Latest Press Release from ACIN (in Spanish) on Indigenous Mobilization

By 12 noon Sunday, one week into the Popular Mobilization in Cauca and the rest of the country, ACIN will hold a news conference to refute the claims of the government of Alvaro Uribe that an accord has been reached to put an end to the ongoing protests. Although they have pulled their blockade of the Pan American Highway, the indigenous movement insists that the mobilization will continue. They are denouncing the false representations of the protest in the major Colombian news media. Here is their latest press release, in Spanish. We will have more to follow shortly.

No hay acuerdos con el Gobierno.

10/18/2008

Autor: Tejido de Comunicación ACIN

No se ha negociado ni alcanzado acuerdo alguno entre el movimiento indígena y el Gobierno Nacional. Las autoridades indígenas rechazan enfáticamente cualquier información o reporte sobre un supuesto acuerdo, a la vez que denuncian como una malintencionada manipulación -que solamente puede tener la intención de desinformar a la opinión pública...
Movimiento indígena anunciará sus decisiones en próximas horas.

El movimiento indígena acaba de tomar decisiones trascendentales para continuar con la Minga de los pueblos. Decisiones que serán informadas al país y al mundo el día de mañana, domingo 19 de octubre hacia el medio día.

Desde el día de ayer se vienen realizando reuniones de trabajo y consulta en el Territorio de Diálogo, Convivencia y Paz de La María Piendamó por parte de las autoridades y comunidades indígenas movilizadas en la Minga de los Pueblos. Al momento de redactar esta nota, aún se desarrollan las reuniones en las que han participado las autoridades de la ONIC. Más temprano se realizó un conversatorio en el que participaron, Naciones Unidas, la Conferencia Episcopal Colombiana, CODHES, la Corporación Minga, el Colectivo de Abogados José Alvear Restrepo, otras organizaciones de derechos humanos y autoridades indígenas de otras regionales. Durante este encuentro, se presentaron informes y evidencias sobre los hechos ocurridos en la última semana, a la vez que se procedió a iniciar la verificación de la situación local y se escucharon testimonios.

Manifiestan las autoridades indígenas que a partir de las 20:00 horas del día 17 de Octubre de 2008, no se han realizado ningún tipo de bloqueos de vías por parte del Movimiento Indígena.

Mientras estas actividades se desarrollaban, el Gobierno Nacional, en cabeza del Presidente de la República continuó desinformando a la opinión pública durante un Consejo Comunitario y los medios comerciales de comunicación informaron sobre un supuesto acuerdo entre el Gobierno Nacional y el Movimiento Indígena como resultado de una reunión en Popayán.

Frente a estos hechos, informamos a la opinión pública lo siguiente:

1. Las autoridades reunidas en la noche del 17 de Octubre decidieron de manera unánime no reunirse con autoridades del Gobierno Nacional en consideración al tratamiento de terror y guerra que este ha dado al movimiento indígena, a su manipulación malintencionada de medios y al montaje público con el que el Gobierno Nacional los presentó como terroristas actuando supuestamente a nombre de las FARC. Para los indígenas, la falsedad, el terror, el engaño, son actitudes constantes del Presidente y del Gobierno Nacional, razones que impiden la más mínima confianza para poder realizar diálogos y llegar a acuerdos que tengan credibilidad.

2. No se ha negociado ni alcanzado acuerdo alguno entre el movimiento indígena y el Gobierno Nacional. Las autoridades indígenas rechazan enfáticamente cualquier información o reporte sobre un supuesto acuerdo, a la vez que denuncian como una malintencionada manipulación -que solamente puede tener la intención de desinformar a la opinión pública- los “reportes” que vienen transmitiendo los medios de comunicación y los comunicados emanados de fuentes del Gobierno. Cualquier reporte o documento de acuerdo es necesariamente fraudulento. “Es evidente que este tipo de maniobras responden al propósito de montar una trampa para difamar al movimiento indígena y denigrar nuestra lucha” enfatizó un líder indígena. Las autoridades hacen saber además que cualquier persona que se hubiera reunido con Ministros o representantes del Gobierno lo hizo a nombre propio, como fue el caso del encuentro entre diputados y ministros para promover un acercamiento en el día de hoy. Las autoridades señalan con espanto la actitud criminal, deshonesta y perversa del Presidente, de los Ministros y de los medios de comunicación que les vienen haciendo eco sin corroborar los hechos ni permitir el derecho de réplica. Que los Ministros del Interior y Justicia, de la Protección Social y de Agricultura fabriquen un acuerdo inexistente con el Movimiento Indígena bajo órdenes del Presidente de la República y le mientan a la opinión pública, cerrando todos los espacios de confiabilidad, legitimidad y credibilidad, son actos fraudulentos y criminales, propios de mafiosos y no de Gobernantes. Frente a estos hechos aberrantes, las autoridades consideran que se cierra toda posibilidad de diálogo y exigen un tratamiento de juicio de responsabilidades y condena a quienes actúan como delincuentes desde los más altos cargos del Gobierno Nacional.

3. Las autoridades manifiestan su intención de dar a conocer a la opinión pública Nacional e Internacional, a los Gobiernos del mundo, a los organismos multilaterales y a las demás instancias involucradas, afectadas y responsables en temas de justicia, derechos, libertades y democracia, que la respuesta que dio el Gobierno de Colombia a esta movilización pacífica fue la realización de un ataque militar. “Se nos trató como si fuéramos una fuerza de combate o terroristas, cuando somos pueblos sin armas”. La consecuencia de este tratamiento criminal contra una protesta social civil ha sido la muerte de por lo menos un comunero y por lo menos un centenar de víctimas, la mayoría como consecuencia de heridas por arma de fuego por parte de policías y militares. Esta reacción desproporcionada e injustificable ha sido encubierta y justificada por el Gobierno Nacional con montajes y maniobras mediáticas. Para las víctimas de estos hechos que cuentan con miles de testimonios directos, decenas de heridos y por lo menos un asesinado, además de evidencia mediática, merece una condena inmediata al Gobierno Colombiano, acciones urgentes por parte de entidades multilaterales e internacionales competentes, en la perspectiva de proteger a la población civil del Gobierno Colombiano y que se proceda a actuar en derecho frente a los criminales.

4. Las autoridades indígenas han decidido continuar el proceso de movilización hasta alcanzar los objetivos propuestos. Para ello realizarán acciones de carácter pacífico. Estas se vienen preparando desde el día de hoy. Se han suspendido los bloqueos de vías por cuanto la reacción del Estado frente a estos es criminal y conduciría a la masacre de civiles inocentes. El Gobierno Nacional actúa de manera irresponsable y criminal, lo cual impone el desarrollo de acciones directas de otro carácter. La decisión del movimiento indígena es continuar con las acciones de movilización popular masiva e insistir en su carácter pacífico. El Movimiento indígena convoca a todos los sectores sociales y populares a prepararse y movilizarse y los invita a unirse a las acciones de carácter pacífico que estaremos anunciando.

5. El Movimiento indígena agradece la solidaridad y movilización de otros sectores sociales en todo el país e invita a que estos se sigan manifestando de manera pacífica y decidida hasta alcanzar objetivos comunes de justicia y respeto en todo el territorio nacional. En consecuencia, las autoridades y comunidades indígenas insisten en exigirle al Gobierno Colombiano que respete a los demás sectores sociales y movilizaciones y que no les de el mismo tratamiento criminal que les ha dado a los indígenas. Las autoridades indígenas manifiestan su rechazo a cualquier agresión militar armada contra movilizaciones populares y acciones civiles de hecho. En este sentido reiteran la posición de lucha no armada y civil e instan a todos los procesos y movimientos sociales movilizados a insistir en este tipo de actos que rechazan en la práctica el uso de armas. Entiende el movimiento indígena la necesidad de defenderse con medios a su alcance en caso de ser agredidos, como ha sido necesario durante la Minga de los Pueblos. Nunca con armas de fuego o explosivos e intentando evitar la violencia.

6. La Minga de los Pueblos reitera su agenda de movilización de 5 puntos, la cual dará a conocer en las marchas y movilizaciones al país y al mundo, mientras denuncia el carácter criminal e ilegítimo del Gobierno Colombiano.

Las autoridades y comunidades desean que la opinión pública conozca estas decisiones y posiciones de manera preliminar, mientras se avanza en el desarrollo de comunicados oficiales. La Minga de los Pueblos se distancia y diferencia abiertamente del Gobierno de Álvaro Uribe Vélez una vez que este ha puesto en evidencia su ilegitimidad y deshonestidad.

Tejido de Comunicación y Relaciones Externas Para la Verdad y la Vida ACIN Octubre 18 de 2008, 20:45 horas

Media Representations of Popular Mobilizations Ignore the Movement'sMessage

Another Front: Government's Propaganda vs. Indigenous Media Perspectives

By Mario A. Murillo (Bogotá, Colombia)

Six days into the Indigenous and Popular Mobilizations in Cauca (and the rest of Colombia), and it is fair to say that the propaganda war is well underway. And so far, it looks like the government of Alvaro Uribe is winning.

On Friday, the President held another press conference stating that they had “clear evidence” that the mass popular protest in Cauca was being controlled by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, FARC. The Commander of the National Police, General Óscar Naranjo, stated unequivocally that the Sixth Front of FARC was behind the disturbances. And at the Palacio Nariño, the Minister of Social Protection, Diego Palacio, stated, with a straight face, “the government continues to respect social protest and mobilization, as long as it is for civil causes,” adding that the sugar cane workers strike and the indigenous mobilizations of the past few days contain the presence of “destabilizing forces.”

These words are echoing throughout the media as I write this, and will undoubtedly go on for hours on the radio and TV broadcasts, as well as the websites of RCN and Caracol, the two mega-giants of Colombia’s mass-commercial media. The government’s claims are also among the top stories in the front-page of El Tiempo, and other major national and regional newspapers, and it has almost become conventional wisdom in the last few days because of the capacity of the Uribe Administration to set the agenda, present its arguments to domestic journalists with indignation and authority, and come off as the victim once again.

And the indigenous movement’s demands for justice are set aside as they face off against the Colombian Army and Police in La Maria, while their leaders are forced to deny the charges directed against them by those in authority. Who do you believe?

Looking over the last few days of news coverage on some of the major news sources, the imbalance of perspectives is unbelievable. On Friday alone, I scoured through over 25 news articles and dispatches on the websites of RCN, Caracol, El Tiempo, El Liberal and Noticias Uno, the first three being the media of record in the country, with a massive reach that is unchallenged, the latter two representing a local newspaper from southern Colombia, and an independent, national news channel that provides some of the most comprehensive investigative reporting in all of Colombia. Naturally, many other media are covering the developments in the south, and it will take some time to filter through it all.

What was most telling of this brief scan of these news media outlets was the wide array of sources that were cited providing the government’s perspective, and the very few voices that were cited providing that of the indigenous movement. President Uribe, General Naranjo, Minister Palacio, as well as the director of the DAS, Colombia’s equivalent of the FBI, María del Pilar Hurtado, were quoted repeatedly throughout the sample, stating again and again how they have exposed this nefarious plan to topple the Uribe government, manifested in both the sugar cane workers strike and the indigenous protests.

Hurtado was quoted in one report in El Tiempo saying that “the cane workers strike in Valle del Cauca and Cauca contained the participation of foreigners who were looking to destabilize the government,” without providing any names or other evidence. The accusations about the FARC’s role in the indigenous protests appeared in 19 of the 25 articles I collected in this limited period, with at least ten not even presenting the indigenous community’s response (I should point out that as I was going through these news articles, I had Caracol Radio turned on in my desk, and over a period of about two hours, the same correspondent reporting from the Presidential Press conference came on at least four times, with dramatic soundbites from the President and Minister Palacio).
No doubt, the government’s message was getting out through its communication channels.

On the other hand, the sources used from the indigenous movement were very limited. The one voice that was heard/quoted again and again was that of Daniel Piñacué, a Nasa leader from Belalcázar, in Tierradentro, Cauca, who has a long history in the indigenous movement, but who was not one of the principal organizers of the mobilization. He was quoted in several of the articles in this small sample, stating “that the mobilization will continue,” and that “we will continue to respect the authorities, while they provoke us.” On several occasions he denied the accusations about FARC infiltration in the movement, but only after the case was already made by several of the above-mentioned government officials.

On several reports from RCN Radio we heard the voice of Daniel Piñacué’s brother, Jesus, one of the most visible indigenous personalities in the country, having served on the Senate for several terms. Only in one report, notably on Noticias UNO, did a voice representing the Association of Indigenous Councils of Northern Cauca, ACIN, come through in the coverage, a significant oversight given that ACIN was one of the main organizations behind the protest. They and CRIC, the Regional Indigenous Council of Cauca, have been putting out communiqués and reports for weeks about the march, and have been calling on the government to meet with them to discuss their demands, but to no avail.

Meanwhile, the entire narrative contained within the press coverage of the past several days remained stuck on the battles unfolding on the Pan American highway, and who was to blame for the violence. Television images have shown the army and police using gunfire, which in a sense refutes the government’s claims that no live fire has been used on the protesters. But again, commanders on the ground have been given top priority, presented as the voice of reason against a horde of indigenous protesters running wild.

The coverage has been fundamentally about the violence, while the underlying reasons for the mobilization have been relegated to the trash bin of history. The concerns and demands of the popular movement were made completely irrelevant. It is difficult to imagine that the media workers covering this story are not even partially aware of the issues the communities are raising in the protests, but in some of the coverage the ignorance comes across loud and clear. For example, in one report in El Tiempo, which to its credit was about the International Federation of Human Rights’ criticism of Uribe’s handling of the protests, the author states: “The Indians initiated the encounter last week in commemoration of 516 years since the discovery of America, what they call the displacement.”

Nowhere in the piece, or in any other articles I tracked in this sample, were the five points being put forth by the indigenous movement mentioned, even in passing. If even a fraction of the movement’s fundamental concerns were made known to the public in the reporting, and the fact that their main purpose for the mobilization was to start a dialogue with the government about these concerns, the repressive response from the government to the protests probably would have been a lot clearer – and indeed much more intolerable- for the average viewer.

The movement is not remaining silent, but very few media are really paying close attention to what they’re saying. If one were to read from the missive the “Popular Minga” released on Thursday, their arguments are pretty clear and make perfect sense within the current context. For example, in response to the constant accusations that FARC is behind the movement, they write: “Let us be clear: If there are Indians involved in the insurgency, or any other armed group, it is a personal decision of theirs that goes against our organizational and community process.”

The communiqués and the actions of the movement have always taken a position of autonomy vis a vis the guerillas. The ACIN and CRIC have publicly denounced FARC for its incursions into its territories. Nevertheless, the Uribe government continues to make the unsubstantiated link in an attempt to avoid any dialogue with the communities. This fact does not come through in any of the coverage whatsoever, leaving the audience in a permanent state of being misinformed.

Taking it a step further, the indigenous movement is always trying to make the point about the “dark forces” behind the current regime, something that the news media consistently overlook. The same government that accuses the movement of being manipulated by FARC is in many ways illegitimate in the eyes of the popular movement, as they expressed clearly in their missive released on Thursday. Perhaps one day we will see the news media echo these claims as often as they present the charges of the government against the movement:
“The majority of the members of Congress that support the government of President Uribe, those legislators who have elaborated and approved the laws that displace us of our rights and our liberties, occupy their official spaces with the backing of paramilitary groups, and are involved in the Para-politics scandal currently under investigation. Neither they nor the laws they have approved have any degree of legitimacy.”

The reasons for the protests, which are based on a profound critique, not only of the current government but of the entire system itself, are not elaborated on in the media coverage for the obvious reason that it goes against the interests of those same media, and the political class they serve.

A lot has been written about how the commercial mass information and cultural industries continue to perpetuate profound myths about Colombian democracy and society. This is done on several levels, most prominently in the way reporters, editors, commentators and the like accept the institutional definitions provided by official sources to frame the so-called fringes of society. For generations, this marginalization has also been manifest in the way state institutions have limited the spaces whereby these dissenting community voices may be heard, although precisely because of the years of organizing around media and democracy, this latter approach has been curtailed considerably. Colombia, despite its very fragile democratic institutions, has a long tradition of community, citizen's based media projects that consistently challenge the corporate media.

The indigenous communities currently mobilizing throughout the country around five basic points have their own media channels, and are utilizing them extensively as the current crisis unfolds. There are 26 indigenous radio stations around the country licensed as public interests broadcasters, plus a constellation of other smaller, low-power community stations broadcasting to local indigenous communities.

In the department of Cauca, the indigenous media are perhaps the most effective and well organized, particularly that of the ACIN, whose communication network includes one public interest station in Santander de Quilichao, two community stations – one in Toribio and the other in Jambaló – a smaller, low-power station in Canoas, plus a video production team and an elaborate website (www.nasa_acin.org). The National Indigenous Organization of Colombia, ONIC, also has its own website, which includes a virtual radio station, Achi Bedea, which for the last several days has been streaming the voices of indigenous activists from every region of the country.

These and other indigenous media outlets are linked to the broader network of national, alternative media, such as IndyMedia-Colombia, SICO, SIPAZ, La Red de Prensa Alternativa del Sur del País, among many others. They have been working feverishly in the last week to present an alternative narrative to the corporate media.

In many respects, they have been successful in gathering support on an international level, and getting NGOs and other human rights groups to pay attention. I would argue they have not been as successful in getting progressive and independent media outlets in the U.S. to pay attention. Unlike developments in Oaxaca a few years ago, which received considerable coverage by the independent media movement up north, this latest struggle in Colombia is barely on the radar screen of media such as Democracy Now, Pacifica Radio and Alter-Net, media that are completely caught up with the presidential campaign in the U.S. In this regard, the alternative media movement and the social sectors they represent here in Colombia has a long way to go in terms of penetrating the agenda of like-minded folks in the U.S.

The bigger question at the moment is whether or not the indigenous community and alternative radio stations and media networks in Colombia can counter-act the damaging effects of the mainstream media’s overwhelming tendency to give an unfiltered voice to the official authorities, especially on radio and on television news. It is part of a pattern that has gone on for many years in the Colombian news media that is not easy to break.

When it comes to coverage and representation of indigenous communities, the tendency of the mass communication media has been consistent: they either ignore the communities by making them invisible, clump them all together in a process of homogenization, thereby negating their diversity and complexity, or present them as nothing more than passive actors, the poor, defenseless victims of an unjust system – “el pobre indio.” There is also the more benevolent yet equally harmful tendency of celebrating their exotic-ness, embracing the novelty of their different forms of dressing, their spiritual and healing practices, or their internal justice system, without really understanding the significance of each.

Meanwhile, when the communities take matters into their own hands in acts of massive protest and mobilization, as they are currently doing, the dominant media usually represent these situations as acts of criminality, emphasizing their tendency to break the law–block highways, occupy territory “illegally,” etc.–as a way to address their grievances. The unsubstantiated association with “dark forces of terror,” meaning the FARC guerillas, becomes the accepted message that is very difficult to refute for the people directly involved in the confrontations.

These faulty patterns of media coverage leave the audience with the perennial question, why would people behave like this if they can employ the legitimate instruments of the democratic system to promote their interests and seek redress from the dominant society? I’ve heard it repeated by many people here in Colombia, even those one would normally consider to be enlightened: “Those Indians in Cauca are always looking for trouble, and they constantly want more.”

The current backlash against indigenous organizations that are on the upswing under the Uribe administration has made it much more difficult for the movement to put forward its message of social transformation through peaceful means to the broader public, especially through mainstream channels. This is connected to the fact that, with very few exceptions, the Colombian mass media rarely if ever represent the complex organizational structures of indigenous communities, characterized by deliberative consensus building, grassroots participation, and leadership accountability.

All of this should not be surprising, given the institutional structures that have for decades characterized the Colombian media, structures specifically put in place by very powerful private and state interests who are naturally threatened by the kinds of issues being raised by the communities and their allies in the popular movement. I’ll have more on this in a future post.

Photo (right):
Luis Evelis Andrade, president of ONIC, with Roberto Cobaria, U'Wa council of chiefs, at ONIC press conference on October 15th.


Center photo:
Radio host of Voces de Nuestra Tierra, community radio in Jambaló, Cauca, promoting the mobilization two days before its start.

Top Photo:
Achi Bedea, the virtual radio voice of ONIC (www.onic.org.co)

The Cold Faces of Terror

Colombia's main newspaper, El Tiempo writes today that the sugar cane workers now on strike for over a month are doing so to protest “supposed inequities in the workplace,” (“Los corteros de caña están manifestándose por supuestas desigualdades laborales y piden una mejora de sus condiciones salariales y prestaciones sociales.")




And at the Palacio Nariño, the Minister of Social Protection, Diego Palacio, stated that “the government continues to respect social protest and mobilization, as long as it is for civil causes,” adding that the sugar cane workers now on strike for more than one month, as well as the indigenous mobilizations in Cauca which are unfolding as we write this, contain the presence of “destabilizing forces.”

With these thoughts in mind, I share with you some images from the Pichichí Plantation in the municipality of Guacarí, where the cane workers have been carrying out their work stoppage for several weeks, braving horrible weather conditions, very little food, and the indifference of an intolerant administration who will stop at nothing to change the subject and distract public opinion.

These are the faces of terror!

(Stay tuned for a more detailed look at the unfolding PROPAGANDA WAR being waged by the Uribe government against all manifestations of social protest.)

Regional Indigenous Council of Cauca, CRIC Missive on Government Manipulation

El movimiento indígena castiga la mentira

10/17/2008

Autor: CONSEJO REGIONAL INDÍGENA DEL CAUCA –CRIC

En ejercicio del Derecho Mayor, más de seis mil comuneros y 60 Autoridades Indígenas Tradicionales del Cauca acompañaron a la comunidad del resguardo de la María Piendamo, en el ritual de corrección realizado al cabo del ejército Nacional Jairo Danilo Chaparran Santiago, quién fue capturado por la guardia indígena cuando ejecutaba acciones que correspondían claramente a un intento de montar un falso positivo, cuyo objetivo era señalar la Minga de resistencia social y comunitaria como una acción impulsada por el terrorismo.

El militar, adscrito a la unidad de contraguerrilla No 15 Libertadores, siendo de origen indígena, negó su identidad pero la estaba usando para camuflarse dentro de la comunidad y hacerle daño a su propio pueblo, lo cual representa un acto de traición y falsedad para el movimiento indígena que debía ser corregido. Al momento de su captura por parte de la guardia indígena, llevaba consigo un camuflado completo del ejército, una hamaca militar, un radio de comunicaciones, dos antenas para radio de comunicaciones, dos camisetas militares, cuaderno con apuntes sobre instrucción militar y registros de armas de fuego y explosivos, un celular, tres baterías para celular, contraseña de la cédula de ciudadanía, un carné que lo acredita como cabo del ejército nacional, una fotografía de una mujer joven, gafas oscuras, desprendibles de pago de su salario como militar, interiores, cargador de celular, un maletín militar, un maletín negro. Aclararon las autoridades indígenas que los elementos personales estaban en el maletín negro y los militares en el maletín militar.

La entrega oficial y pública, del mencionado soldado profesional se hizo a la defensoría del pueblo regional Cauca y a la procuraduría provincial de Popayán, a las cuales se les entregó también los elementos decomisados al miembro de la fuerza pública, ante más de seis mil personas, prensa local, regional, nacional e internacional.

El procedimiento que se aplicó evitó que en un momento de dolor colectivo, la comunidad agrediera al militar, quién representa la política de seguridad democrática que ha engendrado odio y que para las comunidades representa una amenaza a su territorio y a sus planes de vida.

El ritual de corrección fue realizado como un acto público y legitimo de la comunidad, en el marco de la autodeterminación de los pueblos indígenas reconocida internacional y constitucionalmente.

En este evento las autoridades indígenas reiteraron y denunciaron la amenaza latente que representa la invasión al territorio de Convivencia, Diálogo y Negociación por parte de las Fuerzas Armadas, quienes han permanecido por más de 48 horas dentro del territorio, realizando acciones ilegales e inconstitucionales , y responsabilizaron al Estado Colombiano y al gobierno nacional por las acciones de agresión que han ocurrido y puedan seguir sucediendo en contra de los derechos fundamentales de las comunidades.

El hecho de infiltración militar en territorios indígenas es un indicio más de las mentiras, estigmatización y discriminación que viene realizando el gobierno del presidente Uribe, para manchar el buen nombre de los pueblos y garantizar ante la opinión pública el tratamiento de terroristas a los ciudadanos que deciden movilizarse en defensa de sus derechos.

Seguiremos caminando la palabra en busca de la verdad como único camino para construir la democracia.

CONSEJO REGIONAL INDÍGENA DEL CAUCA –CRIC-

MINGA DE RESISTENCIA SOCIAL Y COMUNITARIA, octubre 17 de 2008, La María, Territorio de Convivencia, Diálogo y Negociación.

Official Proposal of the Indigenous and Popular Mobilization

No More Terror and Avarice: We propose a new path for the people for a new country.

October 16, 2008

Official Proclamation of the Minga of the People (Minga de los Pueblos)

What we are proposing today was already presented to the public in September 2004, when we organized the historic First Indigenous and Popular Congress. They are five basic points that cover many other issues. We have listened with considerable attention to the voices of many diverse sectors within Colombia and throughout the world. We have clearly put forward what it is that hurts us, and have compiled the accumulated pain of many peoples and processes. We want to be practical and concrete.

People who occupy important positions of authority in this country - an authority they have surrendered as a result of their actions and words – have come out publicly to say we are terrorists. Absurdly, they accuse us of attacking the Armed Forces, the largest and most powerful Army of all of Latin America, the greatest recipient of U.S. military technology and training, one that launched a military assault combining the force of the Army and the Police, with tanks and armed soldiers, firing live ammunition against men, women and children who have nothing but wooden staffs and stones. They injured more than sixty Indians, the majority with bullets. They assassinated at least two civilians, and mistreated common men and women of the communities. They burned houses, and committed acts of unquestionable brutality, destroying medical and first aid equipment and damaging food supplies, acting like criminals under the order of the Executive.

Nevertheless, when we detained and protected one member of the police force, and we returned him safe and sound to the authorities, a government minister called us “terrorists.” We don’t have the right, according to him, to detain those same police who are shooting at us and trying to kill us. According to him, we only have the right to let them kill us, to mistreat us, with complete obedience to the politics of terror of the regime. According to the President, who gave the order for the brutal attack against us, his government has complied with everything related to the indigenous communities. From his perspective, we are savages, we are dumb, we are irrational. Mr. President, not only have you not fulfilled your obligations to the people, but there are several other fundamental issues that we are raising that you can no longer ignore. We are not liars, we are not savages, we are not irrational.

The government says we are being manipulated by “dark forces,” that FARC has infiltrated our organization and movement. We state through our actions that we are not terrorists, that we are not with the insurgency, that our struggle is legitimate, it is autonomous, and that we do not act under the orders of FARC or any other so-called “dark forces.” We have unmasked a professional soldier who had tried to infiltrate us, sent by the public security forces in an attempt to validate these lies of the President.

Let us be clear: If there are Indians involved in the insurgency, or any other armed group, it is a personal decision of theirs that goes against our organizational and community process. Stop shooting, stop robbing, stop burning and lying. Stop using your public power to exercise terror against the people. You’re wrong. Respect and listen. It is the only way.

The majority of the members of Congress that support the government of President Uribe, those legislators who have elaborated and approved the laws that displace us of our rights and our liberties, occupy their official spaces with the backing of paramilitary groups, and are involved in the Para-politics scandal currently under investigation. Neither they nor the laws they have approved have any degree of legitimacy.

It is time for us to reiterate our position to the rest of the world. We direct ourselves to all peoples and leaders. With humility we recognize that we don’t hold the universal truth. But with pride we defend our reality. Up to now we haven’t even been listened to. Is it that there is so much fear about what we have to say that we are prevented from even being heard? Listening to us with attention and respect will generate what it is we are looking for: a frank, and sincere dialogue that will lead to concrete consequences and profound transformations. To refuse to listen to us, to call us liars, to say we are manipulated by “dark forces,” to say that we don’t have any proposals, is to fear dialogue, to fear change, to fear the future.

We believe that we are correct. We have thought this through carefully. We have questioned our own goals and options. We have observed and discussed a lot. What we are proposing here as an agenda is what we have come to agreement on amongst ourselves, because we believe in diversity, in open debate, in differences, and there are differences amongst us. We will continue discussing, and constructing in a constant dialogue, because we know that there is not only one truth.

La Minga of the People that commemorates 516 years of oppression and resistance is a concrete message. So that people will listen to us, so that people stop trying to kill us and displace us, we have come out, we have blocked roadways, we march. And we will continue to do so until our word is respected, and through the course of dialogue we can transform this reality of misery and horror into one of equilibrium, harmony and liberty. It’s not so difficult to understand: Either our proposals are seriously considered in order to construct an agenda of change, or Mother Earth will be forever in a process of extermination. To do otherwise is to accept the destruction of life. This we cannot accept, we cannot let this happen.

We act with precise urgency. We risk our lives and offer our lives for life itself. We struggle with all our capacity against the sophisticated propaganda that is nothing more than well-crafted lies, against laws and measures that impose the interests of others against life itself and justice. We call, therefore, on the wisdom, the serenity and the respect that comes with dialogue. We love and defend dialogue. But we do so mobilized with firmness. We are people of our word and of dialogue. We live it through our assemblies, and within our Life Plans. Everything that we have created is based on a process of dialogue, a constant dialogue between contradictions and differences. We therefore need and call on an interlocutor who is legitimate, with whom we can dialogue. And we are totally committed to engage in this process.
What is it that we are proposing?

1. That the necessary conditions for a process of dialogue are immediately established, in order to discuss the five main points of the agenda that we propose;
2. That the dialogue is carried out under the watch and with the backing of legitimate and unquestionably credible persons, and with authority that is recognized in any part of the world;
3. That in this dialogue, every sector of society is represented, according to democratic mechanisms of participation, giving priority to the majority of the population that has been excluded, marginalized and exploited;
4. That the agenda of the people is developed through a very deliberative and transparent and effective process, and that this gives us the time to construct the country we so desire, step by step;
5. That honesty, truth and respect become non-negotiable conditions for the development of this dialogue, and those that violate these principles are excluded from participating in the process.

Main Issues for the Agenda of Dialogue

These themes encompass many other issues that can fit within each agenda point. We present them more as chapters of the dialogue, whereby each sector involved in the dialogue can have input on the specific issues and points that should be discussed. We recognize that this is simply the beginning of a longer process of listening, absorbing, analyzing and ordering a detailed agenda for the urgent transformations that are necessary. The agenda should not be one of exclusion. All the issues and points of all the people should be considered. The agenda that we propose is the following:

1. We reject the Free Trade Agreements that have been negotiated with the United States, Canada and the European nations. These treaties are part of a nefarious strategy on the part of major global economic powers. The process of negotiation and the results of these agreements are a threat to our cultures and our territories, our sovereignty. They surrender our collective resources to corporate interests and trans-nationals, and directly threaten our Mother Earth. These are not treaties between people but against people;

2. No more war, no more terror; we reject the government’s so-called “Democratic Security Strategy,” Plan Colombia, the dirty war, para-politics, the militarization of society and the criminalization of popular protest. We call on truth, justice and reparations for the crimes committed against the people. War is not the answer. And those people who have committed crimes against the people, such as former Cauca governor Juan José Chaux Mosquera, should be judged so that their bad examples will never again be repeated and the victims will be compensated;

3. No to the Constitutional Counter-reforms and legislation of displacement that has been implemented under the current government, measures that surrender our rights to private interests, and that submit us to silence and forced labor, to exclusion and ultimately death.

4. The creation of mechanisms of sovereignty, peace and coexistence in order to develop and make reality our agenda through a permanent Congress of the Peoples.

Which Way Forward?

1. Public security forces must retreat from all indigenous territories for a definitive time. The territory of Peace, Coexistence and Dialogue in La Maria, Piendamó should be respected and immediately evacuated. All the damage caused by the military aggression of the last few days should be repaired in an integral way;

2. There should be an immediate cease fire, and an end to the repression against the people mobilized there;

3. We demand that all armed actors leave our territories immediately, and call for the establishment of territories free of war, with civilian, international observers allowed in to monitor the situation, under the supervision of the Indigenous Guard of the Nasa people;

4. The popular, non-commercial media should be recognized, respected, listened to and supported as sources of truth for the unfolding dialogue. The mass commercial media should be opened up in order to transmit the positions and the proposals of the people, of the excluded voices, of the majority, and they should make public the truth of the repression and exclusion that we have faced, and not simply represent the perspectives of certain economic interests.

5. We immediately call on the following people to serve as guarantors of the dialogue (without excluding other possible individuals from the process):
a. James Anaya, UN Special Relator for Indigenous People;
b. Baltasar Garzón, internationally-recognized Judge, Center for Peace of Toldeo
c. Evo Morales Ayma, President of Bolivia
d. Blanca Chancoso, indigenous leader from Ecuador

In Colombia, we are seeing an indigenous and popular uprising that is on the march. They can, through all the force of terror and propaganda, try to silence us once again. But we will rise up again, and we will continue in Minga until the will of the people is fulfilled.

Minga de los Pueblos Territory of Diálogue, Coexistence and Peace La María, Piendamó October 16, 2008.

Latest Press Release from ACIN (in Spanish) on Indigenous Mobilization

La Minga Continúa. No somos, ni condonamos Terroristas.
10/16/2008

Autor: Asociación de Cabildos Indígenas del Norte del Cauca, ACIN

La Minga de los Pueblos crece. El Presidente Uribe ha mentido de una manera tan desmesurada y evidente que hasta los medios de comunicación a su servicio, dedicados a hacerle eco, lo han puesto en evidencia. Ha dicho y repetido que los policías solo tenían sus escudos y bastones y los indígenas, los “bandidos” estaban armados.

La desfachatez es increíble. Ordenó un asalto militar contra una protesta pacífica en una acción combinada de ejército y policía con saldo de heridos y muertos a bala. Pero no es porque le digamos nosotros sino porque los medios los mostraron disparando ráfagas de fusil. El Presidente Uribe, su Gabinete, el Gobernador del Cauca, los oficiales, deben responder ante la justicia en donde la dejen operar con independencia.

La Minga continúa. Se desarrollan más movilizaciones, más acciones de hecho hasta cuando la agenda de los pueblos sea escuchada y se ponga en marcha un mecanismo concreto para abordarla. Tenemos agenda. No solamente exigimos que cumplan con sus obligaciones, porque nuestras demandas son de fondo y no son solamente de los pueblos indígenas.

Vamos a realizar más acciones en el Cauca y en el resto de Colombia. Las acciones de los pueblos indígenas son directas y masivas. No utilizamos armas de fuego ni explosivos porque nos oponemos a las acciones armadas. Nos defenderemos si nos atacan sin otras armas que los bastones. Llamamos a todos los movimientos sociales y pueblos a movilizarse, pero a hacerlo sin armas, pacíficamente y para alcanzar los objetivos de la agenda propuesta. Quienquiera que realice acciones armadas actúa expresamente contra la orientación y posición del proceso y de la Minga, brindándole al régimen excusas para señalarnos y atacarnos, lo que ayuda a los enemigos de la lucha popular contra el modelo de desarrollo del capital transnacional.

A continuación compartimos audios con información de eventos del día de hoy en todo el país. Fotografías del ataque brutal a La María Piendamó. Enviamos además la síntesis de nuestra propuesta política y el ofrecimiento por parte de la CONIC de realizar una Misión de Verificación y acompañamiento. Además incluimos unas de las muchísimas expresiones de solidaridad que recibimos y necesitamos.

Asociación de Cabildos Indígenas del Norte del Cauca ACIN Octubre 16 de 2008. http://www.nasaacin.org/noticias.htm?x=8936

Colombia Free Trade Addressed in Last Presidential Debate, Betraying Both Candidates’ Limited Knowledge of the Crisis Facing the Andean Country

Some Thoughts About McCain, Obama and the Crisis in Colombia

By Mario A. Murillo
(Bogotá, Colombia; October 16, 2008)

While listening on-line to the last presidential debate from my home in Bogotá last night, it occurred to me how little knowledge people in the U.S. have of this troubled country, including those individuals aspiring to become the next occupant of the White House.

That the debate took place on the same day that Colombian security forces were brutally confronting thousands of indigenous protesters mobilized in different regions of the country, resulting in at least two dead and 60 wounded, makes one realize that either there’s a complete black-out of information about Colombia in the U.S. news media, or that most people up north simply don’t care.

Or worse yet, both.

For the first time in all the debates between the Republican and Democratic Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates, the issue of Colombia was actually raised, and specifically, the controversial Free Trade Agreement between Washington and Bogotá. Arizona Senator John McCain talked about the regime of President Alvaro Uribe as "the best ally” of the U.S. in the Western hemisphere, one that deserves a free trade agreement with Washington, what he described as “a no-brainer.”

Demonstrating quite clearly how disconnected he is from the reality on the ground here, McCain scolded Senator Barack Obama for never having visited Colombia, as if the Republican’s August photo-op with Uribe in Bogotá somehow qualified him as an expert on the desires and concerns of the majority of the Colombian people. Despite trying to distance himself from the Bush White House throughout the debate and the campaign, McCain showed us all to what extent he represents another four years of the same failed policies of the current Administration when it comes to Latin America.

“Senator Obama doesn't want a free trade agreement with (Colombia), but wants to sit down across the table without precondition to -- with Hugo Chavez, the guy who has been helping FARC, the terrorist organization,” he said.

Somehow, in the current U.S. political discourse about Colombia, corporate politicians cannot avoid mentioning the Venezuelan President, and his alleged connections with FARC guerillas, regardless of how nebulous those links happen to be.

On the other side of the table, Senator Obama demonstrated a stark contrast to his Republican counterpart, and used language that is very rare for contemporary presidential candidates when discussing countries the U.S. is supposedly close to. To his credit, and as he has done in the past, Obama recognized the long history of attacks against the trade union movement in Colombia, where “labor leaders have been targeted for assassination on a fairly consistent basis and there have not been prosecutions.”

Colombia’s major trade unions say the number of unionists murdered in Colombia in the first quarter of 2008 is roughly two times that of the first quarter of 2007, with 17 killed. During the first six years of Uribe’s presidency, 434 unionists have been murdered. Every year, more trade union activists are murdered in Colombia than in the rest of the world combined. This is one of the issues that has struck a chord of solidarity in the U.S. labor movement, which has been consistently against the FTA for years, successfully putting their political capital on the line in the process.

Echoing the position of human rights groups and the U.S. trade union movement, Obama said: “We have to stand for human rights and we have to make sure that violence isn't being perpetrated against workers who are just trying to organize for their rights.”

Needless to say, on Thursday morning, the comments from both candidates in the debate were the main topic of discussion on all the local talk radio stations in Colombia, and is front page news in the daily newspapers. And not surprisingly, the dominant opinions emanating from these commentators in the wake of the debate are highly critical of the position taken by the Illinois Senator, who has maintained cool relations with President Uribe, precisely because of his concerns relating to the U.S.-Colombia FTA.

Uribe has staked a good portion of his presidency on the successful completion of this trade accord, and has stopped at nothing to win the favor of the U.S. Congress. Uribe knows President Bush’s days in the White House are numbered, and is concerned that with Democrats controlling the executive and the legislature come January 20, 2009, a Free Trade Accord to his liking is not necessarily in the cards. Supporters of Uribe in both government and the media punditry, therefore, take offense to Obama’s critical position, and do not hold back from attacking him, often with racial undertones.

Obama Needs to Be Even Firmer on Colombia

However, given the current context of mass indigenous and popular uprisings in the south of the country, and the subsequent military response to these mobilizations, it is my contention that Obama did not go far enough in his criticism of the FTA or the Colombian government. Indeed, he needs to be updated about some of the major labor struggles going on in the country right now, and in particular the month-long strike of Colombia’s sugar cane workers. He has to stop and listen closely to the voices of the national indigenous movement, which has been peacefully demonstrating against the Free Trade Agreement for years because of the dangers the agreement poses for their communities and their territories.

And he needs to clearly understand the profound contradictions surrounding the Uribe government, which include multi-tiered investigations into its links with right wing paramilitary death squads who, along with being on the State Department's terrorism list, were the driving force behind the displacement and de-territorialization of peasant, indigenous and Afro-Colombian people for the past fifteen years, in close collaboration with the U.S.-trained Colombian Army, all in the false name of combating FARC rebels in the countryside.
On Thursday, Human Rights Watch put out a scathing report about the way in which high level government officials have been getting in the way of investigations into the allegations of links between Uribe, his allies and paramilitary groups. Jose Miguel Vivanco, executive director of Human Rights Watch, said many of these investigations can soon find their way into the hands of the International Criminal Court.

As many scholars, human rights activists and independent journalists have described in countless texts, this forced displacement set the stage for the counter-land reform efforts of the Uribe government that are pre-requisites for the kinds of free trade agreements that John McCain blindly supports.

The popular movement is screaming out as we speak, and nobody up north seems to be listening!

And if they are, they are only hearing the propaganda of the Colombian government and its supporters. It is a drum-beat of mis-information that equates every popular struggle in the country, or anybody who criticizes the policies of President Uribe, with terrorists of the FARC.

When thousands of sugar cane cutters began to protest their slave-like working conditions one month ago yesterday, demanding a living wage and a more just contract by going on strike against the multi-billion dollar domestic sugar industry, President Uribe and his ministers were quick to say that “dark forces” were manipulating these poor workers.

When college students throughout the country organize for more affordable education, or at least better opportunities in public institutions of higher learning, their demands are written off as grievances resulting from what the government describes as the massive guerilla recruitment efforts spearheaded by the so-called “encapuchados” of the FARC, the hooded loudmouths caught on You Tube regurgitating revolutionary propaganda on campuses nationwide. This non-story occupied the major television networks for days, ironically at the same time that it was becoming clear that Uribe’s ambassador to the Dominican Republic and former governor of Cauca, Juan Jose Chaux Mosquerra, had been in close contact with paramilitaries of the infamous Calima Block of the AUC. The ability to change the subject is one of the government’s finest attributes.

Now, as thousands of indigenous people in Cauca protest the government’s failure to comply with dozens of promises regarding land rights, compensation for past crimes committed against them by organisms of the state, or the extensive militarization of their territories, we are told through the uncritical echo chamber of Colombia’s corporate media that the guerillas have deliberately co-opted the movement.

Last night, just moments before the debate began on the campus of Hostra University in New York, three thousand miles away President Uribe held a press conference to denounce the “infiltration” of terrorists into the indigenous protests, with a straight face accusing the protesters of carrying out a “massacre” of heavily armed riot police. It was the latest in a long string of false accusations that the Uribe government has launched against the organizations that make up the country’s dynamic indigenous movement.

It’s a pattern of mis-information that has angered many people, and is rearing its ugly head with a vengeance right now as the Colombian news media kicks into crisis mode in covering the mass, popular mobilizations in Cauca and Valle del Cauca, and the heavy-handed military response to the protests by state security forces.

Popular Mobilization Continues Amidst False Information in the Media

At the moment, over 12,000 indigenous and peasant activists, as well as representatives of other social sectors of southern Colombia, including the striking sugar cane workers, are urgently congregating in the “Territory of Peace and Coexistence” in La Maria Piendamó, in Cauca, confronting a massive presence of heavily armed special forces units who have been ordered by the government to dislodge them with helicopters, tear gas and automatic weapons.

Latest reports say that over 60 people have been injured in the actions, many of them severely, and at least two indigenous activists have been killed.

The popular mobilization began on October 12th, and was called by the indigenous movement to protest the militarization of their territories by the Colombian Army, with the strategic support of the U.S. They are particularly concerned with the so-called “Strategy to Strengthen Democracy and Social Development (2007-2013),” otherwise known as Plan Colombia II, which would be executed through the President’s own Center for Coordination of Integral Action, or CCAI, supported by the U.S. Embassy and the Southern Command in conjunction with various ministries of the Colombian government.

As I wrote in a previous post, in introducing the project to the Colombian press, Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos made it clear that, following on the apparent successes of Uribe’s first term, the next several years would be dedicated to the “final recuperation of those zones where there is a persistent presence of terrorist groups and narco-traffickers.” (“Threats Mount Against Indigenous Social Movements in Northern Cauca,” http://mamaradio.blogspot.com/2008_09_01_archive.html).

The protesters are also strongly opposed to the US-Colombia Free Trade Agreement, and the failure of the government of President Uribe to fulfill several accords with the indigenous communities relating to various issues affecting them, particularly related to return of indigenous lands to the communities.

From the start of this latest mobilization, the protesters have been demanding a face to face with President Uribe, with the objective of expressing their many concerns relating to the government’s policies vis a vis indigenous people. The leaders say only then will they consider ending the mobilization, and eventually lifting their blockade of the Pan American highway. Uribe, meanwhile, says they will not accept any blocking of the highways, and has chosen to meet them head on with the force of the state, not at the negotiating table.

The organizations behind the protest have been putting out press releases and public statements for weeks, letting people know what they were protesting about and why, while also denouncing the intervention of all armed actors – legal or illegal – in their territories. In a massive grassroots education campaign, the leadership has organized workshops and teach-ins to explain why the “Life Plans” of the community are under severe threat of extinction from various sources: paramilitary groups linked to large landowners, FARC rebels who intimidate and harass throughout indigenous territory, the government, through its development plans and extensive military presence.

But none of these positions are known or understood by the Colombian people, who are constantly spoon-fed information from government sources with very little space for more comprehensive analysis or reporting.

If the Colombian media stopped focusing so much attention on celebrity gossip and sensationalist crime stories, and paid some attention to the organizing processes in the communities, it would be clear that the unfolding protests around the country, currently at a crisis mode, is not the work of guerillas, but of a people that is fed up with the way things are in the countryside.

I was in northern Cauca for a week and left on the day the mobilization began, and one thing is clear: there are a lot of angry people in the indigenous and peasant communities. I also visited with the sugar cane workers on strike in Valle del Cauca, living in makeshift tents and basically starving for the past four weeks since they’ve been on strike.

The mostly Afro-Colombian and indigenous workers see the Free Trade Agreement as a direct attack against their interests, already compromised by labor laws passed in 2005 that essentially makes them indentured servants for the giants of Colombia’s sugar industry. These workers are not too happy either, and have blocked the entrances to all the major sugar plantations throughout the south of the country. The sugar cane workers have also joined forces with the indigenous protesters over the last week, blocking the Pan American Highway in the municipality of Candelaria, in Valle del Cauca, on Wednesday.

These are the same workers who, when the strike began, were told by Uribe that “they had a right to protest,” but that “dark forces of the guerillas were forcing them” to carry out the work stoppage.

Many of these same workers told me last week, at the encampment outside the Pichichí sugar plantation in the municipality of Guacarí, that yes, they have been obligated to protest, not by “dark forces” or guerilla infiltration, but by their children, who want a better future for themselves.

As I listened to these words, I only wished that Barack Obama, and anybody up north with a conscience, could have heard them as well.

Mario A. Murillo is associate professor of communication at Hofstra University and author of Colombia and the United States: War, Unrest and Destabilization. He is currently living in Colombia, working on a book about the indigenous movement and its uses of community media.