Our time in Quibdo was short but we learned a tremendous amount about the Black and Indigenous communities there and their respective issues. Yhony Muñoz had spent time working for the indigenous communities in this region. It is the hottest and most humid place we have visited and buzzing with life in the narrow streets and markets.
Our first meeting was with various community and religious groups who came together to present to us the conditions of some of the Black, Indigenous and Peasant groups they work with and the reasons why. We met in a community space overlooking the Atrato River.
Apparently during the period of slavery, some of the Black slaves brought to this region ran into the jungles to escape their enslavement. The native people welcomed them and taught them how to survive in the rain forest. This region, with its mix of Black and Indigenous communities is a unique expression of this history.
- Father Sterling Londoño works in communities comprised primarily of Black Colombians.
- Brother Fidel Silva works with communities in the National Agrarian Association on farm and agricultural matters.
- Elsa Maria Rueda works on life, justice and peace issues as part of the Franciscan Order of the Church.
- Sister Gloria Luna operates a women’s association in the area. They work on gender, ethnic and human rights matters.
- Brother Alexander Moreno comes from a small town and territorial entity. The land is held in common and belongs to all in communities like this one.
- Sister Martha Janeth Perez works at a pastoral centre on indigenous human rights matters.
- Brother Joselito Conquista is on the OREWA indigenous group’s leadership committee and he works on financial matters for the group.
- Maria Celina Velasquez works for the OREWA people.
- Delis Palacio Erron is the president of an organization of displaced people from Bojaya who, after a massive bombing of the church by the paramilitary, cannot return to that town.
- Brother Alberto Rivera is a lawyer who works for the Community Council of the Upper Atrato River.
- Brother Victor Navarrete is part of the Council for National Agrarian Coordination.
- Brother German Bedoya is also part of the CNAC.
- Sister Yusbladidy Bedoya is part of the CNAC.
- Sister Nicolasa Campaña is on the Community council of the Upper Atrato River.
COCOMOPOCA
We first looked at the situation of COCOMOPOCA (Consejo Cumunitario Mayor de la Organizacion Popular y Compesina del Alto Atrato).
This is a territorial entity. It is in the south western part of the province and is made up of 172,000 hectares of land. There are 42 community councils across this area. In 1999 there were 30,000 inhabitants but the majority have been displaced due to violence. They live on the upper Atrato River where there have been many problems. In 1999 there were 30,000 inhabitants and now there are only 17,000. Around 50% of the population has been forcibly displaced.
In 1999, using Bill 70 and decree 1745, they claimed the ownership of their ancestral lands. That is how they established their collective title to the land.
Since then the government has been denying these titles to the land. The government does not have any legal right to deny their title. Their only reasons are political and economic. Multinationals are interested in the land and the harbour on the coast. It is an important corridor for illegal groups to transport drugs and war materials inland or from the interior to the coast.
Anglo Gold Ashanti
In 2006/2007 Anglo-American Ashanti (a South African company) requested licenses from the government to mine on about 50% of their land. The company has been given more than 40 licences in over 50,000 hectares of land.
The inhabitants have had their land claim in since 1999 without response but Anglo American was licensed after an expedited process in 2007. In protest, the native group has also been using an old law that provides priority for local indigenous mineral production over modern industrial approaches as a way to contest the licenses provided to Anglo American. Again, this legal challenge has not been recognized by the government.
Within their 172,000 hectares there are about 120 open pit mines for gold. This contaminates the river with mercury and kills many fish. These operations are illegal as they do not follow ministry requirements. Local authorities do not apply the law. There are also oil deposits in the region. Natural gas deposits are also present around the town of Bagado.
There is also a mapping of the province underway to assist in mining and other natural resource development. Large scale development will mean cultural genocide for the current people. Once the multinationals come in, the destruction of the culture begins and this in turn brings other social problems.
Anglo Gold Ashanti is now using the name Kedahda – a subsidiary organization-to counter the mobilization efforts of local people. Kedadha exerts control through paramilitary tactics, displacements and other measures. They use the government to make changes to the mining laws. While Kedadha is one such organization, there are other "front organizations" in other regions with the same dirty tactics.
The local people also have problems with the army. The army of Colombia is directly guarding and protecting the gold mining companies. Army helicopters transported the surveyors and mine engineers into the area. They also set up a protected camp for the gold mining company. Constitutionally, the army should not be used to protect multinational corporations. But instead they are intimidating the local people and asking: Why are you still here? Haven’t you gone yet?
Free Trade Agreement
The FTA with Canada will also have an effect in this region of Colombia. President Uribe has said that he will not give any more community land titles to Black or Indigenous communities as these titles could slow development under the future FTA. The agreement will take land ownership from Colombians and pass it to private interests. The people in this region understand that western unions have some power so they must use the power to influence their governments in favour of Colombians and against the FTA.
The internal armed conflict in Colombia is 60 years old and it is based on land ownership. Community leaders at this meeting stressed that this is the source of the crisis here. Four million hectares have been taken from Black, Indigenous and peasant communities and turned into mono-cultures like palm oil or sugar cane production for bio-fuels. This robs local people of their food security.
“The government says we oppose development. This is not true. We want to use our own methods and approaches to development. This is a clash of development models. We want development that can support our lifestyle. Their model only benefits multinational companies and the wealthy and forgetting the majority of society.”
A couple of other examples were given:
Palm Oil Scandal
In Santander province in the municipality of San Vicente de Chucuri, the government announced a project offering displaced peasants land to grow palms for palm oil. They did not say that a refinery would be needed to process the oil. They were given loans to start but they had to guarantee the loans with their land. When the refinery came, they only offered low prices for the local farmers and so the farmers lost their land. They now just work on the land, which is owned by the palm oil refiners. The government said this was proof that local farmers could not be depended on to be partners in this project. They said it was better to give the rights to large companies that have the needed resources.
Another example was from the Valle del Cauca province. Land was given to people but they could not get a loan to put this land into production. The land was reassigned to a larger company that could put together the required financing.
The participants at this meeting reiterated that there is no reason for us to be producing bio-fuels when it is threatening our food security and independence. We cannot enter into a FTA with Canada or anyone else if this is what it means.
"The President and the government are experts at saying that everything is good in Colombia. This is not true. In the Lower Atrato River people are being displaced with large cattle farms and palm oil crops. In the middle and upper parts of the river there are also problems with many people displaced. The government is also good at looking for money for aid to combat terrorism and other threats. This money is being used to kill peasants and black people. The government is killing far more innocent people than guerilla fighters. The government has a large gunboat tied up close by. Can't the cost for this ship be used for better purposes?"
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