URGENT: 1000 indigenous peoples to confront paramilitary in Colombia by an activist 6:04pm Sat Jun 9 '01 indymedia On the 13th of June, 1000 indigenous peoples (accompanied by diverse social organisations) will go to Tierralta, the breeding ground and basis of operations of the most important paramilitary group of Colombia: the Autodefensas Unidas de Cordoba y Uraba (which leads the national paramilitary umbrella called AUC). They will join the Indigenous Humanitarian Mission called by the National Indigenous Organisation of Colombia (ONIC) to look for Kimy Pernia Domico, spokesperson for the Embera people in their struggle against the mega-dam Urra who was kidnapped by the paramilitaries on the 2nd of June. They want to search all the estates in Tierralta until they find him alive. They hope that they will only need 15 days but are prepared to stay longer if necessary. The Urr� dam, an illegal and foreign-funded megaproject, was built on the ancestral land of the Embera people without their permission, although they are the collective owners of the land, and has flooded a large part of it and deprived them of fish, their main food staple. The Embera mobilised against the dam and the government signed an agreement with them promising compensation, an end to the intimidations, etc. But instead of that, they sent the paramilitaries, who have already killed and disappeared several Emberas in order to create terror and displacement, to make room for more foreign investment. The Embera have refused to leave since that would mean their end of their culture, and their disappearance as indigenous peoples. The colonel of the police in Cordoba (the region where the mission will take place) declared on the radio that the Embera support FARC (the largest Colombian guerrilla), implying that this is the reason for Kimy's kidnapping, adding that in his case there might also be personal problems to do with drugs. However, the only problem that the Emberas have with drugs is that they don't want to grow them, but the paramilitaries are intimidating them to do so. The Emberas have also made very clear in many occassions that the war of FARC is not their war. The 13th of June there will be actions in solidarity with the Indigenous Humanitarian Mission in different parts of the world, to show that all over the world people are aware of the fascist nature of the Colombian state which kills and massacres through paramilitary organisations, and support the struggles of Colombian peoples for self-rule. Although this is a very short-term call, it will hopefully be possible to do actions (even if they are small and symbolic) in different places around the world. If you cannot do an action then you might want to write (or phone if you can) the president of Colombia and the other bastards listed below, so that they realise that people in many countries are watching what happens in Colombia. Several groups are preparing actions in North America, and have done some (unusually useful) lobbying which has resulted, for instance, in 52 Canadian parliamentarians signing a letter on the case of Kimy. We will translate the call of the National Indigenous Organisation of Colombia and send it to the lists tomorrow, along with more information. This is not a common mobilisation, it is a very clear sign that the indigenous peoples of Colombia have had enough and are ready to take dramatic (and dangerous) steps to stop their slow genocide by the Colombian state. Let's show clearly that we are with them. ------------- If you have any problem with any of these phone or fax numbers, please let us know, it is not unusual that the Colombian authorities change their contact numbers to avoid protests and we want to keep track of these changes. ANDRES PASTRANA ARANGO Presidente de la Rep�blica, Presidencia de la Rep�blica Carrera 8 n. 7-26 Palacio de Nari�o, Santa Fe de Bogot�. Tel�fono. 5629300 ext. 3550 (571 ) 284 33 00 Fax (571 ) 286 74 34 - 286, 68 42 -284 21 86 NESTOR HUMBERTO MARTINEZ Ministro del interior, Ministerio de Gobierno Carrera 8 n. 8-09 Santa Fe de Bogot�, Palacio de Nari�o. Tel-fax (571 ) 2868025, 3343960 ext. 0630 GUSTAVO BELL Ministro de la Defensa, Ministerio de Defensa Nacional Avenida El Dorado con carrera 52 CAN Santa Fe de Bogot� Tel-fax (571 ) 222 18 74 ALFONSO GOMEZ MENDEZ Fiscal General de la Naci�n Diagonal 22 B n. 52-01 Santa Fe de Bogot�. Tel fax (571 ) 570 20 22 FERNANDO TAPIAS STAHELIN Comandante de las Fuerzas Militares Avenida el Dorado con Carrera 52 Santa Fe de Bogot� Telefax. 571-2222935 These are the contacts of the military authorities of the region (Cordoba): Policia de Tierra Alta: +57 47 771063 Puesto Militar Frasquillo: Coronel Jairo Salguedo +57 47 7833497 Brigada XIII - MOnteria Coronel Ovalle +57 774556 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- LAAMN-ANNOUNCE: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network - Event Announcements --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Digest: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Help: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?subject=laamn-news> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive1: <http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn-announce> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive2: <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- <http://home.labridge.com/~laamn> | LAAMN | <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Your use of Yahoo! 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