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 one of their reply,
prepared by Marco Leon Calarca and Olga Lucia Marin.]
MUCH HAS HAPPENED IN COLOMBIA SINCE OUR LAST INTERVIEW IN 1998. HOW
DO YOU VIEW THE CHANGES IN THE STRUGGLE OVER THE PAST TWO YEARS?
The last two years have been years of great advance for the Colombian
revolutionary struggle. Amid state terrorism, the popular sectors and
their organizations have carried out national strikes, blockades and
takeovers of highways, and huge demonstrations. Further, from the
political and military standpoint, the guerrilla struggle has been
strengthened, in particular that of the FARC-EP. It is the struggle
of Colombian men and women to build a new Colombia. It is the
struggle against the neoliberal model and the capitalist system,
which does not solve the problems of the majority--on the contrary,
it makes them worse. It is the struggle carried out in a variety of
forms,ranging from legal and mass struggle to the insurgent struggle.
COULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR EXPERIENCES SO FAR IN THE TALKS WITH THE
PASTRANA GOVERNMENT? HAS THE GOVERNMENT EXPRESSED WILLINGNESS TO
SERIOUSLY ADDRESS THE SOCIAL ROOTS OF YOUR 36-YEAR STRUGGLE?
Beginning on Jan. 7, 1999, when the talks were publicly inaugurated
in San Vicente del Caguan, we have moved forward in our search for a
solution to the Colombian conflict. There is a common agenda, as a
basis for discussion, consisting of 12 points that lead toward
solving the causes of war and toward establishing the foundation
for a New Colombia of peace, with social justice, dignity and
sovereignty.
We have also agreed on the mechanisms for citizens' participation
through Public Audiences. These are face-to- face assemblies where
the Colombian people, the majority of the country, will present
their proposals for a solution. This mechanism is in accordance with
the promise, obtained by the FARC-EP, to carry out the talks in the
open and with the participation of the country.
There is a summit site for carrying out the talks and the realization
of the Public Audiences. Public participation is facilitated by free
mail, email, telephone and fax. An important gain has been the
building of certain levels of confidence at the talks.
But one of the central advances has been showing the world the true
dimensions of the Colombian conflict. We are living in war, which
the enemies of peace--U.S. and Colombian--do not want to recognize.
The process of building peace allows this reality--the war and its
true causes--to be unveiled. Through this process, our enemies have
had to recognize that the struggle we are carrying out--arms in hand
since they allow no other option--is a political struggle, an
exercise of our rights of rebellion and self-determination. And it
has been proven that we, the FARC-EP, are the true political
opposition to the system.
RECENTLY, A HIGH-LEVEL DELEGATION OF THE FARC-EP TOURED EUROPE WITH
REPRESENTATIVES OF THE COLOMBIAN GOVERNMENT. WHAT DID YOU ACHIEVE
FROM THAT EXPERIENCE?
The gains described above have been reinforced during the tour, such
as the building of confidence within the Discussion Table and
showing the world the Colombian reality: the war we have been living
for 50 years and the need to address its causes.
Equally important, the grave problem of disinformation in the
international community about our reality became clear. This is a
product of manipulation by the big Colombian media in defense of
their class interests.
The tour served in large part to advance one of the fundamental
objectives of the FARC-EP: to internationalize peace, not war. This
in the sense that it was shown that war can have different
solutions, which is what we are looking for with this process, and
that the international community can give support without
intervening in our internal affairs and without interference that
damages the process.
THE INTERNATIONAL PRESS REPORTED THAT, DURING THE EUROPEAN TOUR, THE
FARC-EP AND THE COLOMBIAN GOVERNMENT WOULD BE LOOKING AT
"ALTERNATIVE ECONOMIC MODELS." COULD YOU EXPLAIN THE FUNDAMENTAL
ECONOMIC PROBLEMS IN COLOMBIA TODAY? HOW DO YOU ENVISION THE
COLOMBIAN ECONOMY OUTSIDE THE "NEOLIBERAL" ECONOMIC ORDER?
The only thing neoliberalism has done is accentuate the problems of
our peoples, aggravating them. It can't offer any solution for a
dignified and sovereign life in any nation. There has been an
excessive concentration of riches, where 5 percent of the population
owns 90 percent of what is produced. Real unemployment runs at 60
percent. Seventy percent of the population lives in poverty--30
percent in misery.
These are some of the indicators of the situation that compels us to
carry out the political struggle to build a new society in which the
economy functions for the well- being of the majority. But there are
others.
An immensely rich country, with possibilities of food self-
sufficiency and the capacity for exporting fishing products, is
surrounded by hunger as a product of the neoliberal model. A country
with the potential in energy production to surpass its needs cannot
guarantee minimum energy services to its population. In a country
with one of the greatest water riches in the world, sometimes people
die of thirst while other times people die in floods, as a result
of the incapacity, indolence and corruption generated by the system.
A country where a huge and permanently growing number of peasants
find it necessary to move to the agricultural margins and subsist
from the cultivation of illicit crops while the best lands are
dedicated to unproductive extensive cattle raising and the legal
crops are not marketable thanks to the economic opening. It seems
incredible, but now we are going to import coffee--Colombia, the
land of coffee.
For this reason we propose: that foreign investment be negotiated
fairly to both sides' benefit, but fundamentally for Colombia, the
owner of the natural resources. That the State be the owner of the
strategic sectors of the economy, and its use and development go
toward the benefit of the majority, including the future
generations. It is necessary to redistribute the wealth and create
the conditions where the people can live in dignity from their work.
A true integral agrarian reform is indispensable--which not only
gives land to those who want to work it, but also guarantees that
they can live from this work through technical assistance and
financing.
REPRESENTATIVES OF THE FARC-EP HAVE STATED MANY TIMES THAT YOUR GOAL
IS THE "TAKING OF POWER." IS THAT STILL A GOAL OF THE FARC-EP? WHAT
CHANGES IN THE COLOMBIAN STATE IS THE FARC-EP ATTEMPTING TO MAKE?
We still put forward as our objective the taking of power and the
building of a society without exploiters or exploited. The proposal
for a government of reconstruction and national reconciliation,
contained in the Common Agenda for change toward a new Colombia and
adopted by the Discussion Table leads to the building of a pluralist
and patriotic government that allows the development and viability
of the new country.
We have said many times that this is a totally different process. It
concerns restructuring and transforming the state with economic,
political, social and cultural solutions through accords that
require much time, patience and ability to develop. It is a
negotiation in which the majority of Colombians, represented by the
guerrillas, reclaim what the state and its many governments have
taken away over years. It is not signing and turning over; it is
building and restructuring a new Colombia where all Colombian men
and women are valued.
AS PART OF THE CONDITIONS FOR TALKS, THE FARC-EP WAS GRANTED
ADMINISTRATIVE CONTROL OF FIVE MUNICIPALITIES. COULD YOU DESCRIBE
THE SITUATION IN THIS ZONE? HOW DOES THE LIFE OF RESIDENTS OF THE
ZONE COMPARE WITH THAT OF COLOMBIANS LIVING OUTSIDE THE ZONE?
The reason for the demilitarized zone--composed of the
municipalities of Uribe, Mesetas, Vistahermosa, La Macarena in the
department of Meta and San Vicente del Caguan in El Caqueta--is the
need for an adequate space for carrying out the process of talks.
Part of the agreements is the FARC- EP's recognition of the mayors of
those municipalities and the municipal councils, as well as the
creation of a Civic Police to maintain order among the inhabitants.
The FARC-EP, after a long year of conversations, has built more than
250 kilometers of new roads and repaired 250 more for the benefit of
the population of the five demilitarized zones. Twenty bridges have
been built and 64 roads have been paved. We have carried out massive
vaccination campaigns in which 20,000 adults and children have been
treated. Sanitation and promotion of culture and sports has been
addressed. The high rate of violent deaths has been lowered from 366
per year to eight, and the incidence of assaults and robberies has
fallen to practically zero in San Vicente del Caguan. We have
increased the mechanisms for the protection of the wilderness and
wildlife for the preservation of the environment. We have been
negotiating with the High Commission for the electrification of
various communities and the improvement of health and education
centers.
The residents of the whole region assure their satisfaction with the
tranquility and the progress that they now experience--which they
have never before witnessed, since before the government withdrawal,
two or three citizens a day died from violence.
- 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
