Colombian Journey – the Insanity of War
Here in the state of Arauca, the two guerrilla groups that say they’re fighting for social justice have decided to aim their weapons at each other. They’re also threatening and killing people that they view as supporters of the other group. After five months of fighting they’ve accomplished what the Colombian military and their paramilitary allies couldn’t achieve in decades – they’ve temporarily shut down the social movement in Arauca. Many people are fleeing from the threats and fighting in the countryside and seeking refuge in the small cities of Arauca. This mass displacement has increased sharply during the past week. When I arrived in Saravena on July 10, there were around 30 people who were staying here in the social organizations’ building. Yesterday, twenty five more people arrived and there are now 123 people staying in the building – including 31 children ten-years-old or younger. When the Community Action for Justice in the Americas delegation was here in Arauca last year, we heard a lot about the “degradation” of the war. The impact of nearly $4 billion in U.S. military aid to Colombia in the past six years has been like throwing gasoline on a fire. Both the military and the guerrillas have escalated their actions and the principal victims have been the civilian population. The fight between the two guerrilla groups is the most recent expression of this downward spiral of the war. This complicated and chaotic situation makes the role of international accompaniment risky and difficult. International accompaniment has played a vital role in helping to protect people from abuse by the Colombian military and their paramilitary allies. Those forces have been reluctant to commit atrocities in the presence of international witnesses because that could jeopardize their U.S. funding. Unfortunately, international accompaniment doesn’t provide this same deterrence in the midst of this fight between the two guerrilla groups. Thus far, the fighting is taking place in certain areas of the countryside and the urban areas have remained relatively safe. The local government and military authorities are trying to gain as much political advantage as possible from the fight between the guerrilla groups. On August 11, the mayor of Saravena called on the local schools to have their students participate in a “peace march.” There was such a strong presence of soldiers alongside the march that it was essentially a military project. In addition to the bullets and bombs, the people of Arauca are also suffering a brutal economic war. While Occidental Petroleum continues to pump 95,000 barrels of oil a day out of Arauca (more than $7 million at current prices), the majority of the people here live in poverty. Oxy’s pipeline passes by communities with dirt-floor shacks where peasant farmers toil to grow crops for prices that barely cover the cost of transporting the crops to market. Welcome to the global “free market” which we’re told is bringing democracy and prosperity to everyone. The people in Arauca are organizing themselves to resist this economic war, just as they’ve resisted years of government-sponsored killings, massacres, and mass arrests. Hopefully, the strength and wisdom of the Araucan people will also be able to endure and overcome this fight between the two guerrilla groups. In love and solidarity, Scott Scott Nicholson serves as a Short-term Volunteer with the Social Organizations of Arauca, Colombia. As a part of the process of accompaniment, Scott works as an advisor/consultant in the administration of productive projects in the rural communities.
Scott Nicholson serves as a Short-term Volunteer with the Social Organizations of Arauca, Colombia. As a part of the process of accompaniment, Scott works as an advisor/consultant in the administration of productive projects in the rural communities.
Here in the state of Arauca, the two guerrilla groups that say they’re fighting for social justice have decided to aim their weapons at each other.
They’re also threatening and killing people that they view as supporters of the other group. After five months of fighting they’ve accomplished what the Colombian military and their paramilitary allies couldn’t achieve in decades – they’ve temporarily shut down the social movement in Arauca.
Many people are fleeing from the threats and fighting in the countryside and seeking refuge in the small cities of Arauca. This mass displacement has increased sharply during the past week. When I arrived in Saravena on July 10, there were around 30 people who were staying here in the social organizations’ building. Yesterday, twenty five more people arrived and there are now 123 people staying in the building – including 31 children ten-years-old or younger.
When the Community Action for Justice in the Americas delegation was here in Arauca last year, we heard a lot about the “degradation” of the war.
The impact of nearly $4 billion in U.S. military aid to Colombia in the past six years has been like throwing gasoline on a fire. Both the military and the guerrillas have escalated their actions and the principal victims have been the civilian population. The fight between the two guerrilla groups is the most recent expression of this downward spiral of the war.
This complicated and chaotic situation makes the role of international accompaniment risky and difficult. International accompaniment has played a vital role in helping to protect people from abuse by the Colombian military and their paramilitary allies. Those forces have been reluctant to commit atrocities in the presence of international witnesses because that could jeopardize their U.S. funding. Unfortunately, international accompaniment doesn’t provide this same deterrence in the midst of this fight between the two guerrilla groups. Thus far, the fighting is taking place in certain areas of the countryside and the urban areas have remained relatively safe.
The local government and military authorities are trying to gain as much political advantage as possible from the fight between the guerrilla groups. On August 11, the mayor of Saravena called on the local schools to have their students participate in a “peace march.” There was such a strong presence of soldiers alongside the march that it was essentially a military project.
In addition to the bullets and bombs, the people of Arauca are also suffering a brutal economic war. While Occidental Petroleum continues to pump 95,000 barrels of oil a day out of Arauca (more than $7 million at current prices), the majority of the people here live in poverty. Oxy’s pipeline passes by communities with dirt-floor shacks where peasant farmers toil to grow crops for prices that barely cover the cost of transporting the crops to market. Welcome to the global “free market” which we’re told is bringing democracy and prosperity to everyone.
The people in Arauca are organizing themselves to resist this economic war, just as they’ve resisted years of government-sponsored killings, massacres, and mass arrests. Hopefully, the strength and wisdom of the Araucan people will also be able to endure and overcome this fight between the two guerrilla groups.
In love and solidarity,
Scott