Published in The Portland Alliance, September 2007
On April 30, a single mother of three spoke and showed slides at St.
Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church, but this was no ordinary
mother and these were no ordinary slides. A Columbian hospital worker
for 20 years, Yaneth Pérez is from the Arauca region in northeastern
Colombia and president of the Dawn of Women for Arauca, a women’s
rights and social justice association. The pictures Pérez is sharing
with Americans on her month-long speaking tour of the Northwest shows
close friends and co-workers who were killed, arrested without charges
and jailed for years, or taken to hiding as they struggled to survive
in a war-torn nation. Joining her on the tour is Scott Nicholson, a
Montana activist who has been in Arauca since July 2006 documenting
human rights abuses.
Colombia is rich with natural resources like oil, coal and gold, but
the land’s abundance has fueled an intense power struggle spanning four
decades between the national army, paramilitary factions, and at least
two leftist guerrilla groups vying for turf. Many Americans are aware
of the wasteful and ineffective U.S. government effort to wipe out coca
production, but fewer know Colombia is the seventh-largest supplier of
U.S. oil. Occidental Petroleum operates an oilfield and pipeline in
Arauca currently protected by militaries empowered with a $1.5 million
per day budget, making Columbia the third largest recipient of U.S.
foreign aid.
Pérez detailed some of the human rights abuses committed against her
comrades working peacefully to stop the loss of their native lands and
the undercutting of Columbia’s economies by oil and agribusiness
interests.
Among the worst of the atrocities is the Massacre at Santa Domingo,
the name given to an air attack on the village of Santo Domingo in
Arauca province on Dec. 13, 1998. American civilians working airborne
security for Occidental Petroleum dropped cluster bombs and rockets on
what they claimed were guerrilla fighters from FARC, the leftist
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. International agencies such as
Amnesty International have widely protested that the 7 children and 11
adults murdered were non-combatants. The Santa Domingo raid caused some
of the worst “collateral damage” inflicted on civilians by the armed
forces in the recent history of the 37-year conflict and has since
become a key piece of evidence for peaceworkers protesting U.S.
involvement in Colombia.
If that Latin American history lesson seems dry reading it is
because Pérez spoke of the longstanding oppression of her people while
standing in front of pictures that gave souls to the sorts of slayings
progressives can get numbed to reading about so frequently. It is one
thing to know that 18 innocents were killed at the Massacre of Santa
Domingo, and quite another to see their family members gathered at
annual memorials and erecting an elegant monument to their assassinated
loved ones.
Lest we get caught up in the mainstream media’s usual presentation of
the most brutally violent, negative sides of humanity, it must be
stressed that Pérez brought much more than tales of cultural and
ecological devastation with her from Columbia. The Dawn of Women for
Arauca first formed in November 2002 after mass arrests for labor
organizing put more than 2000 people in prisons. On Nov. 2006, the
international day of actions to stop violence against women, the women
officially formed an association dedicated to nonviolently fostering
peace and took as their motto, “For dignity, justice, and equality.” By
March 8th their numbers had swelled to 300 women who attended the
group’s celebration of Women’s Day and collectively they raised their
glasses in a “toast to life.” As before, the emotional resonance of the
moment’s beauty translates better through the pictures of candlelit
rooms packed with multi-ethnic women standing in solidarity for peace.
“The violence is all-consuming,” Pérez sighed as she began to
address how the fighting has affected women specifically, “Young women
especially are used as tools for men to attack each other.” Many women
are widowed, and many more separated from violent partners. The
responsibility of caring for children falls on women here as in the
rest of the world, but the abject poverty makes the situation dire for
Columbian women. Against seemingly insurmountable odds, the women have
worked with labor rights groups, indigenous rights groups, and
community activists to build a cooperative store, a radio station, and
five high schools.
Earlier this year the U.S. Department of State submitted its 2008
operations budget for “Plan Columbia Two” requesting 587 million
dollars. Military aid is where 76% of that money is directed despite
activist attempts to increase the amount allotted for social betterment
projects.
“We don’t need any more weapons in Arauca” said Pérez. “There are
already more than enough guns and bombs to kill all of us. Instead of
sending arms, we ask the U.S. government to provide support for
schools, health clinics, housing, and small farmers so that we can take
care of our families.”
S.M.Berg is a Portland activist, feminist, and writist.
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