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And now, after dramatic protests that included the blockade of the Pan American Highway, clashes with heavily armed state security forces resulting in one indigenous activist killed and over 120 wounded, and a long, arduous march to the city of Cali, the Minga Popular continues, one day after the highly anticipated debate with President Alvaro Uribe, which was held on Sunday, not coincidentally, in the same location where it started, the indigenous resguardo of
“I have to express my concern with the fact that some of you did not stand to the National Anthem. It seems to me we should respect the anthems of all the people, and this is something that preoccupies me considerably,” he said at the outset, in a sense setting the tone of the entire event.
In response, Aida Quilcué, the Chief Counsel of the Indigenous Regional Council of Cauca, CRIC, and one of the national representatives of the Minga Popular, reminded the President that over two weeks ago, when they were being confronted by Special Forces Police in that very location, the officers “tore down our flag, the flag of the CRIC, and burned it.”
“Is that a sign of respect of our people,” she asked the President? “This, to me, is a sign of the discrimination, the hate, the rancor, the heartless inhumanity that we have faced as a people for so long in this country.”
The guidelines for the debate were agreed upon by the leaders of the Minga and the government on Saturday, and were designed to allow ample time to discuss the five main points on the agenda of the Minga: human rights and the government’s “democratic security strategy”; Free Trade Agreements with the United States and other countries; counter-reform measures and legislation passed by the Congress in recent years that directly impact indigenous rights and their territories; the fulfillment of past accords with the government related to return of indigenous lands; and finally, the need to address these issues in a comprehensive fashion that not only takes into account the indigenous people of Cauca, but other indigenous communities on a national level, as well as many other social sectors marginalized by the neo-liberal economic policies adopted by the government.
Indeed, the last point was among the major concerns expressed to me by many of the people who began gathering at
After weeks of mobilizing and marching throughout southern
The popular opinion seemed to have won out in the end, when, as the darkness settled over the mountains of Cauca, and a steady drizzle continued to dampen the assembly site, Aida Quilcué stated, and then asked of the people gathered: “The President of the Republic did not give us a clear, concrete political response to any of our concerns today. So should the Minga continue?”
The overwhelming response from the energized crowd was a rousing “Si!” So it will continue.
The mood leading up to Sunday’s gathering could have best been described as extremely tense and uncertain. Precisely because of the President’s uncanny ability to deliberately manipulate statistics and change the subject, and the mainstream media’s consistent willingness to play along, there was growing concern that the debate was a strategic mistake on the part of the leadership, allowing the president to hold one of his now infamous community councils on indigenous territory. These are the highly stage-managed public forums where Uribe and his ministers set the agenda and make it appear as if the people’s voices are actually being heard. The weekly consejo comunitarios, held in municipalities throughout the country, are one of the key ingredients to President Uribe’s popularity in terms of mainstream public opinion polls. To present this to the nation as the ultimate achievement of three weeks of mobilizing would have been to negate all the efforts and sacrifices of thousands of people, and all the coalition building that was behind the minga.
There was also considerable disillusionment expressed by many people attending the event when it became apparent that the National Police were controlling the entire process of security, superceding the authority of the indigenous guard, who were forced to walk through a rigorous frisk detail at the entrance of the outdoor assembly hall. The indigenous governor of the cabildo of
Despite these reservations, Feliciano Valencia, member of the council of chiefs of CRIC, and one of the movement’s most articulate spokespersons, made it clear from the start in his intervention that the debate was not the end, but just a part of the ongoing process of popular mobilization that will now go all the way to Bogotá, as the indigenous movement of Colombia advances its dialogue with the nation, across many social sectors, about the need for fundamental social transformation.
“Today’s event is not one of President Uribe’s orchestrated community councils, nor is it a negotiation over a few points, in order to push us aside as if everything is okay after a few hours of talking,”
“When we talk about human rights, we’re talking about it at every level, not only the direct violence against us, but the entire democratic security policy of the government, the militarization of our territories, the laws that have been passed designed to displace us and rob us of our lands,” he said.
As expected, President Uribe restated the merits of his security policies, not only in
In addressing the community’s well-documented charges about excessive use of violence by government forces, made before the audience by a CRIC lawyer with videotape images of the October 12-15th clashes where Police fired at protesters, the President continued to insist that the taking over of the Pan American Highway was an act of violence, “and that the government will not tolerate the blockade of any roadways while I am President.” On several occasions, he referred to the “violence that was being planned from
The issue of the presence of Colombian Army and Police on indigenous territories continues to be one of the biggest problems for the communities, who consistently argue that this ongoing militarization is a violation of the autonomy of indigenous authority. The leadership also points to the systematic abuse that occurs as a result, either by the government forces themselves, or by other armed actors in their territories, such as paramilitary groups or the guerillas of FARC. They point to seven indigenous activists killed in
But President Uribe made it clear that under his administration, the state security forces will be welcome anytime, anywhere on the national territory.
“I don’t agree with this idea that in some parts of the country we can prohibit the entrance of the public force, including on indigenous territory,” he said.
He kept referring to the “bandits of the FARC,” and the damage they have caused to the entire country, making it necessary for the government “to continue to pursue them until we win this war.” Yet he did not apologize, nor retract the many statements he and several other officials have made on repeated occasions linking the indigenous protesters and its leadership to the guerillas. Despite claiming to “respect the dignity of all indigenous people,” he insisted that there “was evidence that these delinquents were manipulating the situation and promoting violence” within indigenous territory.
In addressing Valencia’s denunciations relating to the Colombian military’s use of “false positives” – that is, civilians being executed by soldiers and later dressed as guerillas to increase the numbers of “combat deaths” - Uribe responded by taking a few pot shots at international human rights workers such as Jose Miguel Vivanco, the executive director of Human Rights Watch – Americas.
“Here in
Aida Quilcué reprimanded him, saying: “Stop talking about these bandits as if we’re bandits, we’re talking about our people here, and we’re demanding the respect for our rights.”
The community was visibly unsettled. The people who gathered on Sunday in
There is considerable disagreement on just about every issue discussed in the debate, and the people were expressing in their body language and their comments throughout the day. They are very clear that the struggle is not about a limited negotiation with the government, but about creating a movement of resistance.
We’ll keep you posted.
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