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15

December
Rural Afro-Colombian and Indigenous communities benefit from Pedal for Peace!
December 15, 2016 admin Edu. Colombia

CRLN is pleased to support the work of partner organizations with funds we will raise through our annual bike-a-thon, Pedal for Peace, which will take place on Sunday, Sept. 22, 1:30 – 4:30.  This week we focus on Concern America.

Concern America believes that the transformation of impoverished communities comes from engaging local members in the solutions to their problems.  Concern America’s Field Team Members not only train local people to become health promoter practitioners in their own communities, they also visit the villagesto assist in providing health consults.  In addition, they meet with community members to discuss the mutual support between the communities and their health promoter practitioners and to develop solutions to improve the health conditions in the community. For more information on Pedal for Peace Visit our Upcoming Events Section.

Here is a field report from a Concern America Field Team Member:


“When we visited Juana’s village, I was impressed to see the amazing support from the rest of the community. When we arrived, people immediately came to the boat to unload all of the equipment, medicines, etc. In the meeting with the community, the president was very supportive and very appreciative of Juana’s work, and also expressed interest in having another member to be trained to work alongside her.


This support was also evident during the consult and made a huge difference in the effectiveness of the work. First, the clinic days had a really high turnout, which shows not only the strong organization that was done beforehand but also the faith that people have in the Practitioner’s work. In addition to the general consult, we did a dental campaign and a deworming campaign, with over 120 children participating in each (which actually tapped us out of some supplies!) Another reason we were able to accomplish so much was Luzmila, the treasurer of Juana’s health committee, who really helped with the flow of things. It was a very positive experience and I was particularly excited to see how the community valued the health program and Practitioners and the importance of including women in this work.”

For more information about Pedal for Peace, click on Pedal for Peace bike-a-thon under “Upcoming events” on CRLN’s home page.

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4

October
Colombia Voted No: A Complicated Picture & the Path Ahead
October 4, 2016 Claudia Lucero Colombia

(Españ​ol aquí) 

Photo: Jesús Abad Colardo / archive SEMANA

CRLN, along with many in the international community and our partners in Colombia, is surprised and saddened by this weekend’s NO vote on Colombia’s proposed Peace Accords. The final count came down to 50.21 percent ‘NO’ and 49.78 ‘YES’, a difference of 53,894 votes. The turnout was 37 percent, out of 34 million eligible voters.

 

The motivations of NO voters are myriad and complicated, some not knowing what was actually in the accords, some feeling excluded from the peace process, some seeing the Colombian state giving too many concessions to FARC guerillas, especially voters in FARC strongholds. Meanwhile, in areas where the worst massacres of the war were committed, like Bojayá, 96% of the voters cast their ballots for ‘YES’. Likewise, in regions with the most intensive ongoing conflict, the majority of people voted in favor of the Peace Accords.

 

The other political split that affected the vote was between President Juan Manuel Santos and former President, now Senator Alvaro Uribe. Uribe was one of the main campaigners against the Peace Accords, some suspecting that his opposition is linked to his history of connections with paramilitary groups and extrajudicial killings by Colombian state security forces during his time in the presidency. (Unlike what you read in most U.S. newspapers, the FARC was not responsible for all of the violence against civilians during the war. Paramilitary groups have been active forces of violence and displacement throughout the war and continue to displace people from their territories, often in the interest of mining and other extractive industries.) Meanwhile, President Santos, who did not campaign as effectively in favor of his Peace Deal, also has one of the lowest approval ratings of any president in Colombia’s modern history.

While we continue to sift through the various reports, we offer a news round up of some of the stories published since Sunday in English and Spanish. We believe that there is still a path toward peace and we will continue working with our partners to achieve that goal. We will also continue working with organized African descendant and Indigenous peoples, who have been disproportionately affected by the violence and displacement and who worked so hard to win the inclusion of the Ethnic Chapter last month.
English, WBEZ: Worldview’s Jerome McDonnel’s Interview with Gimena Sanchez of the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) / Entrevista de Jerome McDonnell de Worldview con Gimena Sanchez de la Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA)

Spanish, BBC: Bojayá, la población donde las FARC cometieron una de sus peores masacres y que votó abrumadoramente por el Sí / Bojayá, the population where the FARC committed one of the worst massacers y and which voted overwhelmingly for Yes

English, NACLA: A Dark Day in Colombia / Un Día Oscuro en Colombia

Video, English / Spanish, MSN: Colombia’s FARC victims campaign for ‘Yes’ vote in peace deal / Víctimas de la FARC en Colombia hacen campaña por ‘Si’ a los Acuerdos en el plebiscito

Spanish, Semana: Las víctimas votaron por el Sí / The victims voted ‘Yes’

English, Latin American Herald Tribune: Colombia’s Santos Gives Peace Negotiator a Vote of Confidence / Santos en Colombia le da al Negociador de Paz un Voto de Confianza

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The Chicago Religious Leadership Network on Latin America (CRLN).

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