We Call for the Respect of Haitian Popular Sovereignty and an End to Western Imperialist Intervention

We Call for the Respect of Haitian Popular Sovereignty and an End to Western Imperialist Intervention

A Zone of Peace Campaign Statement in Solidarity with the Haitian People

BOGOTA, COLOMBIA. 19 March 2024 – We denounce the ongoing attempts by Western imperialists to force an armed intervention and another illegitimate government on the Haitian people, as well as the collaboration of regional institutions in this intervention.

After months of the U.S., Core Group, and other imperialist collaborators working to execute an armed intervention into Haiti that they are now calling a “Multinational Security Service,” ex-de facto Prime Minister Ariel Henry has resigned from his illegitimately-held position. Those countries calling for military intervention – the U.S., France, Canada – have created the conditions making military intervention appear necessary and inevitable. Now, this same imperialist cabal wants to appoint a favorable “transitional government,” without input from the Haitian people.

As organizations of the Zone of Peace Campaign, we also denounce the role of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) working in collaboration with Western imperialists to deny the Haitian people their national sovereignty and collective self-determination. CARICOM has continued to betray the people of Haiti – in their support of western intervention, through select states’ choice to send troops to Haiti, and by including western imperialists in “negotiations” to which popular Haitian movements and organizations were not invited. CARICOM must reverse its position to one that opposes armed intervention into Haiti, and supports the efforts of the Haitian people to assert their sovereignty and reclaim their country.

We also remind all peoples and organizations of our hemisphere about the Community of Latin America and Caribbean States’ (CELAC) 2014 declaration of Latin America and the Caribbean as a ‘Zone of Peace.’ We recognize the recent CELAC statement by President Pro-Tempore Xiomara Castro, who declared that any “military action that violates the Principle of Non-Intervention and the Respect of Popular Self-Determination” in Haiti must be rejected, and we urge the CELAC “Troika” of Honduras, St. Vincent & The Grenadines, and Colombia to stand firm against imperialist aggression and intervention. It is clear that guaranteeing a true Zone of Peace in Our Americas requires a rejection of imperialist intervention in Haiti and all of our nations. This also requires a recognition of the human dignity of the people of Haiti and refusal to succumb to sensationalist western media and politicians that dehumanize Haitians and disregard the longstanding, organized popular mobilizations against imperialist aggression. 

In addition to rejecting imperialist interventions and militarism, the call for a Zone of Peace in Our Americas means prioritizing People(s)-Centered Human Rights (PCHRs) in the Americas by observing the principles of national sovereignty, equal rights and self-determination of peoples. These are principles that must be defended through popular struggle. We, thus, support the statement of our comrades in MOLEGHAF, calling for organization and unity of revolutionary forces in Haiti against imperialist machinations.

Finally, we recognize and appreciate the forceful words of solidarity by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro during and after the most recent CELAC meeting, which recognized that the current crisis is the result of western intervention and imperialist violence. President Maduro also called for “comprehensive economic and social support” and solidarity, instead of an intervention that will only cause more bloodshed.

As organizations of the Zone of Peace Campaign, we recently gathered in Bogota, Colombia, and agreed on the urgent need to support the people of Haiti and their popular mobilizations against ongoing imperialist violence. We call on all progressive, radical, and revolutionary movements and organizations across the Americas to support the Haitian people’s popular sovereignty and self-determination, to reject the “Multinational Security Support” mission, and to struggle for a peoples-centered Zone of Peace in Haiti and in all of Our Americas. 

Hands Off Haiti!

Signed,

Organizations of the Zone of Peace Campaign:

• Black Alliance for Peace

• Caribbean Movement for Peace and Integration

• Caribbean Organisation for People’s Empowerment 

• Consejo por la Emancipación Plurinacional de Perú

• Diaspora Pa’lante Collective

• Friends of the ATC (Asociación de Trabajadores del Campo)

• Movimiento Evita

• Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition

• Observatorio de los Derechos Humanos de los Pueblos

• Proceso de Comunidades Negras – PCN

• Red de Organizaciones AfroVenezolanas

• Soli Puerto Rico

• World Beyond War

Llamamos por el Respeto de la Soberanía Popular Haitiana y al Fin de la Intervención Imperialista Occidental

Declaración de la Campaña Zona de Paz en Solidaridad con el Pueblo Haitiano

BOGOTÁ, COLOMBIA. 15 de marzo de 2024 – Denunciamos los continuos intentos de los imperialistas occidentales de imponer una intervención armada y otro gobierno ilegítimo al pueblo haitiano, tal como la colaboración de instituciones regionales en esta intervención.

Después de meses de los Estados Unidos, el ‘Core Group’ y otros colaboradores imperialistas trabajando para llevar a cabo una intervención armada en Haití que ahora llaman "Servicio de Seguridad Multinacional" (MSS), el ex primer ministro de facto Ariel Henry ha renunciado a su cargo ilegítimamente sostenido. Esos países que piden la intervención militar – los Estados Unidos, Francia, Canadá – han creado las condiciones que hacen que la intervención militar parezca necesaria e inevitable. Ahora, esta misma camarilla imperialista quiere nombrar un "gobierno de transición" favorable, sin el consentimiento del pueblo haitiano.

Como organizaciones de la Campaña Zona de Paz, también denunciamos el papel de la Comunidad del Caribe (CARICOM) trabajando en colaboración con los imperialistas occidentales para negar al pueblo haitiano su soberanía nacional y su autodeterminación colectiva. CARICOM ha continuado traicionando al pueblo haitiano – en su apoyo a la intervención occidental, a través de la elección de estados selectos para enviar tropas a Haití, y al incluir a los imperialistas occidentales en "negociaciones" a las que no fueron invitados los movimientos y organizaciones populares haitianas. CARICOM debe revertir su posición a una que se oponga a la intervención armada en Haití, y apoye los esfuerzos del pueblo haitiano para afirmar su soberanía y recuperar su país.

También recordamos a todos los pueblos y organizaciones de nuestro hemisferio la declaración de 2014 de la Comunidad de Estados Latinoamericanos y Caribeños (CELAC) de América Latina y el Caribe como una ‘Zona de Paz’. Reconocemos la reciente declaración de la CELAC por parte de la Presidenta Pro Tempore Xiomara Castro, quien declaró que cualquier "acción militar que viole el principio de No Intervención y el Respeto a la Autodeterminación de los Pueblos" en Haití debe ser rechazada, y urgimos a la "Troika" de la CELAC de Honduras, San Vicente y las Granadinas, y Colombia a mantenerse firmes contra la agresión e intervención imperialista. Garantizar una verdadera Zona de Paz en Nuestra América requiere el rechazo de la intervención imperialista en Haití y en todas nuestras naciones. Esto también requiere el reconocimiento de la dignidad humana del pueblo de Haití y la negativa a sucumbir a los medios de comunicación occidentales sensacionalistas y a los políticos que deshumanizan a los haitianos y desprecian las movilizaciones populares organizadas de larga data contra la agresión imperialista.

Además de rechazar las intervenciones imperialistas y el militarismo, el llamado por una Zona de Paz en Nuestra América significa priorizar los Derechos Humanos Centrados en las Personas (PCHR por sus letras en inglés) en las Américas observando los principios de soberanía nacional, igualdad de derechos y autodeterminación de los pueblos. Estos son principios que deben ser defendidos a través de la lucha popular. Por lo tanto, apoyamos la declaración de nuestros compañeros en MOLEGHAF, quienes llaman por la organización y unidad de las fuerzas revolucionarias en Haití, contra las maquinaciones imperialistas.

Finalmente, reconocemos y apreciamos las palabras poderosas de solidaridad del Presidente venezolano Nicolás Maduro durante y después de la reunión más reciente de la CELAC, lo que reconoció que la crisis actual es el resultado de la intervención occidental y la violencia imperialista. El Presidente Maduro también llamó por un "apoyo económico y social integral" y por la solidaridad, en lugar de una intervención que sólo causará más derramamiento de sangre.

Como organizaciones de la Campaña Zona de Paz, nos reunimos recientemente en Bogotá, Colombia, y acordamos la urgente necesidad de apoyar al pueblo haitiano y sus movilizaciones populares contra la violencia imperialista en curso. Instamos a todos los movimientos y organizaciones progresistas, radicales y revolucionarios de las Américas a apoyar la soberanía popular y la autodeterminación del pueblo haitiano, rechazar la misión del MSS y luchar por una Zona de Paz centrada en los pueblos de Haití y de toda Nuestra América.

¡Fuera de Haití! ¡Hands Off Haiti!

Firmado,

Organizaciones de la Campaña Zona de Paz:

• Black Alliance for Peace

• Caribbean Movement for Peace and Integration

• Caribbean Organisation for People’s Empowerment 

• Consejo por la Emancipación Plurinacional de Perú

• Diaspora Pa’lante Collective

• Friends of the ATC (Asociación de Trabajadores del Campo)

• Movimiento Evita

• Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition

• Observatorio de los Derechos Humanos de los Pueblos

• Proceso de Comunidades Negras – PCN

• Red de Organizaciones AfroVenezolanas

• Soli Puerto Rico

• World Beyond War

Protect Vice President, Francia Marquez: An Open Letter to President of Colombia, Gustavo Petro

11 de enero 2022 – January 11, 2022

Media Contact
communications@blackallianceforpeace.com
+001 (202) 643-1136

Honorable President Gustavo Petro,

Today the Vice President of Colombia, Francia Marquez, revealed on Twitter that her “security team found a device with more than 7 kilos of explosive material on the road that leads to [her] family residence in the village of Yolombó, in Suárez, Cauca”. This security breach against Vice President Marquez is only the most recent worrying incident, which has reinforced our ongoing concern around her security. We have received reports that call into question the physical security of the Vice President. 

We, the Black Alliance for Peace’s Haiti/Americas Team, seek assurance that your administration is also watching this with concern and we hope the government will take appropriate measures. The Black Alliance for Peace is a coalition of organizations and individuals that oppose militarization, imperialism, and the permanent war agenda of the U.S. state domestically and globally. As the Haiti and the Americas Team, we are focused on achieving the liberation of all peoples in the region and real peace in Nuestra América, through the advancement of an “Americas-wide” struggle for authentic decolonization and social development. 

As you are aware, Vice President Marquez’s position is unique. In addition to being a high-ranking public official in Colombia, she has been a long-time activist for the rights of Afro-Colombian and Ethnic peoples and communities. This activism and her position are important not only in Colombia, but Marquez is also a prominent leader for all of us in the African diaspora, particularly in the Americas. As an activist outside of the government, she was under constant death threats, as are so many activists in Colombia, who since 2016 have faced even more violence and uncertainty. We understand this is part of a pattern of violence against social activists, particularly Afro-Colombian and Indigenous Colombian leaders, which both the Santos and Duque administration did little to stop. According to Indepaz, at least 1,550 social leaders have been murdered since 2016, with 189 killed in 2022 (more than in 2021). We condemn the ongoing targeting of social leaders, including the Vice President Marquez, as well as the continued racist comments and other slurs against the Vice President. We urge you, President Gustavo Petro, to take note of these matters, increase the capacity to protect social leaders, and act in all necessary ways to ensure the physical integrity of the Vice President, her relatives and close advisors.

Sincerely,
Haiti/Americas Team
Black Alliance for Peace

————————————— Español —————————————-

11 de enero de 2023

Contacto:

info@blackallianceforpeace.com

+001 (202) 643-1136 (EE. UU.)

Honorable Presidente Gustavo Petro,

Ayer, la Vicepresidenta de Colombia, Francia Márquez Mina, reveló en Twitter que su “equipo de seguridad encontró un artefacto con más de 7 kilos de material explosivo en la vía que conduce a la residencia de [su] familia en la vereda Yolombó, en Suárez, Cauca”. Esta brecha de seguridad contra la Vicepresidenta Márquez es solo el incidente preocupante más reciente, que ha reforzado nuestra preocupación constante por su seguridad. Hemos recibido informes que ponen en entredicho la seguridad física de la Vicepresidenta y las prioridades del gobierno colombiano para garantizar su protección.

Nosotros, el Equipo de Haití/Américas de la Alianza Negra por la Paz, buscamos la seguridad de que su administración también está observando esto con preocupación y esperamos que el gobierno tome las medidas necesarias. La Alianza Negra por la Paz es una coalición de organizaciones e individuos que se oponen a la militarización, el imperialismo y la agenda de guerra permanente del Estado de los EE. UU. a nivel nacional y mundial. Como Equipo Haití/Américas, estamos enfocados en lograr la liberación de todos los pueblos de la región y la paz real en Nuestra América, a través del avance de una lucha “en toda América” por una auténtica descolonización y desarrollo social.

La figura de la vicepresidenta Márquez es única. Además de ser una funcionaria pública de alto rango en Colombia, ha sido una activista por los derechos de los pueblos y comunidades afrocolombianas y étnicas durante mucho tiempo. Este activismo y su cargo son importantes no solo en Colombia, sino que Márquez también es una líder destacada para todos nosotros en la Diáspora Africana, particularmente en las Américas.

Como activista fuera del gobierno, estuvo bajo constantes amenazas de muerte, al igual que muchos activistas en Colombia, que desde 2016 han enfrentado aún más violencia e incertidumbre. Entendemos que esto es parte de un patrón de violencia contra activistas sociales, particularmente líderes afrocolombianos e indígenas colombianos, que tanto la administración de Santos como la de Duque hicieron poco para detener. Según Indepaz, al menos 1.550 líderes sociales han sido asesinados desde 2016, con 189 asesinados en 2022 (más que en 2021).

Condenamos los continuos ataques contra líderes sociales, incluida la vicepresidenta Márquez, así como los continuos comentarios racistas y otros insultos contra la vicepresidenta. Le exhortamos, Presidente Gustavo Petro, a tomar nota de estos asuntos, aumentar la capacidad de protección de los líderes sociales y actuar en todas las formas necesarias para garantizar la integridad física de la Vicepresidenta, sus familiares y allegados.

Atentamente,

Equipo de Haití/Américas

Alianza Negra por la Paz

Banner photo: Colombian President Gustavo Petro and Vice President Francia Márquez celebrate their victory at the Movistar Arena in Bogotá on June 19. (courtesy Juan Barreto/AFP via Getty Images)

Black Alliance for Peace’s Haiti/Americas Committee Statement on African Liberation Day

In recognition of African Liberation Day, May 25, 2021, the Black Alliance for Peace’s Haiti/Americas Committee salutes the historic and ongoing struggles for emancipation, independence and autonomy of African people world-wide. 

On this African Liberation Day, we give thanks to those past generations of Africans who battled against slavery, colonialism and white supremacy. We recognize the current generation of toilers, strugglers, insurgents, and revolutionaries who continue the fight against neocolonialism and neoliberalism, and against the Black misleadership classes who have betrayed the revolutionary struggles of the African people. 

We recognize the origins of African Liberation Day in the First Conference of Independent African States—convened by Dr. Kwame Nkrumah in 1958 in Accra, Ghana—and with the formation of the Organization of African Unity in 1963. We acknowledge the first efforts of organizing African Liberation Day in North America in 1972, and its message of solidarity with the armed struggle against settler colonialism and its corporate backers in southern Africa. We also support the longstanding work of the All-African People’s Revolutionary Party to continue the radical tradition of African Liberation Day.

Today, we extend that message of Pan-African solidarity to Africa and to Africans in the Americas. In particular, we salute the people of Haiti. As a liberated African territory, Haiti nurtured the struggles against slavery, imperialism and white supremacy thoughout the Americas; the Haitian people have continued to pay the price for doing so. We acknowledge the mocambos, palenques, quilombos, and the cimarrón, mawon, and maroon communities throughout the Americas that have been necessary for Black survival. And we salute the African peoples of Brazil, Colombia, the United States, and elsewhere who suffer from economic austerity and deprivation, who are victims of legalized discrimination and targeted incarceration, and who are assailed by relentless police and militarized violence. 

On this African Liberation Day, we stand in struggle with all African peoples against capitalism, imperialism, neocolonialism and white supremacy. Our time will come.

No compromise! No retreat!

Banner photo: African Liberation Day event in 1977 in Handsworth Park, Birmingham, U.K. (Vanley Burke)

In Colombia, Black Lives Also Matter!: A Black Alliance for Peace Statement

Gruesome reports have emerged of systematic repression in various cities in Colombia since the April 28 call for a national strike to protest U.S.-ordered neoliberal changes in the Colombian tax system. In response to the strike, the Escuadrón Móvil Antidisturbios (ESMAD, or Mobile Anti-Disturbances Squadron)—the Colombian riot police—and regular police units have been beating, shooting, tear gassing and murdering people across the country.

For the Black Alliance for Peace (BAP), it is important that as the public is just becoming aware of the situation in Colombia, they understand two elements. First, the context of the strike in Colombia had been shaped by decades of right-wing government actions in the forms of vicious state wars against the people using paramilitary structures and death squads, all in service of the national and comprador Colombian bourgeoisie and their capitalist masters in the United States and Europe. And secondly, along with Indigenous peoples, Afro-Colombians have disproportionately suffered during the 60-year-long armed conflict and paramilitary terror in Black-held territories.

This last point is particularly important as the Colombian conflict is being reported in the corporate press in ways that have almost erased the reality of Black Colombia, the third-largest group of African people outside of Africa after Brazil and the United States.

The violence unleashed by ESMAD has taken place where large numbers of Afro-Colombians reside, most of whom already were internally displaced because of the armed conflict in other parts of the country. 

That component of the strike actions must be considered to correctly understand what is unfolding in Colombia.

Black people in Colombia have been displaced because the government did not provide protection to Afro-Colombian and Indigenous communities. Why do they deserve these rights? Unlike in the United States, where the legal system only recognizes African/Black people as individuals, Afro-Colombians are recognized as a people. Both Afro-Colombian people and Indigenous peoples occupy resource-rich lands. That is why the violence increased in the territories where Afro-Colombians lived, despite a “peace process.”

And what interests benefit from the violence that caused dispossession? U.S., Canadian and European transnational companies, along with elements of the Colombian ruling class.

So, while BAP stands in solidarity with the workers, campesinos, women and Indigenous peoples in their fight against neoliberal capitalism and U.S. imperialism, we will not allow the realities and physical presence of African peoples in Colombia to be erased.

We note with some degree of irony that the international community has showered Colombia with deserved attention and mobilizations in solidarity, while they are relatively silent on the Haitian people's struggle.

And we ask: Why the difference?

BAP will not make distinctions. We stand against imperialism in all its forms, including its white-supremacist, ideological expressions that violate the spirit of solidarity and anti-imperialism.

We recognize effective anti-imperialist struggle requires an organized opposition in the United States that is connected to radical and revolutionary forces throughout the so-called “Americas” region. This is not an easy task that can be accomplished tomorrow or only through dramatic mobilizations.

We are sure to hear all kinds of calls for various kinds of reforms coming from groups and individuals who just yesterday discovered the struggle in Colombia and who will move on to the next popular mobilization tomorrow. However, we say for those who are serious and want to support the people of Colombia, they should ground themselves in understanding how the struggle in Colombia relates to Venezuela, Haiti, the southside of Chicago and all of the radical struggles unfolding in the Western Hemisphere. And we ask them to be prepared to fight like their lives depend on it. Because for the oppressed and colonized, it does.

¡En Colombia, las vidas de los negros también importan!: Declaración de Black Alliance for Peace 

Han surgido informes espantosos de represión sistemática en varias ciudades de Colombia desde el llamado del 28 de abril a una huelga nacional para protestar contra los cambios neoliberales ordenados por Estados Unidos en el sistema tributario colombiano. En respuesta al paro, el Escuadrón Móvil Antidisturbios (ESMAD o Escuadrón Móvil Antidisturbios) —la policía antidisturbios colombiana— y unidades policiales regulares han estado golpeando, disparando, lanzando gases lacrimógenos y asesinando a personas en todo el país.

For the Black Alliance for Peace (BAP), Es importante que, dado que el público recién se está dando cuenta de la situación en Colombia, comprenda dos elementos. En primer lugar, el contexto de la huelga en Colombia había sido moldeado por décadas de acciones gubernamentales de derecha en forma de feroces guerras de estado contra el pueblo que usa estructuras paramilitares y escuadrones de la muerte, todo al servicio de la burguesía nacional y compradora colombiana y su capitalista. Masters en Estados Unidos y Europa. Y en segundo lugar, junto con los pueblos indígenas, los afrocolombianos han sufrido de manera desproporcionada durante los 60 años de conflicto armado y el terror paramilitar en los territorios controlados por negros.

Este último punto es particularmente importante ya que el conflicto colombiano está siendo informado en la prensa corporativa de maneras que casi han borrado la realidad de la Colombia negra, el tercer grupo más grande de africanos fuera de África después de Brasil y Estados Unidos.

La violencia desatada por la ESMAD ha tenido lugar donde residen un gran número de afrocolombianos, la mayoría de los cuales ya eran desplazados internos debido al conflicto armado en otras partes del país.

Ese componente de las acciones de huelga debe ser considerado para comprender correctamente lo que se está desarrollando en Colombia.

Los negros en Colombia han sido desplazados porque el gobierno no brindó protección a las comunidades afrocolombianas e indígenas. ¿Por qué merecen estos derechos? A diferencia de los Estados Unidos, donde el sistema legal solo reconoce a los africanos / negros como individuos, los afrocolombianos son reconocidos como personas. Tanto los pueblos afrocolombianos como los pueblos indígenas ocupan tierras ricas en recursos. Por eso la violencia aumentó en los territorios donde vivían los afrocolombianos, a pesar de un “proceso de paz”.

¿Y qué intereses se benefician de la violencia que provocó el despojo? Empresas transnacionales estadounidenses, canadienses y europeas, junto con elementos de la clase dominante colombiana.

Entonces, mientras el BAP se solidariza con los trabajadores, campesinos, mujeres y pueblos indígenas en su lucha contra el capitalismo neoliberal y el imperialismo estadounidense, no permitiremos que se borren las realidades y presencia física de los pueblos africanos en Colombia.

Observamos con cierto grado de ironía que la comunidad internacional ha colmado a Colombia con merecidas atenciones y movilizaciones de solidaridad, mientras guarda un relativo silencio sobre la lucha del pueblo haitiano.

Y preguntamos: ¿Por qué la diferencia?

BAP no hará distinciones. Nos oponemos al imperialismo en todas sus formas, incluidas sus expresiones ideológicas supremacistas blancas que violan el espíritu de solidaridad y antiimperialismo.

Reconocemos que la lucha antiimperialista efectiva requiere una oposición organizada en los Estados Unidos que esté conectada con las fuerzas radicales y revolucionarias en toda la región llamada “América”. Esta no es una tarea fácil que se pueda lograr mañana o solo mediante movilizaciones dramáticas.

Seguramente escucharemos todo tipo de llamados a reformas de diversa índole provenientes de grupos e individuos que ayer mismo descubrieron la lucha en Colombia y que pasarán mañana a la próxima movilización popular. Sin embargo, decimos para aquellos que son serios y quieren apoyar al pueblo de Colombia, que deben basarse en comprender cómo la lucha en Colombia se relaciona con Venezuela, Haití, el lado sur de Chicago y todas las luchas radicales que se desarrollan en el hemisferio occidental. . Y les pedimos que estén preparados para luchar como si sus vidas dependieran de ello. Porque para los oprimidos y colonizados, lo hace.

Banner photo: Afro-Colombians mobilizing to defend their territory in the North of Cauca (@renacientes on Twitter)

Afro-Colombian BAP Member's Statement on Gender Violence and Peace to the United Nations Security Council

The following statement was made by Charo Mina-Rojas, a member of the human rights team of the Black Communities’ Process, the Afro-Colombian Solidarity Network, the Black Alliance for Peace, and the Special High Level Body for Ethnic Peoples, on behalf of the NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security at the United Nations Security Council Open Debate on “Women and peace and security.” The statement highlights the participation of ethnically diverse women in peace negotiations; ensuring the security of human rights defenders, civil society activists and Indigenous and Afro-descendant communities; and inclusive monitoring and implementation of peace processes. It was originally delivered in Spanish.

I am a woman of African descent, and a peace and human rights activist who has spent half of my life educating and fighting for the cultural, territorial and political rights of Afro-descendant women and our communities and for our free-self-determination. It is an honor and a great responsibility to have been nominated by my global colleagues, to represent today the women and peace and security civil society community at this important debate.

I was extensively involved in the historical Havana peace process between the Colombian Government and the guerrilla group, FARC. Representing the Afro-Colombian National Council for Peace coalition (CONPA), I advocated to ensure that the rights and expectations of Afro-descendant peoples would be part of the Peace Accord that Colombia, and the world, celebrate today. I can speak first hand to the importance of inclusive negotiations and implementation processes, which support the participation of women from ethnically and racially diverse backgrounds and are emblematic of the goals and principles of Security Council resolution 1325 (2000).

Colombia has become a new source of hope because of the comprehensive peace agreement reached. Two provisions were particularly progressive and could bring radical changes to future peace processes around the world: one, the explicit inclusion of a gender perspective as an intersectional principle, and the second, the inclusion of the Ethnic Chapter which provides important safeguards to ensure the respect of autonomy and the protection and promotion of Indigenous and Afro-descendant peoples’ rights from a gender, family and generational perspective. The inclusion of these two specific principles is a historic advancement regarding peace and security that the UN and other countries experiencing violence and armed conflicts could learn from. The Peace Accord was very important for civil society and Indigenous and Afro-descendent people, and we continue to expect the engagement and active participation of women, ethnic groups, and their communities, in its implementation.

Colombia, however, risks wasting this opportunity for peace if it does not completely disarm itself and if the communities most impacted during the internal armed conflict, including women human rights leaders and activists, continue to be ignored in the implementation of the Peace Accord. I am here today to make visible their urgent calls and want to stress that for my people, it is actually a matter of life and death.

There are three urgent priority areas I want to focus on in my statement: participation of ethnically diverse women; ensuring the security for human rights defenders, civil society activists and Indigenous and Afro-descendant communities; and inclusive monitoring and implementation of peace processes.

First, is ensuring the ongoing participation of women, especially from diverse communities, in all areas relating to the implementation of the Peace Accord. As with women around the world, women in Colombia, and particularly Afro-descendant women, we have been mobilizing for decades to make visible the violations of our rights but also to ensure significant transformations in the way peace and security is approached. My dear sister Rita Lopidia from South Sudan was here last year giving testimony on the importance of South Sudanese women participating in ongoing peace and security dialogues. In Afghanistan, the few women on the High Peace Council need to continue fighting to have their voices heard. In Colombia, there is not a representative of Afro-descendant women on the High Level Body on Gender, the body that was established to oversee the implementation of the agreement’s gender chapter.

As parties to the Peace Accord work with the international community to demobilize FARC fighters, paramilitaries and other armed actors have filled the power vacuum left by FARC forces in many areas in Colombia. This has created an urgent need for local women’s organizations and community leaders to be consulted and participate in the design of local protection strategies to keep our communities safe. The Security Council and international community must support the Colombian government in designing and implementing gender-responsive, community based security and self-protection systems in consultation with Afro-descendant and Indigenous communities. The failure to listen to our security concerns and warnings has had devastating results.

This brings me to my second point, which is the need to guarantee our integral and collective security. Security involves the safety of leaders and communities and the respect and protection of territories and territorial rights. The proliferation of weapons is fueling increased fear and forced displacement among largely Indigenous and Afro-descendent communities and negatively impacting on women’s participation and mobility, as well as resulting in increased sexual and gender based violence. We are alarmed at the increasing number of assassinations and threats to human rights defenders and peace activists across Colombia. For example, in Tumaco, a municipality near the border with Ecuador, urban leaders and members of the Community Council of Alto Mira and Frontera, continue to be targeted by paramilitary groups and FARC detractors who seek territorial control in order to grow and sell coca. Just last week, we buried Jair Cortés, the sixth leader killed in that municipality, and we had to urgently move out several women leaders and their families who received death threats.

Sexual and gender-based violence and the stigmatization that comes with it, especially for Indigenous and Afro-descendent women and their children, is also a matter of integral and collective security. The silence around these crimes is as appalling as the crimes themselves. Women activists risk their lives to bring cases before the justice system. There is an urgent need to establish a direct line of communication between Indigenous and Afro-descendent authorities and representatives of women organizations in all mechanisms of the Comprehensive System for Truth, Coexistence, and Non-Repetition to ensure these cases are prioritized, that perpetrators are brought to justice and survivors provided with lifesaving medical and psychosocial services.

Finally, it is crucial that the framework plan for the implementation of the Peace Accord includes specific goals and indicators designed to measure the progress and outcomes of policies, programs and reforms in a manner corresponding to the needs, values and rights of Indigenous and Afro-descendant peoples. It is critical that the Colombian government and its implementation commission (CSIVI) accept and integrate the ethnic perspectives and indicators, including the specific gender ethnic indicators, developed and provided to them by Indigenous and Afro-descendant organizations earlier this month. Political will on these indicators is needed, as is to include them in the legal framework of the Peace Accord. They will help effectively transform the war-like conditions preventing the well-being, social development and collective security of Indigenous and Afro-descendent women and our communities.

For Afro-descendant women in Colombia and Indigenous women leaders worldwide ensuring our collective security also means that the principles of free, prior and informed consent; consultation; autonomy; cultural integrity, and meaningful participation are respected and our human rights enshrined in national and international human rights standards are fully promoted and protected. Peace in Colombia and elsewhere, is not simply a matter of ending war and violence but addressing collectively the root causes of conflict including social, gender and racial injustice and promoting the well-being of all people of all races and religions. It is about supporting the efforts of local women activists to demilitarize and disarm our whole societies, and curbing the flow of small arms as prescribed in the Arms Trade Treaty and other legal instruments. It is the responsibility of all actors, including the Security Council, the UN system, regional and sub-regional organizations, and importantly, Member States, to fulfill their obligations. The women, peace and security agenda, if implemented and financially resourced, can be the pathway to peace in my country and around the world, where gender equality, women’s empowerment and protection of women’s rights are central to conflict prevention and sustainable peace.

Thank you.

BAP Member to Address United Nations on Colombia Peace Process

Charo Mina-Rojas, a long-time Afro-Colombian activist who has been involved in her country's peace process since the 22-day civil strike in Buenaventura, Colombia, will speak to the United Nations Security Council this month. See the document below for the official statement. Mina-Rojas is also a BAP member and organizes for Proceso de Comunidades Negras.

DOWNLOAD: Statement by MADRE and Proceso de Comunidades Negras

Photo credit: Wikipedia

Cornel West, Chris Hedges and Human Rights Activists Call on Colombia to Provide Healthcare, Infrastructure Improvements

Peace Process at a Critical Juncture; Began After 22-Day Strike Preventing Millions of Dollars in Exports from Entering Country

Below you will find a letter the Black Alliance for Peace (BAP) signed onto. Many of our comrades—from Chris Hedges and Cornel West to CODEPINK and Pan-African Community Action—also have stepped up to demand Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos give in to the demands of Afro-Colombians and Indigenous peoples.

PDF of letter in Spanish and English

---

To President Juan Manuel Santos and Members of the Commission to Monitor, Promote, and Verify Implementation of Colombia’s Peace Accord (CSIVI)

Dear President Santos and CSIVI Members,

The undersigned gender, racial, social and environmental justice organizations and advocates from around the world applaud the inclusion of the Ethnic Chapter and other racial and gender rights measures in Colombia’s Final Agreement to End the Armed Conflict and Build a Stable and Lasting Peace. If implemented, these provisions will allow Colombia to set a global example of holistic peacebuilding—one that meaningfully addresses the social inequalities that help fuel conflict. We are, however, deeply concerned about the inadequate consultation with and recognition of Afro-Colombian and Indigenous authorities in peace implementation activities to date, and the ways in which this endangers the lives, security, and territorial and human rights of Afro-Descendant and Indigenous Peoples, including women and girls. We encourage the Government to act in good faith to ensure that Indigenous and Afro-Descendant Peoples’ rights are maintained and furthered in peace implementation.

It is crucial that the framework plan for implementing the Peace Accord contain indicators to measure the progress and outcomes of policies, programs and reforms in a manner that corresponds to the needs, values, and rights of Indigenous and Afro-Descendant Peoples, including their gender-based rights. These can only be developed with meaningful participation of their respective authorities and organizations. We understand that the Government and CSIVI recently agreed to a work agenda with the Special High-Level Body with Ethnic Peoples for Monitoring Implementation of the Peace Accords to develop and include such indicators and to assign resources and provide conditions for meaningful participation of Afro-Descendant and Indigenous Peoples in implementation. This is positive news, as we believe inclusiveness at the outset of the framework plan will help ensure structural advances for Afro-Colombian and Indigenous Peoples, who have disproportionately born the consequences of the armed conflict, and whose communities suffer the greatest levels of poverty and least access to health and educational infrastructure in Colombia.

While it is cause for hope that the Government and CSIVI agreed to this agenda of work, a broader pattern of exclusion keeps us vigilant. For example, while the Peace Accord requires the Government to include an ethnic and cultural perspective in implementing its Security and Protection Program, the parties have failed to meaningfully consult with and support Afro-Colombian and Indigenous authorities and communities in the design and implementation of community based self-protection plans, and to ensure adequate security overall in their territories. As FARC fighters demobilized, paramilitaries and other armed actors have filled the remaining power vacuum in many areas, as was predicted by parties to the Accord, which named these actors the “greatest threat” to peace.

The site of the majority of fighting during the conflict, these areas heavily overlap with Afro-Colombian and Indigenous territories. Because of the lack of consultation and ensuing insecurity, entire Afro-Colombian and Indigenous communities are again facing displacement, as violence, forced disappearances, attacks on human rights defenders, threats, and kidnappings increase. The forced displacement rate increased in the first half of 2017, as compared with the first half of 2016, with Afro-Colombian and Indigenous Peoples comprising 94% of those displaced in the first months of 2017.

Afro-Colombian and Indigenous women and children, who suffered disproportionately high levels of conflict-related gender-based violence, face dramatically increased vulnerability to human rights violations in the face of this ongoing physical and economic insecurity. In light of this, it is concerning that there is no representative of Afro-Colombian women’s organizations on the Special Body to Contribute to Guaranteeing Gender Focus in the Implementation of the Final Accord, despite Afro-Colombian women’s and girls’ disproportionate victimization and lack of access to comprehensive care and restitution.

The lack of consultation also bodes poorly for the Government’s commitment to uphold Afro-Colombian and Indigenous Peoples’ right to give or withhold free, prior and informed consent to laws, policies, and development projects that impact their lives and their territories. It was cause for celebration that the Peace Accord reaffirmed this constitutionally protected right, but history reveals a continued pattern of undermining territorial rights in practice, and megaproject development in Colombia has frequently worsened social, economic and environmental crises in these territories. In the context of implementing key components of peace implementation, such as the Development Programs with a Territorial Focus (PDETs), it appears the Government again risks overriding territorial rights. The National Afro-Colombian Peace Council (CONPA) has observed that the Land Renovation Agency (ART), which is tasked with implementing the PDETs, has failed to work directly with Afro-Colombian and Indigenous authorities and organizations to develop a methodology that will ensure meaningful, rather than symbolic, participation in forming the PDETs. Meaningful participation is critical for ensuring that PDETs are grounded in Indigenous and Afro-Descendant Peoples’ own aspirations and goals for well-being and development. It is their respective authorities and organizations who are best positioned to devise participation methods.  

Protecting Afro-Colombian and Indigenous People’s territorial and other collective rights is fundamental to ensuring peace in Colombia. In order to fully implement the Ethnic Chapter, it is critical that the parties consult and collaborate with Indigenous and Afro-Descendant Peoples, including women’s organizations, at all stages of peace implementation. By doing so, we believe that Colombia could transform itself, as it heals from decades of conflict, and become a global leader in social justice and environmental protection. The Chapter and related provisions in the Peace Accord are a step in that direction, and they build on Colombia’s other landmark legal norms for racial and gender justice. Towards fully realizing the vision contained in those laws and policies, we urge you to consider the following recommendations:

-In the framework plan for implementation of the Peace Accord, ensure inclusion of indicators designed to measure the progress and outcomes of policies, programs and reforms in a manner corresponding to the needs, values, and rights of Indigenous and Afro-Descendant Peoples. Develop the indicators in collaboration and consultation with Afro-Colombian and Indigenous authorities, and with women representatives and organizations, and commit the necessary resources for implementing these aspects of the plan.

-Immediately provide security in Afro-Colombian and Indigenous territories, in consultation with their respective authorities and community organizations, in order to prevent violence against them, and to ensure that paramilitaries and other armed actors are investigated and held fully accountable for violence, including gender-based violence. This should include resources for training and strengthening traditional security forces, and should include support for and implementation of a gender perspective.

-Create a line of direct communication between Indigenous and Afro-Colombian authorities and representative organizations, and both the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP), and the Commission for the Clarification of Truth, Coexistence, and Non-Repetition, to adequately address issues facing victims of sexual and gender-based violence in the conflict, and ensure that these bodies prioritize these cases. Ensure data collection includes information disaggregated race, ethnicity and gender.

-Urge the Land Renewal Agency (ART) to meet with Indigenous and Afro-Colombian authorities and representatives, and to develop in consultation with them a strategy to secure full participation and autonomy of Indigenous and Afro-Colombian Peoples in formulation and implementation of PDETs.

-Take good-faith, immediate steps to implement and fund all initiatives in the Ethnic Chapter of the Peace Accord, and to ensure respect for the fundamental right of Indigenous and Afro-descendant Peoples to free, prior and informed consent regarding any policies or development program impacting their territories.

We thank you for your consideration of these recommendations.

Sincerely,
Association for Women's Rights in Development (AWID), USA
Black Alliance for Peace, USA
Common Frontiers, Canada
Human Rights and Gender Justice Clinic- CUNY School of Law, USA
Just Associates (JASS), USA
MADRE, USA
NORDIK Institute at Algoma University, CANADA
Washington Office on Latin America, USA
African American Human Rights Foundation, USA
Africa World Now Project, USA
AFROAMERICAS Network
ask! - Arbeitsgruppe Schweiz-Kolumbien, Switzerland
The British Columbia Government and Service Employee’s Union, Canada
The Canadian Union of Postal Workers, Canada
Colombia Working Group, Canada
Center for Constitutional Rights, USA
Center for Women's Global Leadership, USA
Community Economic & Social Development Program at Algoma University, Canada
Coalición de Movimientos y Organizaciones Sociales y Populares de Colombia, Colombia
Coalition of Black Trade Unionists
CODEPINK, USA
Colectivo COPERA- Colectivo para eliminar el racismo en México, México
Colombia Action Solidarity Alliance (CASA), Canada
Corporación Colombia Visión Sur, Colombia
Corporación Mamuncia y Cacumen, Colombia
Defenders' Sacred Ground Historical Reclamation Project, USA
Desarrollo Económico y Social de los Mexicanos Indígenas, A.C., México
Dr. Keith Jennings, President, African American Human Rights Foundation
Economic and Social Development of Indigenous Mexicans, AC (DESMI, AC), Mexico
El Comite Noruego de Solidaridad con America Latina, Norway
Environmental Conflicts Observatory (OCA), Institute for Environmental Studies, National University of Colombia, Colombia
Feminist Alliance for Rights, USA
FOKUS-Forum for Women and Development, Norway
Fondo de Acción Urgente para América Latina y el Caribe (Urgent Action Fund Latin America and the Caribbean), Colombia
Freedom House, USA
Friends of the Congo, USA
Fondo de Acción Urgente para América Latina y el Caribe, Colombia
The Global Justice Center, USA
Green Party of the United States, USA
Grupo de Investigación Ciencia de la Información, Sociedad y Cultura, Pontificia Universidad la Javeriana, Pontificia Universidad la Javeriana, Colombia
Grupo de Investigación "Conflicto, región y sociedades rurales" de la Facultad de Estudios
Ambientales y Rurales, Colombia
Health and Human Rights Info, Norway
Human Rights Advocates, USA
Institute for Gender Research and Documentation, Sierra Leone
Institute of the Black World 21st Century, USA
Instituto de Bioética - Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Colombia
International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights, USA
KolumbienKampgne, Germany
Latin America Working Group, USA
Latin American & Caribbean Solidarity Network (LACSN), Canada
LIMPAL Colombia, Colombia
M. Adams, Freedom Inc., USA
Mesa Ecuménica por la Paz, Colombia
The Mississippi Workers Center for Human Rights, USA
More Gardens Fund, USA
National Lawyers Guild, USA
Observatorio de Conflictos Ambientales, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Colombia
Observatorio de Discriminación Racial, Colombia
Observatorio de Territorios Étnicos y Campesinos – Facultad de Estudios Ambientales y Rurales de la Universidad Javeriana, Colombia
Organización Living in English Corp - Autoridad Raizal, Colombia
OutRight Action International, USA
Pan-African Community Action
Pax Christi Medellin - Medellin PC, Colombia
Popular Resistance, USA
Rainforest Action Network, Lindsey Allen, Executive Director, USA
Red de Acción e Investigación Antiracista, Americas
Revival of Panafricanism Forum, USA
SAIH – El Fondo de Asistencia Internacional de los Estudiantes y Académicos noruegos, Norway
Santa Clara Law School - International Human Rights Clinic, USA
SHARE Foundation, El Salvador
Steelworkers Humanity Fund, Canada
StopImperialism.org, USA
Taller de Vida, Colombia
UN Action Against Sexual Violence in Conflict, USA
US Peace Council, USA
Virginia Defenders for Freedom, Justice & Equality, USA
West African Research & Innovation Management Association, Sierra Leone
Young Feminists Network, Nigeria
Ahmed Eltouny, Green Party US International Committee, USA
Aisha Fofana Ibrahim, Ph.D., University of Sierra Leone, Sierra Leone
Amanda Romero, Escuela Superior de Administración Pública (ESAP), Colombia
Ana Isabel Rodriguez Iglesias
Andrea Mérida Cuéllar
Angélica J. Afanador-Pujol, Ph.D., Arizona State University, USA
Arlene Eisen, USA
Arturo Escobar, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, USA
Bill Fletcher, Jr., USA
Blaine Bookey, USA
Brad Geyer, USA
Bruce Mannheim, Senior Professor of Anthropology, University of Michigan, USA
Carlos Agudelo, France
Carlos Andrés Baquero, Colombia
Carmen Anachury Diaz, Colombia
Caroline Yezer, Research Affiliate, Clark University, USA
Chris Hedges, Author and Human Rights Activist
Cornel West, USA
Daniel Kovalik, Associate General Counsel, United Steelworkers, AFL-CIO (USW), USA
Diana Isabel Guiza Gomez, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Colombia
Divalizeth Murillo, Reporter, USA
Dr. Anthony Gronowicz, 2013 Green Party Candidate for Mayor of New York
Dr. Bronislaw Czarnocha, Hostos CC, City University of New York, USA
Dr. Francisco Dominguez, Middlesex University, United Kingdom
Dr. Pascha Bueno-Hansen, University of Delaware, USA
Dr. Rose Brewer, Black Alliance for Peace, USA
Dra. Rachel Sieder, CIESAS, D.F., México
Emidio "Mimi" Soltysik, Socialist Party Los Angeles Local, USA
Eva Kolodner, Regional Director East, Global Fund for Women, USA
Francisco Mora Villate, Colombia
Ginetta E.B. Candelario, Smith College, USA
Guillermo Alberto Padilla Rubiano, University of California, Berkeley, USA
Hector Lopez, Green Party, USA
Immanuel Ness, USA
Jaime Arocha, Grupo de Estudios Afrocolombianos, Universidad Nacional, Colombia
James Counts Early, Board of Institute for Policy Studies, USA
Jason Berteotti, Green Party of PA, USA
Jean E. Jackson, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA
Jonathan Fox, School of International Service, American University, USA
Joshua Frank, Managing Editor, CounterPunch
Kevin Zeese, Co-Director, Popular Resistance
Lucy Murphy, Art for People, USA
Lynn Stephen, University of Oregon, USA
M Adams, Freedom, Inc, USA
Marcus A. Johnson, City University of New York, Baruch, USA
Margaret Flowers, Co-Director, Popular Resistance
Margarita Huayhua, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, USA
Margo Okazawa-Rey, Women for Genuine Security and International Women's Network against Militarism, USA
Margi Clarke, SHARE Foundation, El Salvador
Maria Cristina Guerrero, Corporacion Mandiyaco, Colombia
Mary O'Connor, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA
Mauricio Sanchez Alvarez, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos, México
Maylei Blackwell, University of California, Los Angeles, USA
Mayra Johana Tenjo, Rights and Resources, USA
Mesi Walton, Diaspora Dance, USA
Mneesha Gellman, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Emerson College, USA
Olutimehin Adegbeye, Young Feminists Network, Nigeria)
Paige Andrew, WE-Change Jamaica, Jamaica
Patricia Botero Gómez, Docente e investigadora de la Universidad de Manizales, Colombia
Peter Ranis, Professor Emeritus/ Political Science, City University of New York, USA
Prof. Concepción Martinez, Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, México
Ramiro S. Fúnez, USA
Robert Andolina, USA
Roosbelinda Cardenas, Hampshire College, USA
Amb. Shirley E. Barnes, U.S. Ambassador to Madagascar (Ret.), USA
Tanya Kateri Hernandez, Fordham University School of Law, USA
Tianna S. Paschel, University of California, Berkeley, USA
Virginie Laurent, Universidad de los Andes, Colombia
William Lucy, President Emeritus, Coalition of Black Trade Unionists
Yellen Aguilar-Ararat, P.C.N., Colombia



###

For more information:
Ajamu Baraka
National Organizer and Spokesperson
Black Alliance for Peace
info@blackallianceforpeace.com

BAP Calls On Organizations to Support Colombian Peace Process

The Black Alliance for Peace (BAP) asks peace-minded organizations to sign onto a letter that asks the Colombian government to meet the demands of ordinary Afro-Colombians and Indigenous people.

The letter (links below) asks Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos to provide healthcare and infrastructure improvements to the people of the city of Buenaventura.

In May, thousands of Afro-Colombians and Indigenous people shut down the port city, preventing millions of dollars of cargo from entering the country. After a 22-day strike, the government agreed to negotiate. However, since then, paramilitary forces have threatened and killed a few people involved.

The Colombian peace process is now at a critical juncture.

That's why we're asking organizations to sign onto the letter below and circulate it among your networks to obtain additional signatures by Friday, September 29.

The letter is available in English and Spanish.

To sign it, email sign-on@madre.org.

English letter

Spanish letter

Contact:

Ajamu Baraka, National Organizer

Black Alliance for Peace

info@blackallianceforpeace.com

Photo credit: Escobar Mora/AFP

An End to the Civic Strike in Buenaventura, Colombia, Marks a New Beginning

This is a statement from BAP member Charo Mina-Rojas, who is based in Calí, Colombia:

Greetings everyone.

I'm happy to inform that the Civic Strike in Buenaventura has reached an agreement with the national government and the strike has been suspended.

This is a major and historical moment not only for the people in Buenaventura but for Black movement and people in Colombia. The strike demonstrated to racist Colombians and Colombian government that for years have been indifferent to the suffering of centuries of racism, exclusion, abject poverty and state sanctioned and non-state violence, that Black people had reached a point where no more would be tolerated.

The agreement has four important components:

1. The creation of a special autonomous fund with resources that are consider patrimony of the people in Buenaventura, coming from 50% of the taxes from the business and companies that profit from activities related to the port, plus $76 million dollars that the government will raise from credits with international banks, regulated by a law that should be signed in a month.

2. A initial investment of COP$1.500 billions to address the immediate needs for basic infrastructure for water, health and sanitation services in rural and urban areas.

3. An integrated development plan for the city that includes certain institutional reforms and effective community participation with objective to make of Buenaventura a port for the people and not simply for profit.

4. The proper investigations and penalization for the abuses and human rights violations committed by state forces, guaranties for those who has been criminalized and ensuring security and protection for the many leaders that guided the 22 days of peaceful, organized and successful struggle.

In the name of the people in resistance in Buenaventura, in the name of the Black Communities' Process in Colombia (PCN) and me, thank you for your unconditional fraternal solidarity. Your participation helped to put the pressure and ensure that an action that main stream media was eager to minimize and ignore got international attention, interest and support.

Although it has been a historic victory, this is not the end. These agreements can be easily ignored by the Colombian government. Also, some in government and in civil society have condemned the Buenaventura leaders for the significant loss of money that resulted from the strike. We certainly expect that for those individuals, many connected to the paramilitary elements that are still present in our communities, that this expression by the people will not be forgotten.  That is in many ways the Colombian way.  But we will not be deterred. With your help, we will continue to struggle for self-determination for ourselves, but also on behalf of all who are resisting oppression and struggling for new societies.

Things you can do now:

- Issue a statement in support of the people of in Buenaventura. Recognize them for their strength and courage, but also the level of political clarity and organization that made the strike successful.

- Continue condemning the violent repression and violations that were committed by the state forces and ask Colombian authorities to ensure proper investigation and penalization of the ESMAD as whole. There is not point on looking for individuals, the ESMAD as part of police institution committed serious violations of human rights and humanitarian provision, abusing its responsibility to provide security and instead creating a war-like situation against unarmed civilians, particularly in neighborhoods at night when people was sleeping. Reports from the Strike's human rights committee counted 209 children severely affected by tear gas, and still counting.

- Condemn the negligent response of president Juan Manuel Santos who could have controlled the ESMAD excesses. Remind him of his duty as a Nobel Peace Prize winner and head of a peace-building process that the whole world is watching.

- We will still be in need for translations and organizing brief reports on writing, audio and video. There are a number of people, including me, that are available for interviews in Spanish and English. Much still needs to be said about the Buenaventura strike.

- Consider organizing visits to Buenaventura for monitoring purposes, and stay informed about the developments of the agreement.

- I will be in the United States, mostly in the south from June 16 to July 4. Consider organizing conversations with your community, radio talks or any other opportunity to educate people about the struggle in Colombia. I will be happy to accommodate to the best of my possibilities while there. If you would like to bring me to your community, please send a message to info@blackallianceforpeace.com

- If possible, those with the knowledge, help us to thank the Orishas for protecting and guiding the people and leaders in Buenaventura, and pray for their safety.

This is a time for moving from fraternal solidarity to broader movement building with common agendas for the liberation and self-determination of Black people. We are one people. My struggle is your struggle.

Thank you very much from our hearts.

The struggle continues.

Charo Mina-Rojas, Proceso de Comunidades Negras

Afro-Colombian Representative to Update International Community on Massive Black Resistance Movement in Colombia

CALI, Colombia—Over the last week Black organizations in Colombian have been engaged in a massive “civic strike” and resistance. The strike and ongoing mobilizations in Buenaventura, the country’s main port city, and the department of Choco was fueled by the ongoing human rights crisis that includes continued violence by paramilitary forces directed at black organizers and communities, lack of basis governmental services such as an uninterrupted supply of water, inadequate housing, forced displacement, police brutality and land thefts. 

Buenaventura was shut down along with its port resulting in the loss of millions of pesos for the government. Instead of dialog with the people, the response from the government was to unleash ESMAD (National Security Forces) in an effort to open up the port and suppress the mobilizations that have seen tens of thousands take to the streets in Buenaventura and in Choco.

Now that the peaceful mobilizations are being violently repressed by the state, representatives of various black organizations including the Afro-Colombian National Council of Peace are calling on the international community to call for an end to the repression and a dialog with the communities to address the demands of the people.

Charo Mina-Rojas, a member of the national leadership and international coordinator of the Black Community Process and Afro-Colombian National Council of Peace as well as a member of the Ethnic Commission is available to discuss the situation in Colombia.

According to Charo Mina-Rojas, “it is important for the international community to understand, and especially the black communities of the U.S. because of the support the Colombian government receives from the U.S., that the peace process touted by Colombian President Juan Santos in his meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump has not resulted in peace or security for Black people in Colombia.  

For more information see: https://afrocolombian.org/ - https://blackallianceforpeace.com/
###

Press Availability

Contact: Charo Mina-Rojas

57 314 370 8931

charominarojas@gmail.com

@AfroColombians

Peaceful Strikers Are Still Being Attacked by Armed Police in Buenaventura, Colombia, But the People Won't Give Up!

Written by BAP member Esther Ojulari:

“I know you’re fighting a just cause…We go all round the country and we see people fighting just causes all the time…But this is our job…our role here is to attack, so that’s what we do.”

These were the words my friend was told when he engaged in conversation the other night with an agent of the ESMAD (Mobile Anti-Disturbances Squadron) on the streets of Buenaventura, Colombia, in the context of the ongoing civic strike.

The mainly Afro-descendant and indigenous community of Buenaventura on the Pacific Coast of Colombia has been on a civic strike now for 16 days. 16 days in which business, banks, shops and schools have been closed down and taxis and buses have stopped working to demand that the national government fulfils is basic human rights obligations to its citizens.   

The demands of the strike are clear. Due to the desperate human rights situation which the community faces in Buenaventura, the Strike Committee called for the National Government to adopt a State of Social, Economic and Ecological Emergency in accordance with article 215 of the 1991 Colombian Constitution.  This declaration would commit the government to providing within 30 days (90 days with extension) sufficient funds to address urgent issues in the city; basic and fundamental human rights which are seriously lacking, such as clean drinking water, a hospital with tertiary level health care, adequate sewage systems, quality and culturally relevant education institutions, and reparations for victims of violence, conflict and injustice. The Civic Strike Committee has been in and out of talks with the government for two weeks and the government has so far refused to meet the demands of the strikers.

Meanwhile day after day up to 200,000 strikers have taken to the streets marching or congregating in collective meeting points along the main Avenida 6o  (6th Avenue) and the Via Alterna Interna  (ring road) which both lead from the outskirts of Buenaventura to the city centre, and Colombia’s most important international port.  The strikers protest at the injustice of neoliberal economic policies which leave a city of over 500,000 people without basic public services, infrastructure and human rights, while the profits from tens of billions of dollars of imports and exports each year line the pockets of private owners.  

The meeting points, consisting of open-air tents and sound systems, in which strikers peacefully resist this economic model, though cultural traditions of music, singing, dancing, storytelling, banging pots and pans and chanting for basic human rights, have a another function; preventing the cargo trucks, from entering and leaving the city. This is a historical and monumental form of resistance, not only to Colombia’s economic model, but to the wider global economic system, as a small group of determined protestors block one of the most strategic international ports for trade between Latin America and Asia.  The response from the state has been has been violent, brutal and repressive.

Since the 19th March the ESDMAD have been present in the city, and backed up by the police, military and undercover police operations, has rained down on strikers firing not only tear gas but on several occasions fire arms. Tear gas has repeatedly been fired at residential areas and in particular into the most vulnerable communities where it easily enters into Buenaventura’s traditional casas de palafitos (wooden houses on stilts) causing asphyxiation for babies and young children, many of whom have been rushed to the clinic on the backs of motorbikes in the early house of the mornings. Night after night the ESMAD has torn down meeting points to make way for the cargo trucks that enter and leave the city just before dawn.

Last night was a particularly bad night. We arrived at the Sabrosuras meeting point in El Dorado barrio shortly before midnight after reports of earlier attacks by the ESMAD. As we arrived we were greeted by at least 150 strikers, men, women, and children, chatting, drinking coffee, singing along to music. All was quiet for a couple of hours, but then at around 2am we got news from a meeting point further along the road that the ESMAD were on their way back.

Groups of young strikers prepared to defend themselves and the meeting point, committed to preventing the trucks from passing. They strengthen the makeshift road blocks of tree branches, tires and planks of wood, and set up shields made from billboards several hundred metres from the official meeting point were people of all ages were still gathered. From our vantage point we could see the public security forces slowly advancing, first a battering tank to take out the road blocks, then an ESMAD tank followed by ESMAD agents on foot, and behind them several policemen on motorbikes and more tanks, trucks and cars.  It felt like an army had been sent to overpower a couple of hundred unarmed protestors, with nothing but stones for self-defence.  

The first encounter was brief, the battering tank took out the road blocks in a matter of seconds and the ESMAD began firing tear gas scattering the protestors into the nearby streets. The convoy thundered on, creaking and moaning under the weight of so metal armour, easily reaching and passing the tents of the meeting point.  For a short time after they passed and continued down the road there was relative silence as protestors wearily made their way back to the main road. Then more ESMAD trucks and agents arrived and a two-hour confrontation ensued between ESMAD and a hundred or so mainly young people.

When the attack finally calmed down, the dust settled and most of the protestors had been scattered the cavalry arrived.  The raison d'être for all this violence. First an ESMAD tank, then police cars, then a line of 20 or so police on bikes ceremoniously ushered a procession of no less than 50 cargo trucks into the city. One after one the trucks thundered by as outraged bystanders shouted angrily at the drivers and ESMAD agents point blank shot tear gas at anyone who looked like they might try to stop the neoliberal caravan of profit as it made its way to the port.

The ESMAD hung around well after the trucks had passed through, still shooting the odd tear gas canister, revealing their immaturity as they hid behind walls, clearly enjoying playing at war while the city’s residents walked the streets attempting to go about their morning activities in peace.  Except it wasn’t a game and the scene really resembled one of occupation and war.  When the ESMAD finally moved out strikers and bystanders gathered on the sidewalks to mockingly cheer and clap the national heroes. The agents responded with equal scorn, taunting the crowds, laughing and putting their thumbs in the air.

The confrontations at El Dorado and Independencia barrios didn’t end there, they continued well into the morning, even as the Civic Strike Committee organised and planned for the day’s cultural activity, a march from El Dorado and other meeting towards the Isla de la Paz barrio located near the Via Alterna Interna.

Yes. Last night was a particularly bad night. There were numerous injuries from tear gas and a further six fire arms injuries confirmed so far.  Evidence was gathered and shared by strikers of empty tear gas canisters, bullets from army rifles, photos of armed, plain clothed officers in the crowds and videos of the ESMAD advancing and firing tear gas at the unarmed strikers and at the houses in the nearby streets. The voice of one young woman carried across the wind as she called from a balcony in a building engulfed with tear gas a few streets away, repeating over and over “murderers, murderers, you are killing us, murderers.”

As the strikes entered their 16th day in Buenaventura, and the Committee prepared for the arrival of government ministers this morning to present their reformed demands, the call they have been making for weeks for the government to remove the ESMAD forces and end the violence on the streets and in the communities of Buenaventura resonated more strongly than ever. For how can we negotiate agreements in the middle of a war? The continued presence of the ESMAD, who in their own words, are here to “attack,” has made it impossible to negotiate a truly peaceful end to the strike, and demonstrates that the government has little intention of respecting the demands and rights of the community and is farm more concerned about protecting the private interests of the port.

Nevertheless, in the face of an indifferent government the people of Buenaventura have stayed strong and committed to this people-centred human rights and political process. As the dialogues commenced in the afternoon of the 16th day, the community of Buenaventura continued to assert their right to march, strike and protest in the streets, to demand their fundamental human rights and to chant day after day and night after night that “el pueblo no se rinde carajo!” the people won’t give up!

National Strike Begins in Buenaventura

The city of Buenaventura on Colombia’s Pacific coast is home to the country’s main international port through which billions of dollars of imports and exports pass every year. Yet due to decades of abandonment form the government, the mainly Afrodescendant and indigenous community of Buenaventura does not have access to adequate health services, education or running water. Further, neoliberal development projects to expand the port threaten the very existence of communities as traditional fishing livelihoods are destroyed and whole communities violently displaced from their ancestral lands. 

Since last Tuesday 16th May the community of Buenaventura (along with communities in the Chocó region of Colombia) has been on general strike demanding that the government fulfils basic human rights to water, education, health, culture, land and freedom from racism and violence.  Businesses were closed, road blocks were set up at several points along the main road and peaceful protestors chanted, sang, danced and banged cooking pots to call attention to the desperate situation. On the first day along the Chamber of Commerce reported the strikes had caused up to 10,000 million pesos (about $3.5 million USD) in losses. 

For three days there was a sense of joy and hope as the Civic Strike Committee entered into discussions with the government. But unfortunately due to lack of consensus the discussions were suspended and on Friday 19th the national government sent the ESMAD (riot squad) to repress the protestors and violently remove the road blocks. The crowds and communities were attacked with tear gas throughout the day and into the night of the 19th causing numerous injuries.  Tragically in the community of Punta el Este, located at the end of Buenaventura’s main bridge to the port and city centre, Puente Piñal, a baby was suffocated from the gas causing outrage and indignation throughout the community. The ESMAD had one aim here, to open the road for the trucks to leave the port and allow the global capitalist machine to clunk back into action. Once again private business interests were prioritised over the lives of the black and indigenous community. 

On Saturday the government installed a prohibition on public demonstrations and a curfew in response to looting of supermarkets by some people, although many have claimed these actions were instigated by outside forces.  Nevertheless the peaceful protestors have remained firm in their objectives and calls for a satisfactory response to their demands. On the 20th March over 30,000 people put on white shirts and marched to the city centre to demonstrate that the strike would go on, and on the 21st, National day of Afro-Colombian Heritage, we estimate that up to 200,000 marched to the outskirts of the city. Up to 200 people have been detained by the authorities accused of participating in looting and rioting and while the freedom of some has now been secured many have ongoing legal processes. 

Today as the Committee returns to discussions with the government the people of Buenaventura continue to strike and continue to march under the calls “el pueblo no se rinde carajo” (the people won’t give up…), and “pueblo unido, jamás será vencido” (a united people will never be defeated). 

In solidarity with the struggling people of Black Colombia and in defence of fundamental human rights, the Black Alliance for Peace calls on the people in the United States to sign the petition below, but also to circulate information on this situation through your networks since it is being “whited out” by the corporate press.

We are also asking that you send statements of solidarity to charominarojas@gmail.com and sign this petition: Solidarity with the Civic Strike in Btura/Soliaridad con el Paro Civico en Buenaventura