WEEKLY NEWS UPDATE ON THE AMERICAS
ISSUE #582, MARCH 25, 2001
NICARAGUA SOLIDARITY NETWORK OF GREATER NEW YORK
339 LAFAYETTE ST., NEW YORK, NY 10012
(212) 674-9499 <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
*6. COLOMBIA: STATE WORKERS STRIKE
Hundreds of thousands of Colombian state workers staged a 24-hour
strike on Mar. 22 against economic policies which have provoked
mass layoffs and reduced social benefits, and to protest the
frequent murders of unionists. At least 25 union leaders have
been murdered so far this year in Colombia, according to the
Unitary Workers Federation (CUT). The government's economic
policies impose a fierce structural adjustment program, dictated
under accords signed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF);
100,000 workers are expected to be laid off under the program
during 2001.
CUT vice president Miguel Antonio Caro told Associated Press that
more than 80% of Colombia's 800,000 state workers participated in
the strike. At least 10,000 Colombian indigenous people and
campesinos also joined the strike, blocking two important
highways in the western central and southern regions of the
country. [La Republica (Lima) 3/23/01 from EFE; Hoy (NY) 3/23/01
from unspecified wire sources; Radio Cadena Nacional (Colombia)
3/23/01]
*7. COLOMBIA: OCCUPATION PROTESTS VIOLENCE
On Mar. 22, a group of residents of Colombia's Magdalena Medio
region began an occupation of the Bogota offices of the Defender
of the People to protest government policies in their region. The
Magdalena Medio region--which includes the oil port city of
Barrancabermeja (Santander department), the southern area of
Bolivar department, and the Cimitarra River Valley--has long been
one of the most violent in Colombia; over the past year it has
been overrun by rightwing paramilitaries who--with government
protection and complicity--have killed hundreds of people and
forced thousands more from their homes.
The protesters are demanding respect for the lives and activities
of activists and the general population in the region; an end to
aerial fumigations in southern Bolivar and the Cimitarra Valley
and implementation of serious alternatives to drug cultivation;
and investigation of police and military collusion with
paramilitary groups, among other demands. The Colombia Support
Network in Philadelphia, which has a sister community
relationship with Barrancabermeja, suggests sending messages of
support for these demands to the office of the Defender of the
People at 571-314-7300 or <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, with
copies to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. [CSN-Philly Press Release
3/24/01]
*8. COLOMBIA: US PACIFISTS PROTEST IN BOGOTA
A group of some 100 US activists gathered in front of the US
embassy in Bogota on Mar. 22 to ask their government to stop its
war on Colombia. The protesters left symbolic offerings of
flowers, fruit and bread, held paper doves and smashed an effigy
of a military helicopter. The demonstration was organized by the
US pacifist organization Witness for Peace, which in the 1980s
protested US support for "contra" rebels in Nicaragua. Witness
for Peace recently began deploying volunteers to Colombia's war
zones, where they are to report on human rights violations,
community displacement and the effects of US military aid. In the
days preceding the protest, the activists visited Putumayo
department and other areas adversely affected by the war.
"We are ashamed of the policies of destruction and war promoted
by our government," said Witness for Peace volunteer Sue Severin.
Noting that the US had provided $1.3 billion for war in Colombia,
Severin added: "We wish that money could be used to help
Colombians get out of poverty, to repair the environmental damage
we have done to these beautiful jungles, to promote peace."
Signs carried by protesters bore slogans in Spanish and English
such as: "Forgive us, Colombia"; "Eradicate addiction instead of
wiping out the peasant farmer"; and "No more tax dollars for
military aid." Colombia is the only Andean nation that allows
aerial fumigation of drug crops. The government has dismissed
charges that spraying herbicides over wide areas of land causes
environmental damage, and is ignoring pleas from campesinos who
say the chemicals have harmful health effects and have killed
livestock, fish and food crops. [AP 3/22/01; Hoy (NY) 3/23/01
from AP, some quotes retranslated from Spanish]
*9. COLOMBIA: PROTEST AT US CHOPPER PLANT
Some 25 pacifists blocked the main gate of a Sikorsky Aircraft
factory in Stratford, Connecticut on Feb. 12 in a civil
disobedience action to protest the company's links to the war in
Colombia. Across the street, another 75 activists held banners
proclaiming "Sikorsky kills Colombians." Protesters ended their
blockade after an hour and a half; there were no arrests.
Sikorsky, a major defense contractor based in Stratford, lobbied
heavily for US military aid to Colombia and managed to include
the sale of at least 18 of its expensive Black Hawk helicopters
to the Colombian military as part of the aid package [see Updates
#520, 526, 531, 545]. At a previous protest in December, six
people were arrested when they tried to deliver a letter to CEO
Dean Borgman protesting Sikorsky's sale of the helicopters.
During the Feb. 12 action, protesters tied up traffic for almost
four miles, angering many Sikorsky workers. "We're in favor of
selling these Black Hawks," said Jeff Cederbaum, head of the
Teamsters local that represents most Sikorsky employees. "We've
actually been pushing our congressional delegation to make sure
these go through. Our concern is making sure our members are
working." [In These Times 4/2/01]
*10. COLOMBIA: REBELS ADMIT KILLING HIKERS
Colombia's largest leftist rebel organization, the Revolutionary
Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), has admitted responsibility for
the shooting deaths in February of nine young middle-class hikers
from Bogota, according to family members of the victims. At a
meeting on Mar. 16 or 17 in the rebel-controlled southern
demilitarized zone, FARC leaders told relatives of the murdered
youths that the killing was a mistake and promised that it will
be investigated according to the internal rules of the FARC.
The six young men and three young women had traveled to the
Purace National Park in Cauca department in early February; they
were killed sometime between Feb. 7 and 11, and their bodies were
later found tossed into a deep canyon in the park. Government
investigators determined that the hikers had been abducted by
members of the FARC, which controls the area, and that they were
later taken to a FARC camp where they were killed. [El Nuevo
Herald 3/18/01 from Reuters; AP 3/17/01 from ENH website] In late
February FARC leaders had questioned "Federico," who heads the
FARC's 13th Front, in connection with the killings, and had
promised the victims' families they would provide a report by
Mar. 15. [El Tiempo (Bogota) 2/25/01, 2/28/01]
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Weekly News Update on the Americas * Nicaragua Solidarity Network of NY
339 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012 * 212-674-9499 fax: 212-674-9139
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