Delegation meets survivor of Colombian massacre

international | rights, freedoms and repression | news report Thursday June 30, 2005 03:49 by Colombia Solidarity Network - LASC

An Irish delegation of student and trade
union activists from the Colombia Solidarity Network have just finished a series of meetings in Bogota. They have met with trade union, youth, student, farmer, indigenous, womens and progressive organisations in Bogota. The delegation is comprised of activists who have been involved in the boycott coke campaign.

On Monday the delegation visited the offices of the Mining Workers Union which had been bombed by the paramilitaries in May 2004. The president of the union Francisco Ramirez outlined the ongoing activity of the paramilitaries in the regions of oil exploration and exploitation. He described how
the task of environmental regulation had been transferred from a state agency to the companies themselves.

He further described how royalties from oil production had been slashed alongside taxes in a country where 160 children die every day from malnutrition or a lack of medical attention. Furthermore the Harken Energy company which is owned by the Bush family has received even more favourable treatment with 3 dollars of tax reduced off each barrel of oil it exports. In effect this means that the Bush family is been subsidised by the Colombian tax payer to plunder their oil reserves.

The delegation then met with Debora Barros Fince a member of the Wayuu indigenous community. She spoke of the events of the 18th April 2004. At 3 am the men in her community had left as usual to travel several miles to work in the fishing industry. Due to severe water pollution by multinationals the men in the port town had to travel a long distance to reach clean waters.

At 5.30am 150 paramilitaries entered the village, many of them recognised as members of the local state military. The first house they entered was the house of Debora´s aunt. They took her out of the house, cut her head off and chopped it in two with a machette in front of the local children. They moved from house to house and took another aunt of Debora´s from her house. This time they stuck a grenade in her mouth and made it explode. They then took three children aged 9, 10 and 11 and chopped them up, put them in car and set it on fire.

Realising that the army were involved Debora and her community fled across the border to Venezuela. She told how her five year old son
knows "that my grandmother is dead because he saw me pick up her body parts". Debora who has spoken out publicy about the massacre in her village explained how she has received numerous threats from the paramilitaries. She told the Irish delegation that she "would rather die speaking out than die in silence".

The delegation is travelling to Barrancabermeja where they will continue their meetings with progressive organisations.