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.
July 28, 2009
July 13, 2009
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.
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/
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.
July 8, 2009
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/
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.
June 27, 2009
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:
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.
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.
June 24, 2009
I WILL NOT BE SILENCED!
Jorge Enrique Robledo
Senator of the Polo Democrático Alternativo, Colombia
Mingas-FTA
The Prosecutor General of Colombia , Alejandro Ordóñez, has decided to conduct a preliminary investigation against me "for alleged ties with illegal groups". The reason? His office received a request from the National Police because, according to them, my name appears in the computer of slain guerrilla leader Raul Reyes, a computer that's been in the hands of the government for 15 months!
With a completely clear conscience I will respond to any accusations made against me. At the same time, I emphatically reject, with outrage, what my personal convictions lead me to believe is a sinister conspiracy against me by the government of Alvaro Uribe Velez -- a government in which high-ranking officials in the Executive branch, directors of the Administrative Department of Security and drug traffickers have gone so far as to plot against the Colombian Supreme Court.
My almost three decades as a full time professor at the National University of Colombia and forty years of public service allow anyone who wishes, to verify that I have been absolutely faithful to the principles of MOIR, an organization that has always rejected armed struggle and kidnapping. And it's well known that I would not have joined the Polo Democrático Alternativo if they had not written these principles of nonviolence into their program. Anyone who would say otherwise is a shameless liar.
It's obvious that they are attacking me because of my uncompromising opposition to the economic, political and social policies of the Uribe regime, as well as my criticism of his subservience to the dictates of the White House, of policies that leave Colombians unemployed and hungry, of the surrender of our natural resources and privatizations, of the destruction of our agricultural sector, of the presidential cover up to protect pro-Uribe Congress members and government officials who have ties with the death squads, of the immorality of the Justice Minister, of the shady and illegal business dealings of the president's sons and of his plan to impose a tyranny (by changing the Constitution to allow himself to run for a third term).
It's not a coincidence that this slanderous accusation, aimed at discrediting me, is launched as Alvaro Uribe struggles to get a Free Trade Agreement passed in Canada, a country where a version of my denunciation of the shady business dealings of the president's sons is circulating and in whose parliament I explained a short time ago, to the international trade commission, why the FTA agreement should not be ratified.
How proud I feel for not having supported the appointment of the current Prosecutor General of Colombia.
As the true nature of Uribe's government is increasingly exposed both within Colombia and abroad, Uribe and his supporters are obviously becoming more and more desperate. So it's not surprising that they are stepping up their attacks on the Polo Democrático Alternativo and trying to silence our party's leaders and, along with them, all the other groups and individuals who are resisting.
President Alvaro Uribe Velez should understand one thing: that this senator, who with dedication and integrity is committed to defending our national dignity and true democracy, will not be silenced by the threat of his attacks. And I am convinced that those who, from other political positions, are also opposed to this disgraceful regime, will not be silenced either.
Bogotá, June 11, 2009
Senator of the Polo Democrático Alternativo, Colombia
Mingas-FTA
The Prosecutor General of Colombia , Alejandro Ordóñez, has decided to conduct a preliminary investigation against me "for alleged ties with illegal groups". The reason? His office received a request from the National Police because, according to them, my name appears in the computer of slain guerrilla leader Raul Reyes, a computer that's been in the hands of the government for 15 months!
With a completely clear conscience I will respond to any accusations made against me. At the same time, I emphatically reject, with outrage, what my personal convictions lead me to believe is a sinister conspiracy against me by the government of Alvaro Uribe Velez -- a government in which high-ranking officials in the Executive branch, directors of the Administrative Department of Security and drug traffickers have gone so far as to plot against the Colombian Supreme Court.
My almost three decades as a full time professor at the National University of Colombia and forty years of public service allow anyone who wishes, to verify that I have been absolutely faithful to the principles of MOIR, an organization that has always rejected armed struggle and kidnapping. And it's well known that I would not have joined the Polo Democrático Alternativo if they had not written these principles of nonviolence into their program. Anyone who would say otherwise is a shameless liar.
It's obvious that they are attacking me because of my uncompromising opposition to the economic, political and social policies of the Uribe regime, as well as my criticism of his subservience to the dictates of the White House, of policies that leave Colombians unemployed and hungry, of the surrender of our natural resources and privatizations, of the destruction of our agricultural sector, of the presidential cover up to protect pro-Uribe Congress members and government officials who have ties with the death squads, of the immorality of the Justice Minister, of the shady and illegal business dealings of the president's sons and of his plan to impose a tyranny (by changing the Constitution to allow himself to run for a third term).
It's not a coincidence that this slanderous accusation, aimed at discrediting me, is launched as Alvaro Uribe struggles to get a Free Trade Agreement passed in Canada, a country where a version of my denunciation of the shady business dealings of the president's sons is circulating and in whose parliament I explained a short time ago, to the international trade commission, why the FTA agreement should not be ratified.
How proud I feel for not having supported the appointment of the current Prosecutor General of Colombia.
As the true nature of Uribe's government is increasingly exposed both within Colombia and abroad, Uribe and his supporters are obviously becoming more and more desperate. So it's not surprising that they are stepping up their attacks on the Polo Democrático Alternativo and trying to silence our party's leaders and, along with them, all the other groups and individuals who are resisting.
President Alvaro Uribe Velez should understand one thing: that this senator, who with dedication and integrity is committed to defending our national dignity and true democracy, will not be silenced by the threat of his attacks. And I am convinced that those who, from other political positions, are also opposed to this disgraceful regime, will not be silenced either.
Bogotá, June 11, 2009
Calling for an Anti-Protectionist Strategy to Go with Rhetoric
By Michelle Collins
June 17, 2009
Embassy Magazine
MONTREAL—Gone was the talk of promoting human rights, providing opportunities for prosperity and, as a result, the strengthening of democracy and stability in a wartorn land. Instead, during a press conference with visiting Colombian President Alvaro Uribe in Ottawa last week, Prime Minister Stephen Harper took a different tack in spelling out why Parliament needed to pass the Canada-Colombia free trade agreement.
"I call on Parliament to pass this free trade agreement and send a clear message from Canada against protectionism," Mr. Harper said as his Latin American counterpart looked on. "It is the right thing to do for Canada, to do for Colombia and the right thing to do for the global economy."
Protectionism has quickly become the negative buzzword of the financial crisis, especially, it seems, in Canada. Exactly how big a threat protectionist policies are for a recovery depends on who one asks, but most agree that Canada's best defence is to have a good offence, including a real plan of action, which—rhetoric aside—has been largely absent.
With so much unknown when it comes to the current crisis, most experts refer back to the Great Depression of the 1930s to point out how protectionist policies implemented by great powers such as the United States and Great Britain exacerbated the tough times.
Though hesitant to say the world, and the United States in particular, has again followed such a path, experts say the edge of the cliff is not far off.
At the Economic Forum of the Americas in Montreal last week—a small-scale model of the Davos conference usually dominated by grand talk of growing economies and burgeoning markets in the developing world—great minds gathered to comment on the current state of affairs, and make cautious predictions for the future.
World Bank President Robert Zoellick avoided panic by describing the rate of protectionism he's seen as only a "low-grade fever" for now. Former U.S. secretary of state Madeleine Albright, however, was more pessimistic in her assessment and warned that protectionism could lead to "an economic Armageddon."
In Montreal, the protectionism theme carried the conference, with most agreeing that nothing good could come of it. Luis Alberto Moreno, president of the Inter-American Bank of the Americas, followed the view that much of Latin America's wealth depends a great deal on the success of free trade agreements there, declaring that Latin American countries will "trade their way out of the recession."
Meanwhile, Canadian Trade Minister Stockwell Day has also been warning against protectionist activity in every speech he makes.
"When protectionist walls get built up, economies come down," Mr. Day declared in Montreal. "We are sending out a signal, first of all, for our own interest, because we believe this will advance our interests, but also as a signal to the rest of the global community that we do profoundly believe one of the ways to move through this time of downturn is to open up these doors."
But as the world economy has become increasingly integrated and complex, closing a nation's "doors" to trade has become just one method of protectionism.
"Protectionism can take many forms," said Danielle Goldfarb, associate director of the International Trade and Investment Centre at the Conference Board of Canada. "We're even seeing that it's difficult to separate the actual protectionist action versus protectionist rhetoric, and there's a range of things that one could use that could protect domestic industry from outside competition."
Indeed, Canada is already feeling the impact of these various forms of protectionism taking hold in the U.S., said Jayson Myers, president of the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters Association.
The "Buy American" provisions slipped into America's massive stimulus bill has become but one hurdle for Canadian businesses to jump, Mr. Myers said, warning that such local-content requirements will show up in even more U.S. legislation.
"Governments have become more creative, so they've created other barriers to trade in goods, services and investment often now in the forms of policies like Buy American, buy local," said Debra Steger, a law professor at the University of Ottawa. "Sometimes product standards, even other standards on goods, can be a barrier to trade if the standard is applied differently to domestic production than to other countries. [Protectionism] has been around for a long time; I guess what has changed is the form it takes."
Exactly what the Canadian government is doing to make up for the effects of protectionism has also become somewhat tricky to follow, experts say. While the government's outspoken interest in quickly finalizing trade agreements with countries such as Colombia is not without economic merit, the experts agree that Canada's time and energy is better spent resolving problems with the U.S.
"I think those are less important, quite frankly," Ms. Steger said of the trade agreements Canada is pursuing in Latin America. "We're not doing those so much for trade as we are for political reasons. If you take a purely trade and economic perspective in terms of what's in it for us and our own economy, our own economic well-being, I would say focus on eliminating the problems with the U.S. relationship and get down to negotiating this big bold agreement with the EU."
Most encouraging up till now, say experts, is that Canada's provinces have signalled they are interested in opening their public procurement tenders to foreign investors, particularly the U.S., but they urge the federal government to more aggressively pick up the lead.
"I think we need a strategy here, we need a very clear strategy with the provinces on board, one that goes beyond the short-term," Mr. Myers said. "What's our strategy to keep our markets open? That's going to require a lot of political courage as well as support from the provinces."
The Federation of Canadian Municipalities recently passed its own resolution on local-content requirements, but experts say that such retaliatory protectionist measures will do more harm than good, suggesting a more comprehensive plan needs to be formed.
"It seems like there's some defensive actions taking place. What works better is to be more pro-active and put in a better framework, not just fighting every protectionist action taken," Ms. Goldfarb said.
June 17, 2009
Embassy Magazine
MONTREAL—Gone was the talk of promoting human rights, providing opportunities for prosperity and, as a result, the strengthening of democracy and stability in a wartorn land. Instead, during a press conference with visiting Colombian President Alvaro Uribe in Ottawa last week, Prime Minister Stephen Harper took a different tack in spelling out why Parliament needed to pass the Canada-Colombia free trade agreement.
"I call on Parliament to pass this free trade agreement and send a clear message from Canada against protectionism," Mr. Harper said as his Latin American counterpart looked on. "It is the right thing to do for Canada, to do for Colombia and the right thing to do for the global economy."
Protectionism has quickly become the negative buzzword of the financial crisis, especially, it seems, in Canada. Exactly how big a threat protectionist policies are for a recovery depends on who one asks, but most agree that Canada's best defence is to have a good offence, including a real plan of action, which—rhetoric aside—has been largely absent.
With so much unknown when it comes to the current crisis, most experts refer back to the Great Depression of the 1930s to point out how protectionist policies implemented by great powers such as the United States and Great Britain exacerbated the tough times.
Though hesitant to say the world, and the United States in particular, has again followed such a path, experts say the edge of the cliff is not far off.
At the Economic Forum of the Americas in Montreal last week—a small-scale model of the Davos conference usually dominated by grand talk of growing economies and burgeoning markets in the developing world—great minds gathered to comment on the current state of affairs, and make cautious predictions for the future.
World Bank President Robert Zoellick avoided panic by describing the rate of protectionism he's seen as only a "low-grade fever" for now. Former U.S. secretary of state Madeleine Albright, however, was more pessimistic in her assessment and warned that protectionism could lead to "an economic Armageddon."
In Montreal, the protectionism theme carried the conference, with most agreeing that nothing good could come of it. Luis Alberto Moreno, president of the Inter-American Bank of the Americas, followed the view that much of Latin America's wealth depends a great deal on the success of free trade agreements there, declaring that Latin American countries will "trade their way out of the recession."
Meanwhile, Canadian Trade Minister Stockwell Day has also been warning against protectionist activity in every speech he makes.
"When protectionist walls get built up, economies come down," Mr. Day declared in Montreal. "We are sending out a signal, first of all, for our own interest, because we believe this will advance our interests, but also as a signal to the rest of the global community that we do profoundly believe one of the ways to move through this time of downturn is to open up these doors."
But as the world economy has become increasingly integrated and complex, closing a nation's "doors" to trade has become just one method of protectionism.
"Protectionism can take many forms," said Danielle Goldfarb, associate director of the International Trade and Investment Centre at the Conference Board of Canada. "We're even seeing that it's difficult to separate the actual protectionist action versus protectionist rhetoric, and there's a range of things that one could use that could protect domestic industry from outside competition."
Indeed, Canada is already feeling the impact of these various forms of protectionism taking hold in the U.S., said Jayson Myers, president of the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters Association.
The "Buy American" provisions slipped into America's massive stimulus bill has become but one hurdle for Canadian businesses to jump, Mr. Myers said, warning that such local-content requirements will show up in even more U.S. legislation.
"Governments have become more creative, so they've created other barriers to trade in goods, services and investment often now in the forms of policies like Buy American, buy local," said Debra Steger, a law professor at the University of Ottawa. "Sometimes product standards, even other standards on goods, can be a barrier to trade if the standard is applied differently to domestic production than to other countries. [Protectionism] has been around for a long time; I guess what has changed is the form it takes."
Exactly what the Canadian government is doing to make up for the effects of protectionism has also become somewhat tricky to follow, experts say. While the government's outspoken interest in quickly finalizing trade agreements with countries such as Colombia is not without economic merit, the experts agree that Canada's time and energy is better spent resolving problems with the U.S.
"I think those are less important, quite frankly," Ms. Steger said of the trade agreements Canada is pursuing in Latin America. "We're not doing those so much for trade as we are for political reasons. If you take a purely trade and economic perspective in terms of what's in it for us and our own economy, our own economic well-being, I would say focus on eliminating the problems with the U.S. relationship and get down to negotiating this big bold agreement with the EU."
Most encouraging up till now, say experts, is that Canada's provinces have signalled they are interested in opening their public procurement tenders to foreign investors, particularly the U.S., but they urge the federal government to more aggressively pick up the lead.
"I think we need a strategy here, we need a very clear strategy with the provinces on board, one that goes beyond the short-term," Mr. Myers said. "What's our strategy to keep our markets open? That's going to require a lot of political courage as well as support from the provinces."
The Federation of Canadian Municipalities recently passed its own resolution on local-content requirements, but experts say that such retaliatory protectionist measures will do more harm than good, suggesting a more comprehensive plan needs to be formed.
"It seems like there's some defensive actions taking place. What works better is to be more pro-active and put in a better framework, not just fighting every protectionist action taken," Ms. Goldfarb said.
June 17, 2009
Life and Dignity Ceremony
On June 2, 2009, we published a note that was a call for ceremonies to stop the Canada-Colombia FTA. It was initiated by several friends of ours in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, where a group of students has engaged with this struggle and the process of weaving solidarity among the peoples in minga -- a minga of the peoples without owners. While much of the efforts of civil society groups and organizations opposing this agreement has focused on the parliamentary/institutional arena, and there is no doubt that this is an important focal point in stopping these FTAs, it is equally important to recognize the other ways in which these death projects can be, and often are, confronted.
On June 10, 2009, a criminal from Colombia came to meet with his fellow criminals in Canada. The governments representing no one but the interests of transnationals, the agents of the death project, met amidst smiles, handshakes and what must have been countless conversations behind closed doors. The time taken to address the public was used to repeat and discuss baseless claims aimed at stigmatizing those of us who still believe in the defense of life... all life.
But in 5 places across Colombia, in Sault Ste. Marie, and in the hearts of those of us who journey with friends and companions we may not have even met (yet), another incredibly special encounter was taking place. With coca and tobacco, the condor and the eagle came together, transforming pain into the joining of spirits in common struggle.
We leave you with a message from our friends in Sault Ste. Marie, a report on the ceremony which speaks for itself.
La Chiva
- -
Hello La Chiva friends,
We had about 35 people attend the ceremony on campus. This may sound like few, but our campus is very tiny, and everyone is gone for the summer, and there was another event going on that day too. So we were quite thrilled with the turnout.
The ceremony was extra special because the woman that was originally scheduled to conduct the ceremony was unable to attend at the last minute.... so a friend of ours conducted the ceremony for us. This friend missed his flight that morning, and we figure this was why.. he was meant to be with us on this day. At the ceremony I spoke about Peru, and the CCFTA and what it would mean if it was ratified. A friend reminded us all, that this is not just a Canada-Colombia problem, and it's not just an indigenous problem... but a world problem. Whatever we do, effects everyone else.
The ceremony was extra special because the woman that was originally scheduled to conduct the ceremony was unable to attend at the last minute.... so a friend of ours conducted the ceremony for us. This friend missed his flight that morning, and we figure this was why.. he was meant to be with us on this day. At the ceremony I spoke about Peru, and the CCFTA and what it would mean if it was ratified. A friend reminded us all, that this is not just a Canada-Colombia problem, and it's not just an indigenous problem... but a world problem. Whatever we do, effects everyone else.
During the sacred fire ceremony we put down tobacco in the fire, and asked the Eagle to take our prayers to the Creator, remembering that in Colombia at that exact moment, they were putting down their coca and asking the Condor to take their prayers to the Creator.... a spiritual minga... our spirits and ancestors joined for a common goal.
After the sacred fire we conducted another ceremony at a historic site on the ShingwaukKinoomage Gamig campus; the site of the residential school. Our posters for the ceremony had a tree with no leaves. At this ceremony we planted three lilac trees, representing Canada, Colombia and the US; the 3 countries that were called to ceremony. It was a community event with many generations in attendance. The water that we had with us at the sacred fire ceremony was used to water the seedlings as they were planted. During the ceremony the people were each given a fabric 'leaf' to put their thoughts of solidarity into. After the trees were planted, people were encouraged to write those thoughts onto their 'leaf'. These leaves were then tied onto string that connected all the trees together.
We now have a lasting, and beautiful, reminder of this ceremony, this struggle, this spiritual minga.
It is also our hope that these trees with their messages of solidarity, generate curiosity and bring greater attention to the work that needs to be done.
After the ceremonies were complete we gathered in the Anishinaabek students lounge and shared a feast.
The local newspaper, the Sault Star was on hand. The caption read: "A.N. digs a hole for one of three lilac trees planted Wednesday on Algoma University grounds, while M.B. 5, walks past one of several symbolic flags tied to a string as part of an International Day of Ceremony held by Fair Trade Algoma. The event coincided with meetings in Canada between Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, who is promoting a free trade deal between the countries which was signed in the fall, but not yet ratified. Ceremonies, called for by the local fair trade group, were held across Canada, Colombia and the US in solidarity with Colombia's indigenous people."
Miigwech.
J, R, S, E, A, & S
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