tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-47526150831580530542024-11-05T21:43:34.616-05:00Anecdotes, reflections and analysis about community-based non-violent resistance and human rights issues in Colombia and the rest of Latin Americamoirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999706637871759529noreply@blogger.comBlogger95125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4752615083158053054.post-75033963587005817092014-04-02T09:07:00.000-04:002014-04-02T09:07:42.186-04:00

By: Virginia M. Bouvier, Lisa Haugaard and Moira Birss  Peace is more than just silencing guns. That was the upshot when Colombian human rights defenders gathered at USIP recently to discuss the ongoing peace process between the FARC guerrillas and Colombia’s government and how the talks can advance justice in the aftermath of a deal. Days later, in a development unrelated to the

moirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999706637871759529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4752615083158053054.post-30060162176466681382013-05-06T07:44:00.002-04:002014-02-21T16:19:55.763-05:00

This article originally appeared on The Women's International Perspective on May 3, 2013. • Yolanda Becerra presenting in the November 2012 Women's Court in the city of Barracabermeja. Photo credit: Lina Mucha.• “No Justice? No Peace!” Never has this chant, which I have heard so often at anti-war rallies, felt so real to me as during the last few months observing the

moirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999706637871759529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4752615083158053054.post-80968709384228469962011-12-13T10:20:00.000-05:002011-12-13T10:20:39.264-05:00

It's been quite a while since I posted here.... Let's just say that PBI has kept me quite busy. One of the things keeping me so busy was a report on the human rights implications of Colombia's mining boom (PDF), published last week. Below is some good media coverage of the report, with several quotes from yours truly, on the English-language news site Colombia Reports. I have an idea or two for

moirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999706637871759529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4752615083158053054.post-23124896015229703522011-08-17T15:18:00.005-04:002014-02-21T16:13:27.974-05:00

Upodate: a version of this blog was published on August 30 on the Women's International Perspective. Palm Oil plantation next to Camelias. Photo by Charlotte Kesl The first thing I notice after disembarking from the canoe that carried me across the Curbaradó River and scrambling up the bank are palm oil trees. Their rows of short, stout trunks topped by long green fronds stretch as far as my

moirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999706637871759529noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4752615083158053054.post-52868582787448577852011-06-29T11:59:00.000-04:002011-06-29T11:59:24.424-04:00

A couple of weeks ago I was all set to attend my second criminal hearing in Colombia, though this time accompanying the defense lawyer, not a lawyer on the prosecution side (representing the victims is a role permitted in the Colombian justice system), as I did in 2010 in the San Jose de Apartado massacre case. Now, two is more attempts later, I’m seeing first hand some of the frustrations that

moirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999706637871759529noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4752615083158053054.post-81577842197858446842011-05-21T20:04:00.000-04:002011-05-21T20:04:13.594-04:00

It’s been a while since my last post, hasn’t it? My excuse for that is the recent rash of big changes in my life: a return to the U.S. after my four month stint back as an accompanier with Fellowship of Reconciliation, a fabulous new job with Peace Brigades International’s Colombia project, and my move across the country from San Francisco to D.C. As I write this, I've just arrived in Colombia,

moirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999706637871759529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4752615083158053054.post-78628505391586933312011-04-19T12:46:00.000-04:002011-04-19T12:46:52.836-04:00

This urgent action is from the Latin American Working Group on behalf of a community I work with. Please take action! Community leader Don Petro photo by Charlotte Kesl Many of the communities living in the Curvaradó and Jiguamiandó river basins in Colombia’s northwest Urabá region have come under great threat this past week. Will you send a message to the Colombian government today to ask

moirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999706637871759529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4752615083158053054.post-67612287763584217032011-04-05T16:16:00.000-04:002014-02-21T16:13:57.178-05:00

This article originally appeared on The Women's International Perspective. • A hand-made sign lists 12 varities of bananas grown in the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó. Photograph courtesy of the author. • In the middle of one of the most fertile regions in Colombia, amidst a five-decade armed conflict, a small peasant community manages to serve as a model of civilian resistance

moirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999706637871759529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4752615083158053054.post-22887986776734604942011-04-03T01:48:00.001-04:002011-04-03T01:51:39.141-04:00

The stereotype of Latin Americans as soccer fanatics is, in my experience, pretty spot on, and members of the Peace Community are no exception. The men, and some of the women, religiously watch national league games, as well as, of course, games in which the national team plays. Many afternoons, kids and some of the younger men gather for pickup games, and periodically a tournament gets organized

moirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999706637871759529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4752615083158053054.post-34712025316387687182011-03-18T15:30:00.001-04:002011-04-14T13:23:49.828-04:00

Returning this February to the Peace Community after over a year since my last visit, I was reminded that one of the most amazing things about the Community is that it has not only served as a model of civilian resistance in the midst of an armed conflict for 14 years, but that in such a context it manages to designs and implement alternative development models, or what it calls proyectos de

moirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999706637871759529noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4752615083158053054.post-947713270400773082011-02-10T13:57:00.000-05:002011-02-10T13:57:21.982-05:00

No matter where I go in Colombia, conversations almost always start with the other person asking me where I’m from. Even before I open my mouth to reply and my gringo-tinted accent reveals my foreign origins, my blond hair gives me away. I tend to be most inundated with this question when I go dancing with Colombian friends in spots rarely frequented by foreigners. When I get asked to dance by

moirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999706637871759529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4752615083158053054.post-49994662920915707142011-01-31T08:41:00.001-05:002011-01-31T10:00:49.520-05:00

Not long before I left Bogotá the last time, in March 2010, FOR (the organization I work with) found itself having to find a new apartment for its volunteers in Bogotá. One of the first things we put on the list of requirements for the new place was a permanent doorman. Though we had had a part time doorman (actually, a doorwoman) in the previous apartment, the apartment was robbed in 2006. It's

moirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999706637871759529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4752615083158053054.post-81936344430945044332011-01-19T11:41:00.001-05:002011-01-19T11:42:34.761-05:00

Six every hour, 149 per day, 54,410 per year.  That’s how many women on average, according to a recent study, were direct victims of sexual violence in Colombia from 2001-2009 in areas with presence of armed actors (military, paramilitary or police).  Violence against women has remained a seldom-discussed consequence of Colombia’s conflict. This study, however, seems to be generating

moirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999706637871759529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4752615083158053054.post-33280162644141475262011-01-05T14:00:00.000-05:002011-01-05T14:00:41.604-05:00

It turns out that a friend I had been hoping to see upon my return to Colombia moved to Houston a few months ago, so I won't get to see him. When I asked, via email, how he was liking life in the USofA, he admitted that he's finding Houston hard to adapt to. Among the most difficult things, he said, is the fact that he feels like people look at him like he's crazy if he attempts to walk somewhere

moirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999706637871759529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4752615083158053054.post-68200464333760977742010-12-30T18:32:00.001-05:002010-12-30T18:34:24.886-05:00

After four days of travel (included being sent back to San Francisco for two days!), I made it to Colombia on the 22nd, greeted by mariachis-for-hire at the Bogota airport. (Ok, so the mariachis weren't for me, but it was an amusing welcome admist the chaos that is the Bogota airport at 10pm on a major holiday travel day.) I have returned to work with FOR, the organization I worked with the

moirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999706637871759529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4752615083158053054.post-43706933534883126272010-12-10T17:50:00.001-05:002014-02-21T16:14:56.893-05:00

This article was published today on The Women's International Perspective, where I have previously published several articles about Colombia. It's similar to the previous post, but geared at a wider audience. Enjoy! • A mural worked on by Juárez artists during the Foro. The left side is a depiction of civil society. The right depicts death and destruction by the federal forces and other

moirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999706637871759529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4752615083158053054.post-51111197068171448052010-11-23T00:46:00.001-05:002010-11-23T00:47:59.223-05:00

I wrote this piece for the latest Colombia Update from the Fellowship of Reconciliation, the organization I worked with in Colombia. A mural painted by Foro participants When FOR staff asked if I could travel to a conference on civilian resistance to militarism in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico during the last weekend in October, I jumped at the chance to visit a country often compared to Colombia,

moirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999706637871759529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4752615083158053054.post-56322154591121149482010-11-19T18:53:00.000-05:002010-11-19T18:53:23.735-05:00

My article, originally published on War Times Image courtesy of Alliance for Global Justice When President Barack Obama was inaugurated, people in Latin America, as in many parts of the world, expected  a shift towards a more peaceful U.S. foreign policy. Those hopes were soon dashed by a series of bellicose U.S. policy moves in the region. But now civil society throughout the

moirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999706637871759529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4752615083158053054.post-67508888061224807082010-10-25T20:04:00.000-04:002010-10-25T20:04:18.781-04:00

This post is a call to action from the Fellowship of Reconciliation, by my former colleagues Rachel and Peter. Please take action!  Juan Diego is a young campesino in the municipality of Andes, a few hours southwest of Medellin. He works on a farm to help support his parents and two little sisters; his father’s income as a day-laborer is not enough to feed the whole family. On September

moirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999706637871759529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4752615083158053054.post-19088279728037075252010-09-09T21:03:00.003-04:002010-09-09T21:04:23.676-04:00

Despite lots of credible evidence and international attention, Colombian government and military are officially off the hook for the February 2005 massacre in the Peace Community of San Jose de Apartado in which four adults and four children were brutally murdered. On August 18, a judge in Medellin exonerated ten members of the Colombian military who had been on trial for participation in

moirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999706637871759529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4752615083158053054.post-13283862951540493722010-08-27T18:50:00.000-04:002010-08-27T18:50:13.951-04:00

In my capacity as Colombia Country Specialist for Amnesty International, I created the following action alert. Please take action! This community has attempted to retake its land from paramilitaries and live peacefully and neutrally in the midst of Colombia's conflict, much like the Peace community of San Jose de Apartado. TAKE ACTION HEREJhon Jairo Palacios, a member of an Afro-descendant

moirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999706637871759529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4752615083158053054.post-465842249221052302010-08-18T01:13:00.000-04:002010-08-18T01:13:15.968-04:00

I had been planning to post about U.S. officials' erroneous use of Plan Colombia as a model for countries like Mexico and Afghanistan. But Adam Isacson of the Washington Office on Latin American beat me to it, and did an excellent job, so I decided to repost it.  Don’t Call it a ModelOn Plan Colombia's tenth anniversary, claims of “success” don't stand up to scrutinyDownload the

moirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999706637871759529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4752615083158053054.post-80851375933622860442010-08-03T01:37:00.000-04:002010-08-03T01:37:16.939-04:00

Below is an article of mine published on Friday on AlterNet. It might look familiar, as it's a rework of some recent blog posts.  Interesting photo they chose, huh? On July 15 the Colombian government held a press conference to announce its possession of evidence that the Venezuelan government is harboring Colombian guerrillas, including high-ranking leaders, on Venezuela’s side of the

moirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999706637871759529noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4752615083158053054.post-63638062331191468722010-07-29T19:13:00.000-04:002010-07-29T19:13:03.341-04:00

On July 15 the Colombian government held a press conference to announce its possession of evidence that the Venezuelan government is harboring Colombian guerrillas, including high-ranking leaders, on Venezuela’s side of the border. The following week Colombia’s Ambassador to the Organization of American States (OAS), Luis Alfonso Hoyos, presented to that regional body high-resolution graphics of

moirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999706637871759529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4752615083158053054.post-63516036083607520482010-07-29T13:24:00.001-04:002010-08-11T13:12:12.952-04:00

The following is a release from the Fellowship of Reconciliation of an explosive new report released today. This week, the Wikileaks "Collateral Murder" scandal has rocked the world. Its explosive findings have described a U.S. military unaccountable to its own nation's laws and human rights policy, including the deaths of hundreds of innocent Afghans. Now today, a detailed report by the

moirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999706637871759529noreply@blogger.com0