January Reports Indicate Dismal Times Ahead for Colombia’s 7,500 Political Prisoners

February 9, 2011 James Jordan 0

The first month of 2011 has not fared well for political prisoners and prison conditions in Colombia. Already at least two fatalities have occurred  under questionable circumstances, along with four arrests of student and labor activists. While the administration of President Juan Manuel Santos speaks about improvements regarding human rights in the country, facts on the ground suggest otherwise.
 

Liliany Obando: Political Prisoner in Colombia

February 9, 2011 W. T. Whitney Jr. 0

When the Colombian state arrested her on August 8, 2008, sociologist and documentary film maker Liliany Obando, mother of two, was serving as human rights director and fund raiser for Fensuagro, Colombia’s largest agricultural workers’ union. A week earlier, she had issued a report documenting 1500 union members murdered or disappeared since 1976.
 

Multinational Banana Corporation Displaces Afro-Colombian Peace Communities

February 3, 2011 Megan Felt 0

Since early December, hundreds of private contractors of multinational banana corporation Banacol have illegally invaded and occupied Afro-Colombian peace communities in the Curvaradó river basin in order to clear the land for banana cultivation. Their actions have been supported and assisted by local paramilitaries, army soldiers and municipal governments. 

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San José of Apartadó, Peace Community: Liberty as a Survival Instinct

January 6, 2011 Raúl Zibechi 0
Heaven and hell are reversed, traveling to the edge of the abyss, they transform into their opposite: an atrocious war with a community of peace; desperation with hope; life and death dance in an impossible trance. This is Colombia. Where peasants tired of war take refuge in peace in order to continue living. This is the story of a visit to the community from the perspective of a supportive photographer.

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Colombia: The Significance of the Killing of FARC Leader “Mono Jojoy”

September 26, 2010 Garry Leech 0
In many ways, Mono Jojoy encompassed the complexities and contradictions evident in the FARC. He was a ruthless military tactician who in the late 1990s orchestrated a series of large-scale, successful attacks against military bases in eastern Colombia.  At the same time, he implemented some of the FARC’s most progressive social and economic policies, which have benefited peasants in eastern Colombia. […]

Somos Pacifico! Rap Trio Choc Quib Town Puts Colombia’s Pacific on the (Music) Map

August 11, 2010 Esme McAvoy 0

“My grandparents worked all their lives in mining, searching for gold,’ explains Goyo, one-third of the rap group Choc Quib Town. “We called our album ‘Oro’ to represent the value we put on our own music but also to take a critical stance against the irresponsible exploitation of gold in the Chocó. It contaminates the rivers and damages the area’s incredible biodiversity. The extraction process uses toxic heavy metals such as mercury.”  […]

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