Subversive Memory

Dear friends,

The police intelligence agent was aiming through the gun slot of the guard post at the people who were marching through Saravena on August 5. He was crouched down below the bullet-proof glass window and was photographing the people that were commemorating the fourth anniversary of the killing of three beloved community leaders.

An army truck then rushed to the front of the march and several soldiers jumped out with automatic rifles. One of the soldiers was also armed with a camera and he started taking photos, as well. Two soldiers on motorcycles rode through the people at the front of the march and then roared away.

More than a thousand people marched along the main streets of Saravena that day in the subversive act of honoring the memory of Alirio Martinez, Leonel Goyeneche and Jorge Prieto. During the early morning of August 5, 2004, soldiers took the three men out of Jorge’s home in Caño Seco and executed them. Vice President Santos and Defense Minister Uribe said that the men were guerrillas who had shot at the soldiers, and the soldiers then shot back in self-defense.

Alirio was the president of the state Peasant Association, Leonel was the director of an alternative adult high school in Saravena, and Jorge was the president of the Saravena health workers union.

A “memory gallery” was created in front of the social organizations’ building in Saravena on August 4 (see attached photo). Three banners were hung from the second floor with the names of Alirio, Leonel and Jorge. Photos of people who had been killed by the government security forces and the right-wing paramilitaries were then placed in front of the building.

Hundreds of people gathered together that evening to honor the victims of government violence in the state of Arauca. During a very moving ceremony, candles and flowers were placed by the photos, people held hands in a moment of silence, and then joined together in applause.

The march the following day ended at a sports arena. Father Teodoro and other priests from the churches of Saravena held a mass there for Alirio, Leonel and Jorge. During the homily, Fr. Teodoro called for “an end to the killings, mass arrests, hunger and poverty.”

Three of the family members then spoke in honor of their loved ones. Aide was 21-years-old when her father, Alirio, was killed. The last time she saw him alive was in January 2003 when she left Colombia to attend medical school in Cuba. She had decided to follow her father’s example of service to the community by studying to become a doctor. She is now in her sixth year of medical school and will graduate next year.

“Papa, your light shines in us, in each of our hearts, and we will uphold your example,” said Aide. “Today your life nourishes the ground on which the new Colombia for which you struggled will arise.”

Abdon Goyeneche is a teacher, like his brother Leonel. He talked about his brother and he also described being arrested shortly after the second anniversary of the killing in 2006. Abdon was charged with “rebellion” and spent ten months in prison. Luis Ernesto Goyeneche, another brother, was arrested for “rebellion” in December 2006 and is still in prison in Arauca City.

Cesar Prieto came up to the stage with his niece, one of Jorge’s daughters. Jorge’s son, Nelson, spoke during the first anniversary of the killing but was unable to attend this year. Nelson was a leader of the Saravena health workers union, and he was arrested for “rebellion” in February 2007 and is still in prison in Arauca City.

One of the slogans of the social movement here is “Arauca exists, insists, and resists!” Honoring the memory of Alirio, Leonel and Jorge was a powerful expression of that resistance.

In love and solidarity,

Scott

"Guerrilla killed in combat"

Dear friends,

Aicardo Ortiz was shot to death inside his home by members of the Calibio Battalion at approximately 5:30 A.M. on July 8. Aicardo was 58 years old and suffered health problems. The army reported him as a guerrilla who had been killed in combat.

I was visiting the Christian Peacemaker Team (CPT) in the city of Barrancabermeja that week and we were asked by the Cimitarra River Valley Peasant Association to accompany a mission to Aicardo’s house on July 10. The mission included a representative of the presidential human rights office, five investigators from the prosecutor’s office, and two non-governmental human rights lawyers.

Aicardo lived in a ten foot by ten foot wood structure above a small corral a few miles from the community of San Francisco. The investigators spent more than three hours analyzing the scene and then some of us were allowed to enter the house. When I got to the doorway, I saw the large stain on the floor (two photos of Aicardo’s house are attached, although you may prefer not to view the second image of the inside of the house).

When members of the community arrived at the house after the killing, Aicardo’s body was laying on the ground outside. Either Aicardo had somehow been able to get off the floor and make his way down the steps after losing so much blood, or his body had been moved from the house.

Initially, there were also a two-way radio, grenade and revolver by the body. Similar items have been planted by soldiers in previous cases of what are called here “extrajudicial executions” or “false positives.” In this case, the radio was later removed by one of the soldiers, and the grenade was removed and detonated allegedly for safety concerns.

The Calibio Battalion is utilizing four informants from San Francisco who apparently told the soldiers there were three guerrillas in Aicardo’s house. When Aicardo didn’t open the door for the soldiers that morning, they forced it open and shot him.

When we returned to San Francisco, Lieutenant Florez had a brief and very tense meeting with the community. He had been in charge of the operation on July 8, and he stated that everything was done legally and there had been an exchange of gunfire.

Two days later, Wilson Ramirez (commander of the Calibio Battalion) was quoted in the Vanguardia Liberal newspaper as stating “the troops reported an armed confrontation, but it appears that never existed.” In relation to the supposed guerrillas in the house, he was quoted “I have information that there were not those guerrillas in the house.”

The president has put pressure on the military to “show results” and national and international human rights organizations have repeatedly expressed concern about extrajudicial executions in Colombia.

“The international accompaniment (of the mission) was very valuable and it encourages people to speak out” said Carlos, regional coordinator of the peasant association. “The people feel strong and protected, and we’d like to have continuous accompaniment” added Evaristo, another leader of the association.

In love and solidarity,

Scott

A Tense Calm Breaks

Dear friends,

“The present is uncertain and the future is uncertain,” Sonia told me on February 13. Sonia is the president of the Joel Sierra Human Rights Foundation here in Saravena, Arauca. There is a “tense calm” now and people are concerned about what will happen when that calm breaks.

“There was a calm period during 2007 and people started returning to their homes,” said Sonia. “Then there was a series of killings (in January 2008) and people had to leave their homes again.” After those killings, Sonia, her spouse Eduardo, and their two children left their home and moved into the social organizations building in Saravena. She and Eduardo are at risk from FARC militia members and, also, from the government security forces.

“We’re relatively safe here with protective security measures but I’m worried about my brother and my parents” she said. Sonia’s brother was detained in August 2006 by ELN guerrillas who accused him of being a supporter of the FARC guerrillas. Fortunately, his community reacted quickly and demanded his release – which saved his life.

“When the paramilitaries (right-wing armed groups allied with the military) couldn’t find the person they were looking for, they would kill someone else from that person’s family,” explained Sonia. “So far, that hasn’t happened in this conflict,” but she’s still concerned for her parents.

The ELN and FARC guerrillas have been present here in the state of Arauca for more than twenty years, and both groups claim to be fighting against the government in order to achieve social justice. However, for the past two years they’ve been fighting against each other in Arauca for the control of territory and resources – and that fight exploded again last month. Both groups have threatened, displaced and killed civilians that they view as supporting the other side.

In the midst of this insanity, Sonia and I felt the need to “desahogarnos” – let our feelings out. She described the process as “sharing our sorrows.” We talked about the difficulty of not knowing what’s going to happen next – you think that the situation can’t get any worse and then something happens and it does worsen. Most recently, the government took advantage of this situation to carry out another mass arrest in Saravena on January 31 - 20 people were arrested for “rebellion” and there are arrest orders out for 20 more people.

In addition to talking with Sonia, I continue to seek solace by going up to the terrace roof of the social organizations building to watch the sunset and the herons flying by to roost. Recently, I met two children up there who moved into the building with their family last month.

Yeini is nine-years-old and as we were talking she asked me, “Do you have a father?” I replied, “Yes, do you?” She said “No” and then told me that her father had recently died - Pedro Ruiz was the president of the community of Pueblo Seco and he was killed by FARC guerrillas on January 6. Hector is eight-years-old and he asked me, “Are you displaced?” He thought that everyone that lives in the building is “displaced” – having fled from their homes.

Yeini and Hector are very beautiful and resilient children. May they inspire us to confront all forms of violence and repression, and to take even more effective action to end the U.S. military aid that continues to fan the flames of war here in Arauca.

As I finished writing the above, the tense calm broke here in Saravena. The president of the Saravena city council was assassinated at 3 P.M. yesterday afternoon just a few blocks away from the social organizations building.

In love and solidarity,

Scott