On the evening of August 24 we were invited to a special meeting with the OREWA people of the region. They belong to an indigenous organization affiliated with ONIC and have had many struggles trying to preserve their land and culture. In particular they wanted to talk about Canadian mining companies and their activities in the region.
Along with the chief of the people in the area, representatives from ONIC and other related groups also attended. The association, OREWA, has many functions including education, legal services, communications, etc. One of the people present is from the Embera people. In total, 14 people attended.
On the way in there was a small room with about 25 crosses lined up against the walls, each with the name of someone who has died in their struggles. This respect for the heroes and victims who have been killed is common to all of the groups we have visited. An area near the entrance to the building notes the names and photos of the OREWA who have been assassinated.
Jose Luis Ruan Chiche, Brother Ataca, Amelia Carrillo, Omaira Cabrera, Juliana Cortez, Emilio Cansari, Dionisio Cabrera Mecha, Baltazar Mecha, Luis Felipe Flores, Jorge Cardenas, Dora Elena Sepulveda Velasquez, Celina Velas and Joselito Conquista are some of the people present.
“Our association is made of five nations including the Embera Wounaan, Katio, Chami and Tule from the region of Choco. We have had 30 years in this particular phase of our struggle. Our four principles are: unity, terrritory, culture and autonomy. The struggle has been about preserving our right to land and life. We are 245 local communities present in 29 of the 31 municipalities of Choco. Our struggle has allowed us to keep our culture, our teachings, our ancestral lands... We depend of the support of the church, NGOs and other groups. We have our own communications system within the Association.
Our political and cultural life is based on our concepts and views of life. It allows us to consolidate our autonomy and has an expression in our belief in food security and food sovereignty. We have different processes for decision making including a regional congress, indigenous authorities and offices for coordination, and an evaluation system for our programs. We have support for these programs from ONIC. Our main program areas are:
Along with the chief of the people in the area, representatives from ONIC and other related groups also attended. The association, OREWA, has many functions including education, legal services, communications, etc. One of the people present is from the Embera people. In total, 14 people attended.
On the way in there was a small room with about 25 crosses lined up against the walls, each with the name of someone who has died in their struggles. This respect for the heroes and victims who have been killed is common to all of the groups we have visited. An area near the entrance to the building notes the names and photos of the OREWA who have been assassinated.
Jose Luis Ruan Chiche, Brother Ataca, Amelia Carrillo, Omaira Cabrera, Juliana Cortez, Emilio Cansari, Dionisio Cabrera Mecha, Baltazar Mecha, Luis Felipe Flores, Jorge Cardenas, Dora Elena Sepulveda Velasquez, Celina Velas and Joselito Conquista are some of the people present.
“Our association is made of five nations including the Embera Wounaan, Katio, Chami and Tule from the region of Choco. We have had 30 years in this particular phase of our struggle. Our four principles are: unity, terrritory, culture and autonomy. The struggle has been about preserving our right to land and life. We are 245 local communities present in 29 of the 31 municipalities of Choco. Our struggle has allowed us to keep our culture, our teachings, our ancestral lands... We depend of the support of the church, NGOs and other groups. We have our own communications system within the Association.
Our political and cultural life is based on our concepts and views of life. It allows us to consolidate our autonomy and has an expression in our belief in food security and food sovereignty. We have different processes for decision making including a regional congress, indigenous authorities and offices for coordination, and an evaluation system for our programs. We have support for these programs from ONIC. Our main program areas are:
- Territory and the environment
- Justice and Human Rights
- Culture
- Youth
- Women
- Health
The OREWA representatives showed us a powerpoint on their major problems – entitled “Problematica”
The Constitution was rewritten in 1991 and states that this country is pluricultural and multi ethnic. How then is all of this violence possible? Because Colombia is a country which has a better constitution on paper than the application of it in practice.
This government has refused to sign Section 169 of the ILO, which speaks about consultation with indigenous people before development on their lands and its Democratic Security Plan is a tool used to violate the rights of Black and Indigenous communities.
A 2004 Constitutional Court stated that the government is ruling in an unconstitutional manner. This is fuelled by foreign capital operating in this country, taking ownership of the natural resources in the region and behaving in a manner which is opposite to the manner in which the Black and Indigenous groups see natural resources. They see it as the basis of life.
When foreign capital moved to the Pacific Region, war came to this region. The government reformed the constitution to make it easier for foreign capital to come into our areas. It is basic capitalism – everything has to be for profit; everything has to be in private hands not public hands.
“The government needs to legalize these atrocities committed against the people through the FTA and they need to continue the impunity to do that. We have had 1300 aboriginal people killed already under this regime. The Constitutional Court has noted that of the 84 aboriginal groups in Colombia, 34 are in danger of cultural extinction due to the fact that the government refuses to intervene and instead grants impunity to those who commit atrocities against these communities”.
(As I write this blog, we hear from ONIC that 12 AWA First Nations people were assassinated yesterday by paramilitaries in an area south of Cali, including 6 children)
Mining is one of the elements fueling this situation and places our communities in danger of extinction. The government of Canada has partially funded the reforms to the mining laws in Colombia and allowed Canadian companies to benefit from this exploitation.
Hydro electric projects have also caused large problems for the people and their environment. This area is native land. It has great biodiversity, equal to that of the Amazon and yet it is the area that has the greatest number of development projects per square mile. Also, these problems do not always show in the statistics as people who are displaced may move from one aboriginal village to another.
At present 75% of these projects are either on land belonging to Black communities or Indigenous communities. 67% of the mining concessions are on Indigenous land (assisted by Canadian mining companies) and the current mining laws have removed the requirement to consult with aboriginal groups, something that is contained in the ILO Agreement. It should be classified as a “crime against humanity”. The situation is not very visible by the rest of society and that is done on purpose. This area has the highest number of mega projects in the country.
The main particular case in Choco region is located in el Cerro Cara de Perro (Hill of Dogs), located between the municipalities of Murindo in the province Antioquia and Carmen Del Darien in the province of Choco .
Muriel Mining Company
The Mande Norte project will be an open pit mine including several hills and 19 rivers and creeks originate in this area. The rivers cross native and black communities.
The local Indigenous community is opposed to this mine. The reason is that the 3 hills are sacred land. Spirits live in the 3 hills and this will disturb the spirits and hurt mother earth. This has been the home of Black and Indigenous communities for thousands of years.
“We see the impacts already. The presence of the company has caused internal conflicts because of death threats, accusations and they try to divide us and disrupt our internal harmony and community”.
The army has come in to help the multinationals. This is outside of the mandate of the army. There is a protocol that local people/indigenous people should be informed when the military enters an area unless they are in hot pursuit of an enemy force. This did not happen here. The army came in with helicopters to assist mine engineers to clear land and begin mining development. This makes an oxymoron of the Democratic Security campaign. It is only protecting the rights of multinationals – not the Indigenous people.
In this instance the women of the community went ahead of all others in the community to try to resist as the helicopters came down.
Copper and molybdenum is mined in Colombia at Cara de Perro and in other areas gold is mined. The mines pay social development money to the local municipalities, even though the damage and environmental effects primarily hit indigenous and black peoples. This money does not reach those most affected.
Health Care
The example of the Aymara was quoted and shows how the whole situation affects the rights of people to good health care. In 2007 they reported 5 deaths of children from malnutrition because the families had been displaced and they had no crops. As well, the army controls how much food you can bring into the community as they accuse the communities of feeding the guerrillas. And now as they are privatizing the health care system, health care workers are not coming to our region.
Choco province has been abandoned by the government. They only look to this region for profit and they do not care about health care for the population. We are finding many malformations at birth – particularly up river where the mining is occurring and there are chemicals pouring into the streams.
Now with plans to create a new health care Co-op – very much like a privatized clinic. The government put in Capricom but they do nothing for the people. We have been trying for 8 months to get action on this issue – medications, equipment, etc. Aboriginal health is one of our major concerns.
The OREWA representatives asked us to take the message back and put pressure on the Canadian government and tell them that they should not just look at how to develop the mining project without consulting the Black and Indigenous community and without respecting the dignity of the groups who live in this land.
The OREWA people thanked us for coming and hearing their story directly from them. The OPSEU delegation committed the Union to supporting the people of the region by opposing the FTA, pushing for Bill 300 (Corporate Responsibility Legislation) and other measures. Hopefully OPSEU will also meet with the Canadian Ambassador to Colombia before we leave and voice our concerns about the situation facing First Nations and Black communities in the Choco region.
The main particular case in Choco region is located in el Cerro Cara de Perro (Hill of Dogs), located between the municipalities of Murindo in the province Antioquia and Carmen Del Darien in the province of Choco .
Muriel Mining Company
The Mande Norte project will be an open pit mine including several hills and 19 rivers and creeks originate in this area. The rivers cross native and black communities.
The local Indigenous community is opposed to this mine. The reason is that the 3 hills are sacred land. Spirits live in the 3 hills and this will disturb the spirits and hurt mother earth. This has been the home of Black and Indigenous communities for thousands of years.
“We see the impacts already. The presence of the company has caused internal conflicts because of death threats, accusations and they try to divide us and disrupt our internal harmony and community”.
The army has come in to help the multinationals. This is outside of the mandate of the army. There is a protocol that local people/indigenous people should be informed when the military enters an area unless they are in hot pursuit of an enemy force. This did not happen here. The army came in with helicopters to assist mine engineers to clear land and begin mining development. This makes an oxymoron of the Democratic Security campaign. It is only protecting the rights of multinationals – not the Indigenous people.
In this instance the women of the community went ahead of all others in the community to try to resist as the helicopters came down.
Copper and molybdenum is mined in Colombia at Cara de Perro and in other areas gold is mined. The mines pay social development money to the local municipalities, even though the damage and environmental effects primarily hit indigenous and black peoples. This money does not reach those most affected.
Health Care
The example of the Aymara was quoted and shows how the whole situation affects the rights of people to good health care. In 2007 they reported 5 deaths of children from malnutrition because the families had been displaced and they had no crops. As well, the army controls how much food you can bring into the community as they accuse the communities of feeding the guerrillas. And now as they are privatizing the health care system, health care workers are not coming to our region.
Choco province has been abandoned by the government. They only look to this region for profit and they do not care about health care for the population. We are finding many malformations at birth – particularly up river where the mining is occurring and there are chemicals pouring into the streams.
Now with plans to create a new health care Co-op – very much like a privatized clinic. The government put in Capricom but they do nothing for the people. We have been trying for 8 months to get action on this issue – medications, equipment, etc. Aboriginal health is one of our major concerns.
The OREWA representatives asked us to take the message back and put pressure on the Canadian government and tell them that they should not just look at how to develop the mining project without consulting the Black and Indigenous community and without respecting the dignity of the groups who live in this land.
The OREWA people thanked us for coming and hearing their story directly from them. The OPSEU delegation committed the Union to supporting the people of the region by opposing the FTA, pushing for Bill 300 (Corporate Responsibility Legislation) and other measures. Hopefully OPSEU will also meet with the Canadian Ambassador to Colombia before we leave and voice our concerns about the situation facing First Nations and Black communities in the Choco region.
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