From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Organization: Antiimperialist Camp News Reply-To: "Antiimperialist Camp News" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Sun, 13 Jan 2002 15:57:35 -0600 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Colombian oligarchy abandons peace process! Declaration of the Anti-Imperialist Camp In Argentine it was shown recently, that capitalism doesn't allow for a social development and that capitalism provides the majority with unemployment, marginalisation and starvation. In Columbia, imperialism makes clear that it doesn't accept peace, and threatens the Columbian people to make them the first victim of the neo-colonial "anti-terrorist" campaign of the USA. On January 10th, the government of Columbia has officially proclaimed the end of the three-year peace process with the biggest Columbian guerrilla organisation, the FARC-EP. The government gave the FARC 48 hours to leave the demilitarised zone of San Vicente Cagu�n, where negotiations have been held since January 7th, 1999. The FARC and the majority of the Columbian population have seen in these three years the unwillingness of the oligarchy and the government to reach a genuine peace. President Pastrana has played a dirty game with the word "peace" to win the 1998 elections, and then-faced with a strong armed opposition-to temporise and to demobilise the opposition with a "peace" stripped of its political and social contents. The FARC are a movement that has deep roots in the poorest strata of the Columbian society, and they have witnessed that the war against the people has never stopped during these three years. The peasants suffered from the war on drugs that meant to devastate their fields with herbicides, to poison the water and to drive them into poverty. The civilian population was always under the threat of massacres of the government's paramilitary forces who caused more than 1.5 million internal refugees. Trade union activists faced continuous repression and subversion charges. Imperialist interference by the Plan Colombia and the Andes Initiative meant that the nation has never had the chance to decide on a solution for the conflict in a sovereign way. The Columbian general Fernando Tapias has now announced, that the army is ready for the war. That doesn't come as a surprise, in fact the war against the people was never stopped. They have just temporised and used the money of the Plan Colombia for armaments, to train more counter-insurgency units with the help of US-American advisors and to transform the paramilitary forces into a fully-fledged killer army for effective counter-insurgency. Imperialism seems to have given green light to the Columbian oligarchy to finally end the peace process. General Tapias in mid-October last year attended the "Inter-American Conference against Terrorism" where the USA proclaimed the Latin American chapter of their international war against the peoples of the world. Although the FARC has clearly felt in its own rank and file that the war had never stopped, they nevertheless tried with patience and responsibility to find a solution. The FARC know, that there are many citizens of Columbia-especially among the urban middle class-who want peace at any price. The FARC as a revolutionary popular movement have shown those citizens that they are ready for peace, but they did not agree to a peace without any real content, they have learned from the history of failed peace processes in Central America and Columbia at the beginning of the 90s-those peace processes had only led to new killings and social injustice. The FARC want a peace with social change, to overcome neo-liberalism and dependence on imperialism. This "peace with social justice" was meant to be peace for the poor as well, and not just a fake peace for those who want to consume their social privileges "in peace". The oligarchy thus started to sabotage the negotiation process by all means: slanders against the FARC in the media, political sabotage during the talks, military provocations in the demilitarised zone and especially the terror of the paramilitary forces. Pastrana, the staunch defender of the oligarchy and imperialist domination, has take upon himself during the last days as president, the responsibility-before the eyes of the people who is for peace-for the end of the talks and to declare war again. But the responsibility in fact is with the oligarchy as a whole, with its corrupt parties, its armed forces and paramilitary units, and with imperialism, who has realised that in Columbia the problem of social and political protest can not be solved by empty talk, who has realised that a war is inevitable to defend the system of injustice. The presidential elections in March had in no case given the Columbian people to bring about change in the country in a free and democratic way-even if the talks would have continued. Now, with the impeding escalation, these elections can even less be a tool for the people. But also the international solidarity movement has to take an important decision. Many have searched also in Columbia for a "third way", for a civil society beyond "the violence". These arguments have been helpful to the state apparatus and the oligarchy to declare themselves to be victims of violent groups. The Oligarchy and imperialism know exactly, that a third way is impossible, and this is why they have declared war again. Today every true democrat and defender of human rights has to join the anti-imperialist solidarity to defend the people of Columbia and to support its guerrilla organisations who are continuing the struggle under these new and difficult conditions for a just peace! We oppose the escalation of war provoked by the Columbian government, the oligarchy and imperialism! Stop the "war against terror" in Columbia and Latin America! Solidarity with Columbia also means solidarity with the Columbian insurrection movement! For a peace with social justice-against the oligarchy, the murderous armed forces and imperialism! Against the fake elections-for an anti-imperialist and anti-oligarchic popular government! Anti-Imperialist Camp January 13th, 2002 ************************************ Antiimperialist Camp PF 23, A-1040 Vienna, Austria Tel&Fax +43 1 504 00 10 [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.antiimperialista.com/en ************************************ _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. 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