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

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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

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

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.

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.

South Bolivar Community Leader Assassinated

The following was circulated by Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) on 23 April, 2009. We join in this condemnation of violence and aggression against FEDEAGROMISBOL and social organizations in Colombia.
La Chiva.

The undersigned organizations wrote the following release in response to the assassination of EDGAR MARTINEZ RUIZ on Wednesday, April 22, 2009, in what is clearly yet another attempt to undermine local initiatives for peace and justice in the Middle Magdalena area. Mr. Martinez was a member of the Southern Bolivar Agricultural-Mining Federation, which CPT has accompanied for more than 3 years.

No more Victims in the Region

Statement to general public

Today at 10 AM in a place known as “Four” about 2 km from the urban center of San Pablo, Bolívar, hit-men assassinated 36-year-old community leader EDGAR MARTINEZ RUIZ, shooting him five times in the head and killing him instantly. EDGAR is one more on a long list of assassination victims of the south Bolívar region. [Authorities] have made no effort to control these actions that threaten peoples’ lives in the region.

EDGAR MARTINEZ RUIZ was an esteemed leader dedicated to the rights of the communities. Therefore he was attentive to forums and events which provided opportunities to defend the rights of rural and urban campesinos of south Bolívar and to draw attention to violations of domestic and International Human Rights. HE WAS AN AUTHENTIC HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDER.

He was recognized as a leader that participated in various organizations and initiatives in the area, including: representative of the “El Retorno” Community Action Council, spokesperson for the Communities in the San Pablo Social Transformation Roundtable, president of the Association of the Integration of Agro-mining Communities of South Bolívar, and member of the Southern Bolívar Commission for Dialogue with the Government and Southern Bolívar Roundtable for Dialogue. In these he had the opportunity to confront State and national government institutions, not only about regional needs and problems, but also proposals for campesino development and protection of the civilian population. He was currently participating actively in the planning stage of a civil exercise of a process for Municipal Administration Accountability.

The campesino communities, social organizations, and community in general CONDEMN this assassination and all the violence that causes so much grief for civil society in San Pablo and the region. [We] DEMAND that these acts be investigated, brought to trial, and punished; TO GUARANTEE HUMAN RIGHTS, END IMPUNITY.

WE CALL ON all people in solidarity regionally, nationally, and internationally to DEMAND that the National Government take appropriate measures to GUARANTEE the protection of the Life and Fundamental Rights of the civil population.

San Pablo, Bolívar, April 22, 2009

WRITTEN AND SIGNED BY:

Holistic Development Zone
Southern Bolívar Association of Farmers’ and Miners’ Communities
Association of Community Action Councils
Association of Farmers and Miners of South Southern Bolívar
Association of Community Stores
Program for Development and Peace in the Middle Magdalena (PDPMM)
Women’s Popular Organization (OFP)
Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT)

Marmato Abandoned by Big Canadian Gold

Greetings,

The following article by Senator Jorge Enrique Robledo, translated by dear friends of La Chiva, describes the consequence of Canadian mining investment in Colombia (though it could be of any nationality, in any other country). Colombia Goldfields, a Canadian junior company operating under its Colombian subsidiary Mineras de Caldas, has for the past several years threatened to destroy an historic community of small miners through large-scale extraction. The threats, which were as real as ever up until the fall of last year, have been put on hold. Perhaps because of the decline in the price of gold and the decreasing profitability in speculation during a time of global financial meltdown, the company has left. What they have left behind, they don't seem too concerned about. Senator Robledo's words can speak to that.

To provide some background and a re-cap of this case, we provide the following links:
Marmato article: http://canadacolombiaproject.blogspot.com/2008/06/canadian-corporation-mining-misery-in.html
Video segment produced by the CBC, which aired in 2008: http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=iVWAVJL1KM8

Now that the company has left, will Marmatenos be displaced 'for their own good', as the Colombian government and Colombia Goldfields had advocated?

Seguimos pendientes...
La Chiva

Big gold mining interests are destroying Marmato

Jorge Enrique Robledo, Bogotá, January 16, 2009

On November 13, at the time when the Mining Company of Caldas owed salaries and benefits to its workers, a number of trucks arrived at the facilities owned by the Canadian transnational Colombia Goldfields to haul off to Medellín the "calculating equipment, furniture, implements, materials and the rest". The reason? To sell them to the highest bidder to pay off --according to the company-- their labor and commercial debts. In the following days they abandoned their operations in Marmato and fired the last of 200 workers, without honoring their commitment to pay on December 10 many of these workers for services rendered.

Colombia Goldfields' decision to walk away from their operations in Marmato for an indefinite period, until whenever the owners feel like returning, also left a trail of debts among small businesses. According to the mayor, "they left, they say they're going to pay, but that's what every indebted person says. They don't have economic viability and they generated a social mess" (La Patria, October 7, 2008). The "social mess" the mayor is referring to also has to do with the fact that in the last two years the transnational has acquired and closed down 144 small gold mines (out of 250), where hundreds of jobs were lost, and has to do with the fact that they had bought and destroyed, with the resulting damage to production and work, a number of mills in which the small producers processed the material extracted from the mines.

The Canadian mining company, therefore, did considerable damage by entering and then leaving Marmato, and in neither occasion did either the Minister of Mining or the Minister of Social Protection nor the government of Caldas attempt to stop what was happening. They did even less to protect the future of Marmateños, for whom gold mining has been the primary source of income for centuries and who today have to "scrape together" a living for their families migrating to other regions or working the mines abandoned by the company, but with the considerable technical limitations inherent in the poverty of the miners called "guacheros," which forces them to mine under great risk to their personal safety.

In addition to the big losses to Marmato caused by allowing Colombia Goldfields the unprecedented license to purchase the mines in order to close them down and to buy the mills in order to destroy them, and then leaving without prior notice, the municipality was also left without the gold royalties that the small miners previously paid. And to top off it's shady dealings with the transnational, the government even allowed Goldfields to convert the mining contracts they acquired back into exploration contracts, for which they did not pay royalties for two years, and time and again the government provided them with the "suspension of terms" measure, so that the company doesn't have to mine its holdings, but these cannot be returned to the nation for others to mine them either.

It shouldn't surprise anyone that the authorities act in this way, because they also did not say anything when Colombia Goldfields carried out a campaign of terror by pressuring the Marmateños to sell their mines at a cheap price, using the pretext that the mountain was going to collapse on top of them and that the company, "with the support of the government", had the power to destroy the historical center of the town and set up an enormous open pit gold mining operation, the kind that has the worst environmental impact and whose license was never processed. And it was shameful that a number of Caldas governments used their public funds --very limited of course-- to help transfer the urban zone of Marmato to El Llano, moving the people into urban and housing conditions of extremely poor quality so that costs of the project could be reduced for the company, which has stated that "the total cost (of displacement) could be around 20 million dollars, with the possibility of sharing this cost with the (national) government".

Once again one of the truths that is most well hidden by neoliberal governments, such as the one suffered by Colombia, is confirmed: that while national interests can coincide with foreign ones, with benefits for each side, they can also be contradictory and even conflicting, and that to deny this fundamental truth, as governments in effect do, inevitably causes great damage to the country, because those who supposedly represent the nation act under the fallacious reasoning that what's good for transnational capital is good for Colombia.

Jorge Enrique Robledo is a Colombian Senator with the opposition Polo Democratico Alternativo (PDA). He has been a fierce defender of Marmato.

Colombia Review: INDIGENOUS UPRISING!

Colombia Review is a compilation of news articles, communiques and audio and video materials (in English and Spanish) that we circulate on our email list. They are a means for synthesizing the huge amount of material we receive on the issues we work on and a way to keep people informed without jamming up their inboxes. We usually mail these out every week or two, but it all depends on the situation... sometimes more, sometimes less.

If you would like to receive future editions of Colombia Review in your email inbox, please send an email to La Chiva:

lachivacollective@gmail.com

Saludos,
La Chiva

Colombia Review is a project of Pueblos en Camino and La Chiva

October 4 - 13

In this special edition of Colombia Review, we turn to Cauca, Colombia, where indigenous peoples have been mobilizing over the past several days (517 years really) in commemoration of the dawn of Spanish colonialism in the Americas, a colonialism that has changed bosses but never really subsided. Their resistance to the neoliberal project (most explicitly represented by Plan Colombia I and II, Plan Puebla Panama, the IIRSA, and a number of other local, national and transnational projects, all of accumulation and death) and in defense of their Life Plans as well as those of the rest of Colombia's popular and social movements. Readers will have paid close attention to the struggle of the sugarcane workers (the corteros), which is still on-going and in serious need of outside support and people pressuring the states responsible for the terror they are courageously facing head-on. As we watch the struggle of the corteros and express our solidarity with them from outside, the indigenous of Cauca have stood beside the corteros at every step, just as the corteros have supported the indigenous 'liberation of Mother Earth'.

Still, the situation is intensifying in Cauca. In the last 10 days, no less than 13 indigenous have been murdered, this following the threat from the 'Angry Peasants of Cauca' received by the indigenous movement in Cauca on the 5th of August, 2008. Much of the violence is attributed to the paramilitary group the 'Aguilas Negras', a reincarnation (or extension) of the supposedly demobilized right-wing death squads that have hunted down trade unionists, social movement leaders, and the Uribe regimes opposition over the past few years: those same death squads that have taken up their posts in the Colombian state and negotiate free trade agreements with their allies in the North and impose mining codes and displacement for transnational capital.

In spite of the violence and dire situation, the indigenous and popular movements of Cauca in particular have not let up. Their resolve against the free trade agreements and violence in their territories is not only an inspiration but also a message to those of us outside Colombia that we, too, must stand on the side of civil resistance not only in Colombia but in our own communities. The Colombia model is being countered amidst the most difficult of situations. That same model of armed robbery exists in decidedly different forms in places like Canada, the US and Europe; that model is the same and must also be exposed, confronted and challenged at every step. THAT is perhaps the best kind of solidarity we can express.

Find below several articles (most on which have been translated by the formidable Mario Murillo) on the mobilizations in Cauca as well as a video produced by the Communications Network of the Association of Indigenous Councils of Northern Colombia (ACIN) (in English and Spanish). For readers of Spanish, there are some communiques coming directly from the ACIN.

In solidarity,
La Chiva

Articles

Dirty War of Terror Being Waged Against Indigenous Movement in Colombia
Come from where they may, these assassins' bullets represent a war against the people. Come from where it may, this plan of death benefits those who would have us silenced and displaced! They should leave now, those who bring war, those who use arms against the people, those who use death to feed their avarice. Leave us in peace!
By Association of Indigenous Councils of Northern Cauca (ACIN), Translated by Mario Murillo,13 October 2008

Indigenous Communities Throughout Colombia Begin Mobilization Amidst Government Imposed State of "Internal Commotion"
Today we mark 517 years of resistance against an uninterrupted aggression. The Neo-liberal conquest, more cruel and technologically developed than the one that started with the European invasion, advances with its insatiable appetite of accumulation.
By ACIN, Translated by Mario Murillo, 12 October 2008

Indigenous Communities in Colombia Mobilize to Protest U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement, Plan Colombia and the Policies of the Bush-Backed Uribe Government
Today, four years after the First Itinerant Congress of the Peoples, we, the indigenous communities of northern Cauca, reiterate its message and validity and continue through the path we walked back then, a march that was weaved through centuries of memory and resistance… Today we mobilize, as millions of others mobilize throughout the Americas, demanding dignity, justice, liberty and a respect for life.
By ACIN, Translated by Mario Murillo, 9 October 2008

Manuel Quintin Lame: 41 Years After his Death, his Legacy Remains Strong
"My position is to defend through legal means the indigenous territories…my labor I conduct with a grand public spirit…and my voice, tomorrow, will have a different tone, for it will be the voice of the silent lightning that scratches the darkened night sky over the western horizon." – Manuel Quintin Lame
By Mario Murillo, MAMARadio, 6 October 2008

A Call For Solidarity with the Social Movements of Colombia on this 516th Anniversary of the European Invasion
Once again approaching the anniversary of the invasion initiated by Christopher Columbus which is continually mistaken in great offense as the discovery of the continent that today we call America, we bees, compañeras ants and other animals and plants of Abya Yala (South America) have concluded with buzzing from a continual Minga of thought.
By The Beehive Collective, 5 October 2008

Community, Indigenous and Worker Alternatives to Transnational Mining
…[The recent Bogotá Declaration focuses on] combating impunity of transnational corporations, the need for strong environmental and human right protections toward the aim of good living for all, as well as opposition to the whims of sumptuary consumerism of metals and metal products.
By Jennifer Moore, UpsideDownWorld.org, 8 October 2008

Video

Plan Integral de Agresión en el Cauca / Integral Plan of Agression in Cauca, Colombia
The Nasa people of Northern Cauca in South Western Colombia, have become a symbol of resistance and an example of dignity. This documentary explains the occupation strategy being advanced through "Plan Colombia Phase II" on behalf of corporate and geo-strategic transnatonal interests. The exceptional effort of the Nasa people is at risk of elimination for the sake of profit. The documentary was entirely scripted and produced by our indigenous communications network and by our communities in resistance for life and dignity.
En español http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_a7TwMVB8_s
In English http://mx.youtube.com/watch?v=XBhpfdQ2Rng

Contenido en español

¡La conmoción de los pueblos!
Información en español sobre la Gran Minga de Resistencia Social y Comunitaria desde en Cauca, Colombia. Cada día, se encuentra aquí más información a través del Tejido de Comunicación y Relaciones Externas para la Verdad y la Vida, de la ACIN.
Por ACIN-Cauca

Nos encadenamos para alcanzar la Libertad
Lo más difícil de la lucha contra la esclavitud y la tiranía es reconocer que existen. Cuando los pueblos nos sabemos esclavos, las cadenas estorban y desde ese momento, la Libertad se hace indispensable, impostergable, tan necesaria como el aire para respirar. No vale la pena la vida sin Libertad…. Hoy, segundo día de la Minga desde el Cauca hacemos un llamado: a partir de mañana, hagamos visibles las cadenas para quitarnoslas de encima.
Por ACIN-Cauca, 13 de octubre 2008

Por que decidimos marchar a Cali

Anonymous,
La María, Piendamó, Cauca, octubre 21 de 2008

La Minga de Resistencia Social y Comunitaria decidió marchar de La María (Piendamó-Cauca) hacia la ciudad de Cali. En ningún momento se pensó ir a Popayán, capital del departamento. Esa decisión tiene razones de gran peso político.

La Minga tiene conciencia de que hoy ya no enfrentamos a la vieja clase terrateniente de Popayán. A ella la derrotamos en los años 80 del siglo pasado (s. XX) cuando empezamos a recuperar, de hecho, nuestro territorio.

La Minga sabe que hoy desafiamos a una clase terrateniente de carácter capitalista, oligopólica, globalizada, representada por los dueños de los ingenios azucareros.

"(…) hoy Ardila Lülle, quien se precia de ser "el productor individual de azúcar más grande del mundo", controla más del 33 por ciento de la producción y el mercado (Silva 2004, p.p. 208-218). Es propietario del Ingenio Cauca, tiene el 52% de Providencia y por lo menos el 35% del ingenio Risaralda, fundado en 1979 con inversión de la Federación de Cafeteros, el estado y la Corporación Financiera de Occidente dominada por el Citibank."[1]

Cali representa el poder de esa clase, que además de ser económicamente poderosa es profundamente antidemocrática, reaccionaria, racista y sobre-explotadora. Su poder está manchado de sangre, especialmente la violencia de los años 50. Consolidaron su poderío territorial (240.000 has cultivadas con caña de azúcar) que les permite producir además de azúcar, etanol, energía eléctrica (utilizando el bagazo) y otra gran cantidad de productos derivados.

Hoy, ellos son los que pretenden desalojarnos de nuestro territorio. Nos quieren convertir en jornaleros y esclavos del gran capital. Les estorbamos. Somos "mal ejemplo".

La Minga tiene absolutamente claro que Cali representa ese poderío económico construido con base en el engaño y la mentira. Muchas trampas utilizaron para robarles las tierras a los campesinos negros que fueron los que domesticaron las "vegas" de los ríos Palo, Desbaratado, Paila, Cauca y demás ríos que recorren y alimentan con agua la región.

La Minga sabe que hoy en día los vestigios de la vieja clase terrateniente que hoy vive en Popayán es un apéndice insignificante de la burguesía agro-exportadora del Valle del Cauca. La rancia estirpe payanesa desde los años 80, echó a un lado sus sueños y prejuicios aristocráticos, y vendió su alma al diablo (gran capital).

Todas las decisiones importantes para el Cauca en las últimas tres décadas han sido tomadas en Cali: construcción de la represa de la Salvajina sobre el río Cauca que después en 1995 fue entregada al gran capital internacional (Unión Fenosa) cuando se creó la Empresa de Energía del Pacífico EPSA; la aprobación de la Ley Páez, que se justificó para beneficiar a los pueblos indios afectados por la avalancha del río de ese mismo nombre, y que realmente sólo le ha servido a los empresarios vallecaucanos y empresas transnacionales para construir un gran emporio de riqueza en los municipios de Guachené, Santander de Quilichao, Villarrica y Puerto Tejada.

Ya están construidos grandes anillos viales en el norte del Cauca y el sur del Valle, se tiene proyectado el tren de "cercanías", en alianza con la Anglo Gold Ashanti (Kedahda) y otras empresas mineras están detrás del oro que queda en los municipios de Suárez, Buenos Aires, El Tambo, Tierradentro y el Macizo colombiano. Su mirada avariciosa está sobre los lechos de carbón que van desde Jamundí hasta el Patía en la cordillera occidental. Y, en contubernio con Smurfit-Kapa desde hace 50 años explotan los bosques de pino y eucalipto con altos costos para la biodiversidad y el medio ambiente.

Vamos a Cali porque en sus alrededores se desarrolla una de las luchas más importantes de la clase obrera. Los trabajadores "corteros" de caña llevan 37 días de una histórica y valerosa huelga. Los obreros cañeros enfrentan el eje principal de las políticas laborales que se empezaron a implementar desde 1978 (la reconversión industrial aplicada en casos como los de la empresa Croydon del Pacífico). Las Cooperativas de Trabajo Asociado CTA representan la forma de explotación más descarada y "eficiente", en donde el obrero figura como "empresario", dueño de las CTA, y por tanto, debe responder por su seguridad social (salud, pensiones, riesgos profesionales), y hasta por su dotación de trabajo. Las condiciones de vida de los "corteros" es aterradora: jornadas de trabajo de 12 y 14 horas, ingresos miserables, hacinación en las ciudades como Puerto Tejada, Candelaria, Florida, Pradera, Guacarí, Bugalagrande, Miranda, Corinto, Guachené y Villarrica, entre otras.

Vamos a Cali porque allí viven cientos de miles de caucanos desplazados por la violencia, la pobreza y el hambre. Vamos a Cali porque allí nos encontraremos con los compañeros corteros y sus familias, con desempleados, moto-taxistas, los obreros y habitantes de barrios populares de esa ciudad. Y allí, en Cali, se empezará a construir de verdad la alianza entre indios, mestizos y afros, campesinos y obreros, y desde allí le gritaremos al mundo que nosotros – los verdaderos creadores de riqueza – nos merecemos una vida y un futuro mejor.

Por ello, mirar hacia Popayán no tiene sentido. Sólo volveremos a esa ciudad para "enterrar" esa clase política representada ejemplarmente por Juan José Chaux, exgobernador aliado de la mafia y el paramilitarismo. Hoy, los herederos de los terratenientes caucanos son una pequeña casta en proceso de descomposición y desaparecimiento. Es una clase sin futuro, que no merece interlocutar con la Minga.

Por eso nos vamos hacia Cali e invitamos a todos los sectores sociales y políticos a acompañarnos. Allí vamos a defender nuestras raíces y nuestra gente, para volver a Popayán llenos de orgullo y de entusiasmo, a reconstruir un Cauca indio, mestizo y afro, recuperando nuestros territorios de economía campesina, nuestros recursos naturales, nuestra biodiversidad, y por sobre todo, nuestra dignidad.

En Cali, con los corteros de caña consolidaremos la "alianza maravillosa" entre indios y corteros de caña. Marchemos sobre Cali con fuerza y decisión. Allí se cocinará nuestra inserción en los nuevos vientos latinoamericanos. Desde allí empezaremos a enterrar el "embrujo" uribista. No lo dudemos.

¡Vamos a marchar sobre Cali! ¡Vamos a derrotar a quien verdaderamente hay que enfrentar en este momento: los agroindustriales vallecaucanos productores de agrocombustibles!

Vamos a impedir la judicialización de nuestros dirigentes (indios y corteros). Vamos a decirle al mundo que no somos guerrilleros y que nuestra lucha es justa.

La Minga marcha sobre Cali. Acompañarla es cuestión de dignidad.

VIDEO: Plan of Aggression in Northern Cauca, Colombia

This short (6:40) video was produced by the Association of Indigenous Councils of Northern Cauca (ACIN) in July 2008. It outlines the context of aggression faced by this community, the context in which threats are made to destabilize local processes of resistance, such as the threat sent to the ACIN just days ago, on 11 August 2008.

INDIGENOUS PEOPLE: U.S. and Canada Found Guilty of Racism

Dear Readers,

We share this article, which examines racism and occupation of indigenous lands in the US and Canada, and looks at the participation of mining and resource companies in that occupation. The article notes that Canada voted NO to the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. It's worth pointing out that Colombia is the only country in South America that abstained from voting on the Declaration.

Sincerely, María de la Chiva.

U.S. and Canada Found Guilty of Racism

By Haider Rizvi, Originally published in IPS, August 7, 2008.

UNITED NATIONS, Aug 7 (IPS) - The international community now fully recognises the native peoples’ right to protect their lands and live distinct lifestyles. Yet, most of the world’s 370 million indigenous peoples continue to face abuse and injustices at the hands of state authorities and commercial concerns.

"We must look at the substantial successes we have been able to achieve, but also reflect on how far we have to go," Ben Powless of the Indigenous Environment Network told IPS on the eve of the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples.

Though pleased with the U.N. General Assembly’s decision last year to approve the Declaration on the Rights of the Indigenous Peoples, Powless and other activists say they have no reason to believe that those who have occupied their native lands are willing to change their behaviour.

"Governments in the past have been complicit in genocides, land seizures, massive environmental degradation, and many other human rights abuses because [indigenous peoples] were denied their fundamental rights and freedoms," said Powless, a Mohawk whose nation’s territory is now divided between modern-day Canada and the United States.

Last year when the 192-member U.N. General Assembly adopted the Declaration on the Rights of the Indigenous Peoples, both the U.S. and Canada were among a handful of countries that voted against it.

Click here to continue reading.

Permanent Peoples' Tribunal in Colombia: Corporations with a License to Kill

Hello friends:

We share this piece written by our companera, Dawn Paley, and published in Upside Down World. The Permanent Peoples' Tribunal gave its final verdict of the Colombia Session on the 23rd of July, 2008, after two and a half years of investigating the role of transnationals in continued violence and atrocities in the country.

Dawn surveys the final ruling of the Tribunal, which while not enforceable is a useful tool in demanding that transnational corporations operating in Colombia respect human rights, the environment (beyond corporate social responsibility rhetoric), and the autonomy of peoples and communities in resistance to the model of terror imposed through the Colombian regime and for transnationals.

The ruling is timely, as the fanfare over the release of Ingrid has led many in the mainstream press, especially in Canada, to conclude that conflict is over in Colombia, and Canada ought to 'reward' the regime with a Free Trade Agreement, which would further propel communities resisting neoliberalism and war into marginalization and subjugation in the neoliberal world order.

A section towards the end of Dawn's article notes the presence of members of a recent Canadian trade union delegation to Colombia at the final ruling of the Tribunal, a delegation that is noteworthy as members actually left Bogota and met with people at the receiving end of Uribe's 'democratic security' policy, not only trade unionists but also Afro-Colombian and indigenous communities.

A storm is brewing for Harper and his followers in Canada and Colombia as long as sectoral interests among social movements converge to confront their plan in an integral manner and with the knowledge that 'alone it is impossible', a reality that is as relevant in Colombia as it is in Canada.

La Chiva

Permanent Peoples' Tribunal in Colombia: Corporations with a License to Kill

Written by Dawn Paley
Thursday, 07 August 2008

July 23 marked the end of a two and a half year process carried out by the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal (TPP) in Bogotá, Colombia. A panel of international judges, including a Supreme Court justice from Italy, a handful of university professors, a Nobel Laureate, and authorities from the Guambiano and Mapuche nations presided over the final session of the TPP.

The Leon de Greiff auditorium at Colombia’s National University was packed to the rafters for the occasion, with participants and supporters of the process spilling out into the Plaza del Ché, the well known gathering place in the centre of the campus. Before beginning the session, TPP general secretary Gianni Tognoni invoked the memory of Eduardo Umaña Mendoza, a Colombian member of the TPP jury who was assassinated during a previous session of the Tribunal in Colombia.

The final verdict, read to the large crowd, summarized much of Colombia’s recent history, condemning the Colombian government, 43 multinational corporations, and the U.S. government for their role in the violence that has long dominated the lives of Colombians. The audience was made up of people from a broad spectrum of social movements and organizations from around the country, and listened rapt during the reading of the sentence.


Read the full article here: http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/1411/1/

Terror for the Benefit of Transnational Mining Companies

[ 07/24/2008] [ Source: Tejido de Comunicación ACIN ] [ Author: ACIN] [Translation: María de La Chiva] [Original: http://www.nasaacin.org/noticias.htm?x=8288]

The fear that we have today is not only due to the presence of outsiders in our territories and their probable return in tandem with public forces in order to obtain their objectives, but also for all of the acts of terror and war in Northern Cauca, acts which are intensifying every day in order to displace us and facilitate the entry of transnationals wishing to exploit our resources.

In Northern Cauca, the Comprehensive Plan of Aggression in the mark of Plan Colombia II is making itself felt at an ever growing rate. The strategies of War and Terror, Economic Subjugation and Propaganda are already being exercised simultaneously.

As an example, we point to the ongoing clashes between armed groups in Reserves like Corinto and Huellas Caloto, clashes which put the civilian population that lives and travels through these territories at high risk. On July 23rd there was heavy fighting in the village of Pajarito, in the Huellas Caloto Reserve. In addition, public forces surrounded peoples’ homes, and due to the confusion and danger created by the fighting, the community was obliged to gather in the permanent assembly areas, where more than 200 adults and children registered themselves. In addition, on June 24th in the morning there was more fighting in the same village, forcing students to return home in order to protect themselves from the crossfire of the shots being fired.

At the same time, transnational companies are entering into our lands as if it was their own property, taking advantage of the terror to which our people are subjected because of the continuous state of war in which our communities are living. In the late afternoon of June 23rd in the Delicias Reserve, 12 people identifying themselves as employees of Cosigo Resources Limited -a Canadian mining company- were surveying the caves in Mirasoles, near Cerro Catalina.

“At 2:00pm yesterday, the Indigenous Council of the Delicias Reserve received a call from Afro-Colombians from Mirasoles, who were at the foot of Cerro Catalina, informing us that there were outsiders in our territory. We left immediately, and in half an hour arrived in the area. When we arrived we found 12 people: some from Bogotá, some from Buenaventura, and there were even some indigenous people from Amazonas, from Leticia specifically, who identified themselves as members of the community of Miraña,” explained a member of the Council in Delicias.

When the Council members showed up in the area where this group of people was located, they saw that the Afro-Colombian community had already detained, surrounded and begun interrogating them, but the group did not want to give much information until the Indigenous people showed up and presented themselves as part of the Council Authority.

“They told us that they belonged to a mining company called Cosigo Resources Ltd. and that was when we started to enter into discussion with them. As authorities, we told them that we aren’t going to let anyone into our territory without previous permission, or without our consent, that we have rights as indigenous people, and that in addition we have an agreement with the Municipality of Suarez for the respect of our territory,” added another member of the Council.

During the dialogue, the spokesman for the 12 outsiders told the community members that were present that they had already asked the Municipality for permission to enter two months ago, that they are aware of the process that they are following, and that the leader of their group was in that very moment meeting with the Mayor. Given this situation, the Council got directly in touch with the Secretary of Government, who claimed to have no information about what was going on, and then with the Mayor’s office, where they also claimed not to know anything about the situation.

The Traditional Authority in charge of the Council of Delicias proceeded to ask the Mayor to order the 12 people off of the territory, and have them taken to the offices of the Council. The Mayor then spoke by telephone to the leader of the group, and asked them to leave immediately, because he had no information about what they were doing there. Finally, at 5:00pm, they were required to leave the site and the Afro-Colombian community members accompanied them to a river to ensure that they left the area.

“It is clear that these people were trying to carry out a sample study or prospecting on a concession that the government has given to Cosigo Resources Limited. We were looking at the maps on the internet and we observed that there is a concession that runs the entire perimeter of Cerro Catalina, in addition to entering within various areas of our Reserve, and inside the Indigenous mining zone [a territorial expanse defined within the Mining Code as an area where Indigenous people have priority for all mining activity],” explained an indigenous community member.

These acts concern the community due of the effects such a company can cause after the enter the territory. For this reason, on July 24th, the communities met and reflected upon what happened the day before, and they have planned to attend the meeting on July 26th, called by the Mayor of Suárez, Luis Fernando Colorado, which will include Afro-Colombian communities, Indigenous people and small scale miners, with the goal of analyzing the situation together.

Given these facts, the Afro and Indigenous Communities that live on these territories are worried, and call out to human rights organizations to denounce these acts, to accompany in whatever way possible our organizational processes, and to investigate the circumstances that are affecting these communities in Suárez, Cauca. Because our fear is not only the intrusion of outsiders onto our territory and their possible return with public forces in order to reach their goal, but all of the terror and war that we are living in Northern Cauca, which is intensifying every day to displace us and facilitate the entry of transnationals wishing to exploit our resources.

Association of Indigenous Councils of Northern Cauca - ACIN
Santander de Quilchao, Cauca, July 24, 2008

DRUMMOND STRIKE!

Hello Readers:

On the 16th of July, miners at the Drummond coal mine located in northern Colombia declared a strike, effectively paralyzing both the mine and the port used for transporting coal from Colombia around the world. The union, Sintramienergetica, believes that the company had not been negotiating in good faith. Workers across Colombia have heard the call of the Drummond workers and are watching the situation closely. In Colombia, union activity in general faces a special situation whereby the most basic of actions, like union organizing, are often met with threats and assassinations. The bravery of the Drummond workers to strike under the conditions in Colombia must be supported nationally and internationally.

Sintramienergetica has made the call for URGENT international support.

We include a link to a brief Reuters article on the strike [http://uk.reuters.com/article/oilRpt/idUKN1729878520080717] as well as statements from the International Labour Rights Forum and Colombian Senator Jorge Enrique Robledo.

Included below are also the addresses and fax numbers of the US company and its Colombian subsidiary. Please write and fax them. Let them know that WE ARE ALL WATCHING THE SITUATION CLOSELY!

In solidarity
La Chiva Collective, Canada.

From the International Labour Rights Forum:

Dear Friends,
As you may have heard, workers at the Drummond coal mine in Colombia are currently on strike. Their union has called for international support at this time.

Attached please find the urgent action letter that ILRF will send today and the call for action from the union. We encourage you to send similar letters. Contact information is below as well as a brief Reuters article on the strike.

Thank you for your time and please feel free to contact us for more information. Feel free to circulate this call to other organizations who might be interested.

In Solidarity,
Timothy Newman
International Labor Rights Forum
tim.newman@ilrf.org

July 17, 2008
DRUMMOND LTD. COL.
AUGUSTO JIMENEZ MEJIA
Calle 72 No. 10 – 07 Of. 1302
Bogotá, Colombia
FAX: 011 571 – 210 2054
DRUMMOND COMPANY INC
GARRY DRUMMOND
P.O. Box 10246
Birmingham, Alabama 35202
Fax: 205-384-2456

Dear Mr. Jimenez and Mr. Drummond,
We are writing to express our concern about the labor conflict at Drummond Ltd. in Colombia. We understand that on July 16 the Sintramienergetica union declared a strike at both the mine and the port, because they feel that your company has not negotiated the new CBA in good faith.
The International Labor Rights Forum continues to be deeply concerned about anti-union violence in Colombia and we are following this particular situation closely.
We hope that you will do everything possible to ensure a peaceful resolution to this conflict, and that when you return to the negotiation table you do so ready to negotiate in good faith.

Sincerely,

Bama Athreya
Executive Director
CC: Ministerio del Interior y de Justicia
Ministerio de la Protección Social
Ministerio de Minas y Energia
Procuraduría General de la Nación
Fiscal Dr. Mario Iguaran
ILO Representative in Colombia
Defensor del Pueblo
Sintramienergetica
Funtraenergetica


Press release IN SUPPORT OF THE DRUMMOND WORKERS' DEMANDS Senator Jorge Enrique Robledo

Senator Jorge Enrique Robledo expressed his complete support for the strike begun yesterday, July 16 at 5:50 p.m., by the workers of La Loma, Cesar and the Port of Cienaga, Magdalena, the coal mines run by the U.S. company Drummond. The work stoppage occurred because the corporation refuses to address the demands that Sintramienergetica filed in accordance with the law and it can be resolved with the signing of the new collective bargaining agreement.

In the petition submitted to the second largest mining company in Colombia, the workers demand: labor stability, a change in the situation of workers hired through different types of subcontracting, compliance with regulations concerning industrial safety and worker health as required by law and by the Constitution --regulations which the company repeatedly abuses, causing serious damage to the health of workers--, a wage increase greater than the rate of inflation and an increase in the company's insignificant social investment in their zones of influence.

Senator Robledo, after judging the workers' demands to be fair and democratic, explained how Drummond, with very high profits, in 2007 mined 22.9 million tons of coal for 1.15 billion dollars and how in last three years the price of a ton of coal has gone from 25 dollars to more than 100 dollars with costs of production that do not exceed 20 dollars. It's completely unjustifiable that the U.S. company, with excellent economic conditions, does not compensate their workers or the corresponding communities fairly or provide sufficient social investment, when it's undeniable that in these mining operations they obtain large profits, while the nation that owns the resources receives only a few crumbs of the pie.

Press Office
Senator Jorge Enrique Robledo
Bogotá, July 17, 2008

LA CUT RESPALDA LA HUELGA DE LOS TRABAJADORES DE LA DRUMMOND

La CUT, Colombia, Statement

Tres mil trabajadores de la mina de carbón del Municipio de La Loma, Cesar y el Puerto de Ciénaga, Magdalena, entraron en Huelga a las 5:50 de la tarde del miércoles 16 de julio. Esta es la segunda mina de carbón de Colombia y la explota por contrato de Concesión la multinacional norteamericana DRUMMOND, compañía que, además, ha sido favorecida con licencia para explotar el gas natural descubierto en la misma área y la mina de carbón El Descanso de 22 mil hectáreas, ubicada en los municipios de Becerril y Codazzi y considerada la más grande del mundo.

Los trabajadores representados por Sintramienergética, declararon la Huelga, luego de agotar todas las etapas de ley en la negociación del Pliego de Peticiones. Los dos mil cien afiliados al sindicato tomaron la decisión en votación realizada los días 6 y 8 de julio y autorizaron a la Comisión Negociadora a continuar en el diálogo, como efectivamente ocurrió hasta el día de ayer, cuando se cumplieron los términos legales para hacer efectiva la Huelga, sin que se llegara a acuerdo alguno. La DRUMMOND se niega a considerar los puntos del petitorio que hacen referencia a: la estabilidad laboral y el procedimiento para aplicar sanciones, los programas de salud ocupacional y seguridad industrial, la situación de dos mil trabajadores que laboran por distintas modalidades de intermediación laboral, aumento salarial y de las partidas económicas y mejoramiento de los programas de inversión social en las comunidades del entorno de la explotación.

La multinacional exportó carbón en el 2007 por 1.100 millones de dólares, con precios que han pasado en los últimos tres años de 30 hasta 100 dólares la tonelada, en una mina con costos de producción que no sobrepasan los 20 y con pago de regalías del mísero 10%. La Nación se está quedando con los impactos negativos de la explotación en el medio ambiente, la afectación del entorno social, el deterioro de las vías y el puerto, los cientos de trabajadores con enfermedades y lesiones de origen profesional, mientras la multinacional obtiene jugosas ganancias.

Llamamos al movimiento sindical a manifestar su solidaridad con esta justa lucha, a elevar la denuncia ante el Gobierno Nacional, los organismos internacionales y las organizaciones sindicales y sociales de orden internacional. Rodeemos de apoyo esta manifestación de dignidad y patriotismo de los obreros del carbón.

TARSICIO MORA GODOY DOMINGO TOVAR ARRIETA
Presidente Secretario General



GUSTAVO RUBEN TRIANA SUÁREZ
Segundo Vicepresidente

The FTA with Canada: Another attack on Sovereignty

Written by Colombian Action Network in Response to Free Trade (RECALCA),

Originally published in RECALCA, 18 June 2008
Translated by La Chiva

Bogotá - The Colombian government has closed Free Trade Agreement negotiations with Canada. These negotiations were extremely rapid, and unlike those with the United States, which lasted 16 rounds, were finalized in the fifth of six rounds initially planned at the outset of negotiations in July of 2007. Although the texts of the Agreement are unknown to the public, the texts of the Peru - Canada FTA are known; they are likely very similar to the Colombian agreement, as was the case with the US agreements with Peru and Colombia.

Also included are chapters and cooperation agreements on Labour and the Environment. These chapters and agreements further the many restrictions to workers’ rights and highlight the murders of trade unionists and other human rights violations that characterize Colombia. The Canadian government, an unconditional ally with Bush, has lent itself to signing this agreement in part as a way to facilitate the ratification of the FTA in the US Congress.

The rush to sign this Agreement shows that once the multitude of concessions are made to the US, this FTA will mean extending them to Canada. Proof of this is a report by the Colombian government, which indicates that to concretize Canada’s offer, in the last round “many sections were improved by offering parity with the agreement between Colombia and the United States.”

The government announced that the Canadian market will open up immediately for 98% of Colombia’s industrial exports, exports which are practically non-existent due to (among other things) the high cost of transport, since there are no direct [cargo] flights to Canada and cargo must pass for the US, where all merchandise must be unloaded and checked by customs.

The timeline for the full access of imports from Canada is set at 10 years, but effective immediately the majority of imports from Canada will be tariff free, which is to say that the government calculates that overnight, the emaciated and already under-protected agricultural and industrial sectors in Colombia will be capable of competing with their Canadian counterparts.

In this FTA, a cancellation clause and damages for the commercialization of goods and services have been negotiated, both of which are designed to protect Canadian investment and businesses in Colombia.

Since at least 1993, Colombia has had a trade deficit with Canada, which in 2007 reached $318 million concentrated in Colombian manufactured products such as textiles, footwear, plastic products, industrial metals, chemicals and paper as well as machinery and automotive equipment. Colombia’s imports from Canada last year reached $649 million, of which 57.2% were industrial products and 23.2% were agricultural, principally cereals and agro-industrial.

In contrast, Colombian exports to Canada reached $266 million last year, 90% of which consisted of coffee, coal, flowers, sugar and a handful of other agricultural products. The remaining 8% were basic industrial products.

Exports to Canada have a number of barriers, since there are specific sanitary requirements for seafood, plants, seeds, vegetables and fruit. These products must be inspected by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. Goods from the textile and clothing industries require special permission for each importation, as do fowl and dairy products. Coffee is regulated through a series of quotas and fruit and vegetables through seasonal tariffs.

Canada has low tariffs and Colombian products are already favoured because of the Generalized Preference System, but textiles, footwear, clothing, steel and processed food are excluded.

Canada imposes a value added tax of 7% on all imported products, as well as charging federal taxes on consumer goods. Neither of these obstacles have been removed by the FTA, which means that the future of exports – which the Colombian government claims will benefit from the agreement – is not encouraging. Together, these factors demonstrate that the principal objective of this FTA are not commercial, because it means a further concentration of primary material exports, imports of machinery and industrial goods, and little competition.

The average tariff in Canada is 0.9%, and 90.6% of imports to Canada are tax-free; hence the reason that Colombia does not have better participation in the Canadian market is because of a lack of exportable products and of a competitive environment, because of the high costs of transport and sanitary and phyto-sanitary regulations. None of these obstacles were removed in this FTA.

Thus, the principle objective of this FTA is to attract investment. Canada is well known for outward foreign direct investment in mining and services and is a judicial paradise for mining companies due to its flexible legislation and the impossibility of regulating these companies. In addition, mining multinationals based in Canada take advantage of the resources of pension funds in order to strengthen their finances and compete in the global market. Canada’s main investments in Colombia are in oil and gas as well as telecommunications. These together make up close to $3.5 billion.

The reality is that the FTA with Canada is designed to guarantee the pillage of our natural resources, reinforce neo-liberal policies, and entrench Colombia in a permanent and unjust division of labour as a nation dependant on exports of primary materials. It will also worsen the labour, environmental and social conditions of the Colombian people.

It is necessary to denounce the government’s intention to guarantee, through the signing of Free Trade Agreements, the continuation of the neo-liberal policies that are already dragging Colombia into one of the worst crises in history.
RECALCA is a Colombian organization working against the FTAs. They can be reached at recalca [at] etb [dot] net [dot] co.