<nettime> [Fwd: Call for support from Jeremias Tunubala] Colombia - Misak people

[Sasha Costanza-Chock <schock@riseup.net>]

I had the chance to meet Jeremias and the work he has been involved in
with indigenous peoples and media representation in Colombia is really
important. Please take the time to read the following.

Sasha


-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Call for support from Jeremias Tunubala
Date: Wed, 26 Oct 2005 13:26:11 -0500
From: Rodriguez, Clemencia <clemencia@ou.edu>
Reply-To: Rodriguez, Clemencia <clemencia@ou.edu>
To: OURMEDIA-L@lists.ou.edu

Espanol en mensaje aparte.
English:

Dear OURMedia:

At this moment Jeremias Tunubala, long-time member of OURMedia (some of
you met Jerem=EDas at the 2004 conference in Porto Alegre; his paper about
portrayals of indigenous peoples and issues in the Colombian media is
posted on our website) and leader of Colombian indigenous media activism
is being attacked by repressive forces as he and his people reclaim land
that is part of the Guambiano ancestral territory.  I urge you to read
his message below and to send messages to the Colombian authorities
(individually or in small groups; sample message and e-addresses
included here). I truly beleive that it will make a difference if the
Colombian government realizes that they are being watched from abroad.

Jerem=EDas said: "The government says that if we don't leave they will use
all the force, without minding human losses. Without international
support and mediation we forsee a massacre as we will resist even with
our own lives, so we can continue living with mother nature. Therefore I
request urgent support by forwarding this message and making a statement
against these actions which attempt against the indigenous peoples of
Colombia and the Americas..."


Guamb=EDa, Colombia, October 17, 2005

THE MISAK ARE VIOLENTLY ATTACKED BY COLOMBIAN LANDOWNERS WITH STONES,
GUNS, GAS AND ANGRY BULLS.

The Misak, also known as the Guambiano indigenous people include 25,000
indigenous farmers living in 7,000 usable hectares left by those who
have stolen our ancestral lands in the municipality of Silvia, in the
south of Colombia.  This land is not enough to sustain all our needs.
The lack of arable land and our rights as legitimate owners of
territories now invaded by powerful landowners, plus the lack of a clear
agrarian policy on the part of the Colombian state have forced us to
take over the hacienda "Ambalo" so that we can cultivate its 540
hectares.  Years ago, these lands were taken from us by powerful and
well known local landowners and now they are occupied by their
descendants, the Stella-Caicedo family who are using the land to raise
fighting bulls to be sacrificed around the country in bullfighting arenas.

The "Ambalo" hacienda borders what the landowners have left us, known as
the Resguardo de Guamb=EDa [Colombian equivalent of a Reservation]; the
hacienda is part of our ancestral territory of Nam Misak. For this
reason, on October 12, 2500 indigenous Guambianos entered the hacienda
to cultivate it; we were met by local authorities who attacked us with
clubs, stones, gas and gun shots; they also sent the angry bulls to meet
us, attacking women, children and elders; as a result, thirteen people
were wounded and are now in the hospital. To this we need to add that
while the Colombian government is trying to de-mobilize the paramilitary
in different parts of the country, these same paramilitary groups have
begun to make their presence known in Silvia. Angry graffiti with dead
threats against us has begun to appear on walls all around Silvia.  This
is an announcement of what is coming against our people, such as the
murder four days ago of our leader and "tata" of the Indigenous Council
of Ginebra, Francisco Cuchillo.  We want to denounce all these forms of
repression. The right to work our land is guaranteed by Colombian law
and by the International Convention 169 of 1989 of the International
Labour Organization (ratified in Colombia by Law 21 of 1993); also, in
1983 the Colombian government (in the form of the then Colombian
Institute of Agrarian Reform-today's INCODER) recognized that our
Resguardo should be 12,500 hectares larger than it is now and committed
to restore these lands to us.

Dear friends of the international community: this is a call from our
communities for your solidarity and help, as we are being persecuted by
the STELLA landowners under the complacency of a government that for
decades has denied our basic rights of owning and working the land so
that we can feed our children. We ask you to please send a message to
the President of Colombia as well as other government officers, urging
them to stop the repression and to respect our right to the land of our
ancestors, pilfered for decades by powerful landowners.

INDIGENOUS COUNCIL OF THE MISAK

Misael Velasco Tomb=E9
Governor

SAMPLE MESSAGE TO SEND:

Sr. ALVARO URIBE,
President of Colombia.
Bogota, Colombia.

We are seeing with indignation how local authorities from your
government are responding aggressively against the Guambiano indigenous
communities in the Silvia region in southern Colombia. Through their
work, the Guambiano people are solely claiming what is their legitimate
right to their ancestral territories sanctioned by the ILO Convention
169  which was signed into law by your government. We also reject the
brutal acts of repression enacted by Colombian armed forces in favor of
the Stella landowners and against the Guambiano people. These acts of
repression have already caused several wounded among the indigenous Wan
a people well known for their peaceful and hardworking spirit

On this basis, we ask you to please stop such repressive and aggressive
actions against the Guambiano people of Cauca, and to return the lands
they claim, as they are the legitimate owners.

Cordially,


WHERE TO SEND MESSAGES:

ALVARO URIBE
President
Colombia
Email:
auribe@presidencia.gov.co
anticorrupcion@presidencia.gov.co
cefranco@presidencia.gov.co <mailto:cefranco@presidencia.gov.co>
fibarra@presidencia.gov.co <mailto:fibarra@presidencia.gov.co>
fsantos@presidencia.gov.co <mailto:fsantos@presidencia.gov.co>
rdh@presidencia.gov.co

VOLMAR ANTONIO PEREZ ORTIZ
Defensor del Pueblo
Email:
asuntosdefensor@defensoria.org <mailto:asuntosdefensor@defensoria.org>

EDGARDO MAYA VILLAZON
Procurador General de la Nacion
Email:
emaya@procuraduria.gov.co
reygon@procuraduria.gov.co <mailto:reygon@procuraduria.gov.co>

SABAS PRETELT DE LA VEGA
Ministro del interior y de Justicia
Email:
arodriguez@ministeriojusticia.gov.co
mininterior@myrealbox.com
ministro@minjusticia.gov.co

ANDRES FELIPE ARIAS LEIVA
Ministro de Agricultura y Desarrollo Rural
Email:
despachoministro@minagricultura.gov.co


CAMILO OSPINA BERNAL
Ministro de Defensa
Email:
celcama@mindefensa.gov.co
infprotocol@mindefensa.gov.co

Oficina Alto comisionado de las Naciones Unidas (DDHH)
Email:
oacnudh@hchr.org.co


MARIO GERMAN IGUARAN ARANA
Fiscal General de la Nacion
Email:
contacto@fiscalia.gov.co <mailto:contacto@fiscalia.gov.co>
denuncie@fiscalia.gov.co
elbsilva@fiscalia.gov.co



Clemencia Rodriguez
Associate Professor
Department of Communication
University of Oklahoma
610 Elm Ave Room 101
Norman OK 73019
clemencia@ou.edu
Phone 405 325 1570
Fax 405 325 7625


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