Thursday, May 31, 2012


The Murder of Jhon Jairo: Nunca Mas!

Working in Colombia with CPT sometimes feels like living in the mythic wild west of the US in 1800s.  Justice systems in newly founded towns relied on a limited supply of qualified sheriffs, judges, mayors and city councilmen to adopt and enforce laws.  Legal recourse might be left to the hands of vigilantes, or the offender might literally "get away with murder".  "Might made right," and the wealthy in town were likely to be the mighty and therefore control who won and lost in the justice system.

Here in Colombia there are police, judges, mayors or city councilman, but because the balance of power and wealth is skewed toward a small group of wealthy often supported by the Army and Police it's like the wild west for many in the middle and lower classes.  One of the phrases common in areas with this imbalance of power is "No more Impunity!"  I heard it again today as I attended the funeral of 19 year old Jhon Jairo de la Rosa.  Jhon rode off on his motorcycle Sunday morning May 20, and was found dead in Barranca on Wednesday May 23.  The throat of his mutilated body had been slit.    

When the family went to the Police Office on Monday morning to report their son missing, the police refused to take the information.  Officers tell families to wait a bit and their teen will show up- you know how teens are.  Jhon's family may have been extra vigilant as they lost a family member in a massacre here of young men in 1998 and there have been a string of murders of young people in Barranca over the past decade.

Thursday, CPT members accompanied a funeral procession of 140 people marching through downtown with the body of Jhon Jairo chanting, "Nunca Mas!"- ("No More!").  A local Catholic Priest and sister led a litany, songs, prayers and cries for justice.  Dozens of teens carried signs and wore headbands with the message, Nunca Mas!  The procession stopped in front of both the Justice Department and the City Council Buildings.  Under conditions often like the wild west, it makes a difference when international humanitarian workers are present monitoring events and demonstrating solidarity.  It sends an important message to the powers in charge that their leadership is being monitored and is inadequate.  It sends an even greater message to those who suffer. You are not alone. We stand in solidarity with you.

(Joint blog by Julie and Phil)


Monday, May 21, 2012

Upstream and downstream

Chalupas

 Julie and I headed up to Garzal by chalupa on Wednesday morning. A chalupa, you may remember, has nothing to do with Taco Bell, but is instead a Magdalena River mini-bus on steroids. Twenty-plus passengers and their luggage use these to reach the hundreds of small river communities located throughout the wetlands of the Magdalena basin. 



After about a three hour ride we arrived at the drop-off point where we meet the 35 ft outboard powered canoe with the two Swiss volunteers we are relieving. These canoes are all called "Johnsons" after the original motors that most people used. This canoe is piloted by Pastor Salvador, the community leader who is hosting the commission made up of the eight other non-governmental organizations (NGOs) we are accompanying. We wind up a small river branching off the Magdalena and then onto a small caño or stream that takes us directly to his home where we are all being hosted.

 Julie thought you might want to know about our housing arrangements. Some of us are being hosted in Salvador's house. Chickens and dogs share the house. Within fifty feet of the house are an orange tree, a mango tree, a papaya tree, a six foot hot pepper plant, and lots of bananas and plantains. Most of the men are sleeping in hammocks in the adjoining church space. Someone has a small hiking tent on the altar. Julie and I share a double bed, and everybody, family included has mosquito nets. Salvador has electricity via a generator that he runs from dark at about 6:30 PM till the "Colombia Has Talent" TV show goes off at about 10:30 PM. There are no fans other than the one by the TV. Using the bathroom after sundown puts Julie at great risk for mosquito bites on the behind. They don't seem to bother me so much. Probably because of my vaccinations in the Boundary Waters of Minnesota. The generator comes on again with the lights at 4:00 AM so that Nidya, Salvador's wife, can start working on breakfast. Salvador pumps water out of the river to fill the "pila" (laundry sink) and the tank over the bath/shower. There is running water in the sense that you take the wooden plug out of the shower spout and fill up a bucket for your bath. All toilet flushing is by bucket, but it is nice to have an actual toilet in the campo.


 Garzal Accompaniment

 Last year I wrote about the Las Pavas community and sent a link to a 13 minute video about the situation in three Colombian communities. Here is that video link again. The first four minutes cover Garzal. It is an excellent intro to their situation. Please take a moment to view it.
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSXStg_n4nw

 Current Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos, has made some relatively strong public statements in the last year about his administration's commitment to the land title rights of small farmers. There is much skepticism among CPTers and their friends as to his true intentions. Land titling disputes between campesinos and the wealthy corporate interests (who are interested in the land for gold, petroleum and/or palm) tend to drag on for years. As noted in the video, the dispute in Garzal is between campesinos and the Barreto family who reportedly own over thirty-two thousand acres.

Our current accompaniment of Garzal is coming at a pivotal point in their land titling process. Right now, for a little more more than two weeks, the above mentioned NGOs and INCODER (Agricultural Department) representatives are working in three to four small groups interviewing families and taking GPS surveys of their claimed parcels of land. The Barreto family was to send several representatives as well, but when the government decided not to send security forces out for the process, the Barretos backed out, claiming it was too risky because of the guerilla presence in the community. CPT has never been able to verify any guerilla presence. The NGO members travel out each morning by canoe to rendezvous with the INCODER group to split into their respective teams. Julie and I traveled with two topographers, one day mostly by foot. The second full day we covered over sixty miles in canoe through an incredible maze of rivers, streams and lakes.


 Here are some of the complexities faced by this fact-finding group. Campesinos who have never had an actual survey are being asked to testify how much land they have and how much they harvest per acre of various crops. According to Colombian law, no one can own a body of water. In this valley, an area may be used for pasture half the year while the other half of the year the same area will be under three feet of water. Is that pasture or lake? Some families have been in this area 40 years, some 20, some much less. What is the time requirement for establishing title?

 CPT's role is to provide security for the community simply by being present. It is rare that we confront an obvious threat of violence. It is clear that some families are very nervous at being interviewed by any government official. The regional government has been at the forefront of efforts to evict them. On our third day, security forces did arrive, fifteen regular soldier and two officers, several with diarrhea and vomiting. Two of our accompanying attorneys went to check in with them. The sergeant in charge said he had been instructed to come out and check on the commissions in Garzal though he had never been in the area, had no idea what commission was there, or what their task was. The sergeant then asked the attorneys for suggestions on what they ought to be doing!! What could be riskier than ignorant men with weapons looking for an undefined threat? That night the attorney, addressing other commission members, spoke of the importance of participation by CPT and other international observers as being critical to lowering the threat of physical violence.



Cultural Complexities

Three nights ago I stopped to visit with two farmers living beside the caño that serves as Garzal's "Main St".  In our hour-long conversation, they asked a series of questions that included the following subjects:

- Where were you when President Kennedy was assassinated?
- Does all of Texas belong to the US or does part belong to Mexico?
- What do I think about the international market for corn this year? -
- How do I think President Obama's recent statement in support of gay marriage will affect his election campaign?
- How is my work with CPT funded? Who pays for my pane ticket? Does the Obama administration help finance this sort of work, and how is it different from the work and funding of the other NGO's? 

These men had a maximum 9th grade education, probably less. Who among us would have been able to ask similar questions about Colombian history, economics and politics? Again I am humbled by the opportunity to meet and work with brothers and sisters from other cultures.

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Bladders of steel

Bladders of steel

 I'll be frank. I pee more often than I did 30 years ago. For this reason the bus ride from Bogota to the CPT office always makes me feel a little anxious. In the past it took 9 to 10 hours. We were told that road construction was now taking it up to 14. I've never been a fan of bus bathrooms, but the ones in South and Central America can have serious problems. One time it was out of order altogether.

 My strategy is twofold. Number one is no coffee to avoid the caffeine crisis. Number two is to drink ginger tea for breakfast if I can or ginger ale at the bus station. Those are my preferred motion sickness meds.

 We boarded the Copetran bus a 9 AM. I made it through to the restaurant lunch break at 3 PM with no problem, the only stop on the whole trip. That was about the half way point. Around 6 PM I knew there was going to be a "situation". We had checked the bathroom on boarding to make sure it was functioning. It was actually a two-bathroom bus, men's and women's. So I made it back to the men's and found that the previous occupant had used the stand-and-pee method with only marginal success. Lacking any any cleaning supplies I decided to see if I could do any better than he did.

 Ladies, bear with me here as my male readers will appreciate the intricacies of peeing into a toilet bowl that is moving in various directions while your body is being thrown around in other directions at the same time by an bus careening, literally, down a mountain. It is not for the faint of heart. At the same time, it was hard to keep from laughing out loud, as I felt like I was in some bizarre carnival ride.

 I'll just say I did better than the other guy, and that we arrived safely in Barrancabermeja 12 hours after we left. Hallelujah.

  The office, briefly

 Many of you have asked in the past what we do when we are not on accompaniments out in the countryside. Currently there are six full-time members of the team living in the two houses that CPT rents, 2 Colombians, 2 Canadians, and two from the US. The houses are one-story cinder block row houses with corrugated cement roofs. In the bigger house that serves as the office there is an 8 foot wide "hall" that runs the length of one side of the building. This space serves as foyer, dining room and kitchen. [pictured] Off the hall are a living room, three bedrooms, and the room used for computer and tech stuff. The office room has the only air conditioner. There is a large patio with tall brick walls at the back where in evening some team members might enjoy a beer and play Scrabble. There are two windows in the front of the house, one in the back, and on some days it feels like you are living in a big brick oven.


 The official day in the office starts with a half hour spiritual reflection followed by a news update, which in turn is followed by an overview of the current work schedule: who's writing articles or journal entries, buying boat or bus tickets, Skyping a meeting with the Toronto office, or communicating with one of the several communities we are accompanying or other NGOs. In my case, the work list may include fixing some fans, shelving, or light fixtures. Julie and I both have had to spend time reading recent log entries to get up to speed on the project we'll be accompanying this year.

The team eats a mid-day meal together prepared on a rotating schedule. Other meals are on your own or informally together. House chores are divided up and charted. Accompaniments outside of town are assigned on a rotating basis.

 There are also local accompaniment events such as the one pictured that we were asked to participate in last night. This week is an annual series of memorial services for local victims of violence related to the on-going civil conflict. You readers who are members of our church will recognize the quilt banner I am delivering to our sister church in Armenia following our CPT work. We used it in the reflection we led. Also, last night I got to do some guitar playing and song leading.



Julie and I head out tomorrow on a four-day accompaniment to a little place called Garzal. More on that when we return.