Anti-Free Trade Agreement March, Bogota, Colombia

Sat, 05 Jul 2008 21:30:45 -0400

Police prepared with hand grenades, guns, tear gas, and billy clubs at the Anti-Free Trade march on February 10, 2005
Police tank in the streets with thousands of peaceful marchers.
The Human Rights organization, \"the Permanent Assembly for Peace in Civil Society\" marches with dozens of other groups through the streets in peaceful protest of the Free Trade Agreement.
February 10, 2005 marks the intercontinental round table meeting in Cartagena to discuss the conditions of a Free Trade Agreement with Colombia. The Bogota protest is in coordination with a nation-wide protest this day.
Indigenous campesinos traveled from the northern Caribbean coast (Uraba) to participate in the march against the Free Trade agreement.
The Governmental adult education institute that offers job skills training to low income adults (SENA), is suffering major budget cuts under President Uribe\'s administration.
Venezuela is currently a hot topic in the Colombian news, as a Colombian FARC leader was arrested and detained in Venezuela, in violation of international law, under orders from Uribe.
\"The Re-election of Uribe will also fail\", according to the Communist Party of Colombia (Maoist). Uribe wants to change the Constitution to allow for a second consecutive term for president.
\"No: FTAA, war, fascism, injustice, unemployment, re-election, Plan Colombia, Anti-Terrorism Statute\". This banner is held by a Bogota workers union.
Bogota Anarchists carry their banner against capitalism.
Police and civilians on the sidewalk watching the march
\"For National Sovereignty- No to FTAA and the Free Trade Agreement\" banner held by Communist party (Maoists)
Colombian Association of Agronomy Engineers against the Free Trade Agreement, which would heavily impact Colombian agricultural products. Competing with subsidized US imports, these goods would have no market.
\"In Defense of National Patrimony\" banner held by local union members.
Indigenous women and children from the northern coast of Colombia traveled to Bogota to march against the Free Trade Agreement.
Pijao indigenous group marching against the FTAA
Indigenous children and women dance in the street to the music of drums and pan pipes, celebrating their culture and protesting the Free Trade Agreement
No violence occurred during the march, although the street was lined with heavily armed police.
Indigenous musical group marches in the streets of Bogota.
Indigenous groups, recognized under the 1991 Colombian Constitution, are self-governing on their reservations. Their natural resources and lifestyle are threatened by a Free Trade agreement that allows for oil, mineral, and natural remedy exploration and patenting on their ancestral lands.
The indigenous population of Colombia represents less than 5% of the total population, 84 different tribes, and 24 languages. Many of them have been displaced by the conflict in Colombia.
Tens of thousands of dollars are spent today on \"security\" provided by police.
The march ends in the Bolivar Plaza, in the center of the city. This is the city cathedral lit up at night.
The Colombian flag is carried throughout the march.
The Communist Party of Colombia celebrates as they march to the plaza to hear speakers and music.

African American/Afro Colombian delegation to Colombia, July 12-24, 2005

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 01:32:58 -0400

Delegates in Soacha, a displaced community of Afro Colombian people on the outskirts of Bogota
Many people in Soacha lack access to water, sewage systems, and electricity
Amanda and Franklin of Afrodes, an NGO that formed in 1999 to serve Afro Colombian displaced families.
The "hanging tree" where desperate individuals go to hang themselves on the hill overlooking Soacha. Conditions for displaced people in Colombia are grave and the government offers little support.
Housing in Soacha.
The delegates walk to one of the local women's homes for a home cooked lunch.
These women spend their evenings and mornings making coconut candies. They buy huge bags of coconuts, crack them open, cook the meat, and sell the candies from their home. The house has a dirt floor and a leaky corrugated tin roof.
There is no sewage or drainage system in Soacha. The garbage and dirty water collects on the side of the dirt road.
The coconut shells left over from the coconut candy making are made into jewelry to sell.
A typical house in Soacha. Soacha is a community with a very high homicide rate. Illegal armed actors, both paramilitary and guerrilla, are present in this community.
Delegates walking through the narrow, steep dirt roads of Soacha.
Soacha offers few opportunities for employment. Many women travel an hour to the north of Bogota to work as domestic employees, earning $4 per day, spending $1 a day on transportation.
Many residents of Soacha are displaced by the violence caused by the armed conflict in Choco, on the pacific coast of Colombia.
The government offers a six month displaced person identity card to those who can prove their status. This card entitles the bearer to a monthly food basket and access to medical care.
Amanda, a resident of Soacha, and Dannette (NC)
The delegates share photos, stories, and history of their local movements in the USA with the women of Soacha.
Zach (CA) shares his experiences with working to reform the California prison system.
Ramona cooked us a delicious lunch in her home in Soacha. She works with Afrodes and is part of a cottage industry jewelry making cooperative.
Fatima (NJ) enjoys the home made stew.
Bonnie and David (Chicago) share a piece of the US Civil Rights movement with the group.
The Afrodes women's group displays their homemade jewelry, an income generating project.
The jewelry is made of seeds, string, rope, and coconut shells.
This typical Colombian stew that we ate for lunch is called Sancocho. Rearrange the letters and you can almost spell Soacha.
The Afrodes women are determined to improve resources and programs for displaced Afrocolombian people in Soacha by offering classes, workshops, and support through their community center.
Fatima walks with local youth in Soacha. There are few opportunities for young people in this neighborhood.
Dannette and Fatima share with Soacha children.
Amanda with Soacha kids.
Asleep in the van after a long day in the community.
A presentation by the Cartagena Navy highlights the improvements made under Uribe's Democratic Security plan
A Cartagena navy official explains to the delegation how their territory includes land and sea, intercepting cocaine exports, controlling roads in high conflict zones, and accompanying displaced communities who decide to return to their land.
"From 2003-2005, there have been no displacements of people in the Montes de Maria region," Admiral Jimenez tells us.
This information is in direct contrast to the displaced communities that we have spokenwith in Olaya, Cartagena and the people of Palenque.
Joseph listens to a local Cartagena NGO worker who explains the programs offered to young people, as an alternative to gang membership and violence.
Marco, Amanda, and Manuel (Palenque Libre) in Cartagena. We represent three different NGOs in Colombia, working for peace in a country at war for over 40 years.
Amanda and a displaced Afrocolombian woman who works with Afrodes Cartagena. She has four children. Her two girls attend school but the boys work in the street, selling water and gum. She can't afford to pay for the school fees for all of her kids.
Dannette and Fatimah spoke with this displaced Afrocolombian woman at the Cartagena Afrodes office. The women are working hard to launch their handmade jewelry business.
In the Olaya displaced community on the outskirts of Cartagena, one man, a single parent of 4 kids, has 6 small fish ponds for food and selling.
Nikki translates for this displaced farmer who is surviving from the produce and profit of his fish ponds.
The ponds are integrated with animal projects.
Arnoldo, who works with Afrodes Cartagena, stands in front of the pig pen, that is located directly over a fish pond. The pig excrement lands in the pond, fertilizing the pond, producing algae that is eaten by the fish.
Children of all ages congregate at the fish pond house to meet the African American delegates.
These two young people in Olaya demonstrate the Champeta dance.
These young men want to learn English, become professional soccer players, and leave the Olaya community to seek work.
Dannette shares some dance moves with a local Olaya man.
The children are shy but enjoying the cultural exchange around the fish ponds.
Accion Permanente por la Rumba!
Manuel is from San Basilio de Palenque, the "first free town of the Americas", founded by 97 slaves who escaped from Cartagena and demanded independence from Spain in 1604.
Art shares some moves with the Olaya youth.
The children are fascinated.
75% of Cartagena's population is Afrocolombian. 70% of Cartagena's population lives in poverty.
These children live in San Basilio de Palenque, 50 miles southwest of Cartagena, population 3,000.
The escaped slaves formed communities enclosed by wooden fences made of sticks, or "palos". They guarded these communities from the Spanish. They became known as Palenques.
Inside the youth center in La Bogita. The town of La Boga was displaced in 2002 when community members received a letter from unidentified armed actors stating that they had 48 hours to leave the area.
100 families from La Boga came to Palenque, to form the community of La Bogita. They live in 100 adobe houses built with money from international NGOs such as Tierra de Hombres.
The town of Palenque will be declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site at the end of 2005. The Colombian Minister of Culture visited this community in June 2005.
There are few cars in Palenque. Horses and feet are the main transportation modes.
Amanda and Primitivo, the community leader of La Bogita in Palenque. Primitivo was late for our meeting because he was milking his cows. He makes cheese with his wife. They live off of their cheese sales and agricultural produce.
Primitivo's wife making cheese in the kitchen.
Primitivo's child separating the curd.
Kids in Palenque. This is currently a peaceful town. Last year, 4 young men were killed in the central plaza in broad daylight when paramilitaries blazed through town, opening fire on youth playing pool at a place where one week before, two guerrillas were playing pool. This indiscriminate killing provoked great fear in the Palenque community.
Manuel returns to Palenque each weekend to share with his family. During the week he works in Cartagena, an hour and a half away.
Palenque was founded by the African leader Benkos Bioho. It has survived 400 years in a remote location.
This wooden fence was one of the strategies to protect the community from invation by the Spanish. The tradition continues today.
The Agricultural Technical School "Benkos Bioho" of Palenque.
A house in Palenque.
The central plaza, with the statue of Benkos Bioho and the founding of Palenque. The people of Palenque have their own language, a mixture of West African languages and some Spanish terms.
The Palenque flag is painted on the front of this building, in need of some repairs.
Fatima shares lunch with a local Palenque boy.
Brenda dances with the golden slippered legend of Palenque after a long morning of meetings and a fish lunch.
Pedro Navarro is the president of the NGO Palenque Libre. He and his wife are community leaders, born here in Palenque.
This man is a representative of the older generation of Palenque, who welcomes us to the community. On the right is a DJ who invites us to hear traditional Palenque music.
Nikki translates for the elder, who is an incredible source of community knowledge and history.
This young woman shared with the delegates that she would like to see more of a cultural and information exchange between Afrocolombian communities and African American communties, to raise awareness of the issues and struggles of both.
This Palenque woman is selling home made coconut sweets.
She carries the sweets on her head.
A young man mounts his horse outside the corner store, in the midday heat.
A member of the Palenque youth group sings a song in the Palenque language.
A cultural night in the San Fernando neighborhood of Cartagena.
The young dancers won a national competition for their traditional dances and costumes.
They dance the traditional coastal dances of champeta, fandango, and mapele.
The mapele dance has been explained as both a dance that represents the movements of a fish, and also as the dance of African slaves shaking off their chains. It is an incredibly fast shaking dance with lots of acrobatics.
Marco, Amanda, and Nilson after the cultural event.
Professor Sergio gives the delegates an excellent lecture on the history of the Choco department, the history of African people in Choco, and the role of land ownership.
Deeply engaged in the professor's lecture, we relax and enjoy the beauty of this peaceful house. The house belongs to Zulia Mena, the first Afrocolombian congresswoman. We are in Quibdo, the capital of the department of Choco.
The Atrato River runs through the center of Quibdo. Across the river is a displaced community of fisherpeople.
These boats are the most common form of transport in the Choco department. There are very few paved roads. Rivers allow for commerce and transportation, which are both controlled tightly by armed actors (paramilitary, guerrilla, and military).
The concrete bunker of a cathedral in the central plaza of Quibdo.
The Atrato River is one of the main veins of the Choco department. Food and gasoline cargo are rigidly controlled by the Colombian military and paramilitary forces (AUC) who set limits for each, in order for supplies not to be diverted to the guerrilla.
Nikki, the music professor, Joseph, and Zulia on the boardwalk in Quibdo. The music professor offers to participate in our convergence party with African exchange students, the delegates, and our Afrocolombian partners.
Art leads the delegates in a song, sharing with the Quibdo community.
Active members of the Choco NGO community, including a threatened, displaced man, one of the women's network leaders, and many others, share in an evening of cultural exchange in Quibdo.
The delegates sing for the Quibdo community.
The delegates listen as the Quibdo Technical University Student Federation spells out the US role in the Colombian conflict.
The Federation of Students has been accused four times of being linked to narco terrorist organizations. Their leaders have spent time in jail and are constantly facing threats.
The student federation is focused on free trade agreements and how they will impact the right of Afrocolombian students to a quality public education that includes ethnic and cultural components, as guaranteed under law 70 of 1993, in the Colombian Constitution.
The students are eager to exchange ideas.
This teacher is a member of the UMACH, the Teachers Union of Choco. She speaks out about women teachers who face violence, rape, and threats in remote areas of the Choco.
The teachers unions are the largest unions in Colombia. They "shed the most blood and provide the most bodies" for the war on the social movement. Union leaders in Colombia are the most endangered in the world.
Despite the threats to their safety, these teachers are able to smile, laugh, and continue their work with educating the future generations of the Choco.
This bus is called a Chiva. It is the typical transport in rural areas. In larger cities, it is hired out as a party bus, with a musical group on board, to run circles around the city.
July 20, Independence Day. In Quibdo, the mayor and the governor speak in suits and ties, in the 95 degree heat.
The military is present at the event.
The Governor of Choco speaks at the event. He is in strong support of the Panamerican highway project that is scheduled to blaze through 7 collective land communities of Afrocolombians and Indigenous groups west of Quibdo, to the coastal town of Nuqui.
The military oversee the Independence Day parade.
The Independence Day parade takes over the streets of Quibdo with marching bands and Soussa music.
Everyone comes out to see and hear the parade. The soldiers in camouflage and big guns lead the parade.
The Network of Women meet with us to share their vision for a unified women's group that supports the needs of the community.
This group is incredibly diverse. Women of all ages and skin colors come together to support each other and construct meaningful programs for development.
Gloria speaks out against violence and war in any form. This is the mission of the Women's Network.
A dramatization of the violence suffered by Afrocolombian women in the Choco, at the hands of armed actors (both legal and illegal).
The women use the dramatizations as a tool to communicate their reality and show the cumulative effects of a daily life filled with violence and terror.
The armed actors come to beat them, steal their goods, and displace the families. The survivors are not allowed to retrieve the dead bodies of loved ones.
A second dramatization shows how poor people have no access to health care.
The government program to provide a health care card for the poor is inadequate and underfunded.
The women share their personal stories with the delegates. Rape and domestic violence are massive problems for many of these women.

The Women's Network runs a restaurant in Quibdo. We eat lunch here. They also sell handmade jewelry. This wooden canoe is traditional to Quibdo, but is full of fruit instead of fisherpeople.
A meeting at the ACIA, the Integrated Association for peasant farmers of the Atrato River. This NGO is housed in a large building where many displaced families are currently squatting, until they find more permanent housing.
The ACIA provides resources for displaced people throughout the Choco. They also focus on collective land titles for Afrocolombian and indigenous communities.
A cultural dance evening at Zulia's house.
The event included people of African descent from three continents: Africa, South America, and North America.
Brenda dances with a young man from Quibdo.
Dancing and sharing typical foods from each of our homes.
The delegates share space with the African exchange students.
The Choco youth share their dance moves.
Things got pretty hot in this tight space.
The speeches were delivered in Spanish, French, and English to accomodate everyone's native language.
Enthralled with the translation abilities of the famous musician from Quibdo, who dominated all three languages.
Meeting with two government officials in Quibdo. The state appointed attorney and the human rights ombudsman, who shared their work and perspectives with us.
The Catholic diocese in Quibdo does great work in accompanying people in the community. They have a beautiful building in Quibdo.
The Atrato River, where the Claritan Sisters accompany people to remote communities.
The Catholic Diocese recently (April 2005) organized a trip by many different NGOs to investigate the efforts of the Government to provide follow up (as promised) to the Bojaya massacre of May 2, 2002.
Father Albeiro explains the role of the Diocese in the social movement of Choco.
The River Atrato and a fisherperson.
Captivating artwork in the Catholic Diocese.
More artwork.
David shares his connections between Chicago and Colombia. How to bring this message home to the USA?
Dannette shares her thoughts on how to connect NC reality to Colombian reality.
Art shares his art, connecting Virginia and Colombia.
Nikki and Dannette role play the return home conversation with family and friends.
Bonnie is a clay sculpture enacting "Imperialism".
Dannette enacts displacement.
Fatima is a clay model enacting demobilization.
The group forms a human sculpture of "Solidarity".
Joseph (NC) and Amanda in the Witness for Peace house.
Amanda and Art in the house.
Dannette and Amanda in the COLD house.

Gallery

Anti-Free Trade Agreement March, Bogota, Colombia

African American/Afro Colombian delegation to Colombia, July 12-24, 2005