WEEKLY NEWS UPDATE ON THE AMERICAS
ISSUE #583, APRIL 1, 2001
NICARAGUA SOLIDARITY NETWORK OF GREATER NEW YORK
339 LAFAYETTE ST., NEW YORK, NY 10012
(212) 674-9499 <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
*5. COLOMBIA: INDIGENOUS BLOCKADE ROADS
Some 3,000 residents of the indigenous Embera Chami communities
in Mistrato, Pueblo Rico and Quinchia municipalities in the
central Colombian coffee-growing department of Risaralda lifted a
blockade of local roads on Mar. 25 after reaching agreement with
the departmental government over regional development demands
including funding and improvements to health and education
facilities, housing and infrastructure.
The indigenous protesters began the blockade on Mar. 22 at two
points, closing off the roads that link the departmental capital,
Pereira, to the cities of Manizales (Caldas) and Cartago (Valle
del Cauca). The blockade effectively cut off the important
department of Valle del Cauca (of which Cali, Colombia's third
largest city, is the capital) from the rest of the country.
According to the Medellin daily El Colombiano, one person was
killed during a confrontation with stranded drivers on the first
day of the blockade. [EC 3/26/01]
In a Mar. 26 communique, the Regional Indigenous and Black
Campesino Council of the Central Coffee-Growing Region (CRECEC)
and the Regional Indigenous Council of Risaralda (CRIR) charged
that their communities and their protest movement have suffered
intense repression and harassment "from the army and police, who
block free movement... and also force members of the community to
suffer hunger by blocking the entry of foodstuffs into the areas
where people are demonstrating..." The security forces also
distributed flyers accusing movement members of being
subversives, charge CRECEC and CRIC, and even Risaralda governor
Elsa Gladis Cifuentes Aranzazu called the indigenous movement
subversive in comments to the press.
The communique emphasized that the communities are protesting
because of "the abandonment and situation of dire poverty imposed
[on them] by the current government with its neoliberal economic
policy; the non-compliance of accords and pacts signed in
previous mobilizations; and the denial and lack of recognition of
the rights and needs of indigenous and campesinos communities in
the region."
CRECEC and CRIR also blasted Risaralda government secretary
Guillermo Perez Ospina for claiming publicly that the protests
were merely an excursion for the indigenous communities: "[T]he
development of the movement implies a great effort and sacrifice
for their families," the communique explains, "as well as the
temporary abandonment of their territories; proof of this is that
up until now this movement has cost the lives of three community
members, including an indigenous child." [CRECEC/CRIR communique
3/26/01]
*6. COLOMBIA: MORE MASSACRES IN ANTIOQUIA
Between Mar. 16 and 19, members of the rightwing paramilitary
United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) killed as many as 17
people in a number of rural villages in San Carlos municipality,
and in the town of San Carlos itself, in southeastern Antioquia.
[Reuters 3/19/01; El Diario-La Prensa 3/20/01 from EFE]
The Seeds of Liberty Human Rights Collective (CODHESEL) reports
that since early March, some 5,000 troops from the Army's IV
Brigade have been engaged in an operation codenamed 'Resplandor'
in the municipalities of San Carlos, San Luis, Granada and
Cocorna in southeastern Antioquia. On Mar. 14, charges CODHESEL,
the IV Brigade's Juan del Corral Battalion withdrew from San
Carlos, and the local police moved their base from the town's
center to its outskirts. The paramilitaries then left their base
in the nearby community of El Jordan, passing unhindered by a
military post in Playas and a military checkpoint in Puente
Arkanzas before arriving in San Carlos on Mar. 17. [Amnesty
International Urgent Action 3/26/01; CODHESEL Communique,
undated]
Suspected paramilitaries killed at least three people on Mar. 19
in El Penol municipality, which borders on Granada to the north.
[Reuters 3/19/01; ED-LP 3/20/01 from EFE] Paramilitaries killed
four people on Mar. 20 in the village of La Madera, in El Carmen
de Viboral municipality, just south of Cocorna. In Titiribi
municipality, further to the west, paramilitaries killed four
people on Mar. 20 in the village of La Camelia. [El Colombiano
(Medellin) 3/21/01]
Dozens of campesinos have been massacred throughout southern
Antioquia in recent months since the AUC kicked off a slaughter
campaign in the region with a Nov. 3 massacre of 19 people in
Granada. [Equipo PBI Colombia Informacion Catorce Dias #170,
12/25/00-1/7/01 & #171, 1/8-1/21/01]
*7. COLOMBIA: MASSACRES IN SOUTHWEST
In recent months the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC)
have become very active in southwestern Colombia, particularly in
the departments of Cauca, Narino and Putumayo. On Mar. 24, some
200-300 paramilitaries from the AUC stormed the town of Llorente
in the southwestern Colombian department of Narino, forcing the
residents to gather in the town square, then selecting about 30
people accused of collaborating with leftist rebels. The
paramilitaries demanded that local merchants provide them with
chainsaws, which they hauled off with their victims into the
jungle. The abducted villagers have not been seen since and are
presumed dead. On Mar. 30, Narino governor Parmenio Cuellar told
reporters that security forces did not arrive until Mar. 29,
after the paramilitaries had left the town. [New York Times
3/31/01; El Nuevo Herald 3/31/01 from AFP]
On Mar. 28, five campesinos were killed by a squadron of armed
men in camouflage uniforms in Rosas municipality, in the
southwestern department of Cauca. The victims were members of the
Committee to Unite the People of the Southern Colombian Mountain
Range (CIMA). [El Tiempo (Bogota) website last-minute news
3/28/01]
*8. COLOMBIA: 15 KILLED IN NORTHEAST
On Mar. 25, paramilitaries killed eight people in the
northeastern department of Norte de Santander: five in the
village of Guamalito, El Carmen municipality; and three in Villas
del Rosario, in a rural area of Cucuta municipality. Army troops
pursued the group of some 40 paramilitaries and managed to
capture six of them, along with weapons and vehicles. The same
day, paramilitaries killed four people and wounded two in the
village of El Pueblito, near Barrancabermeja, Santander
department; the killers accused their victims of being members of
the National Liberation Army (ELN). [Reuters 3/25/01; El Pais
(Cali) 3/26/01]
Also on Mar. 25, two men on a motorcycle shot to death three (or
possibly four) boys ages 13-17 in the Villa Solano neighborhood
of Soledad municipality, near Barranquilla in the northern
department of Atlantico. The boys were leaving a recreation
center at 3am when they were killed, apparently on the orders of
neighborhood vigilante groups enforcing a curfew. [Reuters
3/25/01; EP 3/26/01; AFP 3/26/01]
*9. COLOMBIA: US ANGRY OVER UN VOTE
On Mar. 27, Colombia joined eight other members of the 15-member
United Nations (UN) Security Council in voting in favor of a
resolution--fiercely opposed by Israel--which would have called
for an international observer force to protect Palestinian
civilians in the West Bank and Gaza. Over the vehement objections
of the US, the seven non-aligned movement (NAM) members of the
Security Council (including Colombia and Jamaica) brought the
resolution to a vote, where it won the support of permanent
members Russia and China. European members abstained, forcing the
US to use its veto power to block the resolution. US State
Department spokesperson Richard Boucher indicated on Mar. 30 that
the US may retaliate against Colombia for its sponsorship of the
vote. "The United States at the highest levels is disappointed by
Colombia's decision..." said Boucher, clarifying that any
retaliation would not affect the $1.3-billion US contribution to
the militaristic "Plan Colombia," to which Washington "remained
committed."
The speaker of Colombia's Congress, Liberal Party senator Mario
Uribe, called the US reaction "exaggerated" and "uncalled-for."
"What Colombia does on the international field does not
necessarily have to please the United States, because at the end
of the day, we are an independent country," said Uribe. [Guardian
(London) 3/29/01; Reuters 3/30/01; Agence France Presse 4/1/01]
*10. COLOMBIA: RED CROSS, BAVARIA STRIKES END
About 270 Colombian Red Cross workers ended a two-month strike
and returned to work on Mar. 27 after the government ordered an
arbitration court to resolve the labor conflict. Since the strike
began on Jan. 23, the organization's medical services, lab exams,
blood banks and lottery activities had barely functioned.
The Red Cross employees are demanding an 11.7% wage increase and
the preservation of current benefits. Red Cross executives claim
eliminating the benefits is necessary because of the
organization's $1 million deficit. Union president Myriam Triana
attributed the deficit to the hiring of more executives at high
salaries. [EFE 3/27/01]
A similar government arbitration order ended a 71-day national
strike by some 6,300 workers at the Bavaria beer company on Feb.
28. The strike began on Dec. 20 over job security and wage issues
[see Update #574]. [El Tiempo (Bogota) 3/1/01]
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339 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012 * 212-674-9499 fax: 212-674-9139
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