Civic Strike In Oil Region

At least 3,000 campesinos and other residents of Arauca department in northeastern Colombia began a civic strike on Feb. 12 to protest violence in the region. Announcing the measure in a communique, an alliance of campesino organizations declared themselves to be against "the paramilitary terrorism imposed by members of the public forces..." and "the presence of North Americans who finance war, militarization and paramilitarism with dollars from the criminal Plan Colombia for their economic interests...."

Groups Demand Investigation of Military-Paramilitary Links

The campesino groups list a series of demands, including creation of a special commission of top government officials and international observers to defend human rights in the zone, and investigation of the top commanders of the Colombian Army's 18th Brigade (Arauca), 16th Brigade (Casanare), and Counter-Guerrilla Mobile Battalions for links to paramilitary attacks.

Community Leader and Witness to Military Attack on Village Murdered

The campesinos are also protesting a Jan. 25 attack in Tame against Angel Trifilo Riveros Chaparro, leader of the Departmental Association of Campesino Land Users (ADUC). Riveros died of his wounds on Jan. 26; the assailants also killed two men accompanying him, Mario Gonzalez Ruiz and Heliberto Delgado. The three were shot by hired killers (sicarios) who then fled to the local military base, Naranjitos. Riveros was a key witness in the investigation into the Colombian military's Dec. 13, 1998 bombing attack on the village of Santo Domingo, in Tame [see Updates #464, 556]; he had traveled as an official delegate to an International Tribunal of Opinion (TIO) held in Chicago Sept. 22- 23, 2000, to investigate the bombing. The groups organizing the civic strike are demanding that Riveros' murder be included in the ongoing investigation into the Santo Domingo bombing.

Strike Called by Unions, Indigenous and Others

The civic strike was called by the ADUC, the Arauca departmental directorate of the Unitary Workers Federation (CUT), the Federation of Community Action Boards (FEDEJUNTAS), the Regional Indigenous Council of Arauca (CRIA) and the Regional Youth and Student Association (ASOJER). [El Pais (Cali) 2/13/02; Equipo Nizkor/ Derechos Human Rights/ Serpaj Europa Solidaridad Urgente 1/31/02, 2/14/02; Colombia Support Network 2/1/02]

Also Protesting US Plan for New Aid

The Arauca civic strike is also protesting a recently announced US government plan to fund the protection of oil pipelines for the benefit of transnational corporations such as the US-based Occidental Petroleum (Oxy) and the Spanish-owned Repsol-YPF [see Update #628]. [Equipo Nizkor... Solidaridad Urgente 2/14/02; Clarin (Buenos Aires) 2/11/02 from EFE, AFP]

US Ambassador: Colombian Oil Important to US

In an interview published Feb. 10 in the Bogota daily El Tiempo, US ambassador to Colombia Anne Patterson confirmed the plan, explaining that the US would provide $98 million to finance and train the Colombian Army's 18th Brigade to protect the Cano Limon-Covenas pipeline, which runs through Arauca and has been sabotaged hundreds of times by leftist rebels. "Frankly speaking, after Sept. 11 the matter of oil security has become a priority for the US," said Patterson. Since the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington, "the traditional sources of oil for the US in the Middle East are less secure," Patterson claimed. Calling the plan "something we must do," Patterson said, "It's important for the future of the country, for our sources of oil and for the confidence of our investors." Some 75% of the oil passing through the Cano Limon pipeline goes to the US; Colombia is the seventh largest supplier of oil to the US. [Clarin 2/11/02 from EFE, AFP] From the Weekly News Update on the Americas (ISSN 1084-922X), published by the Nicaragua Solidarity Network of Greater New York, 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012, 212-674-9499, wnu@igc.org.

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Last modified 2002-09-11 02:45 PM