PART 2: WW INTERVIEW WITH FARC-EP:
"BUILDING A NEW COLOMBIA"
[Workers World submitted questions about the situation in
Colombia to the International Commission of the
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People's Army (FARC-
EP). Below is part two of their reply, prepared by Marco
Leon Calarca and Olga Lucia Marin.]
THE FARC-EP HAS IN THE PAST DEMANDED RECOGNITION OF ITS
"COMBATANT STATUS," THAT IS, REQUIRING THAT RULES OF WAR
ARE FOLLOWED. COULD YOU EXPLAIN THIS DEMAND? HAVE YOU MADE
ANY PROGRESS TOWARD THIS GOAL?
As the FARC-EP, we have met all conditions to be
recognized as a belligerent force in fact and in practice.
This recognition has been given, by the government and the
Colombian state, and not only in the final stage of talks.
This has not been recognized juridically, however. As is
known, that has to do not only with the law and its
different consequences, but even more with the political
aspect.
While it is true that we have not specifically signed
every part of the codes of International Humanitarian
Rights, specifically the international legislation
contained in the Geneva Convention of Aug. 12, 1949, and
especially the additional Protocols to the Convention, all
our norms are very close to them. As a revolutionary
movement, one of our logical pillars is humanism.
Our objectives are peace, social justice and defense of
the interests of the vast majority of Colombians. All the
norms found in the fundamental documents of our
organization are guided by the principles, ethics and
revolutionary morals binding all our members, without
distinction or exception.
We are an integral part of the people. We are its
revolutionary army. The reason for our struggle is to solve
the problems of all Colombians. Hence we do not have as a
policy harming the interests or rights of the people.
WHAT HAS BEEN THE SITUATION FACING THE REVOLUTIONARY
PRISONERS OF WAR?
We have made a proposal to President Andres Pastrana to
gain the freedom of all prisoners of war--those held by the
Colombian state as well as by us. We are waiting for the
Colombian Congress to approve a permanent law on the
exchange of prisoners that will allow this and the
resolution of cases that may arise in the future. After
all, the confrontation continues until we win a peace with
social justice.
There is a continued lack of political will on the part of
the three branches of the state to pass this law, which
would allow the prisoners of war on both sides to return to
their respective sides. An advance in this area would show
that it is feasible to pave the road for much more
controversial themes as part of the core of the talks. The
stinginess shown in this area indicates what we can expect
on other topics. While the soldiers, police and officers of
all ranks held by the FARC-EP receive dignified and humane
treatment, according to our norms of conduct, it is known
that the men and women guerrilla fighters held in the
prisons of the regime--like all the political prisoners--
are not given the status of political prisoners and are
kept in subhuman conditions without respect for their
rights.
IN 1999, THE FARC-EP ISSUED A DOCUMENT CALLED
"PARAMILITARISM AS STATE COUNTER-INSURGENCY POLICY." WHAT
HAS BEEN THE IMPACT OF THAT REPORT? HAS THE ROLE OF THE
PARAMILITARY GROUPS EXPANDED OR DECLINED IN THE PAST YEAR?
The document proves incontrovertibly that paramilitarism
is an official policy--it is the development of state
terrorism. Unfortunately, the current government has done
little to nothing about this theme. They continue to carry
out the U.S. policy of "draining the ocean to kill the
fish," that is to say, unleashing a wave of bloodshed
against the civilian population in areas where the
guerrilla has a presence. Remember, that is the whole
country. The so-called paramilitaries are dedicated to
murdering the unarmed population.
For example, on the morning of March 5, a group of 150
heavily armed men violently stormed into the San Luis
Beltran magistrate building in the municipality of Yondo,
department of Antioquia. They identified themselves as
members of the [paramilitary] Peasant Self-Defense Units of
Cordoba and Uraba. They murdered eight peasants: Pedro
Chacon, Pastor Chacon, Dagoberto Mendez, Leonel Pedroso
Villareal, Oscar Mauricio, Pedroso Villareal, Pedro Chacon
Albarracin, and Alfredo N (no other identification).
The events took place nine minutes away from Yond� and 25
minutes away from Barrancabermeja [a major port city]. No
action was taken by civil, military or police authorities
in either of these places, despite their being alerted by
social and human-rights organizations.
Eight days later, and despite continued promises by the
government and armed forces to combat paramilitarism, the
so-called self-defense units murdered 11 more peasants in
the south of Bolivar--more precisely in La Cuchilla de
Guamanga, between the municipalities of Maria la Baja and
San Juan Nepomuceno. This makes yet another massacre in the
Los Montes de Maria region, which has been converted into
an epicenter of paramilitary violence. There is never any
military intervention by the military authorities against
these attacks, although the military has a heavy presence
in the zone.
On the other hand, to complete the circle of impunity,
Captain Diego Fino Rodriguez, quartered in the Juan del
Corral Mechanized Battalion installations in Rionegro
(Antioquia), continues to elude military custody. Fino is
accused of being one of those responsible for the murder of
Alex Lopera, peace commissioner of Antioquia.
Weeks earlier, Major David Hernandez, also implicated in
that crime, escaped to the same garrison. Hernandez
declared that he would link himself to the "self-defense"
units.
To this day there have been no clear responses from the
commander of the Fourth Brigade, Gen. Eduardo Herrera--much
less explanations. The announcements always go: "There will
be penal investigations and discipline." This usually ends
up with some sanctions against low-ranking soldiers while
the officers continue in their posts with complete
impunity.
THE U.S. GOVERNMENT IS CURRENTLY DEBATING A $1.7 BILLION
AID PACKAGE TO THE COLOMBIAN MILITARY. WHAT WOULD BE THE
IMPACT OF SUCH A POLICY ON THE CURRENT TALKS?
The FARC-EP is among those Colombians who do not share the
objectives of the Plan Colombia. We consider the plan to be
opposed to the social investment needed for peace, and as
another resource for the war between Colombians and the
interference of the United States in our internal affairs.
The Plan Colombia, or Plan of War, is fundamentally
destined to improve the combat capacity of the military
forces in the state repression of workers' social protest,
with the facade of fighting drugs.
The Plan Colombia is a strategic alliance with which the
United States is trying to regulate, through military and
economic intervention, the terms of an internal solution
and agreements with the IMF and World Bank for credits to
strengthen the globalizing, neoliberal model that Pastrana
is putting forward. It imposes a policy that targets the
Colombian people's hope for change and threatens the north
Andean countries that are seeking free and original
solutions to the crisis.
As a means of financing a war plan, the impact would be
disastrous. The enemies of peace would be strengthened--
those who believe the only solution is wiping out all forms
of opposition. It makes war possible.
THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT CLAIMS THAT THIS "AID" IS
AIMED AT FIGHTING DRUGS. HOW WOULD YOU RESPOND TO THIS
CLAIM?
The distribution of this "aid" is telling: $600 million
for the functioning of three anti-narcotic battalions of
the Army; $96 million for the National Police; $341 million
for Naval and Air Force interdiction; $145 million for
alternative development, on the premise that killing half
of the Colombians will solve the problem of hunger; $92
million for "strengthening democratic institutions," pale
reflections of what democracy really needs to be.
All this despite the fact that the narcotraffickers have
no military force. So what are the helicopters, the ships
and the anti-narcotic battalions for?
THE U.S. GOVERNMENT RECENTLY DENIED A FARC-EP
REPRESENTATIVE'S REQUEST TO VISIT THE UNITED STATES--
SUPPOSEDLY ON THE BASIS OF THE THREE NORTH AMERICAN
ACTIVISTS KILLED LAST YEAR. THIS QUESTION ALSO COMES UP
AMONG HONEST ACTIVISTS OPPOSED TO U.S. INTERVENTION IN
COLOMBIA. WHAT IS THE FARC-EP'S POSITION WITH RESPECT TO
THOSE KILLINGS?
Part of our policy as an organization, which we are also
carrying out through the discussion table, is to give
information about the Colombian reality and the proposals
for a solution. We do not discount the possibility of
travelling to the U.S. to do that, as we have done in many
other countries and in the European tour discussed earlier.
The unfortunate deaths of the three citizens cannot be
analyzed in isolation. It is necessary to understand that
this took place amid conditions of war that our people have
lived in for more than 50 years; high levels of violence
sponsored by the U.S. and Colombian governments; the
imposition of the doctrine of internal security, generating
violence and repression against the people. The clear
threats of direct intervention by the U.S. empire in our
country, anti-imperialist sentiment, the sinister
penetration of Indigenous communities for acculturation and
intelligence activities, and reactions without consultation
by one of our commanders are also some of the reasons that
explain--but never justify--the deaths of these three
people.
Remember that Colombia is notorious for its policies of
state terrorism and for the violent actions of the
paramilitaries--an extension of the official armed forces
used as a tool for the dirty war.
Without dismissing the magnitude of this error, we cannot
permit the most backward "hawk" sectors of the U.S.
government to use this situation to discredit the struggles
aimed at building the new Colombia that all Colombians need
and deserve, regardless of ethnic background. Nor can we
accept this from their lackeys on a world scale, many
disguised as NGOs, which profit from the violation of human
rights and the pain of many peoples of the world.
For that reason, all the biased and manipulative reports
following the deaths of Terence Freitas, Lahe'ena'e Gay and
Ingrid Washinawatok are unacceptable and slanderous. The
deaths of these environmentalists, Indigenous people and
Indigenous supporters were a regrettable error that we
accept soberly.
DO YOU HAVE ANY MESSAGE FOR THE ACTIVISTS IN THE UNITED
STATES WHO ARE OPPOSED TO U.S. INTERVENTION IN COLOMBIA?
The case of Colombia has been the subject of massive
disinformation in the world and particularly in the United
States. This is a result of manipulation of public opinion
by reactionary and pro-war sectors.
Our struggle is just and necessary. Our objective is the
building of a new Colombia in peace with social justice and
sovereignty. We are a revolutionary organization that has
nothing to do with drug trafficking or terrorism. We do not
target the interests of the people, of which we are an
integral part.
The war we are living through is the responsibility of the
state, because it has left no other road. The battles that
we carry out are against the organs of the state and the
promoters of the dirty war.
It is not true that we carry out so-called "takeovers" of
towns. Our objectives are the army barracks and police
stations that the state irresponsibly locates in the
interior of towns. Generally the neighbors of these targets
are themselves part of the state security organisms, not
civilians as it is presented.
Neither does the FARC-EP carry out "armed strikes" [work
stoppages]. Rather, we call on the people to mobilize
themselves and struggle in every form. The stories of armed
strikes correspond to the manipulation of information in
order to justify whatever actions are taken against the
people participating in strikes, blockades or meetings.
With this excuse they murder leaders and pass them off as
guerrillas infiltrating the campaigns of mass struggle.
Military intelligence and enemies of the current talks and
the FARC-EP have mounted a campaign of threats against many
people, which are broadcast by the big media in order to
de-legitimize us. But they never talk about the hundreds of
people in exile and the nearly two million displaced
people. This is clear proof of their well-defined class
conception, where on one side there are those beyond
reproach and on the other those of secondary importance--
the ignored, the poor.
We thank Workers World for the possibility of bringing
this information to the U.S. people. We are sure that the
people of the United States will know how to display their
solidarity with the Colombian people in this struggle for
the construction of peace and for national liberation.
- END -
_______
Macdonald Stainsby
-----
Check out the Tao ten point program: http://new.tao.ca
"The only truly humanitarian war would be one against
underdevelopment, hunger and disease."
- Fidel Castro
