URGENT ACTION: THREE INDIGENOUS MURDERED IN CERRO TIJERAS RESERVE

Greetings,

Please find below (in English and Spanish) an urgent action on the continued aggression against indigenous communities in Colombia. Three leaders murdered in the past few weeks in Cerro Tijeras! It is especially important that you act now, as the Liberals and Conservatives in Canada are using every trick possible to try to push through ratification of the Canada-Colombia FTA by mid-December. Their overlooking of the presence of paramilitaries and undying support of the Colombian regime sends a direct signal that Canada's interests in Latin America (and in the world!) are economic and have nothing to do with the defence of human rights, not to mention social and economic rights demanded by the Colombian movements facing this aggression.

In addition to the recommendations provided below (courtesy of the Colombia Support Network, UK), we urge you to please write your member of Canadian parliament and members of the International Trade Committee in particular, which is set to deliberate in the Canadian parliament ratification of the Canada-Colombia FTA in spite of the continued aggression in Colombia. The Libservatives must not get away with defending the indefensible, lest they allow the blood on their hands become blood on the hands of every Canadian that did nothing.

Here are the email addresses of some key Liberals, Conservatives and members of the Standing Committee on International Trade: IgnatM@parl.gc.ca, Rae.B@parl.gc.ca, DhaliS@parl.gc.ca, DosanU@parl.gc.ca, FryH@parl.gc.ca, MartiK@parl.gc.ca, MurraJ@parl.gc.ca, Richardson.L@parl.gc.ca, Brison.S@parl.gc.ca, Cannan.R@parl.gc.ca, Guimond.C@parl.gc.ca, Harris.R@parl.gc.ca, Holder.E@parl.gc.ca, Keddy.G@parl.gc.ca, Silva.M@parl.gc.ca

In solidarity,
La Chiva

Message follows

###

Vease VERSION ESPAÑOL abajo

URGENT ACTION: THREE INDIGENOUS MURDERED IN CERRO TIJERAS RESERVE

THE GENOCIDE OF INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES CONTINUES:

CERRO TIJERAS INDIGENOUS RESERVE (SUAREZ MUNICIPALITY, CAUCA DEPARTMENT) AND HONDURAS INDIGENOUS RESERVE (MORALES MUNICIPALITY) TARGET OF CRIMES

The below signed organisations denounce the grave situation that now confronts indigenous communities in the East and North of Cauca department.

In only two weeks three indigenous communities members have been murdered, and another is currently in grave condition in intensive care in a hospital in Cali. It is important to note the high level of militarization of the territories mentioned, which was further increased in the past two weeks.

As we denounced on 22nd October 2009, a threat arrived to the offices of CUT Valle and Nomadesc organisations, in Cali. Five organisations are mentioned in the threat five, including Cerro Tijeras indigenous reserve, and six individuals are also named. All of the organisations and individuals participate in the Minga of Social and Communitarian Resistance. The threat is signed by the ‘AGUILAS NEGRAS NUEVA GENERACION’ paramilitary group [Black Eagles – New Generation].

We would like to highlight that on October 16th the Minga of Social and Communitarian Resistance held a ‘Peoples’ Congress’ in which serious human rights violations against indigenous, campesino, afro-Colombian, student and popular sectors were denounced at national and international level.

Since the threats, the following events have taken place:

1. On October 29th 2009, MARLY CAROLINA HUILA GUAMANGA was murdered in the Damian area of Cerro Tijeras indigenous reserve, Suarez municipality, Cauca department.

2. On November 11th 2009, REINALDO BOMBA was murdered in Bella Vista area of Cerro Tijeras indigenous reserve.

3. On November 13th 2009, NILSON CAMPO was murdered and EGIDIO OVANDO HUILA was seriously inured in the Damian area of Cerro Tijeras indigenous reserve.

At 10pm on November 13, NILSON CAMPO and EGIDIO OVANDO HUILA were attacked by an unidentified group of armed men as they travelled on a motorbike. Both were members of the Cerro Tijeras indigenous community. According to information from the community, NELSON CAMPO was shot five times, receiving three impacts in the abdomen, one in the face and one in the ear. EGIDIO OVANDO HUILA was also shot five times and attacked with a machete. CAMPO was involved in community agriculture projects, and had previously been the treasurer in Honduras indigenous reserve authority in 2006.

All of these events have taken place late at night or very early in the morning. The perpetrators are seemingly paramilitary organisations who carry out their operations in military camouflage clothes with black armbands.

DEMANDS

We demand that immediate protection is provided to EGIDIO OVANDO HUILA, who remains in serious condition in hospital.

That the different armed groups respect the lives and rights of indigenous communities and the Colombian population in general.

That multinational companies respect the territory, autonomy and self-determination of communities.

That the Ministry of Interior and Justice takes sufficient preventative measures in order to prevent any aggression against threatened indigenous communities and social sectors.

That the state investigation organisms undertake a thorough investigation as soon as possible and as quickly as possible to clarify what is happening in the zone, and that they make the results public.

That the Colombian government and all other state institutions recognise the level of vulnerability of Colombian indigenous communities and social organisations, and complies with their constitutional duty and international legislation which requires them to protect human rights.

To the National Army that in their operations they strictly observe Human righrs legislation and International Humanitarian Law.

We all upon the United Nations, Human Rights organisations, social organisations, state institutions, NGOs, and international control organisms to speak out about what is happening to Cerro Tijeras community as soon as possible, and to accompany the threatened communities in their territories.

We request that international organisations from all over the world accompany indigenous communities and social organisations through permanently monitoring the human rights situation in Colombia and demanding compliance with national and international legislation which demands respect for communities and territory, and also support the Minga of Communitarian and Social Resistance in its demands.

Please direct your correspondence to the Colombian Embassy in your country.

If you are in Britain, you can direct your correspondence to the Colombian embassy at elondres@cancilleria.gov.co.

[also mail@colombianembassy.co.uk ]

NOTE: Please copy your emails to the following email addresses: accionjuridica.nomadesc@gmail.com, dhprohibidolvidar@yahoo.com





ASOCIACION NOMADESC, CORPORACION JURIDICA UTOPIA, CABILDO INDIGENA DE HONDURAS, CABILDO CERRO TIJERAS, ASOCIACIÓN PARA EL DESARROLLO SOCIAL INTEGRAL, ECATE, SINDICATO DE LOS TRABAJADORES UNIVERSITARIOS DE COLOMBIA SINTRAUNICOL, CORPORACION SERVICIOS PROFESIONALES COMUNITARIOS, SEMBRAR, RED DE HERMANDAD Y SOLIDARIDAD, CAMPAÑA NACIONAL E INTERNACIONAL CONTRA LA PRIVATIZACIÓN, LA CORRUPCIÓN, LA PENALIZACIÓN DE LA PROTESTA SOCIAL Y LA IMPUNIDAD “PROHIBIDO OLVIDAR”.



VERSION ESPAÑOL

ACCION URGENTE

CONTINÚA GENOCIDIO CONTRA COMUNIDADES INDIGENAS: RESGUARDO CERRO TIJERAS DEL MUNICIPIO DE SUAREZ CAUCA Y RESGUARDO HODURAS DEL MUNICIPIO DE MORALES CAUCA BLANCO DE LOS CRIMENES

Las organizaciones abajo firmantes denunciamos la grave situación que afrontan las comunidades indígenas de la zona Occidente y Norte del Cauca. En tan solo dos semanas han sido asesinados tres indígenas y otro mas gravemente herido quien se encuentra en cuidados intensivos en la Clínica Valle de Lili de la ciudad Santiago de Cali. Es importante resaltar la alta y constante militarización del territorio. La cual aumento su pie de fuerza ostensiblemente en las dos ultimas semanas.

Como lo habíamos denunciado anteriormente el día 22 de octubre de 2009, llego una amenaza enviada desde el Municipio de Santander de Quilichao a las oficinas de la CUT VALLE y NOMADESC Cali. En esta amenaza se mencionan cinco organizaciones entre ellas el Resguardo Cerro Tijeras y seis personas con nombre propio de las organizaciones sociales pertenecientes a la Minga de Resistencia Social y Comunitaria que aparecen en la amenaza firmada por un grupo que se autodenomina “AGUILAS NEGRAS NUEVA GENERACION”

Resaltamos que la Minga de Resistencia social y comunitaria el pasado 16 de octubre sesiono en su precongreso itinerante y denuncio ante el país y el mundo las graves violaciones de derechos humanos de las que son objeto las comunidades indígenas, campesinas, populares, afro descendientes, estudiantiles y obreras en todo el país.

Dichas amenazas se han materializado de la siguiente manera:

El día 29 de Octubre de 2009 fue asesinada MARLY CAROLINA HUILA GUAMANGA, hechos sucedidos el la vereda Damián del Resguardo Cerro tijeras, Municipio de Suárez, Cauca.
El día 11 de noviembre de 2009 fue asesinado REINALDO BOMBA en la Vereda Bella Vista del Resguardo Cerro tijeras, Municipio de Suárez, Cauca.
El día 13 de Noviembre de 2009 fue asesinado NILSON CAMPO y herido de gravedad EGIDIO OVANDO HUILA, en el sitio denominado “El Tanque” ubicado en el Cerro Damián del Resguardo Cerro Tijeras, Municipio de Suárez, Cauca.

ULTIMOS HECHOS

El día 13 de noviembre de 2009, siendo las 10:00 p.m. fue asesinado NILSON CAMPO Comunero indígena del resguardo de Honduras y herido EGIDIO OVANDO HUILA, comunero indígena del Resguardo Cerro Tijeras, los dos se trasportaban en moto Zusuki Placas XJB 10A, cuando fueron atacados por un grupo armado que hasta el momento no ha sido identificado.

Los hechos sucedieron en el sitio denominado “El Tanque” ubicado en el Cerro Damián del Resguardo Cerro Tijeras, Municipio de Suárez, Cauca. Según información de la Comunidad NILSON CAMPO, recibió cinco tiros de arma de fuego y el herido además de cinco impactos de bala fue agredido a machete.

NILSON CAMPO, recibió cinco impactos tres impactos en el abdomen, otro en el pómulo derecho y otro en la oreja. El comunero indígena actualmente guardiaba el proyecto piscícola de de las asociación de Piscicultores indígenas ASPROINCA y había sido tesorero del Cabildo Honduras en el año 2006 y capitán del mismo en el año 2007.

Es importante anotar que los hechos han sucedido a altas horas de la noche o en la madrugada, los autores al parecer grupos paramilitares desarrollan sus operaciones vestidos de camuflado y con brazaletes negros.

EXIGENCIAS

Exigimos se brinde protección inmediata al comunero indígena del Resguardo Cerro Tijeras que se encuentra gravemente herido.

Exigimos a los diferentes actores armados respeto a la vida y derechos de las comunidades indígenas y del pueblo colombiano en general.

A las multinacionales respeto al territorio, autonomía y autodeterminación de los pueblos.

Al Ministerio del Interior y de Justicia, brindar los mecanismos de prevención suficientes y necesarios para frenar cualquier hecho que atente contra la integridad de las comunidades indígenas y sectores sociales amenazados.

A los Organismos de Investigación del Estado efectuar de manera oportuna las investigaciones necesarias para esclarecer los hechos en el menor tiempo posible y mostrar públicamente sus resultados.

Al Gobierno Nacional al Estado y a todas las instituciones, a reconocer el nivel de vulnerabilidad de las comunidades indígenas de Colombia y organizaciones sociales y cumplir con los mandatos constitucionales y normas nacionales e internacionales de protección a los derechos humanos.

Al Ejército Nacional que en el desarrollo de sus operaciones observe el estricto cumplimiento de las normas de Derechos Humanos y de DIH.

A todas las instituciones del estado dar cumplimiento a los Autos 004 del 26 de enero de 2009 y 005 de 2009, en los cuales se ordena la protección de los derechos fundamentales de las personas, pueblos indígenas y comunidades afrodescendientes desplazadas por el conflicto armado o en riesgo de desplazamiento.

Convocamos al Sistema de Naciones Unidas, organismos de Derechos Humanos, a las organizaciones Sociales, Instituciones del Estado, ONGs Internacionales organismos de control pronunciarse a la mayor brevedad y acompañar en los territorios a las comunidades amenazadas y en peligro de ser exterminadas.

Solicitamos a las organizaciones internacionales en todo el mundo acompañar a las comunidades indígenas y organizaciones sociales mediante una veeduría permanente de la situación de derechos humanos exigiendo el cumplimiento de normas nacionales e internacionales de respeto, a las comunidades y su territorio. Así mismo acompañar a la Minga de resistencia social y comunitaria en sus exigencias.

Sus pronunciamientos los puede enviar a:

ALVARO URIBE VELEZ
Presidente de la República
Carrera 8 No. 7 -26 Palacio de Nariño Bogotá
Fax. 5662071

FRANCISCO SANTOS
Vicepresidente de la República
Carrera 8 No.7-57 Bogotá D.C.
fsantos@presidencia.gov.co

Ministro de la Defensa (E)
Avenida El dorado con carrera 52 CAN Bogotá D.C.
siden@mindefensa.gov.co
infprotocol@mindefensa.gov.co
mdn@cable.net.co

FABIO VALENCIA COSSIO
Ministro del Interior y de Justicia
Avenida El dorado con carrera 52 CAN Bogotá D.C.
Fax. 2221874
ministro@minjusticia.gov.co

Fiscal General de la Nación
Diagonal 22B No. 52-01 Bogotá D.C.
Fax. 570 20 00
contacto@fiscalia.gov.co
denuncie@fiscalia.gov.co

WOLMAR ANTONIO PEREZ ORTIZ
Defensor del Pueblo
Calle 55 No. 10 – 32 Bogotá D.C.
Fax. 640 04 91
defensoria@defensoria.org.co
secretaria_privada@hotmail.com

ALEJANDRO ORDÓÑEZ
Procurador General de la Nación
Cra. 5 No.15 – 80F Bogotá D.C.
anticorrupción@presidencia.gov.co
reygon@procuraduría.gov.co

‘Authorized’ Minga? The Challenges of Popular Movements

By Micheál Ó Tuathail and Manuel Rozental

Last fall, Colombia’s social and popular movements captured the world’s attention. Emerging initially from the indigenous territories in Northern Cauca and expanding to unite diverse sectors, the Social and Community Minga burst onto the national and international scene with a popular agenda for radical change, a “country of the peoples without owners." The collective screams of the indigenous movement, Afro-Colombian communities, women’s, worker, student and other social organizations across the country reached a fever pitch, garnering much attention from abroad.

A year later, the Minga appears to have arrived at a crossroads, where a once powerful popular agenda risks being manipulated in favour of a narrow and domesticating one. While its capacity to mobilize remains strong, the Minga’s direction is increasingly contested.

Read more here: http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/2196/1/


+

Tories trying to push through CCFTA: Interview with Dawn Paley

Interview by Redeye Radio, Vancouver

Re-published on Rabble.ca November 2, 2009

Check out this 15 minute audio interview with journalist Dawn Paley on the Canada-Colombia FTA on Redeye Radio.

Listen to the interview on Rabble.ca:
http://www.rabble.ca/podcasts/shows/redeye/2009/11/tories-trying-push-through-canada-colombia-fta

**

Show Notes:

A bill to implement Canada's free trade agreement with Colombia is on the order paper for this session of Parliament. Activists believe the bill can be defeated.

We spoke with independent journalist Dawn Paley on October 10, nine days before the bill would be debated in the House.

To find out more about Redeye, check out our website.

ORGANISATIONS OF THE SOCIAL AND COMMUNITARIAN MINGA THREATENED AGAIN

Santiago de Cali, 22 October 2009

The below-signed organisations reject the threats and persecution which is being levelled against diverse organisations all over Colombia, in particular organisations which are part of the Minga of Social and Communitarian Resistence.

Today, October 22nd 2009, a threat arrived by fax to the offices of the trade union central CUT Valle. Signed by the ‘Black Eagles New Generation’ paramilitary group, the threat declares the following organisations as military objectives:

NOMADESC,
CUT VALLE,
PROCESO DE COMUNIDADES NEGRAS PCN (Black Communities Process),
LA TOMA COMMUNITY COUNCIL,
INDIGENOUS CABILDO AUTHORITY CERRO TIJERAS.

The following leaders were also named as military objective:

LICIFREY ARARA- mining leader from Suarez municipality, Cauca department;
EDWAR VILLEGAS- member of the CUT Valle Human Rights Team;
JOSE GOYES- member of the Political Commission of the Cauca Regional Indigenous Council (CRIC);
DIEGO ESCOBAR- Member of CUT Valle Executive Committee;
PLUTARCO- Member of human rights association Siglo XXI in Buenos Aires municipality, Cauca; and
MERALDINO CABICHE- member of Suarez municipal council who has been the victim of multiple threats in the past week.

The threat seems to have been sent from a fax machine in Santander de Quilichao municipality, Cauca department, in an internet café called ‘Terra Punto com’.

Details: The fax arrived to the CUT Valle fax machine (number 3901498) at 12.33pm today, titled ‘THE GOVERNMENT CONTINUES COMPLYING WITH THE AGREEMENTS AND COMMITMENTS’.

The text reads as follows:

“You are defenders of the guerrilla, requesting land to plant coca to strengthen the indians and the guerrilla. You don’t understand the efforts of the President of the Republic Alvaro Uribe, who with the help of Familias en Accion (Families in Action), Forest Keepers (Guardabosques) and Democratic Security (all 3 are policies of the Uribe government)- a group of men and women concerned with improving the country. We have decided that it is necessary to begin again the fight against thos who camouflage themselves in social organisations such as CUT Valle, Nomadesc, Human Rights defenders, NGOs, enemies of our democracy.

Those bureaucrats don’t let Cauca progress, they don’t allow the entry of multinationals which bring benefits to the communities of SUAREZ, MORALES and BUENOS AIRES. Some of these organisations have made agreements with owners of mining deeds requesting the eviction of communities in mining zones in return for money, such as in La Toma community. We have documents to prove this.

Today we have decided to declare these son of a bitch bureaucrats as military objectives: human rights defenders, Nomadesc, CUT Valle, PCN, La Toma Community Council, Cerro Tijeras, Licifredy, Eduar Villegas, Jose Goyes, Diego Escobar, Recheche, Plutarco, Counciller Meraldino. Signed Aguilas Negras Nueva Generacion (Black Eagles New Generation).”

It is important to highlight that the organisations and individuals mentioned in the threat have been working together in defence of the rights of the communities of Suarez, Morales and Buenos Aires municipalities in Cauca department for several years.

In particular, they have denounced the Colombian state’s non-compliance with agreements signed with the indigenous, afro-Colombian and campesino communities in the area in 1986 (and ratified in 2006).

They have also denounced the harmful presence of the multinational companies Union Fenosa (Spain), AngloGold Ashanti (South Africa) and Smurfitt Carton de Colombia (Ireland). Harrassment of Aida Quilcue continues At approximately 7.45am on October 21st, four men who in a 5 door vehicle were seen to be monitoring the house of AIDA QUILCUE, ex-Chief Counciller of the Cauca Regional Indigenous Council (CRIC).

The car’s registration plate was recorded, but when the details were taken to the police to ask them to run a check on the vehicle, the reply was that this registration doesn’t exist. At approximately 12pm on October 16th, when AIDA QUILCUE was in the mobilisation of the Minga of Social and Communitarian Resistance in the outside the Cali Municipal Administation Centre, she was followed by two men.

When the men were apprehended by indigenous guards and members of the CUT Valle Human Rights Team, they stated that they didn’t have identification (in Colombia it is obligatory to carry identification at all times). The men were handed over to the police, but the authorities have yet to clarify the men’s identity, where they come from, and why they were following AIDA QUILCUE.

Threat to Jose Goyes The same day, at approximately 1pm, member of the CRIC Political Commission and Ex-Governor of Honduras indigenous reserve JOSE GOYES received a call from a man who said, ‘Am I speaking with Jose Goyes?’, Goyes replied, ‘Yes, with him’, ‘Son of a bitch, we’ve been looking for you for days, but before we shoot you we’re going to give it to you in the face you you faggot, then we’re going to finish you off with lead’.

We are deeply concerned by the serious incidents involving threats, harassment, persecution, eviction and murder which have been occurring all over the country. Such events have increased drastically over the past few months.

We want to highlight that the country’s human rights crisis is intensifying as we enter the pre-electoral period, and when the social sectors all across the country have staged mass demonstrations in the Minga of Communitarian and Social Resistance, manifesting their inconformity with the current government’s policies.

The Minga has been able to show the serious human rights violations which are being committed all over the country.

We call on all of you to speak out as soon as possible, and demand a clear response from the Colombian state, in order to prevent an attack against any member of the threatened organisations.

If you are in Britain, you can direct your correspondence to the Colombian embassy at elondres@cancilleria.gov.co. [also mail@colombianembassy.co.uk ]

ASOCIACION PARA LA INVESTIGACION Y ACCION SOCIAL NOMADESC
CAMPAÑA PROHIBIDO OLVIDAR
PROCESO DE COMUNIDADES NEGRAS PCN
CENTRAL UNITARIA DE TRABAJADORES CUT – VALLE
CORPORACION JURIDICA UTOPIA
SINTRAUNICOL VALLE DEL CAUCA
ASOCIACIÓN PARA EL DESARROLLO SOCIAL INTEGRAL ECATE
RED DE HERMANDAD Y SOLIDARIDAD – COLOMBIA
CORPORACION SEMBRAR


Translation courtesy of Colombia Solidarity Campaign, UK

Calle 13 to the Colombian Foreign Ministry

At the recent MTV Latin America awards ceremony, 'Residente', of the Puerto Rican group Calle 13, showed up in a shirt that read "Uribe Para Bases Militares" (Uribe, Stop the Military Bases). The design of the shirt offered a double meaning: "Uribe Paramilitar" (Uribe: Paramilitary).

While it's not sure which meaning was more offensive to the Colombian government, as either express equally damning truths about the regime, the Foreign Ministry felt compelled to issue a statement on the rock star's t-shirt: "The message presents offensive content against the president of Colombians."

(He also said Chavez should be nominated for the 'best pop star' award, and demanded Honduran coup government leader Micheletti "leave power".)

We've translated below the response of 'Residente', within which there are no apologies for expressing an opinion and a fact lived by too many in Colombia, as well as in the artist's native Puerto Rico. Adelante, Calle 13!

October 20, 2009

San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Open letter to the Colombian foreign ministry,

I write this letter to let you to know how I feel from the bottom of my heart. I love Colombia, and that’s why I’m worried about the establishment of foreign military bases in the country. As a Puerto Rican, I have lived this reality in my heart and soul, and I wouldn’t like what happens in my country to happen in yours.

According to your statement, I have insulted your president through the text on my t-shirt. On that shirt there was a play on words, a double meaning. You can interpret it however you like. I read it clearly: Uribe, Stop the Military Bases. A clear and direct message.

Through Twitter, the people created the concept of my shirts. The Colombia shirt was made by a Colombian, the Venezuela shirt by a Venezuelan, and so on.

The idea behind the shirts was to give voice to the people, those who, in general, aren’t listened to. Instead of wearing a nice tie, I decided to send a message. The message didn’t come from me but from someone who breathes the same air breathed in Colombia everyday.

My struggle is not against the president but against everything that promotes war, such as the military bases. The text of the t-shirt represents the feelings of many young people in your country, those who like any other human being with feelings I share completely. In this century, it can’t be that there are still those who lack the ability to understand the right artists have to express what we feel at every level. Censorship shouldn’t be the business of government. Whoever doesn’t want to listen to me should simply not go to my concerts. That would be the most valid and legitimate way to censor me. With all due respect to Mr. Uribe, the president of Colombia isn’t Colombia. Colombia is much more than a president. As Rubén Blades says, “patriotism is not defined by those who suppress a people.”

With these words, I sign off. But before I do so, I send a kiss to all the places I have visited in Colombia, such as the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Palenque, San Jacinto, Maicao, Cali, Medellín, Bogotá, Valledupar, Cúcuta, Bucaramanga, Barranquilla, Cartagena, and all the places that I haven’t been.

René Perez Joglar.
Residente
calle 13

The Social and Community Minga and its Word

Hello friends,

The Pre-Congress of the Social and Community Minga was held in the Coliseo del Pueblo in Cali from October 13 - 16. The event brought together indigenous, Afro-Colombian and other social sectors from southwest Colombia to elaborate on how to carry forward the word and action of the Minga's five-point agenda, first articulated in the Indigenous and Popular Mandate of 2004 and brought to the national and international spheres with massive mobilizations last Fall. The Minga has put the national and international spotlight on Colombia's popular movements, demonstrating the dignity of peoples with an agenda of their own. The five points of the agenda illuminate a path for peoples in resistance in Colombia and beyond:

1. No to the Free Trade Agreements and the 'free trade' model.

2. No to all armed actors, each whose presence reinforces the actions of the others and threatens the lives of people in their communities. No more war and terror.

3. No to laws and legislation that evict people from their lands and deny them the right to the use of the earth's resources for sustaining life, laws that instead put people and nature at the service of transnational capital and accumulation.

4. Yes to the Colombian government honouring its agreements with indigenous, Afro-Colombian and other communities.

5. Yes to weaving an agenda of the peoples. All causes are our own.

This agenda has mobilized tens of thousands of people across Colombia, Latin America, and the world. At the march in Cali this past October 16, some 30,000 people walked together from the Coliseo del Pueblo to the centre of Cali. There were two other Pre-Congresses in Cartagena and Bogotá. People also marched in solidarity in other countries, such as Peru and Ecuador.

The mobilizing capacity of the Social and Community Minga has also garnered much attention from outside, which has arguably threatened its autonomy as a process of political and social change and community-based resistance. With the massive influx of interest from international funding agencies, some of the participating organizations have sought to change the Minga's agenda. These changes are not expressed explicitly but through subtle manoeuvres and strategic re-articulation of the five points, such as placing opposition to the FTAs alongside laws of eviction (calling not for their rejection but a public 'discussion') and replacing the first point with one that focuses on human rights, reflecting the interests of hundreds of NGOs and funding agencies operating in Colombia. That is not to say that human rights is not an important issue. The problem is that the changes to the agenda have occurred without discussion and debate, outside the spirit of the communities that have given the Minga its force; decisions are now being made through the leadership of organizations in private discussions with funding agencies, and the tens of thousands who continue to participate in the Minga are thus largely unclear on how the five-point agenda currently stands. In sum, there is much confusion.

The following notes, courtesy of some of the primary defenders of the original spirit of the Minga, the Tejido de Comunicación in Northern Cauca, not only provide journalistic reports of the events of the Pre-Congress in Cali earlier this week but also provide an analysis that focuses on the voices of the participants, those who have walked the word in every sense and right from the beginning. We share them in English below:

From the Minga in the Peoples’ Pre-summit
“Whether indigenous, Afro-Colombians, mestizos or peasants, we’re all here with the same objective: a Colombia where we all belong, where we all have justice, a Colombia where we all decide and not just the oligarchy-government that we have now. The people rule, the people choose, the people decide,” said an Afro-Colombian leader.
http://www.nasaacin.org/noticias.htm?x=10650

The Minga and its word move on
“I don’t care about the traffic [caused by the march],” said a taxi driver stopped outside the Coliseo del Pueblo. “Someone has to do something different. This country is full of blind and ignorant people, people who refuse to see their own reality.”
http://www.nasaacin.org/noticias.htm?x=10652

Colombia has to wake up
In improvised tents, the communities will rest in the city of Cali until Friday, ignoring discomforts. They will continue walking the word woven from thought and feeling, from the teachings of the elders to defend the agenda of the Social and Community Minga that began with the Indigenous and Popular Mandate in 2004.
http://www.nasaacin.org/noticias.htm?x=10649

The Popular and Campesino Minga attacked by the Public Forces
On the 12th of October, the Campesino and Popular Assembly, which includes about 2,000 campesinos, students, and popular sectors in the departments of Cauca, Nariño and Huila, began a session of reflection in five working groups to establish the central points and proposals to present at the Pre-Congress [of the Social and Community Minga] to be carried out in the city of Cali on the 14th and 15th of October.
http://www.nasaacin.org/noticias.htm?x=10651

URGENT ACTION on the CCFTA

Hello readers,

Please find below the text of the latest action alert put out by the Council of Canadians. It remains urgent that people in Canada voice their opposition to the Canada-Colombia FTA, as the agreement is moving through parliament and back to the committee phase. We have to stall this as long as possible.

With the possible calling of an election, C-23 (the implementing legislation of the CCFTA) will die.

This has to happen, and it can happen if parliamentarians remain aware of the importance of this issue to Canadians.

The conservative government is doing all it can to support the murderous regime of Uribe. The NDP and the Bloc Quebecois have done outstanding work from within parliament to stop it. Outside parliament, pressure must be kept up. Please participate in this action. It should only take a few minutes of your time, and it is extremely important.

La Chiva

The Council of Canadians message follows...

Dear chapters,

About a week ago we told you about Scott Brison’s statements in the House of Commons suggesting that paramilitary violence in Colombia was a thing of the past, and that the Liberals should no longer be concerned about passing Bill C-23 – ratification legislation for the Canada–Colombia Free Trade Agreement and related environmental and labour side agreements. Today, Council of Canadians Chairperson Maude Barlow wrote to Brison, Liberal trade critic, urging him to retract those statements and to adhere to his earlier statement from May 25, calling for “a full independent human rights assessment, as recommended by the committee… before we vote again on Bill C‐23.”

PROGRESS TO CANADA-COLOMBIA FTA

As mentioned in a news update earlier this week, Bill C-23 is still moving slowly through Parliament on its way to a second vote in the House of Commons, which would send the free trade agreement to the international trade committee for further study. An NDP sub-amendment to a Bloc amendment failed to pass this week, and MPs are still debating a Bloc amendment that would defeat the FTA on the grounds that democratic process was not followed (Harper rushed C-23 into the House of Commons while the international trade committee was still studying it).

From what we’ve heard, the Liberals are not entirely comfortable supporting the FTA with Colombia because of the human rights implications and ongoing violence, some of it linked to paramilitary groups with ties to President Uribe’s security forces. The ongoing investigation into Uribe’s spying on human rights groups, as well as his public campaign against the Supreme Court and proposed constitutional reforms that would remove a “parapolitics” investigation from its jurisdiction are also not endearing the Colombian government to Canadian MPs.

But even pro-FTA Liberals such as Bob Rae are committed to further studying bill C-23 if or when it reaches the international trade committee. It’s absolutely crucial they keep their word to hold an independent human rights impact assessment.

TAKE ACTION – Demand Brison retract his false statements!

Send the following letter or a version of it to Liberal Trade Critic Scott Brison at BrisoS@parl.gc.ca.

Make sure you CC your own MP and other key Liberals, including:
Michael Ignatieff (IgnatM@parl.gc.ca); Bob Rae (RaeB@parl.gc.ca); Marina Minna (MinnaM@parl.gc.ca); John Cannis (CanniJ@parl.gc.ca); Mario Silva (SilvaM@parl.gc.ca), and; Irwin Cotler (CotleI@parl.gc.ca).

SAMPLE LETTER:

Dear MP Brison:

I am writing to demand you retract your statements in the House of Commons from September 30, 2009 regarding paramilitary violence in Colombia. It was completely irresponsible to suggest that: “To say that paramilitary forces are murdering union leaders today is false, because everybody who has been studying the issue recognizes that the paramilitary forces have been disbanded...”

A recent report from Amnesty International found that paramilitary groups remain active, despite Colombian government claims that they have demobilized through a government‐sponsored process that began in 2003. “Paramilitaries continued to kill civilians and to commit other human rights violations, sometimes with the support or acquiescence of the security forces,” says the Amnesty report.

A 2008 Human Rights Watch report called “Breaking the Grip: Obstacles to Justice for Paramilitary Mafias in Colombia” also states that “the administration of President Álvaro Uribe is squandering much of the opportunity to truly dismantle paramilitaries’ mafias. While there has been progress in some areas, some of the administration’s actions are undermining the investigations that have the best chance of making a difference.”

Human Rights Watch states in its report that the Uribe government:

- Repeatedly launched public personal attacks on the Supreme Court and its members in what increasingly looks like a concerted campaign to smear and discredit the Court;

- Opposed and effectively blocked meaningful efforts to reform the Congress to eliminate paramilitary influence;

- Proposed constitutional reforms that would remove the investigations into the links between paramilitary groups and the Uribe government from the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court.

In the past 12 months, 27 trade unionists and 77 Indigenous leaders have been murdered in Colombia. The vast majority, if not all these murders, have been carried out either by government security forces or the paramilitaries. How can you deny these facts simply to support the Conservative government’s efforts to fast-track a free trade agreement with Colombia?

Mr. Brison, retract your September 30 statement and adhere to your May 25, 2009 call in Parliament for “a full independent human rights assessment, as recommended by the committee… before we vote again on Bill C‐23.” It is the only responsible action to take – action many Canadians would expect of a party that prides itself on its support for human rights. Sincerely,

[Your name]