in the region. We are continuing to evolve more and more into a true ‘community’ with the environment and with each other. This Peace Village in Mulatos is a focal point for this alternative vision.”

Many community members and non-members alike expressed similar feelings about the meaning of the gathering. In the words of an indigenous community leader, “learning about the history and resistance here makes me realize that peasants throughout Colombia face similar problems. The dynamic of the armed groups and multinational companies threatening to displace us from our lands is not unique to one place. This gathering shows us we are not alone; internationals are in solidarity with our resistance and your accompaniment increases our security.”

People expressed these feelings of togetherness and hope two years ago. Even more powerful is the extent to which the Peace Community has built upon this solidarity since then. A place where five years ago lay blood and dismembered bodies is now a peace village of remembrance and resistance.

My year in Colombia comes to a close...

What a year it has been since I arrived in Colombia on February 1st, 2008. I have made so many memories during my time accompanying the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó: trenching through mud with Peace Community members in the beautiful Urabá countryside; last year's commemoration of the horrendous 2005 Mulatos massacre of eight people, including Peace Community leader Luís Eduardo Guerra and his wife and children; wonderful moments of playing and joking with the cute kids; hours with my teammates in our office analyzing threats against the community; and long nights of dancing Colombian-style to vallenato, merengue and salsa. As my departure date nears, while I am looking forward to returning to the US, I cannot help but reflect upon all the things I will miss in Colombia…

What I look forward to back in the USA

First of all, I'd like to point out a few things I have missed this past year.
Obviously, most of all: Family and friends…
Additionally, I cannot wait to once again taste Indian and Thai food, almond milk, sweet potatoes, and grapefruit mmm. It goes without mention that I have so missed gourmet beer: Anderson Valley, Chimey, Guinness… Also, although I have learned to enjoy washing clothes by hand, it will be nice to have a washing machine again! I am also looking forward to sitting on and rolling around on carpet, which I love (the floors here are either wood or concrete…). And I can't wait for the next NFL season, and to be able to listen to whatever music I wish, when I want… Additionally, I am excited to see what sort of positive change we as citizens of the US can make during the Obama administration.

What I'll miss of La Unión

The fresh air and water of the Colombian countryside located in one of the greenest areas in the country
The warm climate: even on a 'chilly' night we walk around in sandalsThe delicious organic food people share with us: beans, eggs, yucca (cassava), corn on the cob, avocados, plantains, and meat: locally-raised chicken, duck and beef, as well as my favorite, tatabra (wild boar hunted in the mountains)
The fresh fruit: papaya, bananas, mangos, passion fruit, oranges, guava, and fruits unknown elsewhere such as guanábana and borojó
How incredible my body feels. In addition to the fresh air and rich food, due to the extensive exercise, I have almost never felt better.
On top of the treks to other Community villages, having to walk and hour and a half through the mountains from town to the house gets one into good shape…
Community dances: I don't think I'll find many people in California who can dance the crazy vallenato…!
As far as the work goes, it is going to be difficult to leave behind the intense lifestyle of accompaniment. I have loved how life and work are completely intertwined, with no set schedule. One minute, I might find myself playing with the children; the next moment, I am making phone calls to various entities to assess the security in the area following a combat. Another day I would find myself in Apartadó discussing conditions for displaced people in Urabá with representatives of the UN, Organization of American States and the International Red Cross. The next day, I might be climbing through the mud of the rain forest with Peace Community leaders on their way to the Community settlement in La Esperanza, to evaluate the state of the farmers there following paramilitary threats.
And of course, what I will miss the most: the people of the Peace Community. I'm not sure how I will cope with not being able to go play with the cute kids: throwing them in the air, kissing their foreheads, playing tag, tickling them and hearing them laugh…
Here in La Unión, I can walk into any home, chat for a while with folks, share some rice and beans, have an intense conversation about the conflict or relationships, and then share laughs and jokes about whatever… As accompaniers we are not part of the Peace Community, but simply living here, one truly feels community… This has been my home, one I know I cannot replicate elsewhere.

It has been an honor to accompany this community and witness its determination to construct a future of dignity, justice and peace in Colombia.

Despite being so excited to return to the United States for numerous reasons, what hits me the most is knowing that I will long for many more things about the Peace Community than I have missed since being here. Before having even left, I am already longing to return…

The US-Colombia Free Trade Agreement (FTA)

Although the media coverage related to the FTA has died down, some of you had asked me to give my thoughts on the issue, so here goes, albeit a bit late!
The debate regarding the FTA was big news, both here in Colombia and in the United States. Colombian media reports showed Colombian President Álvaro Uribe and President Bush urging its approval, while Democracts such as Pelosi, Obama and Clinton came out strongly against it. So, why are Bush and Uribe pushing so hard to get it signed, and why are the Democrats putting up such resistance?
Since the debate regarding consequences for US workers and consumers is discussed in the US media (ie, "we want our goods at the lowest possible price" vs. "we lose our jobs because they go overseas"), I will focus on how the FTA impacts Colombia. Before getting into detail, in a nutshell:
The major concerns regarding the FTA:
• Signing an economic agreement with the Colombian government in the first place, members of which are implicated in human rights violations and drug trafficking
• The FTA requires Colombia to lift its subsides, but not the USA
• Lack of legislation to protect the environment
• Lack of legal protections of human and labor rights of Colombian workers, especially union members, as well as Indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities
(Note: the Democrats opened the debate regarding the lack of human rights protection for union leaders and focused their opposition on this point. Unfortunately, they have limited their position to this factor without opening the discussion to wider issues)
Subsidies
First, to even call it a "Free" Trade Agreement is deceiving. The idea of free trade is that all tariffs and obstacles to foreign investment between two countries or regions are lifted. In theory, with import taxes eliminated, whoever produces such and such good most cheaply can export it at low cost, and thus consumers can purchase a product at the lowest possible price.
However, like NAFTA before it, this FTA neglects to eliminate the subsidies given by the US government to US farmers, particularly to corn, sugar and cotton producers. Therefore, whereas Colombia is obliged to get rid of its taxes for imported goods, the US is not. It is not a truly free agreement if one nation requires the other to eliminate all its import taxes, while the former refuses to do so. For this exact reason, countries like Brazil, Argentina and Venezuela rejected a previously proposed Free Trade Agreement of the Americas (FTAA), that would have essentially expanded NAFTA to the entire hemisphere. Consequently, the US is seeking trade agreements one country at a time.
Environmental and human rights protections
Tariffs aside, one must also consider how the FTA would impact not only the Colombian and US economies at the macro level, but also the workers and communities on the micro level. For a trade agreement to be truly 'free', the rights of all must be protected, respected, and guaranteed. Therefore, one must guarantee not simply the interests of international companies but also the economic, environmental and human rights of the local inhabitants.
First, the FTA grossly lacks environmental protections. The goal of the trade agreement is explicit: to privatize and exploit Colombia's natural resources. Among them are oil, minerals, as well as abundant water, forests and plant biodiversity. One step in the right direction was a chapter added by US Democrats, which requires that the price paid for harvested wood would reflect the cost not only of the wood itself but also reforestation. Still, there is no means of implementing this condition, added to the fact that the FTA enables transnational corporations to operate above Colombian environmental law (which already lacks sufficient environmental regulations). Neither does the FTA account for the inevitable destruction due to petroleum, mining or hydroelectric projects.
Now, it is the choice of such and such country to extract or not its own resources. However, the majority of the precious natural resources at stake with the FTA are located on Indigenous and Afro-Colombian community lands. The FTA would enable the privatization of these resources, which threatens these people's right to their intellectually property rights, as well as to even stay on their land. This could increase the already dire situation seen in Colombia with close to 4 million internally displaced people. The FTA does not address the concerns of these already historically exploited populations with environmental and human rights protections. This essentially gives free reign to multinational businesses to legally purchase these resources and keep the profits for themselves. Yes, the national GDP would go up, but it is doubtful that these endeavors would substantially benefit the people of Colombia.
Labor and the Colombian government
Apart from extracting natural resources, corporations are also interested in benefiting from low labor costs in Colombia, relative to the USA or other nations. At issue here are laborers in the oil industry, the textile industry, or those that work on banana or African palm plantations, for example. Colombia is already renowned as one of the most dangerous countries in which to organize labor unions: since 1991, over 2,500 labor leaders have been assassinated. This year alone at least 17 more have been killed. These deaths are often at the hands of paramilitaries working for multinational corporations, such as Chiquita Banana, Coca Cola, and oil companies like British Petroleum and Occidental.
As for the FTA, rather than attempt to strengthen labor rights, it actually omits a worker's right to strike. This glaring omission is on top of the already general lack of labor protections. Even prior to the drafting of the FTA, Uribe showed himself to be anti-labor, by reversing previous labor legislation protection measures (lengthening the work day to 10 hours, reducing compensation for work done on national holidays and for those fired unjustly).
In any case, not only has the Colombian government failed to adequately protect the rights of its own union leaders, indigenous populations, etc., but many of its politicians are themselves involved in criminal activity and human rights violations. At the moment, many members of Congress and the military are under investigation or incarcerated for working alongside paramilitary groups involved in drug trafficking and human rights violations. Furthermore, the atrocities committed by the state are drastically illustrated in the history of the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó. According to the PC, since its founding as a neutral nonviolent community in 1997, approximately 160 of the 180 assassinations of PC members have been at the hands of the state and their paramilitary allies. Currently, however, impunity reigns for the authors of these crimes. Additionally, there is a Captain from the Colombian Army currently in prison for his ties with the massacre that took place in the community in 2005.
Is this the kind of government that prioritizes the rights of its workers, peasants and indigenous populations under a free trade agreement? If the FTA was truly about improving the lives of the Colombian people, their rights and benefits of this 'development' would be at the forefront of the agreement. After analyzing the FTA, however, one realizes that its aim is to enhance the wealth of multinational companies and their elite Colombian counterparts.
US presidential politics
As for the debate within the United States, it is obvious why Bush, backed by multinational businesses, has argued so fiercely for the FTA. As for Obama and Clinton, the theme only emerged while campaigning in Pennsylvania. Therefore, in order to win over the large contingent of labor interests in that state opposed to free trade agreements, they both came out against the FTA with Colombia. I'd argue that while Obama's opposition appears to be authentic, Clinton's stance is contradictory. The Bill Clinton administration she praises so much, and on which she bases her campaign argument of 'experience,' itself pushed through NAFTA. Further, one of Hillary's top campaign aids was also part of a group in charge of getting the FTA passed in the US…
In any case, since PA, the debate has been at a standstill. Hopefully, it will remain stalled until the issues raised above are addressed!

Extradition to the US!!! a quick note...

A recent big news story regarding Colombia and the United States is the extradition of 14 paramilitaries to the US, where they will be tried for drug trafficking. One of Uribe's main premises in favor of extraditing these individuals was due to the fact that they were still running their drug trade businesses from their jail cells. Due to continued concerns of violence and destabilization caused by illegal activity, the only remaining solution was to get them out of the country altogether. US authorities were happy to receive them, as part of the United States' War on Drugs (a complete failure, by the way), that requests the extradition of drug traffickers to stand trial in US courts.
However, those extradited were not only involved in drug trafficking, but also countless assassinations and human rights abuses.
By extraditing them, the Colombian government avoids hearing their testimonies regarding these crimes, many committed in conjunction with Colombian politicians and members of the armed services.
A little context: In 2005, paramilitaries and the Colombian government began a process of demobilization. As part of the subsequent law of Justicia y Paz, ex-paras would receive financial support for their reinsertion into civilian life in exchange for laying down their arms and confessing past crimes. Questions regarding the efficacy of the Justicia y Paz law aside, some had in fact confessed a portion of their past crimes. In fact, as part of these confessions, it officially surfaced that many of these crimes were carried out in complicity with or even at the order of the Colombian military. For example, as recently as May 7th and 8th, the infamous paramilitary "Don Berna" (who became a new Pablo Escobar), confessed from jail that his men, in conjunction with the military, carried out the 2005 Massacre in San José de Apartadó. However, five days later, he was among the 14 extradited to the US, where he will stand charges for drug trafficking, but will only be tried for crimes against humanity in the unlikely case that either Colombian prosecutors get access to him or UC Courts themselves address these issues.
It should be noted that Uribe argued that they should be extradited because the confessions in Colombia were moving at too slow a pace. While this is true, there is another perspective to consider: while continuing to reveal merely 10% of their crimes, the recently extradited paras in fact still represented almost half of the confessions made up to this point. These paras include the 14 plus the infamous "Macaco," who was extradited a week earlier. In other words, Uribe extradited many of the 'ex'-paramilitaries most likely to give testimony.
This is a travesty to the victims of paramilitary violence in Colombia. The testimony of these paramilitaries was crucial to the acknowledgement of the involvement of the state in these crimes, not to mention for the reparation of land and goods lost by these victims.
While one might argue that the extradition was an act of security and the Drug War, it appears more likely a strategy to silence those revealing human rights violations committed by paramilitaries in conjunction with the Colombian military. One can only hope that these crimes will in fact be addressed by US Courts.

YouTube Video FOR-RED

Hey all, check out this video on You Tube about the Red Juvenil de Medellín (the youth network of consciencious objectors in Medellín, Colombia).
The RED is one of our partner organizations here in Colombia and I helped with the editing/translating for the video.
It's titled:
FOR-RedJuvenildeMedellin
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bq28YC8c1J8

Am I really a Grey Leech?

For some reason, the people here have a really hard time with my name…
So Chris becomes Cris (which in español sounds like ‘crease’), and that’s how I’ve been called in Chile, Brazil, Mexico, etc. (even in Africa, where Cris became Driss… easy enough).
Now, Christopher translates to Cristóbal (ie, Cristóbal Colón = Christopher Columbus). However, a past FOR volunteer took on Cristóbal, so in order to avoid confusion, the team thought it best to not go that route, and that I should stick with Cris.
But for the people here in the PC, they just couldn’t grab hold of this name, even though it is the first syllable of Cristóbal or Cristian, both common names. Maybe it’s because one-syllable names are very rare here, I don’t know.
In any case, one of the young boys in La Unión was over at our house, and my teammate Sofía asked him if he knew my name. He responded proudly “Leech!” We couldn’t help but laugh… Okay, he’s still learning how to speak well and leech does kind of rhyme with Cris…
So then we were at the burial of a man who recently died in La Unión. (His name was Escobar and he was one of the PC’s musicians. In fact, just a few days before he passed away, he was showing me how to play guitar ‘a la colombiana’… I was sorry to see him go and am really bummed I didn’t get to learn more from him…) Anyway, they were burying him in the Cemetery and that same child saw me across the way and yelled out “Leech!” So rad. Leech has no meaning in español (leech is sanguijuela), so no one here bats an eye, but for someone with a huge smile on their face to call you a blood sucking creature, is pretty funny…
In the meantime, a bunch of relatives of residents of the PC began arriving to La Unión in order to spend the Semana Santa (Holy Week). Sofía started introducing me as ‘Gris,’ which is the color grey in Spanish, and people picked it up right away. She said, “See? People remember it easily. You might just have to live with Gris.” I thought, yeah, it’s my nickname (which almost everyone in the PC has; very few are called by their real name). But, why does Cris have to rhyme with an ugly color? Well, I guess, that’s what I’ve come to be here in the tropical Colombian countryside… nothing more than a Leech Gris!!!