Armed transportation stoppage

Dear friends,

The “Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People’s Army” (FARC) declared an armed transportation stoppage here in the state of Arauca that is causing hardship for the people they claim to be defending. FARC guerrillas called the transport companies on March 16 and threatened to burn their vehicles if they didn’t obey the order to halt transportation.

I’m currently in the town of Arauquita – which lies along the highway that runs through the north of Arauca. The route to Saravena (35 miles west) was the first to be suspended early on the morning of March 16. The last taxi for Arauca City (65 miles east) left town around 2:30 that afternoon. Two armed men on a motorcycle halted a bus on the highway that day and forced it to turn back.

There are no longer any taxis circulating in Arauquita. The motorized canoes that take people across the Arauca River to La Victoria in Venezuela have also been suspended. School bus service in the towns of La Esmeralda and Fortul was suspended this morning due to threats from the FARC. Local stores are running out of fruit and vegetables, and the remaining food is increasing in price because of the scarcity.

Defense Minister Juan Santos flew to Arauca City on March 16 for a public meeting about the security situation in Arauca. Government authorities decided to fine the transport companies that are refusing to risk their drivers and vehicles during the stoppage. The military and police also announced that they were launching “Plan Meteor” to prevent the guerrillas from paralyzing transportation.

FARC guerrillas have burned a cargo truck and a tanker truck, halted a vehicle on the Arauca-Tame highway and placed it across the roadway blocking traffic, attacked a tractor-trailer, and also attacked a caravan of oilfield workers.

The military and police launched the “Arauca Moves” plan on March 17. The plan consists of armed escort for transportation caravans. One caravan of vehicles leaves Arauca City every morning for Arauquita, Saravena, Fortul and Tame. Another caravan travels daily from Tame to Arauca City. The caravans are accompanied by a large contingent of soldiers, police and secret police. Three of the caravans have been attacked by the FARC.

The United Nations’ World Food Program planned to deliver food supplements for pregnant women and nursing mothers, and children at risk of malnutrition, in Arauquita on March 19. The delivery was cancelled because the food packets couldn’t be brought here due to the transportation stoppage.

According to United Nations’ reports, FARC commanders ordered the “Black March” campaign (which includes the stoppage in Arauca) to commemorate the death of three of their top leaders in March 2008. Raul Reyes, the second-in-command, was killed along with 25 other people when his camp inside Ecuador was bombed by the Colombian military on March 1. Ivan Rios was killed on March 3 by his own bodyguard, who then cut off Rios’ hand to present to the government as proof to collect the reward money. Manuel Marulanda, the legendary leader of the FARC, died of natural causes on March 26 – after fighting against the Colombian government for more than 50 years.

The vast majority of people here in Arauquita have no idea why the FARC is imposing this transportation stoppage – they just want it to end soon. According to those same UN reports, the stoppage is going to continue until March 30.

In love and solidarity,
CJ

Photo of the main street in Arauquita at 8:30 A.M. on March 18. There are usually ten or more taxis gathered on that block – providing transportation in town, and to Saravena and Arauca City.

Free at last!

Dear friends,

My friend Flor Diaz was released from the Arauca City prison last month and was finally able to return to her home here in Arauquita. We went out on the Arauca River with her youngest children, Viviana and Fernando, on March 10 to watch the herons returning to roost for the evening. There were hundreds of herons in the trees along the river and it was wonderful to enjoy that beauty and freedom with her.

Flor spent three years and four days in prison for “rebellion.” She was the secretary general of the Arauca Peasant Association and she told me that she was imprisoned because of her work in support of human rights. “I can’t ignore the suffering of others,” she said.

Marcela, her oldest daughter, was 18 years old when Flor was detained by the secret police on February 14, 2006. Marcela had to assume the responsibility for her three siblings: Viviana (who was just 8 years old), Fernando and Edwin. “It was very hard when they would call me and tell me there wasn’t any food in the house,” Flor said. “I would ask myself, ‘What can I do?’”

Flor worked for 14 years as a health practitioner in the rural communities of Arauca and also served as a catechist. She continued with her vocations while she was in prison. She would care for the other prisoners when they were ill, and she also helped organize prayer and mass.

“Suffering makes you strong,” Flor said. “If you’ve never suffered, you can’t be strong. I would get very disappointed when I received bad news about my case. I would argue with God: ‘You abandoned me! I don’t want anything more to do with you!’ But then I would remember the gift of my children.”

Flor’s first grandchild, Camila, was born on December 20, 2006. “I saw her for the first time on January 21, 2007,” said Flor. Marcela would take Camila to visit Flor in prison every three months. “For the first two years of her life, ‘Grandmother’s house’ was the largest mansion in Arauca,” Marcela said jokingly.

Being in prison for three years was a very hard experience but it’s also an adjustment being outside of prison after all that time. “I couldn’t see long distance,” Flor said, because there aren’t any open views in the prison. “I also wasn’t used to the noise in town. All I heard in my cell was the sound of the fan.”

Flor told me about a conversation she had recently with a fellow prisoner who had also just been released. They talked about the process of adjustment. Flor said to him, “I’m not doing well either (she’s unemployed and in debt), but I am free.”

As we were alongside the river, Flor explained “Oil and war are the cause of poverty here. What do we get from supplying the war machine?: widows and poverty. We’re going to stop supplying that machine. It already has enough. Let’s look at the situation of poverty and invest that money to meet the needs of the people.”

In love and solidarity,
CJ

Photos of Flor with her granddaughter, Camila; and by the Arauca River at sunset: