Picked up from hotel by our hired bus to take us to the airport where we were to catch our chartered plane to Cali in the south west of Colombia. As in all journeys that we undertake we are accompanied by our own assigned police motor cycle outriders. Cali is the third largest city of Colombia in the south west of the country and with a population of some 2 million "official" inhabitants. I’ll explain what I mean by "official" later. We arrive on time at the airport only to discover that due to fog at Cali our flight has been delayed by two hours. Great, could have done with those two hours in my bed.
Our itinerary doesn’t have much room for slack and that two-hour delay means we have to cut all of our engagements shorter than intended.
Fight takes about an hour and we are meet by Hubert Ballesteros, Vice-President of the agricultural workers union FENSUAGRO. We visit the first Congress of the sugarcane workers, sponsored by JFC and FENSUAGRO, the second largest union in the country. The Congress is an effort to unionise those in the sugarcane plantations and the working conditions which people endure are truly appalling. We heard some terrible experiences from some very brave people trying to organise workers and the problems they face. Did I say problems? One delegate told us that his employer had started recruiting workers on agency contracts at vastly inferior rates and terms. Where have we heard that before? 30 such new staff were taken on and the union (only 107 strong in membership) decided to try to recruit them. They recruited all 30 and began negotiations with the employer. During the course of the negotiations the union President was assassinated. The assassination was not investigated, let alone anyone brought to justice.
This is a theme that we hear time and time again as we take testimonies from various parties. The impunity with which the employers intimidate and kill in the sure knowledge that nobody will face justice is only adding to the fear and terror facing trade unionists and the general population in their day to day lives. Such has been the state supported attacks on trade union organisation by big business that membership has dropped to only 5% of the workforce. One delegate told how he and his fellow workers were forced to accept a cut in wages to below the legal minimum wage of 433,000 pesos (just over 100 pounds) a month. They now received the equivalent of 75 pounds a month. It’s a take it or leave situation, there is no other work. The stories of disappearances, intimidation and threats were too many to chronicle here but what emerged, if these were to be repeated throughout our meetings, was the systematic policy-driven terrorisation of workers in pursuit of neo-liberal, multi-national, corporate globalisation greed.
Because we were running late we could only stay at the Congress for an hour or so and so we had to take our leave without having had the time to hear everything that, no doubt, people wished to say to us. They needn’t have worried, their message got through loud and clear. "HELP, TELL THE WORLD WHAT’S GOING ON".
We left, somewhat reluctantly, and travelled to the town of Pradera, the capital of the principality of the same name. This is one of two principalities that it is proposed to demilitarise under international supervision to allow negotiators from the Armed Revolutionary Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the government to negotiate a a humanitarian exchange.
We changed vehicles and took a ride in a "chiva", literally meaning goat, in order to navigate the winding dirt tracks to a remote village in the mountains where we were to meet residents of the village and the surrounding countryside, predominantly peasant farmers and indigenous people who we were told wanted to testify as to what was happening in the region. Higher and higher we climbed through the most breath-taking scenery and eco-systems that I’ve ever seen until after about 45 minutes we came to the village where the meeting was to take place. I can’t name the village because of the fear that the villagers had that they may face reprisals if it became known that they had spoken to us. They came from all over the area, by chiva, on foot, on horseback and on motor-cycle, about 150 people in all. All of the communities represented had chosen a spokesperson to speak on their behalf and for more than an hour we heard the most dreadful tales of army and para-military persecution.
Just one example out of many. One woman, probably around 40 years old told how both of her brothers had been taken away by the army on the accusation that they were FARC guerillas (which they were not) never to be seen again.. They had become two
amongst thousands of "disappeared" in the country. People just taken away, never to be heard of again. Again it was a common theme that we heard, that when the state forces are asked to explain action taken against individuals their stock answer is "he is is a subversive/guerilla/FARC sympathiser". In this woman’s case her two brothers had left her with responsibility to bring up two nieces and two nephews with no means of support (I never did find out where the mothers were).
We heard story after story and it felt surreal at times sitting in the open air amongst the most beautiful scenery hearing one horror tale after another. Sorry to say, it was difficult not to feel immune after a while. What did come through though was the sheer dignity and stoicism with which people told their stories and how grateful they were that someone had come at last to hear what was happening to them. What also came through was a palpable feeling of fear amongst many of those present.
Presently, one or two of the villagers approached us and asked to speak in private. They explained that a number of those present were not known to the villagers and the fear that we had detected was down to the fact that many people were reluctant to say too much for fear of later reprisals. They asked for assurances that nobody would be identified by name and that no pictures of anyone would appear in newspapers or on television. They told us that the testimonies that we had heard were all true and more.. Their view was that there was a systematic government policy of clearing people from their land and way of life in order to facilitate the takeover of the land for the benefit of multi-national companies with the support of the army and the paramilitaries. We were fed and watered by these peasant farmers and their hospitality knew no bounds.
Because we were behind schedule we had to leave but as we were doing so a television crew arrived. This clearly alarmed some of those present and in order to distract attention from the locals one of our delegation gave them an interview as to why
we were there. (I assume he told them the truth, after all trade unionists don’t lie do they?).
Back down the mountain we trailed on the chiva where we picked up our bus for our journey to a shantytown on the outskirts of the city of Cali called Agua Blanca which is home to some 1.4 million displaced people, mainly of Afro-Colombian people and the poor of Cali itself. Sixteen years ago Agua Blanca did not exist. The government policy of systematic land clearance has lead to the establishment of shantytowns like the one I witnessed in various parts of Colombia.
Cali, a nice city with its "official" population of 2 million just doesn’t recognise these 1.4 million people at all. We were to learn that Agua Blanca is surpassed in terms of poverty and degradation only by the shantytowns of Rio de Janeiro in the whole of Latin America. The people live in shacks thrown together by whatever materials they could find. There are no pavements just dirt track alleyways, pocked by putrid puddles, between the shacks and with no lighting. Cooking was done on large urns in the alleyways fuelled by wood fires. What was amazing was that amongst all the obvious degradation, the hordes of children roaming around in packs and the adults were spotlessly clean. No one knows, but it is estimated that unemployment runs at around 90% and the population survive, because you can’t call it living, on less than a dollar a day, 50p to us.
I had intended to populate this blog with photographs but the theft of my camera at the airport put paid to that idea.
For once I’m not too concerned about being the victim of theft because I wouldn’t have wanted to expose you to some of the sights I witnessed in that shantytown. And yet it is important that someone bears witness. How people in power anywhere in the world can turn their backs on their fellow citizens to this degree is beyond my comprehension. Colombia is not a poor country, It is rich in many respects, mineral deposits and fertile land to name but two. The problem is the spoils of economic growth are being monopolised by the elite and the poor and dispossessed are being left further and further behind. The gap between rich and poor in Colombia is surpassed only in Brazil on the whole continent.
We retreated to a building in the midst of all these horrors which houses a community youth project to hear of the work of community leader and human rights activist, Jair Hernandez, people like him in the world are few and far between. We heard how the youth of the shantytown are continually harassed and victimised by the police who murder with impunity (a word we hear a lot). The whole environment is poisoned by the popular press who regard and paint the youth as nothing less than uneducated (which they are as very few receive any education whatsoever) scum and therefore give no publicity to the atrocities perpetuated against them.
Again we heard a number of testimonies but I’ll give you just one. A 16 year old told us how two weeks ago the police arrived at their shack (he called it home) and wanted to speak to his 14 year old brother. For whatever reason, his younger sibling fled down the alleyway and the police opened fire. Three shots were fired and his mother was hit and fatally wounded. She died where she fell. Forensic analysis has identified which of the policeman fired the fatal shot. The person responsible has been moved out of the shantytown is still at liberty and as far as the family knows has not faced any sanctions. Three days later the 16 year old received an anonymous communication that if the family pursued matters they would be killed. The dead mother left behind 11 children, the oldest being the 16 year old who spoke to us. The father is not on the scene and they are left destitute. It wasn’t said but it is clear that Jair is doing what he can to help the family through. We heard other such testimonies but as I said earlier you do become immune to a degree hearing appalling tales one after another.
We took our flight back to Bogota wiser about the situation but saddened to learn of man’s capacity for evil (there’s no other word for it) against his fellow man.
Got back to the hotel at ten in the evening and too tired for dinner, so straight to bed for a 6.15 rise next morning.
