[R-G] fw: To cut down a rebellion

[Anthony Fenton]

http://www.killingtrain.com/node/657

To cut down a rebellion

Justin Podur
October 20, 2008

Colombian riot police surround thousands of indigenous and labor  
activists in Cauca, in southwest Colombia. The number of protestors  
remains around 10,000, and has been that high for a week, according to  
on-site reports. Most of the demonstrators are indigenous Nasa people  
from the region, struggling to stay on their land. Others are sugar  
cane-workers fighting for their rights. The riot police have attacked  
them repeatedly, injuring dozens with tear gas and killing several  
with live ammunition. Beyond the police killings and injuries there  
are those carried out by the paramilitaries, who supposedly don't  
exist any more, but have nonetheless, in the past few weeks, murdered  
a women's rights activist and her whole family, several indigenous  
leaders, several indigenous people who were not involved in any  
protest activities at all, and several protesters in live fire attacks.

The international environment is favorable to the Colombian state's  
strategy of making its enemies invisible before physically attacking  
them. The US electoral spectacle is a black hole for attention,  
mainstream and alternative. The US Democrats have a slightly different  
position from the Republicans on free trade with Colombia, and the  
question of murdered union leaders even made it into a presidential  
debate (McCain ignored it, while Obama actually suggested that  
Colombia's murdering union leaders was a bad thing). The policies of  
privatization, social service cuts, militarization, and the pillage of  
Colombia's resources by multinationals have been bipartisan for  
decades. But so has the dispensability of individual Colombian leaders  
and contractors of dirty work. Perhaps Colombia's President, Alvaro  
Uribe Velez, and his team, are worried that their heads could roll if  
there is a change of administration in Washington. Perhaps they are  
trying to accelerate their own program to destroy local opposition  
before this occurs. That may explain the particular brutality of the  
past few weeks.

The causes of the protest run deeper, however. The history of this  
part of Colombia mirrors much of Latin America. In the 1950s, hundreds  
of thousands of people were thrown off their lands through massacre,  
violence, and civil war (an event called “La Violencia”). Many of  
these people were then forced to come back to lands that had been  
theirs, and work as insecure laborers on massive sugar plantations  
owned by a wealthy elite. Some groups, like the indigenous Nasa of  
Northern Cauca, over decades of struggle, succeeded in winning back  
their lands and recovering much of their culture and traditional  
economy. Many others, including thousands of Afro-Colombian cane  
workers, struggled hard just to keep themselves and their families  
alive.

Today, the economics of sugar plantations are absurdly exploitative.  
In a full 14-hour day of work, a cane cutter can harvest some six tons  
of cane, for which they get paid for one. That ton gets turned into  
200 kg of refined sugar that sells for about $120. The cutter gets,  
before deductions, about $2.50. After deductions, it's about $1.50.

The plan is for such plantations to expand massively. And, indeed,  
much of the land of the 3.5-4 million internally displaced people in  
Colombia (the majority of whom are Afro-Colombian and a huge  
disproportion of whom are indigenous) has been taken over by sugar  
plantation owners. The plan is not just for refined sugar, but also  
for biofuels. Long after Venezuela's oil runs out, North Americans  
will still be able to pour the products of Colombia's sugar  
plantations into their car engines.

The enemies of this plan are the indigenous and peasants who want to  
stay on their land and use it to grow food and a decent agricultural  
economy, and the labourers who want to be able to survive on their  
wages. Both are treated the same way: to false accusations, to  
arrested and murdered leaders, to tear gas, and to bullets. The cane  
workers have been on strike since September 15 and their demands are  
heart-breakingly minimalist. They want to have an actual contract,  
rather than the piecework system they have now; the right to unionize;  
and a decent salary and working conditions.

On October 19, the indigenous protesters held a press conference to  
outline their position. “We don't have a government in Colombia”, said  
Nasa spokesperson Feliciano Valencia. The indigenous authorities  
announced their own agenda: “No to the economic model and the FTA´s  
with the US, Canada and Europe, removal of legislation that  
impoverishes peoples, destroys and denies rights and freedoms,  
delivers the wealth of the country to corporate interests and has not  
gone through consultation with those affected. No more war and terror  
as the main Government policy. Respect and application of  
international and national agreements and establishment of the  
conditions that will allow the people to construct a new, possible and  
necessary country.” Next Tuesday (Oct 21), they announced, they will  
march from the site where they are gathered, La Maria Piendamo, to  
Cali. They will be joined by other movements and organizations. They  
will accept a dialogue with the government but the military must cease  
fire and remove itself from the territories.

Colombia's movements continue to shoulder more than their fair burden  
against one of the most brutal regimes in the hemisphere. The regime  
can't be allowed to drown out their story.

To read more about and to financially support the cane workers: http://www.labournet.net/world/0810/colomb3.html

The statement of the indigenous movement:
http://mamaradio.blogspot.com/2008/10/official-proposal-of-indigenous-and.html

Justin Podur is an activist with Pueblos en Camino (www.en-camino.org)  
and a Toronto-based writer. His blog is www.killingtrain.com.