Marching For the Lives of Teachers

Photo of students with banner, “It’s in your hands to respect and value life. I love it, do you?”

Dear friends,

More than 2,000 students and teachers marched through the streets of Puerto Berrio on March 17 to protest the killing of a teacher and his wife. Duvian Rojo and Veronica Cadavid were killed by two gunmen in the center of town on the evening of March 13. Puerto Berrio is controlled by paramilitary death squads that have relations with the police and military, and the killing occurred just two blocks from the police station. Duvian and Veronica were the parents of twins that are less than a year old.

The paramilitaries have been extorting more than 20 teachers in the town – demanding that they pay protection money in order to avoid being killed. Duvian filed a complaint with the prosecutor’s office that led to the arrest of two men, although none of the paramilitary leaders were arrested. His colleagues believe that he was killed in retaliation for speaking out about the extortions.

I felt a lot of tension at the beginning of the march, more so than at any other activity I’ve accompanied here in Colombia. I asked the parish priest, who had invited us to the march, if I could take some photos. He responded that it would be better if I did not. One of my teammates, who had been married by the priest, talked to him later and he agreed to let me get some shots. I was introduced to a man who then walked with me to the front of the march. The march stretched out for several blocks and it was very inspiring to see so many students in the streets of Puerto Berrio.

We met with a group of teachers after the march in the church, Our Lady of Sorrows. One man was wearing a t-shirt with a photo of Duvian that read, “Friend Duvian, you will always be in our hearts.” The teachers were very concerned about their safety and asked us to not mention their names. “You wonder if you’ll be the next victim,” one of them told us.

They described the relationship of the paramilitaries with the police and military. “These groups are mixed together with the authorities.” They also talked about the location of the killing – two policemen are usually stationed there and it’s near the station. “They (the killers) exited to the left and the police came in from the right.”

Puerto Berrio is a town of 50,000 inhabitants, located two hours south of Barrancabermeja. Two paramilitary groups are fighting for control of the cocaine trade in the region, and one of those groups has apparently entered into an alliance with the National Army of Liberation (ELN) guerrillas. The priest told us that three to four people were killed each week in Puerto Berrio during February. In the midst of all this, the teachers are determined to continue forward and to denounce the abuses that occur in their town.

Sister Miriam accompanies workers in the palm oil plantations near Barrancabermeja. During the meeting with the teachers, she said “Peace can appear to be a distant dream. However, there are new sprouts and signs of hope. We’re weaving together networks of people.”

In love and solidarity,

Scott

Death of a Friend

Dear friends,

My friend Carlos Cabrera was killed in Arauquita on November 28. He was forcibly removed from his home, taken to the outskirts of town, and then shot and killed. He was the secretary general of the Arauquita Displaced Persons Association, which represents people who have been forced to flee from their homes because of the violence. He had a spouse and two young daughters, and it appears that he was killed by ELN guerrillas.

The situation here in the state of Arauca is deteriorating rapidly. The week before Carlos was killed, an explosive was set off in the entrance of the social organizations building in Saravena – shattering windows on the first and second floors. A fragmentation grenade was thrown over the front gate of the Saravena Community Water Company on November 25 – causing slight damage to the exterior of the building. Eight people were killed, and two people were wounded, between November 23 and 29 in Arauca (total population is less than 300,000 people).

The two guerrilla groups in Arauca (FARC and ELN) have been fighting against each other for the past three years, and that conflict is worsening. Both groups have targeted civilians that they view as supporting the other side. Hundreds of people have been killed and thousands have had to flee from their homes in the countryside.

I traveled in a bus filled with Carlos’ friends from Arauquita to Fortul for the wake and funeral on November 30. I met his spouse Luz Mila and their two daughters – Luz Linney (8 years old) and Clara Lisbet (3 years old).

I was overwhelmed by the intelligence and insight of Luz Linney. She came up to me and very politely asked if she could ask me a question. She wanted to know where I was from and I responded by asking if it looked to her like I was from Colombia – which elicited a smile and laughter.

She asked me later on why I was taking so many photos and if I was a reporter. I told her that I’m somewhat like a reporter in that I send reports to people in the United States about life here in Arauca.

The next day, she sat down next to me and said, “Yesterday was hard. Today is better...How have things been going for you?” She then asked if people in Colombia receive my reports. She has relatives in Bogotá who weren’t able to attend the funeral and she was concerned that they would see the photos. “If they see the photos, they’ll be very sad,” she told me.

She then asked to see the photos. Some of the images reflect intense pain and sadness, and at one point I told her we could look at the photos some other time. “Let’s keep going,” she replied.

After we looked at all the photos, she said “You didn’t get a photo of my uncle when he was crying so hard.” I replied that I try to take a few photos that show people’s emotions but I also try to respect their privacy (a balance that is difficult to achieve). She seemed to understand because she said, “Some of the photos are sad, some are happy, and some are neither one nor the other.” We then looked at a few of the photos in reverse order as she told me which were sad, happy, or neither one.

The conversation with Luz Linney took place in the home of Maria Ruth (where I stay in Arauquita). Maria Ruth and Carlos were close friends, and she is very concerned that she and her spouse Armando could also be targeted by the ELN. Maria Ruth is the Arauquita representative of the Permanent Committee for the Defense of Human Rights, a member of the Arauquita municipal council, and a leader of the Democratic Alternative Pole opposition party. She traveled to Montana and the Northwest for a speaking tour in April. Maria Ruth and her family will be leaving Arauca for a while because of the increasing threat against them.

In love and solidarity,

Scott

Colombian Journey - Speaking Tour

(Maria Ruth with her twin daughters – Maria Jose and Maria Camila)

Dear friends,

I arrived here in Bogotá yesterday and I’m flying to Los Angeles tomorrow to arrange the final details for a Northwest speaking tour by Maria Ruth Sanabria (see schedule at end of message). Maria Ruth is a mother of six children who is risking her life to defend human rights in one of the most war-torn regions of Colombia. She is the Arauquita representative for the Permanent Committee for the Defense of Human Rights and was elected to the Arauquita municipal council in October as a candidate of the Alternative Democratic Pole opposition party.

Maria Ruth will be giving a presentation, “Women Waging Peace in Colombia,” that includes some of the photos that I’ve taken in the state of Arauca. The U.S. government is providing Colombia with $1.5 million per day in military aid – some of which is being used to protect Occidental Petroleum’s operations in Arauca. Maria Ruth will describe how women are resisting the war and waging peace, and how you can support them in their struggle.

Maria Ruth has been “displaced” (forced to flee from her home) several times because of her work to defend human rights. She fled from her hometown of San Alberto, Cesar when hired gunmen sought to kill her in 1988. Her first husband was assassinated two years later because of his involvement with the Patriotic Union opposition party. She fled from San Alberto again in 1994 to escape from a paramilitary death squad. She had to abandon the city of Bucaramanga the following year after the paramilitaries tracked her down there and she had to flee from the capital city of Bogotá when they located her there in 1996.

Maria Ruth has been living in Arauca for the past ten years. In addition to the threats from the government security forces, she has also been threatened by both of the guerrilla groups present in the state.

“Arauca is a very beautiful and fertile state that is being destroyed by the war and the oil corporations,” says Maria Ruth. “I want my children to be able to live in peace and to enjoy the rivers, estuaries and grasslands of Arauca. Instead of sending more weapons, we ask that the U.S. government use your tax dollars to provide support for schools, health care and decent housing – in Arauca, as well as the U.S.”

In love and solidarity,

Scott

Maria Ruth will be speaking in:

• Helena, Montana on Monday, April 7 at 7 P.M. in 107 O’Connell Hall at Carroll College
• Bozeman on Tuesday, April 8 at 7 P.M. in Strand Union Building Room 276 at Montana State University
• Billings on Wednesday, April 9 at 7 P.M. in St. Andrew Presbyterian Church at 180 24th St. West
• Butte on Thursday, April 10 at 7 P.M. in the Copper Lounge of the Student Union Building at Montana Tech
• Kalispell on Monday, April 14 at 7 P.M. in the Blake Hall Board Room at Flathead Valley Community College
• Hamilton on Thursday, April 17 at 7 P.M. in the First Presbyterian Church at 1220 West Main Street
• Missoula on Sunday, April 20 at 6:30 P.M. in University Congregational Church at 405 University Avenue
  

• Spokane on Monday, April 21 at noon in (location TBA) at Eastern Washington University and at 7 P.M. in the Wolff Auditorium of the Jepson Center at Gonzaga University
  

• Coeur d’Alene on Tuesday, April 22 at noon in Todd Hall of the Molstead Library at North Idaho College
  

• Twisp, Washington on Tuesday, April 22 at 7 P.M. in the Confluence Gallery
  

• Bellingham on Wednesday, April 23 at noon in the Fairhaven College auditorium at Western Washington University, AND at 7 P.M. in the First Congregational Church of Bellingham at 2401 Cornwall Ave
  

• Ellensburg on Thursday, April 24 at 7 P.M. in Black Hall 152 at Central Washington University
  

• Portland on Monday, April 28 at 7 P.M. in the Portland Mennonite Church at 1312 SE 35th Ave.
  

• Eugene on Tuesday, April 29 at 7 P.M. in (location TBA) at the University of Oregon
  

• Corvallis on Wednesday, April 30 at noon in Waldo Hall 240 at Oregon State University

• White Salmon, Washington on Thursday, May 1 at 7 P.M. in Bethel United Church of Christ at 480 E. Jewett Blvd.

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