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]

RECALCA: On the territorial minga de pensamiento, Toez, Cauca

Colombian Action Network in Response to ‘Free Trade’, RECALCA

Webpage: www.recalca.org.co

Email: recalca@etb.net.co

Indigenous Territory of Toez - Caloto, 29 September, 2009

ON THE TERRITORIAL MINGA OF THOUGHT: ECONOMY-ENVIRONMENT

Between the 28^th and 30^th of September, hundreds of indigenous peoples from the Association of Indigenous Councils of Northern Cauca (ACIN), Colombia, met to debate the environmental, territorial and economic situation in Latin America, Colombia, and in their own communities. RECALCA, as a participating organization in this process, gave the following declaration at the event:

The superpowers of the world, especially the United States, the European Union and Canada, the same that have tried to sign ‘free trade agreements’ with Colombia, have found themselves struggling for control over the exploitation of natural resources and biodiversity wherever it is found.

The advance of infrastructure megaprojects – dams, highways, telecommunications projects, mining, and fossil and agro-fuels – occurs quickly and voraciously through the activities of transnational corporations with the support of governments at the service of private interests. This occurs against the sovereignty and autonomy of countries and communities, the true owners of these territories.

The pace has quickened over the past 20 years, robbing countries and generating misery, hunger and poverty for the majority of the inhabitants of Latin America. In Colombia, the situation is extreme: 4 million internally displaced, 4 million Colombians forced to leave the country, 22 million living in poverty and 8 million homeless.

If that weren’t enough, the government of Álvaro Uribe Vélez has signed ‘Free Trade Agreements’, at the behest of companies from these countries, to ensure control over natural resources, food and inexpensive labour. This project goes against indigenous, Afro-descendent and peasant communities, workers in the fields and in the cities, students, women, average citizens and national companies. It is a project of re-colonization, not unlike that from which all of the Americas suffered during the Spanish colonization.

The Cauca Department, and especially its indigenous territories, is one of the primary targets of the FTAs and the transnational corporations. In these territories, there is an abundance of resources: water, arable land for agriculture, rich biodiversity, coal, gold and other minerals.

The principal priority of the government of Álvaro Uribe Vélez, as demonstrated by its actions over the last 7 years, is to hand this territory over on a silver platter to foreign capital through policies such as ‘Investor Confidence’ and ‘Democratic Security’. Feigning to minimize the effects of the armed conflict, the government has increased its military presence in the region, repressing all expressions of social organization and resistance to neoliberalism and, in so doing, opening the way for the penetration of big extractive and agro-fuel companies.

The submission of the government of Uribe Vélez to the interests of Empire pushes forward the destruction of democracy and national institutions, stigmatizing and persecuting critics of his policies. Moreover, he is perpetuating his power in order to continue this project, which successively diminishes national sovereignty to the point that he is willing to give 7 military bases to the United States, so they can continue their intervention in Colombia and expand into other South American countries.

The only way out for indigenous, Afro-Colombian and peasant communities in Cauca is to strengthen their resistance against this model, defending their ‘life projects’ within their territories and without falling into appeasements meant to ruin us. An important example of this is that – through resistance – the Social and Community Minga has enjoyed important victories with its 5-point agenda. Through this agenda, the Rural Development Statute came down, and not a single FTA negotiated by the government has been ratified.

What is required is an expansion of the unity of all democratic sectors in Colombia and Latin America, an unavoidable precondition for reversing neoliberalism and the recuperation of sovereignty. May the project at the service of all triumph.

* RECALCA brings together the 53 most important social and worker organizations in Colombia to coordinate strategies of education, information and mobilization against the Free Trade Agreements pushed forward by the national government.

Liberals vote with Conservatives against NDP amendment to Colombia FTA

By Stuart Trew
http://www.canadians.org/tradeblog/?p=428

Debate on the Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement, and attached environmental and labour side-agreements, is drawing to a conclusion in the House of Commons. Tonight, Liberal and Conservative MPs voted against an NDP sub-amendment to a Bloc amendment, both of which would stop the FTA from going to second reading, essentially killing the agreement.

The government motion is as follows:

That Bill C-23, An Act to implement the Free Trade Agreement between Canada and the Republic of Colombia, the Agreement on the Environment between Canada and the Republic of Colombia and the Agreement on Labour Cooperation between Canada and the Republic of Colombia, be now read a second time and referred to the Standing Committee on International Trade

The Bloc amendment, brought by Bloc MPs Cardin (Sherbrooke) and Ménard (Hochelaga), suggests:

the House decline to give second reading to Bill C-23, An Act to implement the Free Trade Agreement between Canada and the Republic of Colombia, the Agreement on the Environment between Canada and the Republic of Colombia and the Agreement on Labour Cooperation between Canada and the Republic of Colombia, because the government concluded this agreement while the Standing Committee on International Trade was considering the matter, thereby demonstrating its disrespect for democratic institutions

Finally, the NDP sub-amendment, brought by NDP MPs Crowder (Nanaimo-Cowichan) and Julian (Burnaby-New Westminster), which was voted down tonight by the Liberals and Conservatives (74 yeas to 194 nays), says the following:

That the amendment be amended by adding after the word “matter” the following: “, including having heard vocal opposition to the accord from human rights organizations.”

With the NDP sub-amendment off the floor, MPs will now be given a chance to debate the Bloc amendment, which mostly has the effect of stalling the legislation before the 2nd reading vote, which would send it to committee.

The vote against the NDP sub-amendment tonight cannot be seen as a defeat. Without such strong civil society opposition to Canada signing the FTA with the corrupt regime of Alvaro Uribe, the agreement would be law by now. Even the Liberals are saying they will work during committee, after 2nd reading, to stall the deal.

Big congratulations to the NDP (Peter Julian in particular) and Bloc Quebecois (thank you Serge Cardin) for their efforts to stop this dangerous and useless free trade pact with Colombia. It can and will happen if we keep the pressure on.

For a comprehensive update on Colombia — government spying on rights groups, ongoing paramilitary violence, and Liberals Scott Brison and Bob Rae’s summer vacation — see the article “Where will you stand on the Canada-Colombia FTA?” by Micheál Ó Tuathail, 30 September 2009.

Stuart Trew is Trade Campaigner at the Council of Canadians.

Where will you stand on the Canada-Colombia FTA?

By Micheál Ó Tuathail, 30 September 2009

I spent a good part of the other week watching the performances of Liberals and Conservatives in the Canadian House of Commons as they debated Bill C-23, implementing legislation of the Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement (CCFTA). With a looming election, one might have expected some attempt to meaningfully distinguish the parties from one another, even on an issue as contentious as supporting a regime engaged in genocide against its own people.

What I saw was Liberals and Conservatives joining forces to defend the regime in Colombia against its critics within the NDP and Bloc Quebecois, knowing that with passage of the CCFTA in Canada, Colombia’s other stalled FTAs with the United States, Norway and other countries would come under pressure to be passed as well. The bill, once removed from the government’s agenda in the spring because of widespread public opposition, returned as the top priority of the Harper government when Parliament resumed in the fall session in September.

As the debate dragged on, the government downgraded the bill’s priority, resulting in a short but uneasy calm for those of us fighting this legislation. Some of the most passionate speeches in support of the Uribe regime came from the Conservative government, as one would expect. It’s their bill. But, on the whole, the Liberal performance was not much different.

Two Liberal MPs, in particular, Bob Rae and Scott Brison, showed themselves to be true cheerleaders of Colombian President Álvaro Uribe Vélez and the 'free trade' dogma. Both are members of the International Trade Committee and recently returned from a four-day trip to Colombia at the end of August.

The important thing is not so much their visit, which appears to have been heavily orchestrated by those who typically orchestrate such things, but their reaction in the House and ignorance of what was going on around them. Either they are incredibly naïve, or they willingly overlook the facts on the ground. I think the latter to be much more plausible; their staff must read the Colombian papers, or at least the countless letters sent to Liberal MPs over the past several months.

In any case, the points below are a few things Liberal and Conservative MPs in Canada should know about, if they are doing as much of their homework as they say they are. Canadians should know this, too.

Another Massacre Against the Awá

Mr. Speaker, this debate should not be about ideology, it should be about people: the people of Colombia whose lives have been ripped apart and turned upside down by civil war and narcopolitics. – Liberal MP Scott Brison’s speech from the House floor

In the early morning of 26 August, armed men in camouflage broke into a home in El Rosario, Nariño, shooting and killing 11 indigenous Awá, including four children and three adolescents. A few days earlier, Gonzalo Rodríguez was murdered; his wife was among those murdered on the 26th.

Conservatives and Liberals have often quoted Human Rights Watch, so here is what José Miguel Vivanco, HRW's Americas Director, had to say about it: “Initial reports suggest that members of the [Colombian] Army may have massacred these people, with the purpose of eliminating and intimidating witnesses of atrocities.”

The Awá were also attacked this past February by the FARC, who later admitted to carrying out the massacre of 11 people, while the Awa reported the murder of 38. The response from the Colombian government since then has not been to provide justice but to continue with attacks of its own.

As the Communications Network of the indigenous of Northern Cauca highlighted in an excellent analysis of the February massacre, the militarization and attacks on the Awa in Nariño have everything to do with megaprojects planned for the region, one where multinationals see resources for export and not the people who live there. Massive infrastructure projects, like the IRSA and national projects, constitute the open veins through with the continued pillage of Latin America through 'free trade' is intended to flow.

The ‘Three-Letter Cartel’: Recent Revelations about Colombia’s Secret Police

Colombia has made real economic, social and security progress in recent years, but it is a fragile progress, under the constant threat of FARC terrorists, drug gangsters and hostile attacks from the Chavez regime in Venezuela. – Scott Brison’s speech from the House floor

On September 6, Colombian television networks broadcast an interview with Rafael García, a former Information Director of the Colombian secret service, best known by its Spanish acronym, DAS. It has more recently become known by what its own insiders have called it, the ‘three-letter cartel.’

Mr. García, currently in hiding abroad, revealed that the DAS has been directly involved in the trafficking of narcotics. In his own words (my translation):

[Former DAS Director] Jorge Noguera travelled to Mexico as part of his job as DAS Director. In reality, this trip (which was official and paid for by the Colombian government) was intended to establish alliances with the narco-trafficking organization of the Beltrán Leiva brothers. He did it, which meant that speed boats filled with drugs would be received in Mexico by that organization, which in turn was responsible for transporting the drugs to the states of the East Coast of the US.

Jorge Noguera, DAS Director from Uribe’s inauguration in 2002 until October 2005, is currently being investigated for numerous crimes, including murder. He is accused of passing ‘intelligence’ on trade unionists and academics to paramilitaries, who later murdered these people. When the paramilitary-DAS scandal broke in October 2005, Uribe shipped Noguera off to Italy as Colombian Consul in Milan, like a delicate piece of dirty laundry.

The DAS has also been under major criticism for illegally spying on members of the Supreme Court, human rights activists and political opponents of Uribe. García’s testimony also confirms previous reports that a DAS-paramilitary alliance was involved in a plot against the government of Venezuela.

As a recent report in the New York Times notes, over the last 5 decades, Colombian presidents have empowered the DAS to work under the sole direction of the president, who appoints all high-level officials at the agency. Mr. Uribe is thus not only aware of but also directly responsible for their actions, as they report to him alone.

Such is this reality that Mr. Uribe has reacted by announcing that he will suddenly dissolve the DAS after over 5 decades of existence and replace it with a new agency. In accordance with the style of Uribe, this unprecedented measure is intended to cover-up the president's role in crimes for which he will one day be judged.

I asked Colombian opposition Senator Jorge Enrique Robledo what he thought of the DAS scandal. He responded with the obvious question, “well, what would have been the reaction in Canada if [CSIS] had been dismantled over a scandal that implicated Harper in similar crimes?”

The above revelations make Brison's comments all the more peculiar. Is he really that ignorant of events that took place in Colombia around the same time has his visit?

Baseless Lies become Threats for Export

Watching the debates on the House floor, I was astounded as many Liberal and Conservative members alike demanding that members opposed to Bill C-23, such as NDP MP Peter Julian, apologize for presenting information on the connections between Mr. Uribe and paramilitary death squads and drug lords in Colombia.

That’s right, they demanded an apology.

When Uribe came to Canada with baseless claims that people in Canada working against the CCFTA were 'foreign ambassadors' of the FARC guerrilla, classified by Canada as a terrorist organization, proponents of the CCFTA, including the Canadian Prime Minister, said nothing apart from that the deal had to be passed.

The FARC-Canada allegations came from a 'news' story broadcast by Colombian network RCN. The mainstream press in Colombia frequently uses these tactics to single out individuals opposed to the regime, people who are then persecuted and in some cases murdered by legal or illegal armed groups.

That same story was irresponsibly re-published in the Canadian press.

Sure enough, the allegations were revealed to be completely false, as those named as FARC’s 'foreign ambassadors' supposedly working with 'left political parties' and 'human rights organizations' in Canada had never left Colombia. The lies of the regime also singled out Vancouver, Quebec and Toronto as hosting the 'offices' of the FARC in Canada. Those places are also where there has been much peaceful mobilization and activity against FTA.

Discrediting opposition with baseless lies is Uribe's calling card, and the Lib-servative alliance bent on passing the FTA did nothing to stand up for Canadians engaged in an honest debate on an issue that matters to them. There were no demands for an apology there.

Is it acceptable that a foreign president up to his ears in scandals for direct links between his secret service and narco-paramilitaries and the murder of innocent people is able to come to Canada and call citizens 'terrorists' without a shred of proof?

Canada Turns a Blind Eye

Oh, and there is also the so-called 'false positives' issue, the Uribe's bribery of Congressmembers to have the constitution amended so he could run again (the first time, that's his current mandate!), and the scandal surrounding the use of the Red Cross emblem in the 'rescue' of former FARC hostage Ingrid Betancourt, a violation of the Geneva Conventions.

But the ignorance of the above points in the House of Parliament is driven by an ideological fervour for the advancement of neoliberalism in Colombia, Canada and around the globe. Massacre, corruption, drug-trafficking and the silencing of opponents is what is being supported by the Canadian government (and the Liberal Party that props it up) as long as it ignores the realities lived by people in Canada and Colombia alike.

Let's stop pretending that Colombia needs an FTA to resolve its problems. Of this there is not a single proof. Let’s stop pretending Canadian multinationals somehow do not also benefit from the forced displacement of millions of Colombians through violence and terror. Let's also stop pretending that Colombia's problems are Colombia's alone. Let's stop assuming that this is just about human rights violations in Colombia. Something is broken in Canada!

With a looming election, now is the time for the Liberal Party to step up to its own rhetoric. I hope the Liberal Caucus in particular is capable of seeing past the lies and misinformation of the Colombian government and those interests that see only resources and not the wellbeing people. So far, it hasn't.

I hope they come to realize the ignorance of their Trade Critic and resist his whip the next time Bill C-23 comes into the house for debate. If the likes of Brison and Rae are incapable of even reading the news in Colombia, what authority do they have to defend the regime as they do, to make the decisions they do?

I trust that there are several Liberal MPs who are strongly unnerved by the direction of the party on this and many other issues as their party has shifted further to the right. I hope they will speak out.

The people have owners, and an FTA means we’ll have a hard time doing anything about that if we ever decide we want to act collectively. The pressure must be kept up. In opposing the CCFTA, we as Canadians have nothing to gain but a bit of our own dignity and the knowledge that we did not stand by in silence while the Canadian government once again aligned itself with murderers and sold us out to thieves.

Where will you stand?

Noam Chomsky: Militarizing Latin America

Written by Noam Chomsky
Originally published in In These Times, September 9, 2009

The United States was founded as an “infant empire,” in the words of George Washington. The conquest of the national territory was a grand imperial venture. From the earliest days, control over the hemisphere was a critical goal.

Latin America has retained its primacy in U.S. global planning. If the United States cannot control Latin America, it cannot expect “to achieve a successful order elsewhere in the world,” observed President Richard M. Nixon’s National Security Council in 1971, when Washington was considering the overthrow of Salvador Allende’s government in Chile.

Recently the hemisphere problem has intensified. South America has moved toward integration, a prerequisite for independence; has broadened international ties; and has addressed internal disorders—foremost, the traditional rule of a rich Europeanized minority over a sea of misery and suffering.

The problem came to a head a year ago in Bolivia, South America’s poorest country, where, in 2005, the indigenous majority elected a president from its own ranks, Evo Morales.

In August 2008, after Morales’ victory in a recall referendum, the opposition of U.S.-backed elites turned violent, leading to the massacre of as many as 30 government supporters.

In response, the newly-formed Union of South American Republics (UNASUR) called a summit meeting. Participants—all the countries of South America—declared “their full and firm support for the constitutional government of President Evo Morales, whose mandate was ratified by a big majority.”

“For the first time in South America’s history, the countries of our region are deciding how to resolve our problems, without the presence of the United States,” Morales observed.

Another manifestation: Ecuador’s president Rafael Correa has vowed to terminate Washington’s use of the Manta military base, the last such base open to the United States in South America.

In July, the U.S. and Colombia concluded a secret deal to permit the United States to use seven military bases in Colombia.

The official purpose is to counter narcotics trafficking and terrorism, “but senior Colombian military and civilian officials familiar with negotiations” told the Associated Press “that the idea is to make Colombia a regional hub for Pentagon operations.”

The agreement provides Colombia with privileged access to U.S. military supplies, according to reports. Colombia had already become the leading recipient of U.S. military aid (apart from Israel-Egypt, a separate category).

Colombia has had by far the worst human rights record in the hemisphere since the Central American wars of the 1980s. The correlation between U.S. aid and human rights violations has long been noted by scholarship.

The AP also cited an April 2009 document of the U.S. Air Mobility Command, which proposes that the Palanquero base in Colombia could become a “cooperative security location.”

From Palanquero, “nearly half the continent can be covered by a C-17 (military transport) without refueling,” the document states. This could form part of “a global en route strategy,” which “helps achieve the regional engagement strategy and assists with the mobility routing to Africa.”

On Aug. 28, UNASUR met in Bariloche, Argentina, to consider the U.S. military bases in Colombia.

After intense debate, the final declaration stressed that South America must be kept as “a land of peace,” and that foreign military forces must not threaten the sovereignty or integrity of any nation of the region. And it instructed the South American Defense Council to investigate the Air Mobility Command document.

The bases’ official purpose did not escape criticism. Morales said he witnessed U.S. soldiers accompanying Bolivian troops who fired at members of his coca growers union.

“So now we’re narco-terrorists,” he continued. “When they couldn’t call us communists anymore, they called us subversives, and then traffickers, and since the September 11 attacks, terrorists.” He warned that “the history of Latin America repeats itself.”

The ultimate responsibility for Latin America’s violence lies with U.S. consumers of illegal drugs, Morales said: “If UNASUR sent troops to the United States to control consumption, would they accept it? Impossible.”

That the U.S. justification for its drug programs abroad is even regarded as worthy of discussion is yet another illustration of the depth of the imperial mentality.

Last February, the Latin American Commission on Drugs and Democracy issued its analysis of the U.S. “war on drugs” in past decades.

The commission, led by former Latin American presidents Fernando Cardoso (Brazil), Ernesto Zedillo (Mexico), and Cesar Gaviria (Colombia), concluded that the drug war had been a complete failure and urged a drastic change of policy, away from forceful measures at home and abroad and toward much less costly and more effective measures — prevention and treatment.

The commission report, like earlier studies and the historical record, had no detectable impact. The non-response reinforces the natural conclusion that the “drug war”—like the “war on crime” and “the war on terror”—is pursued for reasons other than the announced goals, which are revealed by the consequences.

During the past decade, the United States has increased military aid and training of Latin American officers in light infantry tactics to combat “radical populism”—a concept that, in the Latin American context, sends shivers up the spine.

Military training is being shifted from the State Department to the Pentagon, eliminating human rights and democracy provisions formerly under congressional supervision, always weak but at least a deterrent to some of the worst abuses.

The U.S. Fourth Fleet, disbanded in 1950, was reactivated in 2008, shortly after Colombia’s invasion of Ecuador, with responsibility for the Caribbean, Central and South America, and the surrounding waters.

Its “various operations include counter-illicit trafficking, Theater Security Cooperation, military-to-military interaction and bilateral and multinational training,” the official announcement says.

Militarization of South America aligns with much broader designs. In Iraq, information is virtually nil about the fate of the huge U.S. military bases there, so they presumably remain for force projection. The cost of the immense city-with-in-a-city embassy in Baghdad is to rise to $1.8 billion a year, from an estimated $1.5 billion.

The Obama administration is also building mega-embassies in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The United States and United Kingdom are demanding that the U.S. military base in Diego Garcia be exempted from the planned African nuclear-weapons-free-zone—as U.S. bases are off-limits in similar zoning efforts in the Pacific.

In short, moves toward “a world of peace” do not fall within the “change you can believe in,” to borrow Obama’s campaign slogan.

ON THE U.S. MILITARY BASES IN COLOMBIA

Senator Jorge Robledo, Bogotá, July 11, 2009

As we now know, the government is secretly planning --without consulting the Foreign Relations Advisory Commission, Congress or particularly public opinion-- to grant concessions to the United States to use five Colombian military bases, one of the worst decisions in the country's history. Two of the bases are on the Caribbean coast (Cartagena and Barranquilla), one on the Pacific Coast (in Bahía Málaga, close to Buenaventura), another one in the middle of the country (in Palanquero, close to La Dorada) and the fifth in Apiay, on the Eastern Plains. This decision would turn Colombia into an occupied country, threaten neighboring countries and violate national sovereignty and the Constitution.

The government has presented this piece of nonsense as a relatively minor matter because, they say, the military base that Washington currently operates in Manta, Ecuador --which will be closed as ordered by the new Ecuadorian Constitution-- will not be relocated to Colombia, but rather its functions will be transferred to five installations controlled by North American troops within Colombian military bases, parts of which they will use.

It should be pointed out that among the new strategies for global domination by the biggest empire in history is the use of military bases called "lily pads", which can be relatively small because they are designed to be expanded or for troops to jump from one to the other. According to Chalmers Johnson, emeritus professor from the University of California, "Most of these new bases will be what the military, in a switch of metaphors, calls 'lily pads' to which our troops could jump like so many well-armed frogs" (http://www.deslinde.org.co/files/Es...). And in Colombia they would do it with the advantage that, in the first jump, U.S. troops could take over the Colombian military base where they are stationed.

According to Cambio, the Colombian weekly news magazine that originally broke this story (http://www.cambio.com.co/paiscambio...), the five bases will escalate the American military presence in Colombia, not just because of their number and locations. They will be used to wage the drug war and also to fight "terrorism", a term that, as is well known, Washington defines as it sees fit. And the American troops will be able to operate in other countries from these bases, and without consulting anybody. Can any reasonable person rest assured that the Pentagon will never take action from these bases, breaking agreements and going against Colombia, if imperial interests so dictate?

With calculated and false innocence, the government of Alvaro Uribe --which maintains its support for the U.S. invasion of Iraq-- presents the five military bases as American "aid" to Colombia, when in fact these will be added to the other 700 that the United States already possesses in the world, bases on which half a million men and women operate. It would be naive to ignore the fact that they exist to defend the interests of domination that underlie the decisions emanating from the White House, including those made by Barack Obama. This, as well, should be understood in the logic of the dark strategy of "perpetual war" defined by the Pentagon, the most recent American military theory for control of the world, a policy within which, and as Brazil has denounced, the United States sent the Fourth Fleet to operate in Latin American and Caribbean waters (http://www.elespectador.com/impreso... and http://www.clarin.com/diario/2008/0...).

The main reason for the official secrecy is the total unsuitability of a decision made under the influence of a foreign power, that can only bring problems to the country due to the serious violation of sovereignty and self-determination in the political, economic and social spheres and because it subjugates the nation in the worst way to the horrors of war and the interests of the superpower, pits it against neighboring countries and discredits it more in the eyes of the world's democrats. And the secrecy also has to do with the fact that these five military bases --even if they're given another name, as has been planned to confuse people-- are unconstitutional for two different reasons. The first, because the Constitution stipulates that Colombia's international relations are to be based on sovereignty and the right to self determination. And the second, because there is no law that allows bases of this type in Colombia, given that the Charter, in articles 173 and 237, only authorizes "the transit --that is, the temporary passage-- of foreign troops through the territory of the Republic", without previous Senate approval and agreement by the State Council, a step the government decided to skip.

Honduras: Shame on Canada, Coup Supporter

We share this article by Ashley Holly. It excellently outlines some of the reasons why Canada remains one of the most zealous supporters of war, the destruction of the planet, and military coups d'etat, most recently in Honduras.

We encourage you to read on, for everyday the myth of 'Canada the good' is exposed for what it is. Those of us living in Canada should be aware of the shame Canadian governments bring us, but we should also know in whose interests they act: the same as always. That's a good basis from which to decide what to do about it. We leave you to it.



http://thetyee.ca/Views/2009/07/09/ShameOnCanada/

TheTyee.ca July 9, 2009

Shame on Canada, Coup Supporter
Why have we sided with the Honduran military? Mining profits.

By Ashley Holly

For the first time in decades, the world's eyes are on Honduras, a tiny country many Canadians know for those little stickers on
exported bananas and the surplus of coffee it floods onto the global market each year. The world is less aware of the ongoing role that the Canadian government and Canadian mining companies play in pushing many Hondurans further into poverty.

Now that the world is watching, it's a good time to reveal these secrets.

On Saturday, July 4, at the impromptu meeting of the Organization of the American States, Canadian Minister of State of Foreign Affairs for the Americas Peter Kent suggested President Jose Manuel "Mel" Zelaya not return to Honduras. It's an interesting stance for Canada to assume, considering that most of the international community has condemned the coup in Honduras.

Moreover, following violent clashes between the military police and demonstrators awaiting Zelaya's return this past Sunday, Kent held Zelaya responsible for the deaths of two demonstrators by the military government.

Prior to these comments, Canada had remained relatively silent on this issue. But while most other counties have cancelled their aid to Honduras in protest of the coup, Canada has not. Why is our democracy suddenly in the business of supporting a military coup?

Capitalizing on hurricane devastation

The answer begins with Canada's reaction to the last crisis in Honduras.

In 1998, Hurricane Mitch swept through much of Central America and especially ravaged Honduras, where thousands of people were killed and millions were displaced. Already the second poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, Honduras was now struck with over $3 billion in damages, a loss of social services such as schools, hospitals and road systems. Seventy per cent of its agricultural crops were destroyed. Nothing so devastating had ever hit Honduras.

Canada was quick to respond to the cries for help following Hurricane Mitch, with a 'long-term development plan'. Canada offered $100 million over four years for reconstruction projects. These grandiose aid packages made Canada look like a savior. However, attached to this assistance was the introduction of over 40 Canadian companies to Honduras to assess opportunities for investment. This hurricane offered a strategic economic opportunity for Canadian investment in Honduras.

The Canadian government, as it officially stated this year, considers mineral extraction by Canadian mining companies one of the best ways to "create new economic opportunities in the developing world". Shortly after Hurricane Mitch weakened the Honduran state, Canada and the United States joined to establish the National Association of Metal Mining of Honduras (ANAMINH), through which they were able to rewrite the General Mining Law. This law provides foreign mining companies with lifelong concessions, tax breaks and subsurface land rights for "rational resource exploitation".

'We have lost everything'

"They crave gold like hungry swine," Uruguayan journalist Eduardo Galeano has written of multinational mining firms. I thought of those words on a recent drive through the open pit San Andres mining project, recently sold by the Canadian company Yamana Gold to another Canadian company, Aura Minerales. When I'd finished my tour, I was convinced the social, economic, environmental and health costs of open pit mining practices far outweigh the supposed benefits, and that the resource exploitation practiced by certain Canadian companies is anything but rational.

I got chills driving through the abandoned village of San Andres. What were once homes and schools had been bulldozed into mounds of crushed adobe and rock. Where ancient pine trees stood, there now were deep craters, accessible by the nicest highways I had seen in Honduras.

But a local resident at the end of one of those roads told me: "We have lost everything." The mine had displaced him from his home, and he was now without clean water to drink or fertile land to sow.

Currently, Canadian companies own 33 per cent of mineral investments in Latin America, accumulating to the ownership of over 100
properties. Export Development Canada contributes 50 per cent of Canadian Pension Plan money to mining companies, which offered upwards of $50 billion in 2003. Goldcorp alone has received nearly one billion dollars from CPP subsidies. Although EDC is responsible for regulating Canadian industry abroad, it has been accused of failing to apply regulatory standards to 24 of 26 mining projects that it has funded.

In February 2003, nearly five hundred gallons of cyanide spilled into the Rio Lara, killing 18,000 fish. The mine in San Andres uses more water in one hour than an average Honduran family uses in one year. In that same year, mining companies earned $44.4 million, while the average income per capita in Honduras in 2004 was just $1,126USD.

Zelaya's anti-mining stance: payment due

As the man at the end of the road tried to explain to me, mining is not development for people who live around these mines. He speaks for thousands of others -- a base of support aligned with the ousted President Zelaya. In 2006, Zelaya decided to cancel all future mining concessions in Honduras.

Which would appear to explain, at least in large part, why Canada stands virtually alone in the hemisphere in supporting the Honduran military's ousting of Zelaya. The Canadian government, and its friends in the mining industry, are using the coup as an opportunity to plant their feet deeper into the Honduran ground.

In his role as minister of state for foreign affairs, Peter Kent once declared that "democratic governance is a central pillar of Canada's enhanced engagement in the Americas."

Apparently, his instructions from Ottawa have been revised.

Ashley Holly is a Canadian student conducting research in Honduras.

Upcoming Vancouver Events in Support of Indigenous Communications Network in Cauca, Colombia

La Chiva (with the help of many friends) has begun a major fundraising campaign in Vancouver to support of the Tejido de Comunicación of the Association of Indigenous Councils of Northern Cauca, Colomba (http://www.nasaacin.org).

The Tejido has asked for our help in raising funds to repair the equipment for Radio Pa-Yumat, their community radio station, which was destroyed last December by unknown saboteurs, seriously hindering their ability to accompany their communities.

This and many other attacks and threats have come from all of Colombia's armed actors. The attacks are clearly in response to their community's position of non-violent resistance to war and the effectiveness of the Tejido's communications strategy in bringing that message to the national and international scene (see: http://www.nasaacin.org/noticias.htm?x=9919).

For the Nasa indigenous communicators, communication is simultaneously community accompaniment and resistance to what they call the 'death project' presented by transnational interests and the armed actors that threaten the viability of popular community-based responses, or 'life plans'.

Truth, participation and democracy derived from the communities are what social movements seek to strengthen within society. They are confronting the mass media, which engages in what might be more accurately regarded as propaganda rather than communication: the domination of the media landscape to ensure passive audiences and to halt the development of communication based on raising consciousness from social movements. Is this confrontation why the Communications Weavers are currently being singled out, persecuted, and threatened?

-- Vilma Almendra, member of the Tejido de Comunicación

As friends of the Tejido, we are mobilizing our support to show that they are not alone and that we share their vision for another possible and necessary world.

On July 1 2009, Latino Soy (FM96.1 in Vancouver) began a summer-long radio campaign to raise funds for the Tejido de Comunicación. They have been in direct contact with Radio Pa'Yumat, collecting donations, broadcasting interviews and informing Vancouver's Spanish-speaking community about the situation in Cauca and the importance of communication in popular resistance struggles in the Americas.

Please join us in Vancouver for the following events, where you can learn more about the situation in Colombia (and its relation to Canada), support the work of the Tejido, and have a good time while you're at it!

Mark your calendars!



Salsa en Minga
A salsa party in support of the indigenous Communications Network in Northern Cauca, Colombia
With genuine hard-hitting salsa music by DJ La Salsómana
FREE Salsa lesson with Ramses (8:30-9:30pm)

Saturday July 25 2009
Doors: 8pm
Venue: Cambrian Hall
Address: 215 E 17th Avenue (Main Street & 17th Ave)
Cost: $10
Snacks and locally-produced alcoholic beverages will be available.
We will also be selling copies of 'Country of the Peoples without Owners'

Tickets available at the door, or at the following locations:
Panaderia Latina Bakery: 4906 Joyce Street, Vancouver
Los Guerreros Latin Food Products: 3317 Kingsway, Vancouver
Info: 604.607.4814 or 604.338.0806
Presented by La Chiva and Grupo Atarraya. Sponsored by Latino Soy 96.1FM


Film Screening and Celebration:
Country of the Peoples without Owners
A screening of the documentary (Spanish w/ English subtitles) created by the Tejido de Comunicación about the process of the Minga de Resistencia Social y Comunitaria
This documentary has been warmly received by audiences across Colombia, up and down the West Coast of North America, in Eastern Canada and, more recently, by hundreds in New York.
With music by DJ La Salsómana

Saturday August 1 2009
7:30pm
Venue: Rhizome Cafe
Address: 317 Broadway East, Vancouver, (near Broadway and Kingsway)
Cost: $5 - $10 Sliding Scale (No one will be turned away).
Come early for dinner and drinks!
Copies of the documentary will also be for sale.

Presented by La Chiva and Grupo Atarraya with the generous support of Rhizome Cafe and Latino Soy 96.1FM.

For more information about the above events, please check out the Canada-Colombia Project blog: http://www.canadacolombiaproject.blogspot.com

Country of the Peoples without Owners

La Chiva (and friends) are winding up for a major fundraising campaign in support of the Tejido de Comunicación of the Association of Indigenous Councils of Northern Cauca (ACIN).

We'll be holding two salsa events in Vancouver and film screenings in cities across western Canada to raise awareness, support and funds for the courageous indigenous communicators.

The film we'll be showing at those events is 'Country of the Peoples Without Owners' (described below) and available (to you!) upon a donation of $20.00 or more using the button to the right.

Here's a synopsis:

Colombia will never be the same after those 61 historic days of the “Social and Community Minga,” which was initiated on October 11th 2008, and culminated in a massive rally in the Simon Bolivar Plaza in downtown Bogotá on a rainswept afternoon in late November. The protagonists and witnesses of these dramatic events were too busy making history to comprehend or anticipate the impact of their actions. From the department of Cauca, thinking people, people of the word, people of dignity rose up, united together with the “other Colombia,” to reject State policies that, through terror, subjugate the people to misery and hunger.

As was expected, the government of Colombian President Alvaro Uribe responded to this peaceful mobilization with terror, resulting in at least two deaths and 120 wounded, some severely. The people resisted the relentless attacks of the major corporate media, the tricks and the lies of Administration officials, and the machinations of the government that were activated against their dignity.

What happens when the poorest and most marginal people confront, without weapons, the most powerful regime of Latin America, sustained and backed by the economic, political, military and media powers of the United States and their transnational corporate allies? The response is apparent in the wisdom of the five-point agenda that provided the fuel for the Popular Minga. This is what the film “A Country of Peoples: Without Owners” depicts through moving and exemplary actions that provide the seeds for liberty.

This documentary is conceptualized, written, edited and produced by the Communication Team of the Association of Indigenous Councils of Northern Cauca, ACIN.

A Country of People Without Owners

Following the resistance of the indigenous population of Colombia to the repression by the U.S.-backed regime of President Alvaro Uribe.

Association of Indigenous Councils of Northern Cauca / Colombia / 2009 / 60 min / Spanish with English Subtitles

A follow-up to "We Are Raised with our Staffs of Authority in Hand," an award winning documentary about the resistance of the indigenous population of Colombia to the repression by the U.S.-backed regime of President Alvaro Uribe.

From October 12 to November 24, 2008, Colombia's popular movement, led by the country's indigenous organizations, carried out an unprecedented six-week mobilization and march to protest against the government's economic development and military/security policies, as well as the ongoing violations of the rights of indigenous people.

The Minga Popular was the beginning of a nation-wide, popular uprising designed to transform Colombian society through coordinated, non-violent mobilization.

One of the keys to the success of the 1-1/2 month mobilization was the indigenous community's strategic use of communication technology, which, combined with their traditional communication practices of grassroots assemblies and public consultations, was able to construct an alternative (people's) narrative about their broader struggle to the Colombian people.

The heart of this work was carried out on the community station Radio Payumat, the voice of the indigenous people of Northern Cauca. However, since December 13th, the station has been off the air after an act of ruthless sabotage severely damaged its transmitter, a deliberate attempt to silence the indigenous movement.

To receive a copy of this documentary, donate $20.00 or more (via the button on the right) to our campaign in support of the Communications Weaving (Tejido de Communicación) of the ACIN.

All donations/proceeds collected will be used to help get ACIN’s community radio station Radio Payumat, back on the air after it was sabotaged in late December 2008.