An Historic Day for Indigenous Peoples

The following message was sent by the Association of Indigenous Councils of Northern Cauca, ACIN, on Sunday.

An Historic Day for Indigenous Peoples"We don´t have a Government" was the conclusion reached by Feliciano Valencia, a native Nasa leader from CRIC during his speech at the press conference at La María Piendamó. In a deep, firm and measured tone, his words were heard in profound silence by an audience of about 5000 indigenous people and some representatives of the Colombian media.

Feliciano began the initial part of his speech by making a number of very strong points which began with "It is not true that....". Indigenous peoples are not terrorists, the mobilization (Minga) is not controlled or run in coordination with FARC, land is not the main nor the only issue, indigenous peoples have not negotiated, nor reached an agreement with the Colombian Government, contrary to what was falsely stated by the Ministers of Justice and the Interior, Agriculture and Social Welfare, Indigenous peoples did not attack the Colombian armed forces and were instead mercilessly and brutally attacked with live ammunition which have left 132 wounded, one dead and one dying, the Government has not fulfilled its obligations with indigenous peoples and has made no effort to keep its promises.

Feliciano then proceeded to describe the Government´s and media behaviour towards the mobilization."We invited the President to a dialogue and he responded with a military assault." Feliciano described the mediatic manipulations, the lies fabricated by the commander of the Police, President Uribe, the head of the Secret Service and several Ministers.

Beyond recent events, Mr. Valencia explained how indigenous peoples are being exterminated not only through a permanent dirty war, military offensives and crossfire, but also through policies of extermination, exploitation and exclusion that have become systematic under the current administration in order to deliver the country´s wealth to transnational corporate interests. This account lead to the indictment: "We don´t have a Government in Colombia".Consequently, the Minga convenes the primary constituent assembly. The people of Colombia. All Colombians. Not to follow an indigenous agenda but to weave a collective agenda, a new country from our collective demands and pain.Feliciano proceeded to outline the five point agenda:

1. No to the economic model and the FTA´s with the US, Canada and Europe;
2. A removal of the legislation that empoverishes peoples, destroys and denies rights and freedoms, delivers the wealth of the country to corporate interests and has not gone through consultation with those affected;
3. No more war and terror as the main Government policy.
4. Respect and application of international and national agreements and establishment of the conditions that will allow the people to construct a new, possible and necessary country.
5. A proposal not for indigenous peoples, but from them, to construct jointly a new society.

The authorities announced a march towards the city of Cali, which will leave from La María next Tuesday. Other social movements and organizations have announced that they will join and mobilize and the whole country is invited to mobilize and gather in Cali.The words have been stated and now the talk will be walked until a new reality gets on the way, from a country with owners and no peoples, to a country of the peoples without owners.

Today, we heard one of the wisest and clearest statements in recent Colombian history. From being marginalized and defamed as terrorists, from being wounded and murdered like rats, from being lied about and abused, from being excluded, indigenous peoples have stood back and shown their wisdom and dignity taking on their leadership as masters of wisdom for the construction of a new world on this territory of Mother earth now known as Colombia.

The audio recording will be posted on http://www.nasaacin.org/ . Now, tired, saddenned by the wounded and dead who will lead the march, indigenous peoples are standing strong to convene the transformation of Colombia.

A major struggle for which they request the solidarity and support of international observers.Visit http://www.nasaacin.org/ for more details.

Latest Press Release From ACIN 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.I notice that the ACIN website (http://www.nasaacin.org/) is currently not functioning. Check out http://mamaradio.blogspot.com/2008/10/latest-press-release-from-acin-in_19.html for the full press release.

Latest Press Release From ACIN 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.I notice that the ACIN website (http://www.nasaacin.org) is currently not functioning. Check out http://mamaradio.blogspot.com/2008/10/latest-press-release-from-acin-in_19.html for the full press release.

Media Representations of Popular Mobilizations Ignore the Movement'sMessage

Another Front: Government's Propaganda vs. Indigenous Media Perspectives
By Mario A. Murillo

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.Check it out here:http://mamaradio.blogspot.com/2008/10/media-representations-of-popular.html

Another Colombian Military Massacre

From Public Citizen's Blog Eyes on Trade

This attack by Colombian Armed Forces is only the most recent in wave of brutal repression and paramilitary violence against indigenous, Afro-Colombian, labor and human rights advocates in recent weeks. Over the past two days, the Army has assaulted indigenous activists protesters, killing at least two and injuring over a hundred. Scroll down to take action in their support.

According to CNN:
The Indians are protesting the Colombian government's free market economic policies; regional landowners they say have stolen their territory; and government plans for a free-trade deal with the United States. To read more about thist situation click here.

History Repeats Itself For Indigenous Communities in Colombia

Mass Mobilization Facing Government Backlash in Northern Cauca Amidst “State of Internal Commotion”

By Mario A. Murillo(Bogotá, Colombia; October 14, 2008)

As I write this, over 12,000 indigenous activists and representatives of other popular and social sectors of southern Colombia are urgently congregating in the “Territory of Peace and Coexistence” in La Maria Piendamó, in Cauca, confronting a massive presence of state security forces who have been ordered to dislodge them.

The popular mobilization began on October 12th, and was called to protest the militarization of their territories, the US-Colombia Free Trade Agreement, and the failure of the government of President Alvaro Uribe to fulfill various accords with the indigenous communities relating to land, education, and health.On Monday, as expected, the communities participating in the indigenous protest blocked a portion of the Pan American Highway that connects the cities of Popayán and Santander de Quilichao, in the department of Cauca, in an act of civil disobedience meant to force the government to meet with them to discuss some of their demands.

Instead, what we’ve seen over the last two days are serious confrontations between special-forces police units and the communities assembled, with several indigenous activists severely wounded, one possibly fatally, in the ensuing clashes. These unfolding developments come just days after two other Nasa Indians – Nicolás Valencia Lemus and Celestino Rivera - were assassinated by unidentified gunmen late Saturday night and into Sunday morning, a few hours before the start of the mobilization, bringing the total number of indigenous activists killed in the last three weeks throughout Colombia to 11. To Read More Click Here.

Extrajudicial Executions Carried Out by State Agents Are Increasing in Colombia

In the five years between July 1997 and June 2002, according to the Colombian human rights groups’ collective database, a total of 577 extrajudicial executions were perpetrated by state agents. During the five years from July 2002 through June 2007, the rate of extrajudicial executions by state agents increased by nearly 66%, with a total of 955 cases. The Miami Herald reported on this today, click here for more. More reason to not certify Colombia to receive the remaining aid from last year or sign the trade agreement.