Community Action for
Justice in the Americas

CAJA Abroad

CAJA is unique because of the direct personal relationships we have with people on the ground in the countries we work in. We have solid sister relationships to organizations in Colombia and are currenlty building contacts in Venezuela. CAJA members travel the world building solidarity and momentum for a movement of social change. Here you can read about the experiences first-hand as reported by CAJA members.

Updates from Colombia

Updates from Venezuela

Updates from Colombia

June 9, 2007--Putting the Spin on Repression

Dear friends,

Luis Albeiro Duran was last seen alive by his family on May 29 went he left for work. I accompanied the family and members of the Low-Income Women's Organization (OFP) to search for him in the Arenal neighborhood of Barrancabermeja on June 4.
His spouse Nely, mother Elisabeth, father Luis, and the women of the OFP went house-to-house in Arenal - showing his photo and asking for help in finding him. The neighborhood is controlled by the right-wing paramilitaries and most of the people were afraid to provide any information.
Finally, one young man said that Luis Albeiro had been grabbed by a group of men in Arenal the evening of May 29. Later on, six shots were fired. People ran to see what had happened but armed men kept them away from the site where the shots had been fired. The body was then dumped into a branch of the Magdalena River that runs alongside the neighborhood.
Wilson, a reporter with Caracol television, took out his radio and called Civil Defense (search and rescue). He held out the radio so that Luis could hear the conversation. Members of the Civil Defense had found two bodies that day alongside the Magdalena River. Luis described what his son was wearing when he left the house and that he had a heart tattoo on his right shoulder. The Civil Defense responded that one of the bodies had a similar tattoo.
"It's him! It's him!" cried out Luis. Gloria (a leader of the OFP) held Elizabeth as sobbing wracked her body. Nely ran a few steps and another member of the OFP put an arm around her. "The children will never see him again!" she cried for Sharia (their six-year-old daughter) and Jordan (eight-year-old son).
Although the Civil Defense members had found Luis Albeiro's body, they hadn't bothered to retrieve it. We traveled with his family down the Magdalena River to Boca de Sogamoso - the area where Civil Defense reported finding the body. The boat wasn't able to enter the shallow channel there and we turned back as it started to get dark.
Gloria returned to that area with three Civil Defense members the following morning and they brought the body back for burial in Barrancabermeja. She said it appeared that Luis Albeiro had been tortured.
Gloria also said that alias "Cenizo" was implicated in the killing. He's the hired killer that works with the paramilitaries in Arenal. "Everyone knows about Cenizo except, apparently, the police" she said.
The Colombian government recently hired the public relations firm of Burson-Marsteller to lobby congress for continued military aid and to approve the "free trade" agreement between Colombia and the U.S. The firm is headed by Mark Penn - a former Bill Clinton pollster who is a top advisor to Hillary Clinton. The government also hired the Glover Park Group which includes Joe Lockhart - a former Clinton White House spokesman. Wal-Mart, Citigroup, and Caterpillar have joined this effort in their role as co-chairs of the Latin American Trade Coalition.
Bill Clinton pushed through congress a massive increase in U.S.
military aid for Colombia in 2000. The paramilitaries, with support from the police and military, took over Barrancabermeja just a few months later.
Last night (June 8) in New York City, Clinton was presented with the "Colombia is Passion" award by Colombian president Alvaro Uribe. Clinton described Colombia as "the oldest democracy in Latin America." The people here in Barrancabermeja that are suffering from paramilitary violence have yet to enjoy that "democracy."
In love and solidarity,
Scott
Community Action for Justice in the Americas




May 16, 2007--Anniversary of the Barrancabermeja Massacre

Dear friends,

I returned to Colombia on May 16 - the anniversary of the Barrancabermeja massacre. On May 16, 1998, a paramilitary death squad entered the southeast part of this city. They killed seven people and took away 25 others - who were never seen again. The paramilitaries had the cooperation of the military and police which enabled them to carry out the massacre without encountering any problems.

Two years later, Bill Clinton pushed through Congress a massive increase in U.S. military aid to Colombia. He then waived the majority of human rights conditions that Congress had attached to the aid, citing reasons of "national security," in order to disburse those funds in August 2000. Four months later, the paramilitaries took over Barrancabermeja.

On June 8, Colombian president Alvaro Uribe will honor Clinton with the "Colombia is Passion" award in New York City. Uribe is traveling to the U.S. to lobby for continued military aid and for the passage of a "free trade" agreement with the U.S.

I arrived here in Barrancabermeja on May 24 and attended the weekly meeting of the Barrancabermeja Association of Human Rights Activists that afternoon. Hours earlier, the police used percussion grenades and teargas to violently breakup a land recovery organized by the Barrancabermeja Association of Displaced Persons (Asodesamuba). The Association represents families that have been forced to flee from their homes in the countryside and have sought refuge in the city.

On May 23, more than 100 of those families peacefully occupied a vacant city lot in order to pressure the mayor, Edgard Cote, to take action to resolve the desperate situation of the displaced in Barrancabermeja. Riot police arrived there at 4 A.M. on May 24. The people responded by sitting down and singing the national anthem. Police fired percussion grenades and teargas, and began beating people. Three people were hospitalized, including a three-month-old girl, and the families were forced to abandon the lot.

I met with Socorro, the president of Asodesamuba, the following day. Two men on a motorcycle had been repeatedly driving past the office and she was concerned for her safety. The mayor had also filed a criminal complaint against Socorro and the entire board of the Association for "land invasion."

She said this was in retaliation for the complaint Asodesamuba had filed against the mayor for corruption in the use of municipal funds for the displaced and for his ties with the paramilitaries.
Lilia is the president of the Middle Magdalena Association of Victims of Government Violence (Asorvim). The Association organized a series of events to commemorate the anniversary of the Barrancabermeja massacre.

Lilia told me how her husband was killed by the paramilitaries in front of their four children. "He took 12 shots standing up and they shot him seven more times after he hit the ground." She also described how her brother was detained and disappeared by the army - she found his body 16 months later. "I do this work so that they're not forgotten and so that other families won't suffer this same violence. I've learned how to take life's hard blows and still be able to laugh."

Yaneth Perez, president of the Dawn of Women for Arauca Association, did an amazing job during her Montana and Northwest speaking tour in April. She gave 35 presentations in 17 communities to 1,300 people! She got extensive media coverage and we raised more than $2,500 for the Association!

Thanks to everyone who made the tour such a success.
In love and solidarity,
Scott
Community Action for Justice in the Americas

 

March 12, 2007--Inspiration of Women's Day

Dear friends,

While the men with guns are continuing to kill people, more than 200 women gathered together here in Saravena on March 8 to commemorate International Women’s Day and to call for peace with justice. It was a very beautiful and inspiring event!

The Dawn of Women for Arauca Association organized the commemoration and issued an excellent declaration. The women denounced the atrocities being committed by the U.S.-sponsored military and by the guerrillas. They also expressed their deep commitment to continue working non-violently to achieve peace with social justice.

U.S. military aid has caused “the poisoning of the land, murder, massacres, threats, and the forced displacement and mass imprisonment of community leaders and people in general” declared the women. “Tactics of war that are intended to destroy the social networks that have been created by the communities and open the way for the corporations to implement large-scale infrastructure projects, plunder our resources, and violate the most basic rights of the civilian population. The result is hunger, despair, and desolation in our countryside.”

The women also had the courage and integrity to denounce the atrocities being committed in the war between the two guerrilla groups here in the state of Arauca. The FARC and ELN have “destroyed community-organized economic projects, caused thousands of peasants to flee from their homes, killed hundreds of people, raped women, and sown terror in the Araucan countryside. The two organizations that said they took up arms to defend the people are now killing those people.”

The women commemorated Morelly Guillin, nurse; Luz Miryam Farias, indigenous teacher; and Maritza Linares—who have been killed in Arauca. They also remembered Gloria Medina, Raquel Castro, Elida Parra, Dora Lizcano, Fidelia Villamizar, Miriam Carrillo, Doris Garcia, Luz Perly Csrdoba, Flor Naranjo, and Martha Osorio—Arauca community activists who have been imprisoned.

“Mothers, daughters, sisters, aunts, friends, indigenous and black women: Today we want to give you the recognition you deserve. You have cultivated this ground with your blood and sacrifice. We will continue to sow this land so that one day in the not-too-distant future the fruit of our dreams will rise up from this ground.”

The women continued: “The Dawn of Women for Arauca Association works to build the just world that we long for so deeply. A world in which all of us will have a dignified life. A world in which we can dream. A world in which we can live.”

While the women were making the final revisions to their declaration, the army was torturing and killing Javier Zuqiga a few miles outside of Saravena on the evening of March 7. He was a 29-year-old taxi driver who left behind a 22-year-old wife and a 14-month-old daughter. The army reported on March 9 that he was a guerrilla who had been killed in combat.

Three days after International Women’s Day, George W. Bush stopped in Bogotá for a seven-hour visit. Bush said to Colombian president Uribe during the toast at lunch, _We value your democracy, and I thank you for your firm leadership._

In love and solidarity,

Scott
Community Action for Justice in the Americas

 

February 25, 2007--This Insane War

Dear friends,

“I’d like information about the killings that occurred in Tame County from Thursday through Monday” said Yilson, a leader of the Joel Sierra Human Rights Foundation, as he called the Tame police station. He noted the name, location, and date of each of the killings. “Just those four?” he confirmed after receiving the information.

Yilson and Sonia also called the police stations in Saravena, Fortzl, and Arauquita. Seven people had been killed in those counties from Thursday February 15 to Monday February 19. There are only 175,000 people in the four counties that comprise the western half of the state of Arauca.

The situation had been “relatively calm” since I returned here to Arauca on January 26—that calm has now ended. The leaders of the Foundation believe that the majority of the recent killings were caused by the insane war being waged between the two guerrilla groups (FARC and ELN) in Arauca. Both groups have been threatening and killing civilians that they view as supporting the other side.

We drove through the epicenter of this war (Botalsn, La Horqueta, Alto Cauca, and Pueblo Seco) on our way to Pueblo Nuevo on February 17. That was the shortest route and the report was that the situation was still calm. Four hours after we passed through Botalsn, fighting erupted between the guerrilla groups. Two men on a motorcycle didn’t hear the gunfire because of their helmets and the sound of the exhaust. They rode into the crossfire and the man on back was killed. Another man was killed in La Horqueta the following day.

“Alto Cauca and Pueblo Seco used to be full of people on Saturday and Sunday,” said Ismael as we stopped for a soda in Pueblo Seco at noon that Saturday. We were the only customers in the open-air bar and there were very few people on the main street. Many people have abandoned their homes and farms because they fear being killed in the war between the guerrilla groups _ both of which profess to be fighting for social justice.

This battle in Arauca was the cover story of the weekly magazine Cambio on February 5 (see attached photo). The fight between the two groups has now spread to other parts of the country and that was the cover story of Semana magazine that same week.

Both guerrilla groups have stated that they oppose foreign corporations exploiting Colombia’s natural resources. The war between those groups here in Arauca has been going on for almost a year. During that time, Occidental Petroleum (a U.S. corporation) and Repsol (a Spanish corporation) have been jointly drilling for oil in the Cosecha field; and Repsol has been drilling for oil in the Capachos and San Miguel fields, and the Catleya field (in the territory of the U’Wa indigenous people just west of Arauca). The fighting has temporarily shut down the Arauca social movement and prevented any protest against the environmental, cultural, and social destruction being caused by this drilling.

All of the social organizations here in Arauca have repeatedly called on the guerrilla groups to stop targeting civilians in their insane war against each other. “¡Ya basta! ¡Dejen a la población civil fuera del conflicto!” (“That’s enough! Leave the civilian population out of the
fight!”)

In love and solidarity,

Scott
Community Action for Justice in the Americas

 

January 29, 2007 – Cover-up of a Killing

Dear friends,

I returned to Saravena (in the northeastern state of Arauca) with a national and international commission on January 26. We went to the community of La Chucua the following day to investigate the killing of Juan Pablo Verdugo and Santiago Hernandez by the Colombian military on January 6.

We met with the families of Juan Pablo and Santiago in the open-air restaurant and bar where they had gathered together to celebrate Los Reyes (when the wise men visited the infant Jesus). We’ve decided not to mention their names in this report because of the risks they face for denouncing the killing.

The families told us that three men entered the restaurant around 11:30 P.M. The men had been identifying themselves as members of the Black Eagles paramilitary group and were threatening and extorting the peasants in the area. When the men left, Juan Pablo and Santiago followed them out to the road to see where they were going. Soldiers were entrenched on the opposite side of the road and there was a burst of gunfire.

Soldiers then ran into the restaurant accompanied by the three men – who now had automatic weapons. The soldiers ordered the families to lie down on the floor. One of Juan Pablo’s brothers is blind and he didn’t get down on the floor. A soldier began to severely beat him. Another of Juan Pablo’s brothers grabbed the soldier from behind to try to halt the beating. A soldier hit him with a rifle butt and threatened to kill him – pointing the rifle at his head. “After what you’ve done to my brother and cousin go ahead and kill me!” he responded.

Juan Pablo’s sister-in-law heard a corporal tell one of the soldiers, “We have to get the people inside because we have to do this thing.” The soldiers then ordered the families to go inside the kitchen. She and her husband initially refused to do so because they were concerned that the soldiers would plant something on the bodies of Juan Pablo and Santiago in order to justify the killing. The sister-in-law saw one of the soldiers suddenly approach Juan Pablo’s body. She yelled, “Don’t put that thing on him!”

There was another burst of gunfire – apparently an attempt to make it appear as though there had been fighting between the soldiers and guerrillas. The soldiers ordered the families to stay inside and they weren’t able to see the bodies of Juan Pablo and Santiago until the morning. There was a revolver alongside each of the bodies. A military spokesman said over the news radio that two guerrillas had been killed in combat.

Juan Pablo was 28 years old and had two sons – eight and twelve years old. Santiago was 31 years old. His brother introduced me to Santiago’s five children. Yulitza is two years old, Joheny is four, Anderson turned eight three weeks after his father’s death, Heily is eleven, and Yeimer had her thirteenth birthday two days before her father was killed. “It nearly broke my soul” (“Casi me partió el alma.”) is the phrase that again describes how I felt.

The military had captured the three men that entered the restaurant just one week before the killings. The families would like to know why the three men were with the military that night. The families also want the truth to be known – Juan Pablo and Santiago were not guerrillas and they were not killed in combat.

In love and solidarity,
Scott

November 1, 2006—Repression in Saravena

Dear friends,

The military and police rounded up more than 120 people here in Saravena, Arauca on October 27 and 28. Twenty of those people were taken to Arauca City and charged with “rebellion.” My friend, Eduardo Sogamoso, was detained by the police on October 27 and released later that night on the outskirts of Saravena. The police and army searched the house of my friend, Victor Laguado, on October 28 and sought to arrest him. I learned about the detentions and arrests that evening and flew back here from Bogotá the next day. The prosecutor’s office then searched the offices of the Saravena Community Water Company and the Sarare Cooperative on October 31.

Eduardo is the president of the Regional Student and Youth Organization, ASOJER. His partner, Sonia Lopez, works for the Joel Sierra Regional Human Rights Committee and we organized a Northwest speaking tour for her last year. Sonia told me that Eduardo was detained by the police at 8:30 P.M. on October 27 and brought to the police station. When she arrived at the station, she was told that he was being taken to the Saravena military base. Moments later, Eduardo called to tell her that the police had forced him out of the truck near the northwest edge of town. The military base is located in the opposite direction outside the southeast part of Saravena. Sonia told me that if she hadn’t gone to the police station to ask about Eduardo, the police probably would have taken him out of town and he could have been killed. Eduardo has fled from their home and is now in hiding.

Victor is a leader of the Sarare Cooperative (Coagrosarare) and a coordinator of the Arauca social organizations. He has also been very active in the campaign against Occidental Petroleum for the social and environmental destruction caused by the corporation in Arauca. Victor’s partner, Martha, was detained by the police in April 2005. Their house was searched that evening and Victor was struck in the face by the police. Victor wasn’t at home when the police and army searched their house again on October 28 and there is an arrest order out for him.

The police set up a checkpoint in front of the Saravena Community Water Company, ECAAS, at 8:30 A.M. on October 31. Five agents from the prosecutor’s office then arrived and demanded to speak with my friend, Ariela, who is the director. The search warrant stated that illegal activity was being carried out in the company. I heard about the search and arrived there 15 minutes later. There were four policemen inside the office – all armed with automatic rifles and two wearing bullet proof vests. The agents spent six hours searching the records of the company. ECAAS is a very inspiring water company that is owned and managed by the people of Saravena. It has suffered a lot of repression – three members of the board were killed in 2003, and 12 workers were imprisoned in 2002 and 2003.

The same agents then went to the Sarare Cooperative at 4:30 P.M. That search warrant also stated that illegal activity was being carried out in the cooperative. Sonia and I heard about the search and we arrived there 15 minutes later. I took photos of the police in front of the cooperative while one of the policemen filmed me. The agents spent two and a half hours searching the records of the cooperative. The Sarare Cooperative has 43 community stores and seeks to provide basic goods at affordable prices for the peasants of Arauca.

We’re discussing the best way for you to respond to this wave of repression in Saravena and we’ll try to send out an action alert soon.

In love and solidarity,
Scott

September 3, 2006 -- The Crime of Clean Water

Dear friends,

Leidy is a 24-year-old microbiologist who has the very subversive job of being the manager of the water treatment plant for the Saravena Community Water Company (ECAAS). I visited the plant on August 28 and Leidy and her co-workers spoke with understandable pride about this amazing community-owned-and-managed company. Unfortunately, the Colombian government and military don’t share this pride in ECAAS – they view it as a guerrilla project that needs to be handed over to a private corporation.

ECAAS was created by the people of Saravena in 1970 and it provides clean drinking water to approximately 20,000 residents of this small city. The general assembly of ECAAS is comprised of two representatives from each of the 30 neighborhood councils and one representative from each of the six main social organizations in Saravena. The assembly elects the administration and sets the policies for ECAAS.

The current water treatment plant was inaugurated in June 1997 and a plaque lists the names of the eight people that made up the ECAAS administrative board. Bernardo Arguello was the president. He was imprisoned during the first mass arrest that took place in Saravena on November 12, 2002. He has since been released. Luciano Pinto Duran was the vice president. He later became the president and was arrested in January 2004. He is still in prison. Edgar Mantilla was killed near the Saravena police station by two “sicarios” (hired killers) on August 15, 2003. Miguel Pedraza, Silvino Aceros, and Alberto Páez had to go into hiding when arrest orders were issued for them in 2003.

The sicarios also killed two other ECAAS workers in 2003. Uriel Ortiz was having a beer with three friends in the El Caney bar on July 22. Police agents entered the bar and searched Uriel and his companions. The police asked if one of them worked for ECAAS and Uriel responded that he did. Five minutes later, two sicarios entered the bar and killed Uriel and his friends.

Rito Hernandez returned home from his job at ECAAS on September 25, 2003 and went across the street to have a beer with a friend. Two of Rito’s brothers were in his home that evening and when I met them in 2004 they described what happened. Two sicarios rode up on bicycles and one of them shouted “Unionist, son-of-a-bitch!” and drew his pistol. Rito tried to defend himself with the table but it couldn’t protect him from the gun. His brothers chased after the killers and saw them pass a police checkpoint and enter the police station. I met Rito’s five children during my last day here in Saravena in 2004 - his youngest daughter was two and his oldest daughter was nine.

In addition to Bernardo Arguello and Luciano Pinto Duran, ten other ECAAS workers have been imprisoned. Four workers were imprisoned along with Bernardo on November 12, 2002. Five more workers were imprisoned during the next mass arrest in Saravena on August 21, 2003. Another worker was imprisoned on October 6, 2003.

On March 12 of this year, approximately two dozen Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrillas came onto the grounds of the water treatment plant. They ordered the employees to leave the plant and then blew up the pipeline that transports water from the plant to Saravena – leaving the community without clean water for the next four days.

In spite of all this persecution, the people of ECAAS are continuing forward with their inspiring work of providing clean and affordable water for the community. For me, they exemplify the construction of social justice which is the heart of Saravena.

In love and solidarity,
Scott

August 20, 2006 –The Mass Arrests

Dear friends,

Sixteen people were arrested by the military and police on charges of “rebellion” and “terrorism” in Fortúl (15 miles south of Saravena in the state of Arauca) on August 12. The majority of those people are community leaders and the arrests took place just days before the August 17 deadline for candidates to register for the upcoming mayoral election.

During the May 28 presidential elections, the candidate of the left-wing Alternative Democratic Pole, Carlos Gaviria, received more votes in Fortúl than did president Uribe. Many people view the arrests as another attempt by the government to disrupt elections in Arauca. On October 21, 2003, thirty one political leaders were arrested in Arauca just five days before municipal and state elections. Father Helmer Muñoz, who was leading in the polls for the governor’s race, was one of the people arrested.

I traveled to Arauca City with Juan Carlos, lawyer for the Joel Sierra Regional Human Rights Committee, on August 14. I was able to talk with ten of the prisoners from Fortúl who were being held in the Arauca City police station.

Two teachers, Abdón Goyeneche and William Saenz, were among the people arrested. Abdón has taught for 22 years and is the president of the Fortul teachers union. His brother, Leonel, was also a teacher and the treasurer of the United Workers Federation in Arauca. The Colombian military murdered Leonel and two other Arauca social leaders on August 5, 2004. Emiro, one of Abdón’s other brothers, was imprisoned during another mass arrest here in Saravena on August 21, 2003.

Even though Emiro has not been convicted of any crime, he has spent three years in prison.
“Last night we slept on the ground, chained to the bars, like dogs” said William - who has been a teacher for 18 years. “Because I help the poor, I’m considered a terrorist. My fear is that after I’m released, they’ll come to my house and kill me. That’s happened with a lot of innocent people.” William and Margarita have three children – seven, nine, and fifteen years old. William’s salary is their only income and he’s worried about how the family will survive while he’s in prison.

When we arrived at the entrance to the Arauca City police station on August 15, the prisoners from Fortúl had been handcuffed together and lined up in front of the media. A police agent turned her camera directly at us and I took out my camera to return the favor. Colonel Palacios, the police commander, shouted “You can’t take photos here, this is a military establishment!” “She was filming me!” I shouted back. I wasn’t able to get the photo but the agent did stop filming us.

I filed a complaint that afternoon with the director of the government human rights office in Arauca about being filmed by the agent and the forced participation of the prisoners in the “press conference.” That evening the prisoners were shown on the news and Colonel Palacios described the danger they posed for Arauca.

One of those dangerous individuals is Luz Marina Rodriguez – a community leader and the mother of 7-month-old Mariangel. “She’s my first child and I’m going to miss that beautiful process – her first steps and her first words.”

More than 500 people rallied together in the sports stadium in Fortúl on August 17 to call for the release of the prisoners. They then marched through the streets and past the police station where the prisoners had been held on August 12. Later that afternoon, Maria Gelvez registered as the candidate of the Alternative Democratic Pole for the September 17 mayoral elections.

In love and solidarity,
Scott

August 6, 2006 –The Massacre

Dear friends,

On the morning of August 5, Fray told me “We’ve got company.” When I stepped outside of the social organizations’ building here in Saravena, a tank and an armored personnel carrier were parked across the street. The cannon of the personnel carrier was pointed towards the building and the machine gun was pointed towards the corner of the building. It was an intimidating display of our tax dollars at work – $3.8 billion in military aid to Colombia since 2000.

August 5 was the second anniversary of the massacre by the Colombian military of three social leaders here in the state of Arauca – Alirio Martinez, Jorge Prieto, and Leonel Goyeneche. Alirio was the president of the Departmental Peasant Association, Jorge was the president of the Arauca section of the health care workers union, and Leonel was a teacher and the treasurer of the Arauca section of the United Workers Federation.

On August 4, 2004, leaders of the Arauca social movement met in the community of Caño Seco. Alirio and Leonel spent that night in Jorge’s house. The military came into the community early the following morning. A civilian informant led three soldiers to Jorge’s house. The soldiers dragged the three men out of their beds, made them kneel down, and executed them. Later that day, vice president Santos and defense minister Uribe said that the three men were guerrillas who had fired on the soldiers, and the soldiers then fired back killing them.

The soldiers were members of the Revéiz Pizarro military brigade based in Saravena. Colonel Francisco Medina was the brigade commander. I met Medina in July 2004 and he told me he had just returned from a year of training at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas.

Two other social leaders were eyewitnesses to the killings in Caño Seco. Samuel Morales is a teacher and the president of the Arauca section of the Unified Workers Federation, and Raquel Castro is a teacher and leader of the teachers union. Samuel and Raquel were detained by the military and flown to the Saravena military base. When Colonel Medina saw Samuel he said, “You’re lucky that you saved yourself because the plan was not to bring you here.” Samuel and Raquel were imprisoned in Bogotá on the charge of “rebellion.” They’ve now spent two years in prison even though they haven’t been convicted of any crime.

There was a national and international outcry in response to the killings. The three soldiers and the informant, along with the lieutenant in charge of the operation, have been charged with murder. The Procurator’s office is also investigating Col. Medina who is suspected of having ordered the massacre.

Hundreds of people traveled to Caño Seco to commemorate the second anniversary of the murder of Alirio, Jorge, and Leonel. Aide, one of Alirio’s daughters, gave the most moving remarks of the ceremony. She told us, with tears in her eyes and a tremble in her voice, “If my father was a criminal for working to benefit the community, then we’re all criminals!” The last time she saw Alirio was in March 2003 when she left for medical school in Cuba. “My father had asked me before what I wanted to do, and I had told him that I wanted to serve our community as a doctor.”

Samuel wrote a letter that was read during the commemoration. “We feel proud of your legacy. With even greater commitment, we pledge to continue implementing our alternative plan for development – created with the wisdom of the indigenous people, the experience of the peasants, the tenderness of the women, the tenacity of the workers, and the energy of the students and youth.”

“Alirio, Jorge, and Leonel - Presente! Presente! Presente!” (They’re here with us!)

In love and solidarity,
Scott

July 30, 2006 –The Displaced

Dear friends,

Luis Carlos is 11-months old and has a congenital heart problem (“soplo” or inflammation). His parents, Rosalba and Luis Alberto, are part of the three million “displaced” people here in Colombia – people who had to flee from their homes to escape the war and repression. The family is currently living in Arauca City and I met them at the Permanent Human Rights Committee office there on July 26.

Rosalba and Luis Alberto managed to work their way through the bureaucratic maze and officially register as displaced people. As such, the family is entitled to government-subsidized health care through a private company - Caprecon. The doctor says that Luis Carlos needs an electrocardiogram (EKG) but none of the public hospitals in the state of Arauca have that equipment. Caprecon made an appointment for Luis Carlos to have an EKG in the public hospital in Bucaramanga (15 hours west of Arauca City by bus) for July 28, but the company refused to cover any of the travel costs.

Pedro is a member of the Permanent Human Rights Committee and a leader of the organization of displaced people in Arauca – we met him during our delegation here last year. He and I accompanied Rosalba and Luis Carlos to the Social Action office – the Colombian government program for the displaced. We were told that Caprecon is supposed to provide “integral” health care which would include the travel costs to Bucaramanga, so Social Action wouldn’t help with those costs. They suggested that we go to the government Human Rights Defenders office. The woman there called the national Red Cross, international Red Cross, mayor’s office, and the governor’s office but no one offered to help with the travel costs. The local expression that describes my feelings is “It nearly broke my soul.” (“Casi me partió el alma.”)

On July 27, the Arauca legislature debated the budget for the “Governor’s Office and Citizen Security” – which includes support for the displaced. Nearly 100 displaced people gathered in the central plaza to march to the legislature. The police started harassing them and threatening to take away their bicycles if they didn’t leave the plaza. Pedro began dialoging with the police while I took a few photos, and things calmed down a bit. As soon as we arrived at the steps to the legislature a DAS (security and immigration police) agent demanded to see my identification papers. I showed him my passport (with volunteer visa!) and a letter of support from Senator Baucus. He reviewed my passport and made a copy of the letter, and then told me that my documents were in order and everything was fine.

The governor’s secretary reviewed the 2006 budget for the Governor’s Office and Citizen Security. The budget includes $667,000 for the government security forces and $542,000 for a military base, and just $104,000 for the displaced. Pedro told me that there are 1,600 displaced families in Arauca.

Pedro is risking his life by speaking out on behalf of the displaced in Arauca. On March 11, three armed “civilians” were watching his house. Pedro called the police and the men identified themselves as off-duty soldiers. Four days later, Pedro was followed from the central plaza to the Social Action office. Pedro couldn’t return to his house and he stayed for several days in the Permanent Human Rights Committee office. The committee sent an action alert about the situation and I contacted the commander of the 18th Military Brigade to express our concern. Pedro said, “Your response was beautiful.” The commander of the base called Pedro to a meeting and asked how people in the United States knew about his situation. Pedro responded, “We’re family.”

In love and solidarity,
Scott

July 25, 2006

Dear friends,

One of the most deadly professions in Colombia is education. I visited Arauca City (100 miles east of Saravena in the state of Arauca) from July 17 to 19, and I met with leaders of the Arauca Teachers Union. Jaime Carrillo, human rights coordinator for the union, gave me a list of the 28 teachers who have been killed in Arauca since 1980 - nineteen of those murders took place in the last five years. “I knew most of those people,” said Jaime. Another 125 teachers have been threatened with death – five percent of the 2,456 teachers employed by the state of Arauca.

Jaime has been receiving death threats from the right-wing paramilitaries (which have close relations with the Colombian military) since 1991. In January 2004, anti-union graffiti was painted on a high school and the house of the union president, flyers with death threats against the union leaders were thrown in the streets, and a letter expressing condolence for Jaime’s death was slipped under the front door of his house. Jaime fled to Bogotá for a while and then flew back to Arauca City on March 8. As soon as he arrived home from the airport, two paramilitaries came to the house asking for him. That same month, he received a message that stated, “Watch out for your children or you’ll never see them again.”

It wasn’t safe for Jaime to stay in his home, so he spent the next six months living in the union office. My first trip to Arauca was with an international delegation in June 2004. We flew from Bogotá to Arauca City and had a brief meeting that evening in the union office – where Jaime was staying. One day, some of his friends invited him to leave the office to have lunch with them. As soon as Jaime sat down at the table, his cell phone rang and the caller told him, “We’re watching you.” On May 18, June 18, and July 18 of 2005, threatening materials were slipped under the front door of his house.

Jaime told me that he is one of the five remaining members of the board of directors of the Unified Workers Federation in Arauca. Samuel Morales, a teacher and the federation president, is in prison in Bogotá on charges of “rebellion.” Alfonso Campino was released from prison last month for medical reasons – he was also held on charges of “rebellion.” The federation auditor went into hiding to avoid arrest on charges of “rebellion.” Leonel Goyeneche, a teacher and the federation treasurer, was murdered by the Colombian military on August 4, 2004.

The Arauca Teachers Union office has an armored door, bulletproof windows, and video camera surveillance; and Jaime moves around Arauca City with two armed bodyguards. He said, “I sense that I could be the victim of a bombing and I worry about my wife.” Carmen has also been mentioned in the threats against Jaime. In spite of all this, Jaime says “I’ve lived all of my life here in Arauca and I’m going to continue forward with this work.”

One of several inspiring educational projects in Arauca is the Parmenio Bonilla High School in Puerto Nidia. Parmenio was the director of the Puerto Nidia high school and he was killed on his way to the school in 1993. The high school was created by the peasant families in the region and it provides a quality education for the children that come from “satellite” elementary schools in their communities. My friend Raquel Castro, who is in prison in Bogotá on charges of “rebellion,” was the director of the school. When I visited her on July 1, she showed me an album of photos of the school and explained the improvements they had made while she was director. Eudoro, another friend, is the current director and I saw him again this afternoon – he said the school is continuing to function very well.

In love and solidarity,
Scott

July 16, 2006

Dear friends,

The people here in the state of Arauca (northeastern Colombia) are saying “the situation is very complicated.” In March, one of the local leaders of the National Army of Liberation (ELN) guerrillas killed a leader of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrillas. The two groups have been fighting in Arauca since then, and they have done a much more effective job of killing each other than the Colombian and U.S. military had been able to do in the past several years. This would appear to be an example of the inherent danger that results from mixing high levels of testosterone with large amounts of guns.

The two groups have also been threatening civilians that they perceive as being aligned with the other group. Twenty six community leaders that were threatened by the FARC have sought refuge here in the city of Saravena. Several of them are staying in the social organizations’ building – which is also where I’m staying.

International accompaniment doesn’t provide any security in this type of confrontation. I arrived here on July 10 and by the following day I was considering an early return to Bogotá – a brief display of common sense.

Since then, I’ve talked with a lot of friends from different social organizations in Arauca. They described how important international accompaniment has been in preventing abuses by the Colombian military and police, and they expressed their concern that the government could be preparing another series of mass arrests in Arauca. They also told me about their plans to continue their efforts to achieve peace with social justice, even in the midst of this “very complicated situation.” So, for now, I’m still in Saravena and I’ll probably be here for a month before returning to Bogotá to re-evaluate things from there.

On July 15, I travelled with Rigoberto (a friend from the Agrarian Union) to Puerto Lleras – a small community about 40 minutes from here alongside the Arauca River. Occidental Petroleum has a large oilfield in Caño Limón (30 miles east of Saravena) that produces 100,000 barrels a day. That wealth leaves the department via a pipeline that passes very close to where we traveled.

We left Saravena on the main “highway” in Arauca – dodging potholes on Rigoberto’s motorcycle and bouncing along sections of the road where the asphalt had washed away. We then turned on to a “secondary road” – a kidney-jarring mix of dirt and rocks. As we arrived in Puerto Lleras, we rode past the health center – staffed by a nurse, but lacking medicine and medical equipment. We met with the community in the school – where there is just one teacher for the more than 50 students in first through fifth grade.

Members of the community expressed their concerns about the abuses they’ve suffered from the military. Soldiers occupy houses which puts the people at risk of being caught in the middle of any confrontation with the guerrillas. They had to abandon Puerto Lleras for eight months because of that fighting, but most of the people have now returned. Several members of the community have been detained and imprisoned on charges of “rebellion.” Andres spent 18 months and 20 days in the Arauca City prison before he was released because there wasn’t any evidence against him. Pedro spent a year in that same prison before he was also released because of a lack of evidence.
The slogan of the Arauca social organizations is “Arauca exists, insists, and resists!” and our compañeras and compañeros here are continuing forward in the struggle for peace with social justice.

With love and solidarity.
Scott


July 9, 2006

Dear friends,

I arrived here in Bogotá on June 30 and I went to prison the following day (to visit a friend). Before I tell you about the visit with Raquel, I want to let you know that I’ll be using this address – elmonogringo@hotmail.com – during the year that I’ll be here in Colombia (“el mono gringo” translates as “the whitey gringo”).

I also want to express my appreciation to all the organizations that are supporting my accompaniment work in Colombia – Global Ministries of the United Church of Christ and the Disciples of Christ, Justice and Witness Ministries of the United Church of Christ, University Congregational Church, Montana Human Rights Network, Progressive Labor Caucus, Community Action for Justice in the Americas, and the Missoula Central Labor Council. I also want to thank my one corporate sponsor – Banana Boat Sunscreen.

Raquel Castro is a teacher and a leader of the social movement in the state of Arauca (northeastern Colombia). Various social leaders from Arauca met in the community of Caño Seco on August 4, 2004. Alirio Martinez (president of the Departmental Peasant Association), Leonel Goyeneche (treasurer of the United Workers Federation in Arauca), and Raquel spent that night in the house of Jorge Prieto (president of the health care workers union in Arauca). The following morning, the military occupied Caño Seco.

An informant led three soldiers to Jorge’s house. The soldiers dragged Alirio, Leonel, and Jorge out of bed; took them outside; made them kneel down; and executed them. “I heard a long burst of gunfire,” said Raquel. “I tried to convince myself that the soldiers had just fired into the air, that they hadn’t really killed my compañeros. Then the soldiers came into my room and shined their flashlights on my face. They pointed their guns at me and ordered me to go outside. I was sure that my life had ended. I was walking, but my feet weren’t touching the ground – it was like I was floating. There were a lot of soldiers outside the house. One of them yelled, ‘Go back inside! Don’t come out!’ and that saved my life. Otherwise, I would have been killed alongside the bodies of my compañeros.”

Raquel’s life was miraculously spared that day but she was detained by the soldiers. She was flown to the Reveis Pizarro military base in the city of Saravena. “When I got off the helicopter, I saw a lot of U.S. soldiers. I remember the look on their faces. They were laughing and making fun of me.” She was then flown to Bogotá and sent to the “Good Shepherd” prison on charges of rebellion and terrorism. The public hearing for her case was held in Saravena last August (where I took the attached photo). The case was then transferred to a judge in Bogotá who has not yet reached a verdict. Raquel has now spent 23 months in prison.

I visited Raquel on July 1 and July 8. She’s being held in the maximum security wing of the prison. In order to enter the prison and pass through the various checkpoints, my arms were stamped six times and my fingerprint was taken. On July 1, I was stamped with number 123; and on July 8, I was stamped with number 237.

Raquel is an amazing and very inspiring person. “I was born to be with the people. I don’t regret what I’ve done although perhaps I could have done more. We denounced the abuses and human rights violations committed against the civilian population. That’s why they killed our compañeros and threw us in prison.”

“I believe that my time here (in prison) has been more positive than negative. I’ve become more tranquil and reflective in this confinement. I’ve dared to say things that I never said before. I’m living new experiences and I’m learning other ways of expressing and seeing life.”

Raquel’s vocation is teaching and she’s continuing her vocation in prison. She and some of the other women began teaching classes in April and they now have 450 students. Their goal is to create a government-recognized school within the prison that will go from first grade through high school. “They accuse me of a lot of things that I don’t even know about. What I do know how to do is teach classes.”

On July 10, I’ll be flying to Saravena to accompany the social organizations of Arauca.

In love and solidarity,
Scott
Community Action for Justice in the Americas

Updates from Venezuela

Dave Jones is a CAJA member and spent two weeks in Venezuela on a Witness for Peace Delegation

Witness in Venezuela
6/1/06

While I had been aware of the many negative impacts of US intervention in Latin America throughout the Cold War years, it was not until joining CAJA two years ago that I began to educate myself more fully on current policy and to keep up with more recent events. Hearing of travels by other members inspired my wife Char and I to join the first Witness for Peace delegation to Venezuela in late February in order to gain a deeper understanding of the new social movement developing there and US reaction to it.

Government officials and the mainstream media in general have been engaged in a propaganda effort to discredit and distort the political situation in Venezuela for several years, and this effort has intensified recently following the criticism leveled at US policy by Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez. Our delegation was an effort to sort out facts from opinion, truth from hyperbole, and to get the views of as many interested parties as possible in ten days so that we could begin to draw our own informed conclusions.

When Margaret Thatcher famously said that "there are no alternatives" to the neo-liberal capitalist model, she was not-so-subtly referring to the resolve of western governments to enforce a hegemonic economic order put into place at the end of the second World War. Development loans would require that national assets be privatized and sold off to the highest bidder, unions were to be busted, economies were to be oriented toward cheap exports for northern consumers, and governments were to be "clients" of the major powers and their corporate handlers. The Venezuelan people, led by the fiery Chavez, have rejected this model.

Through a unique process of revolution by referendum, the people of Venezuela are creating a true alternative focused on raising the living standards and opportunity of those ignored and left behind by past governments. Although the country is rich in oil wealth, the vast majority of citizens saw little or no benefit while a small, elite oligarchy enjoyed a fabulous lifestyle. The mostly lighter skinned families of European descent controlling this wealth were supported by their major customer, the United States, and US and European oil firms were able to extract large profits for many decades. This all changed when the new Venezuelan constitution declared that the oil belonged to the people and the wealth derived from its sale was to be devoted to improving the lives of the poorest, which are the vast majority, of these citizens.

The competent and effective Witness for Peace team was able to arrange a wide range of interviews with those representing the interests of many segments of Venezuelan society, from academics to government officials to workers. We heard from supporters of the Bolivarian Revolution, and those in opposition to it, and those who were somewhere in the middle, perhaps critical of some aspects yet pleased with others. As I engage in conversations about this trip with those I meet in my daily life, I am constantly amazed at how uninformed or completely misinformed most US citizens are about the new political movement of Venezuela. My personal experience hopefully can counter some of this and help me to be an effective advocate for the right of the Venezuelan people to self-determination without US interference.

Joe Hayes is a CAJA member and spent 4 months in Venezuela this year.

3/1/06
Las Misiónes of a Venezuelan Barrio

Last week I went on a tour through a barrio in the Venezuelan city of Mérida to observe the work of the government’s social missions, las misiónes, and their impact on the communities they serve. The tour was led by a U.S. graduate student in political science who is beginning his master’s program at the University of the Andes here in Mérida and has worked in community organizing in this barrio for six months. The government’s misiónes address a wide range of problems, from tackling illiteracy and overall lack of education for the poor while reforming the system already in place, addressing immediate health and food needs while building long term solutions, land reform designed to empower previously displaced indigenous populations and other poor majorities, and building economies of worker-owned cooperatives through education, technical assistance and funding. Las Misiónes are funded entirely by oil money, and are a first bold step toward reducing the gross inequity that is the reality of Venezuela.

Over half the population of Venezuela lives in barrios. Barrios are the equivalent of shanty towns, and are defined by the fact that they are built by those who live in them and are in no way planned developments. They are often structurally unsound and built on the hillsides surrounding Venezuelan cities, creating a dangerous situation. Hundreds of people die every year during the rainy season as the hillsides upon which these neighborhoods are built lose their grasp and tumble downward. This danger was realized more fully in 1999, when heavy rains caused massive landslides, resulting in the deaths of 15,000 to 20,000 people, and leaving close to 100,000 homeless. The barrio we visited sprawls across a hillside overlooking the city, and holds 3,000 residents.

We first stopped at the Bolivarian school at the top of the hillside. This school is designed by the government to improve the lives of both the students and their parents by providing a full day of education, rather than the half-day public schools of the pre-Chávez days. Under the old system, children could attend school during the morning or afternoon only, giving them much time for watching television and requiring parents to stay home and care for children, unable to get jobs. The school we visited holds grades 1-6 and has over one hundred students. They are served three full meals a day, which are cooked by mothers of the students in the new school kitchen and who receive a small stipend. The morning programming revolves around more traditional academics, while the afternoon programming focuses on athletics, art, and cultural education. The process of converting schools from the pre-Chávez public schools to the Bolivarian school is gradual, as faculties work to build up their school’s ability to run all day and only make the change to the Bolivarian model after a majority faculty vote. This helps to ensure schools will make a successful conversion and upholds democratic values on a local level, allowing those most affected by the changes to make the actual decisions. Schools first started making the change in 1999, and the pace has been increasing ever since. In Mérida state over 2000 schools made the change in 2005, and they are nearing the 50% mark.

Venezuela also has programs addressing the widespread poverty of the country and is working to alleviate immediate hunger needs while establishing tangible and realistic long term solutions. This effort is felt in the barrio by the presence of a Misión Mercal and a Casa de Alimentación, or soup kitchen. We next visited a Mercal, which is a market that sells most of what would be found in typical markets throughout Venezuela at a subsidized rate of 40-50% off normal prices. In working to create greater food sustainability within the country and rely less on food imports for sustaining the population, at least 70% of the food at Mercals is required to be produced in Venezuela. And much of this food produced in the country is grown and processed by cooperatives. These markets may be one of the most prominent misiónes visible as one travels the country, for everywhere I go I see Mercal markets. Over half the Venezuelan population buys their food at Mercal. Down the hill from the Mercal market is a Casa de Alimentación. This soup kitchen is in the front of a woman’s house who offered her space for this function. There are government issued refrigerators, stoves, and ovens. A census was taken in this community of 3,000, and the soup kitchen is meant to serve the 150 most in need.

Next we stopped where there are typically two Cuban doctors who stay in the house of another resident who volunteered his home for a misión. Unfortunately we couldn’t talk with the doctors because they had returned home for a visit with their families. Throughout the country there are dispersed over 13,000 Cuban doctors as part of Misión Barrio Adentro, or Into the Barrio, who provide the most basic medical care to those who before had no access. These doctors see patients from the barrio in the front of the house for primary diagnosis and prescribe further care in an advanced medical facility when needed. They focus largely on preventative medicine, and most of their equipment and drugs come directly from Cuba. The infrastructure for advanced medical facilities outside of the previous, and currently still functioning, private medical system is currently being developed, as we saw as we made our way back to the city center.

On out way back we stopped at Misión Barrio Adentro 2, which is an urgent care and emergency medical facility free to both Venezuelans and foreigners alike. Here we spoke with a doctor and paramedic, where we learned about the capabilities of this new facility and the aspirations of this misión. As of now, over 150 of these facilities have been built around the country, three of which are in the small state of Mérida. The government plans to create a total of 600. Alberto, the paramedic, had been trained in Cuba, and was also one of the first of over 14,000 Latin Americans to receive eye surgery in Cuba free of travel and medical expenses. Because of Cuba’s cooperation, Alberto’s cataracts have been cured and he is now able to serve as an ambulance driver and paramedic. During our visit the clinic was in the process of acquiring the equipment needed for the best possible care, and will soon be able to perform emergency brain and heart surgery.

These misiónes I visited are just some of the many social programs created by the innovative socialist government of Hugo Chávez, and their impacts on the quality of life for the overwhelmingly poor majority are immeasurable.

1/31/2006
The World Social Forum in a Polarized Caracas

As the first phase of my travels in Venezuela comes to a close with the end of the World Social Forum in Caracas, I am left with a strong desire to learn as much as I can about this country's people, politics, and strivings toward a more egalitarian and dignified society. The World Social Forum is a gathering of people and organizations from around the world that recognize the destructive consequences of neoliberal (a.k.a. corporate gloablaization) economic policy and seek a more equitable system. The forum provides a place for ideas to be exchanged, global networks to be created, and action to be taken, with the ultimate goal of uniting the people of the world and building alternatives to neoliberal policy and the domination of capital in decision making.

At the turn of the millennium, the people of this oil rich country were considered anything but rich. A common estimate suggested eighty percent of Venezuelans were poor. But this figure is changing and improving in significant ways, and the Bolivarian Revolution taking place in this country made Caracas an ideal place for the World Social Forum. This Bolivarian Revolution, lead by the democratically elected president Hugo Chávez, has created a socialist revolution within a capitalist country. This ongoing process has caused great polarization. Chavistas demonstrate their support of Chávez and his social missions, funded entirely by oil money, which aim to alleviate both the short term and long term problems of poverty and maldevelopment. The opposition, which has more or less dissolved as an electoral political force, is made up of the small middle and upper classes and continues to argue against the changes taking place in this country through the mass media, its main source of influence.

Initially, I was surprised to meet people without strong opinions about Chávez and the changes of this country. Their general opinions questioned the future of this revolution, but they nonetheless reflected on the importance of the middle class's increased awareness of widespread poverty both within the country and around the world. But as I got to know Caracas better I learned where to find the polarized views. The atmosphere of the World Social Forum was enthusiastic about Chávez and his challenge of neoliberalism, and this was felt from the street vendors selling Chávez posters and t-shirts alongside the Che Guevara merchandise to the forum events discussing the future of Bolivarianism and how global networks of support could be created in solidarity. A five minute surf of Caracas television gave a different view, which, besides the state owned channel 8, made every attempt to tie the grave news stories of the day to failures of the Chávez administration.

Within this dynamic I had many touching experiences. This being my first experience traveling in South America and having inadequate Spanish speaking skills, I made the most of my time at the forum getting to know the different kinds of movements and organizations working around the world and their role at the forum. I found great significance in the presence of the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign-- a network of groups working against poverty in the United States. This organization could only afford to send two delegates to the forum, but was fortunate enough to bring 100 delegates from all over the U.S. at the invitation and expense of the Venezuelan government. This action is another example of the Chávez administration's commitment to addressing poverty in Venezuela and throughout the world, and helps to empower the Venezuelan people by increasing their understanding of a world with systemic poverty in both underdeveloped and developed nations.

Also interesting was a walk through Plaza Altamira, in an upper-middle class neighborhood of eastern Caracas. The Caraqueños here did not hesitate at the chance to express their opinions of Chávez to Forum-goers, one of whom was a middle-aged man, an architect by training, who had been out of work for five years. He lambasted Chávez for making such dramatic changes while ignoring the needs of the middle class, while older women spoke frantically of their fear that Venezuela would become the next Cuba. As I left Altamira and rode the metro to a less affluent part of town, I remember thinking they all looked well fed.

In stark contrast to the stroll through a clean and well-lit plaza was the tour I stumbled across through a relatively safe barrio on a hillside on the outskirts of Caracas. The tour began with a community organizer who passionately explained that, though Chávez's social missions are expanding the number of cooperatives in Venezuela exponentially, their community had organized its cooperative market well before Chávez was on the political scene. It is necessary to realize many of the most successful cooperatives are running not because of government support, but because people have organized their communities to create better lives for themselves. Seeing the pride and empowerment these people felt through their collective action surely gives credence to possibility of a mass-based cooperative society as an alternative to capitalism. Chávez's Misión Vuelvan Caras, or “Mission Turn Around,” is aiming to do just that, and is providing the education and resources necessary for the creation of a society of cooperativism and with an economy of equity and dignity. I am energized to learn more.