Louis Edgar Esparza

A sugarcane worker looks on as he listens to a human rights worker telling him his labor rights and civil rights.

A row of housing for sugarcane workers and their families outside of the Florida plantation.

A small group of workers dressed a military personnel try to enter the Manuelita plantation to work for the day, but are spotted by a group of striking workers. Military officers form a protective circle around them as a mob begins to form. (Photo Credit: Adriana Ferrer)

Tarsicio Mora Godoy, President of the CUT, the major central coalition of unions in Colombia, speaks to a crowd of families who are rallying in support of the sugarcane worker strike.

A group of sugarcane workers accompany Senator Alexander Lopez Maya of Valle del Cauca of the Polo Democratico, Colombia’s Left-wing party, as he tours the grounds of the Incauca plantation.

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The March Against Poverty arrived in Bogotá last week, to the cheers of students and local activists. I saw many of the people that I have met over the few months that I have been in Bogotá. The students put on a “Cultural Celebration” in the park where the March ended, which consisted of mostly several hip hop groups. The crowd was extremely diverse including indigenous groups in traditional dress, students, Afro-Colombian groups, Feminist groups, and others. There was also a large diversity of class, with many poor campesinos from the rural areas mixing with urban middle class NGO workers and students.

Clotheslines of pictures hung from trees, put there by a local activist group. It was a popular attraction and seemed to be always crowded with people. The pictures included pictures of the movement, of street fights with police, injured and killed activists, as well as famous activist tourist attractions like Che Square in Havana.

Police Repression

The rally was festive, but nervous as police and military had the square surrounded and had riot police ready to act. People were denouncing the government and the police in the song lyrics and in speeches. It was a fairly uneventful affair until one of the displaced organization leaders took the stage. During his speech, the crowd started to rush towards the back and I followed them. There was an activist who was bleeding from the head and people were yelling and shoving the police. They were pelted with bread, garbage and plastic bottles. This went on for a good 5 or 10 minutes until the police finally disengaged and lined up with shields and riot gear along the north side of the park. They banged on their shields, taunting the crowd. People lingered for another 10 minutes and then dispersed.

One activist leader tried to organize a report, getting public testimonies of what they saw and if they saw the person get struck. After speaking with dozens of people he concluded that what happened was that a plain clothes police officer was taking pictures of activists and this particular activist spoke out against it, demanding that the officer stop doing so. The plain clothes officer then took out a gun and pistol whipped the screaming activist in the head. He turned and quickly escaped into a nearby bus station. Others gave chase, but police stopped them from chasing him and prevented them from entering the station until he was able to get away. The crowd saw that the activist was bleeding and engaged the police. A nearby ambulance on the south side of the park tended to the person’s wound, but recommended that he go to the hospital because he needed stitches. The activist refused.

Under the Indigenous Guard

Afterwards, the activist leader who collected the information insisted that I not leave the park alone because I had taken pictures of the ruckus and either the police or someone who saw my camera will want to take the camera from me. He told me that he saw one police officer signal at me towards a second officer while I was shooting. I did not see this, but it was starting to get dark and I agreed to go under his protection.

He put me within the indigenous guard while he rounded up people to leave in a group. The indigenous guard consisted of about eight indigenous men holding peace staffs in a circle to protect people inside of the circle from evil elements. I was joined in the circle with a group of people who were moving food from crates into bags for easier transportation and easier distribution to people who were on the march.

Toasting to 9-11

The activist leader collected about eight other activists and they escorted me out of there, up to a festival that was happening on 7th Avenue. We then walked to a nearby activist cultural center. There I hung out for a while until things calmed down. We were passing around beers and one guy made a toast to 9-11. “Wait, but we have someone from New York here,” someone said. The toaster said, “That doesn’t matter—cheers!” and they clinked bottles.

In Bogotá at the national offices of one coalition of human rights organizations, they hosted a presentation from Oxfam UK, speaking on a book that they recently published titled From Poverty to Power by Duncan Green. The room was packed and much larger than what a normal meeting would look like for this organization. Much of the presentation dealt with the international system, the World Bank, WTO, IMF, G8 and international human rights treaties. The Oxfam staff stressed that the goal is not to fight against governments or MNCs, but to develop public responsibility and demand transparency and democratic processes.

During the question and answer session, people cited Franz Fanon, Che Guevara, Jean Paul Sartre for fighting oppression from exactly these entities. Other critiques came from a feminist or Afro-Colombian perspective, arguing that women and Afro-decendents suffer from these economic systems in a disproportionate way.

The most stinging rebuke was levelled not at Oxfam, but against the Colombian NGO. One organization’s representative announced that a March Against Poverty would be arriving in Bogotá from Popayan and requested that the coalition have a presence there. He said, “You should be there in the streets with the people, not just talking in circles in conference rooms with the international community.”

This is not the first such request. Often times, smaller more radical members to the coalition will ask for a presence or some other kind of assistance. Most of the time, this is ignored; not even commented on. This occurrence was no exception. No one went to the march from the coalition, unless you count me.

The Strike leaders negotiated with ASOCAÑA yesterday, in the second day of the strike. The negotiations lasted over five hours, into the morning hours. Photography was not allowed. The negotiations were mediated by the Governor of Cauca Bay and were also attended by local human rights, labor, and one Senator´s aids.

One difficulty in advancing to this step was that ASOCAÑA was unwilling to negotiate with the workers as long as they maintained their blockades of their plantations. The workers were able to convince the governor to pressure ASOCAÑA into negotiating without any pre-conditions.

After the negotiatons were over, I met with the leadership team. They complained that the labor groups are not working on their behalf. There are tensions between the labor groups and the human rights groups, that latter of which have tighter relatons with the workers. “I am involved in practice. I don’t do theory like some people,” said one of the labor leaders, referring to the human rights team, according to a human rights worker. He also reportedly said, ““we’re wasting time here, lets not negotiate here and hold out to have a meeting with Uribe,” in front of the Governor.

Frustrated, the human rights worker said to me,

The unions are useless. They said that people should move to Bogota and that they would help pay for it, so that they can get to know their central offices. Can you believe that? They are willing to pay to move everyone to Bogota but not for anything else. We need the people here. Why would they go to Bogota? That is ridiculous! Are unions like this in the US?

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The sugarcane workers strike continues today. Yesterday workers blockaded the roads leading to the sugarcane processessing plants. The plants can last about three days without raw materials, so if the workers can hold out for at least a couple of days, the companies will start losing thousands of dollars each day.

There were thirteen injuries yesterday according to two Colombian human rights organizations and one Senator´s aid. One person suffered from a heat stroke, from lack of food and water. Two were struck by teargas canisters and at least one person suffered injuries from “non-lethal” projectiles. One worker was run over by a police truck while trying to prevent its entry into one of the plants. There were reports of police taking food away from the workers and eating it themselves.

I have pictures that I simply cannot upload due to the slow internet connection here. However, I am sharing my photos with the movement and they were able to publish three.

I accompanied a delegation of human rights workers, press, and Senator’s aid to one of the sites where there were injuries, but we were prevented from entering at a military checkpoint including police and private security just ahead of the entrance. The military is armed with AK-47s and although they did fire into the air at one location, there have been no persons shot or killed so far.

ASOCAÑA, the Association of Sugarcane Companies, has said that they are ready to negotiate and they may get together with the Negotiating Committee as early as this afternoon, but the strike and blockades will continue until an agreement is reached. President Alvaro Uribe has sent the military over the protests of local mayors and municipal officals, who normally have such authority.

From the Strike Center in Cauca Bay, Colombia: The sugar cane workers in Cauca Bay, Colombia have gone on strike as of this morning. They seek decent wages, a demilitarization of their working environment, and the right to unionize. Thousands are marching and rallying in the streets here. This is particularly important because they are hitting the sugar cane company profits, which directly benefit President Uribe and many of his allies. Below is the offical press release from the movement:

June 14 Industrial Sugar Cane Workers Movement

Press Release

Palmira, Colombia – September 15, 2008

Permanent Assembly announces work stoppage in all sugar industries in the Bay Area of the Cauca River

The Coordinating Committee and on its behalf, the Negotiating Committee of the June 14 Industrial Sugar Cane Workers Movement informs the citizens of Cauca Bay, Cauca, and Risaralda, and national and international public opinion, that as of today, Monday September 15 at 3:00 AM, we have decided to enter into a Permanent Assembly and announce a full work stoppage in seeding, harvesting, and processing at all sugar cane companies in the Bay Area of the Cauca River. This work stoppage will continue until the Association of Sugar Cane Cultivators, ASOCAÑA negotiates with the workers regarding the demands presented on June 14 2008. Despite the many attempts we have made at the negotiating table, our needs have been ignored.

We did not seek to have to enter into this Permanent Assembly and work stoppage. But ASOCAÑA with its aggressive stance against our rights and continued intimidation tactics, including the militarization of the working environment and the permanent threats of suspension and firings, has made us make this decision.

The workers that seed, harvest, and process in service to the sugar cane industry demand decent working conditions because we cannot continue to be enslaved under the independent contractor and cooperative system with more that 14 hour work days only to receive a miserable salary of $7 a day. We cannot continue to be prisoners to hunger; we demand decent salaries, formal employment contracts, a sugar cane union, a healthy environment, healthcare, housing and education for our families, rights consecrated in the National Constitution and the Law.

That is why we call upon all workers of the sugar cane industry in Cauca Bay, Cauca, and Risaralda, their families and their communities, national and international public opinion to accompany and support this Permanent Committee and the work stoppage of the sugar cane workers that has initiated as of today, in all sugar cane companies.

We particularly call upon all of the workers of Colombia, Unions, Unionists, and Mayors and Representatives of each municipality in Cauca Bay, Cauca and Risaralda, impacted by this labor and social conflict, to accompany us in this struggle to reinstate the rights of our workers and the dignity of the people and to mobilize in solidarity with this process.

Finally we reiterate that this is a pacifist movement. We do not want any kind of confrontation with the police. We are not going to employ any violent actions against the infrastructure of the companies and we demand that they do not respond by contracting people from outside of our population of workers so that they can continue with the same wages and treatment, as was done in 2005 in an attempt to undermine our movement.

We solicit the National Government and the Governors of the Department of Cauca Bay, Cauca, and Risaralda and all the authorities to comply with their Constitutional responsibilities and to defend and protect the rights of Colombian workers and the citizenry: the National Police should abstain from injuring and mistreating the workers involved in this Permanent Assembly. We call upon all human rights organizations in Colombia and the local, regional and national press to, in an objective way, be with us and to demand respect for the rights and integrity of our movement, the workers and their families. In the same manner, we ask that they objectively inform themselves on the matter.

WE STRUGGLE FOR OUR FAMILIES

JOIN US:

COORDINATING COMMITTEE AND NEGOTIATING COMMITTEE
June 14 Industrial Sugar Cane Workers Movement
Emails: corteros@gmail.com, contacto@corteros.com
Web: www.corteros.com

The International Campaign to Ban Landmines won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997. Ironically, the campaign was spearheaded by Jody Williams, a US citizen who’s country is not a signatory to the treaty.

Colombia is a signatory, but there is a huge landmine problem in the country, particularly in frontier zones with the guerrilla. Despite the problem, there are no organizations in Colombia that take this as their primary issue. This is both a consequence of the gravity of the other problems that the country faces and a difference between national and international priorities among NGOs.

In a previous post I discussed differences between Human Rights activists in Colombia and the United States. In my paper that is out for review at Mobilization, I also discuss the difference between the priorities of local NGOs and those of INGOs. But why are Colombians not so interested in getting rid of landmines while the campaign caught so much traction in the Global North?

During a meeting at a Colombian human rights group, they mentioned that they were invited to a “meeting on landmines.” The double entendre made just about everyone in the room roar with laughter. It turned out that they explicitly, at least in the meeting, try to walk a line between showing respect to the international groups who find the issue so pressing and working on the issues that they find to be more greater importance to Colombian civil society.

This is not to say that the elimination of landmines in frontier zones is not on the agenda. It absolutely is. But Colombian groups tend to put the issue into a domestic socio-economic and political context, which blunts the issue.

The March Against Poverty originated in Popayan and arrived in Bogota yesterday afternoon, blocking traffic along Northbound Avenida Sur. I had a fun time getting myself to Soacha and back, a stop that the marchers made on their way into the capital. Last night they spent the night at a school in the South of Bogota. There are further marches planned for today. Here are a few pictures of yesterday’s events, after the jump.