18 December 2009
15 December 2009
U.S. Military Bases in Colombia
Check out these videos that offer a helpful analysis of the new Colombia/U.S. agreement to allow U.S. troops full access to 7 Colombian military bases throughout the country.
Video Part 1
Video Part 2
Video Part 1
Video Part 2
29 October 2009
28 October 2009
The Body Shop implicated in forced displacement of 123 families
It's been quite a while since I last posted, but I wanted to update you all on a campaign at the forefront of our work these days.
Palm oil has become a hot product in Europe and North America as both a biofuel and in cosmetics. Uribe's administration plans to make Colombia the world's largest palm oil producer by the year 2020, with over 6 million hectares (roughly 14.8 million acres) planted with oil palm trees. As a direct result of these policies, the devastation of land, ecosystems, and communities is already evident and will only increase. Christian Peacemaker Teams Colombia accompanies two communities facing a struggle for their land in the southern Bolivar region, where palm production is already rampant.
On July 14, 2009, the community of Las Pavas discovered riot police on their land, forcing them to leave immediately for the nearby town of Buenos Aires. The 123 families (approx. 500 people) lost their homes, their food crops, and their land in one day. Daabon Organics bought the land in a shady deal with famed drug lord Pablo Escobar's uncle. Uncle Escobar had owned the land in the 80's but abandoned it in 1993 after Colombian military forces killed Pablo. Landless peasants occupied the land soon after and have been living on it and farming it ever since (save a temporary displacement because of paramilitary violence in the region). According to Colombian law, anyone can legally gain ownership to abandoned land if they can prove that they have lived and improved it for more than 5 years. The Las Pavas community had already begun the process of gaining legal title to the land, and must be allowed to finish that process to determine who the land legally belongs to.
Daabon Organics, a massive palm oil corporation, has destroyed acres and acres of forest, drained ponds and marshes, and burned down the houses that stood on the land, and have already begun planting palm oil. The Body Shop gets involved in that it buys 90% of its palm oil from Daabon Organics. Many of you will recognize The Body Shop as a corporation that touts its commitment to sustainable environmental and ethical practices. However, the case of Las Pavas shows their claims to be hollow.
Keep posted for an opportunity to get involved by sending letters to The Body Shop and Daabon executives, requesting that the land be returned to its rightful owners, the campesinos of Las Pavas.
For a good article that appeared in the British newspaper The Guardian click here.
For a good article (in Spanish) click here. (You can also view some great photos with this article.)
To read more from CPT writers, check out our website. (action opportunity also available here.)
Palm oil has become a hot product in Europe and North America as both a biofuel and in cosmetics. Uribe's administration plans to make Colombia the world's largest palm oil producer by the year 2020, with over 6 million hectares (roughly 14.8 million acres) planted with oil palm trees. As a direct result of these policies, the devastation of land, ecosystems, and communities is already evident and will only increase. Christian Peacemaker Teams Colombia accompanies two communities facing a struggle for their land in the southern Bolivar region, where palm production is already rampant.
On July 14, 2009, the community of Las Pavas discovered riot police on their land, forcing them to leave immediately for the nearby town of Buenos Aires. The 123 families (approx. 500 people) lost their homes, their food crops, and their land in one day. Daabon Organics bought the land in a shady deal with famed drug lord Pablo Escobar's uncle. Uncle Escobar had owned the land in the 80's but abandoned it in 1993 after Colombian military forces killed Pablo. Landless peasants occupied the land soon after and have been living on it and farming it ever since (save a temporary displacement because of paramilitary violence in the region). According to Colombian law, anyone can legally gain ownership to abandoned land if they can prove that they have lived and improved it for more than 5 years. The Las Pavas community had already begun the process of gaining legal title to the land, and must be allowed to finish that process to determine who the land legally belongs to.
Daabon Organics, a massive palm oil corporation, has destroyed acres and acres of forest, drained ponds and marshes, and burned down the houses that stood on the land, and have already begun planting palm oil. The Body Shop gets involved in that it buys 90% of its palm oil from Daabon Organics. Many of you will recognize The Body Shop as a corporation that touts its commitment to sustainable environmental and ethical practices. However, the case of Las Pavas shows their claims to be hollow.
Keep posted for an opportunity to get involved by sending letters to The Body Shop and Daabon executives, requesting that the land be returned to its rightful owners, the campesinos of Las Pavas.
For a good article that appeared in the British newspaper The Guardian click here.
For a good article (in Spanish) click here. (You can also view some great photos with this article.)
To read more from CPT writers, check out our website. (action opportunity also available here.)
18 March 2009
12 March 2009
Small Steps toward Justice for Garzal
by Pierre Shantz
*To receive more articles like this one, sign up for the CPT Colombia email list by sending an email to:
cptcolombia-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
“We are called to be faithful, not effective” is something that CPTers say to keep from feeling too depressed. Sometimes it feels like the violent forces always win. We can help prevent some levels of violence but so often it feels like we are only treading water. This past week the waters have started to recede and it feels like we can touch the bottom. One of the community processes that we accompany is the Garzal/Nueva Esperanza struggle to remain on their land. (see articles: Communities Resist Displacement and I Thought You Were Dead) The community challenged the Barreto family’s fraudulent titles in court and has been nervously waiting for the judge to give a ruling. Many felt that the judge, like many other government officials in this process, was paid off by the Barreto family and would rule in their favor. A ruling in favor of the Barreto family could mean that the residents of Garzal would be forcibly removed.
Last week, the judge called the community to a mediation session with the Barreto family on Wednesday, March 3rd. Many questions ran through the community’s mind. Is the process finished? Would the judge force the community to negotiate the surrender of their land? Loaded in the back of a truck, the community traveled to Simiti to hear the ruling. In the end only the lawyers were permitted to enter the judge’s chamber. The decision was not one that the community expected-- the judge ruled that the decision was out of his hands. The Colombian Institute for Rural Development (INCODER) should decide whose land it is.
This gives the community much hope. In February the Garzal communities had a meeting with the national legal representative of INCODER. She is the first government official to commit to a fair and open process reviewing all titles and documents related to the Garzal/Nueva Esperanza case. She will personally visit and inspect the Garzal communities to see who is in fact on the land. “I wanted to let out a loud shout of joy right there in the courthouse I was so happy,” said Pastor Salvador when I called him to congratulate him on this small step towards justice for the community.
The struggle is not over. Other low-level INCODER officials have been involved in trying to remove the families from their land. There is some hope that the long arm of corruption of the Barreto family isn’t long enough to reach the highest levels of INCODER.
Anxious yet hopeful we all await the date set for March 19th and 20th. The community requests your continued thoughts and prayers. I still believe that we are called to be faithful rather than effective, but it sure feels good to see a process we accompany stand firm and in the end, remain standing.
*To receive more articles like this one, sign up for the CPT Colombia email list by sending an email to:
cptcolombia-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
“We are called to be faithful, not effective” is something that CPTers say to keep from feeling too depressed. Sometimes it feels like the violent forces always win. We can help prevent some levels of violence but so often it feels like we are only treading water. This past week the waters have started to recede and it feels like we can touch the bottom. One of the community processes that we accompany is the Garzal/Nueva Esperanza struggle to remain on their land. (see articles: Communities Resist Displacement and I Thought You Were Dead) The community challenged the Barreto family’s fraudulent titles in court and has been nervously waiting for the judge to give a ruling. Many felt that the judge, like many other government officials in this process, was paid off by the Barreto family and would rule in their favor. A ruling in favor of the Barreto family could mean that the residents of Garzal would be forcibly removed.
Last week, the judge called the community to a mediation session with the Barreto family on Wednesday, March 3rd. Many questions ran through the community’s mind. Is the process finished? Would the judge force the community to negotiate the surrender of their land? Loaded in the back of a truck, the community traveled to Simiti to hear the ruling. In the end only the lawyers were permitted to enter the judge’s chamber. The decision was not one that the community expected-- the judge ruled that the decision was out of his hands. The Colombian Institute for Rural Development (INCODER) should decide whose land it is.
This gives the community much hope. In February the Garzal communities had a meeting with the national legal representative of INCODER. She is the first government official to commit to a fair and open process reviewing all titles and documents related to the Garzal/Nueva Esperanza case. She will personally visit and inspect the Garzal communities to see who is in fact on the land. “I wanted to let out a loud shout of joy right there in the courthouse I was so happy,” said Pastor Salvador when I called him to congratulate him on this small step towards justice for the community.
The struggle is not over. Other low-level INCODER officials have been involved in trying to remove the families from their land. There is some hope that the long arm of corruption of the Barreto family isn’t long enough to reach the highest levels of INCODER.
Anxious yet hopeful we all await the date set for March 19th and 20th. The community requests your continued thoughts and prayers. I still believe that we are called to be faithful rather than effective, but it sure feels good to see a process we accompany stand firm and in the end, remain standing.
02 March 2009
Garzal Update
The conciliation mentioned in this post is taking place tomorrow and Wednesday in SimitÃ, which I and my teammate Chris will be accompanying. It's an important stage in the Garzal struggle, and the outcome could be triumphant or disastrous for the communities of Garzal and Nueva Esperanza.
Context:
The Garzal township, including the towns of Garzal and Nueva Esperanza, lie along the Magdalena river a few hours north of Barrancabermeja. Just to the west, the foothills of the San Lucas Mountains begin sloping upwards. The 136 families who live in Garzal and Nueva Esperanza make their living on the land, growing cacao and vegetables, raising cattle, and fishing.
During the 1980’s, the Barreto family lived and worked in Garzal processing coca into cocaine and transporting it for the notorious drug czar Pablo Escobar. Flights full of cocaine took off as frequently as 3 times per night from a small runway on the Barretos’ land, carrying drugs that had been brought down from the mountains. In 1989, the drug lab was raided and Mr. Barreto received 2 years in jail. Over the next few years the Barreto family all but abandoned their land in Garzal. Other landless families moved to the area and began working the land. Now, the Barretos are back and demand not only the land they used to live on, but the entirety of all the land in Garzal for their own.
Approximately half of the families in Garzal and Nueva Esperanza legally own their land based on a Colombian law that states that a person can take legal ownership after 5 years of living on and working the land. INCODER, the Colombian Institute for Rural Development, issued paper titles to 64 families a few years ago, but returned and took them back under the pretext of needing to make changes to the documents. The Barreto family had false titles drawn up which show that they own all of Garzal, and have used these papers to bring a legal suit against the community. They want to officially revoke the 64 titles that currently exist and have mired the case in court for years.
Update: In recent weeks, the conflict has escalated significantly. The Barretos brought a criminal case against ten members of the community, including arrest warrants against them, based on trumped-up charges as a measure to put pressure on the communities. The judge currently assigned to the case has called both parties—the communities and the Barreto family—together for a “conciliation.” This essentially implies that the communities will have a chance to address the terms of the sale of their land to the Barreto family. The communities do not want to sell at all, and will attend but will not negotiate. Despite having no legal claim to the land, the Barreto family has used their sizeable wealth and power to intimidate and bully the rightful owners of the land.
The situation is tense at present as the communities wait to see whether or not justice will be done. The two parties meet for the “conciliation” on Wednesday, 4 March. An INCODER representative plans to visit the communities in approximately 2 weeks to investigate facts on the ground. CPT will maintain a presence in the community during the first week of March, as the farmers consult with their lawyer, prepare for and attend the meeting with the Barreto family.
Context:
The Garzal township, including the towns of Garzal and Nueva Esperanza, lie along the Magdalena river a few hours north of Barrancabermeja. Just to the west, the foothills of the San Lucas Mountains begin sloping upwards. The 136 families who live in Garzal and Nueva Esperanza make their living on the land, growing cacao and vegetables, raising cattle, and fishing.
During the 1980’s, the Barreto family lived and worked in Garzal processing coca into cocaine and transporting it for the notorious drug czar Pablo Escobar. Flights full of cocaine took off as frequently as 3 times per night from a small runway on the Barretos’ land, carrying drugs that had been brought down from the mountains. In 1989, the drug lab was raided and Mr. Barreto received 2 years in jail. Over the next few years the Barreto family all but abandoned their land in Garzal. Other landless families moved to the area and began working the land. Now, the Barretos are back and demand not only the land they used to live on, but the entirety of all the land in Garzal for their own.
Approximately half of the families in Garzal and Nueva Esperanza legally own their land based on a Colombian law that states that a person can take legal ownership after 5 years of living on and working the land. INCODER, the Colombian Institute for Rural Development, issued paper titles to 64 families a few years ago, but returned and took them back under the pretext of needing to make changes to the documents. The Barreto family had false titles drawn up which show that they own all of Garzal, and have used these papers to bring a legal suit against the community. They want to officially revoke the 64 titles that currently exist and have mired the case in court for years.
Update: In recent weeks, the conflict has escalated significantly. The Barretos brought a criminal case against ten members of the community, including arrest warrants against them, based on trumped-up charges as a measure to put pressure on the communities. The judge currently assigned to the case has called both parties—the communities and the Barreto family—together for a “conciliation.” This essentially implies that the communities will have a chance to address the terms of the sale of their land to the Barreto family. The communities do not want to sell at all, and will attend but will not negotiate. Despite having no legal claim to the land, the Barreto family has used their sizeable wealth and power to intimidate and bully the rightful owners of the land.
The situation is tense at present as the communities wait to see whether or not justice will be done. The two parties meet for the “conciliation” on Wednesday, 4 March. An INCODER representative plans to visit the communities in approximately 2 weeks to investigate facts on the ground. CPT will maintain a presence in the community during the first week of March, as the farmers consult with their lawyer, prepare for and attend the meeting with the Barreto family.
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