Address by Elizabeth Garcia Carillo for Ecumenical Advocacy Days March, 2008

I come from a place that is called, "The land where the sun is born - the place where sunrise was seen for the first time." In our communities they say that this is a time of men and women of sweet words. When I ask what this means, they tell me that many people will speak sweet words. However, some sweet words enter the heart where they turn bitter and fall out because they are not true. There are other sweet words that enter and stay in the heart, warming the heart, because they are true.

In Colombia, my homeland, 26 % of population is Afro-Colombian and 2 % is indigenous. The indigenous population is composed of 84 groups who, despite tremendous levels of violence, have preserved 67 language groups.

Afro-Colombians, despite being victims of slavery, crimes against humanity, have managed to survive and inhabit territories rich in natural resources. We live in territories that are rich in cultural diversity and natural wealth. We preserve our resources and diversity. We live in many border areas that are zones of conflict today - borders with Panama, Ecuador, Venezuela, San Andres, also on the Pacific Coast and the Andean region.

They say that over 40 % of the national territory belongs to us - land that has been won and retained through much struggle and great effort. These areas are now protected by legislation for collective territories and indigenous reserves.

Development in times of War

We are convinced that development is possible, even in times of war. However, we are also convinced that it is not occurring due to one particular vision of development that dominates, and deprives us of our land.

The law says that Colombia is a diverse country - 84 different indigenous groups and 84 different visions of development. The black communities have their own have vision of development. The challenge is to find a way for these multiple visions to coexist in a territory that is so conflictual and violent.

We believe that development means to live in peace and in harmony with the natural world. We observe that God created a world of great diversity with trees that are little and big and of many colors. Why would we want to change this?

Where I live, we do not have electricity or running water in my community, but we don't need it! The moon shines brightly and we have three rivers that run through our territory. We love to go to the river every day to get water. We don't want our water in pipes. We don't want them to come with their illusions and plans to build bridges where there are no rivers. This is the vision of development of the Arhuaco.

For the Uwa, in whose territory there is much petroleum, oil is the blood of the mother earth. We are not permitted to take the blood of our mother.

The Afro communities understand that in the territories where they live, their ancestors shouted in pride for freedom and acknowledge that it is their responsibility is to continue this struggle for freedom so that future generations will never again be slaves, not slaves of people, money, machines or buildings. To produce the food that is needed each day and to take from nature only what is needed - this is vision of development of the Afro community.

Free Trade and War

I want to talk about the relationship between free trade and war. We are asked why we are not open to free trade - why do we not want to share what we have with others and receive what comes from other people?

To this we say, we have always done this - sharing and exchanging the beautiful things we have. However, we do not think that it is just for the powerful to come and take all that we have preserved through the ages. They take all of the good things and leave us with only war. The FTA has not been approved. However, everyone is making preparations as if it were already signed.

Buen Aventura for example is Colombia's largest and most important port. This port is strategic for the FTA and needs to be expanded for purposes of trade.

Black communities have always inhabited this port city. We are talking now not only of displacement but de-territorialization. They are taking away our territory. We are being forcibly removed. 40% of the internally displaced population in Colombia is Afro-descendant.

In Buen Aventura, we have heard from the military directly that all of the young people in the area must be killed because they are rotten inside. Only those children under 6 years of age should be left alive. This is happening. Buen Aventura averages 30 murders per week.

The people say, " This has been our home since they brought us as slaves from Africa. This is where we have built our lives - our vision for the future is here. Why should we have to leave?" This is just one example of the impact of the FTA.

In northern Cauca, an area inhabited by indigenous and Afro communities, big business interests plan to open a dam that was built some time ago and has already displaced many people. They want to expand it by cutting off another river. The people do not want to leave and they are being assassinated.

Our territories are being poisoned by aerial fumigations. We not only have the crossfire of bullets in our communities; we also have crossfire of worldviews. For us the rivers are places to bathe, to get drinking water, to irrigate our crops. But the armed groups feel that the rivers are roads to transport drugs. The government wants to control the rivers to move the military through the territory and control our lives.

In Narino for example, there is a group of women - the Women's Development Group for Life. After their territory had been sprayed and poisoned for many years, they decided to form a seed bank to preserve the seeds they need for agriculture. But the government thinks that it is more powerful than God. Every time the women plant, the government comes and fumigates everything they plant, killing it all. They have not been able to harvest anything - not even one piece of fruit for their children. But every day the women wake up with the intention of planting, and the conviction that there is no power greater than God.

In our territory they are trying to set up an African palm plantation as a monoculture, export crop rather than respecting the biodiversity that God created in our regions. Apparently it is more important to fill the gas tanks of cars than to fill the bellies of hungry children.

The governments tell us that the FTA will benefit us. However, the indigenous communities organized the only public consultation that took place on the FTA and 98% of us said NO! My grandmother is 93 years old. She does not read, but has a wealth of life experience and she says that the FTA is no good.

Role of the United States

The cooperation from the United States government has a large military component. There are places like Narino on the Ecuadorian border where the majority of the soldiers are from the United States. These U.S. soldiers are the ones who fly the planes over our communities spreading poison. And you all have an enormous responsibly because you are from the United States as well.

We need to work together. We have made progress on the issue of debt and we have reduced some of the U.S. military aid to Colombia. But what have we really achieved? This is the important question. We appreciate your efforts to reduce the military assistance from the US - but in reality, it is being routed through a different channel. They are still fumigating our communities. We are still being murdered, massacred and poisoned.

In Colombia, we are not consulted, things are imposed. Not one indigenous or Afro community is agreeing to this. Our communities are fumigated whether we want it or not. And it is impossible to disagree because then we are accused of being terroristst.

Right now we have a dangerous conflict on our border. Colombia justifies everything, even the right to invade any country it wants under the pretext of fighting terrorism. We agree that terrorism must be combated but only within a framework of legality - the very legal framework that the government created.

Many Afro-Colombians produce coca in their territories. But you must understand that when you are hungry, and you have watched your people die of hunger, this may be the only alternative in the context of a government that has always closed it eyes to the needs of our people.

There is an area along one river where the communities came together and decided that there would be no more coca because it was causing so much trouble. Even if it meant dying of hunger, they were determined to pull it all out by hand. They eradicated it all by hand and had to confront the guerrillas and the military to do it. Now they have their own development plan - or "Plan of Life" which they call it. But no one will finance it because no one believes that development is possible in times of war.

U.S. companies are playing a big role in Colombia. The government of Colombia is preparing the way, getting everything ready for U.S. companies to move in and operate freely. Land occupied by displaced people is being taken away from them by the Ministry of Agriculture and given to the U.S. companies. The government says that the U.S. companies will produce and make a lot of money.

This happened in the Choco, where many people have been displaced and murdered. When they returned, the area was full of military and paramilitaries who had displaced the people. These people were forced off land in order to plant African palm plantations.

Spirituality and Resistance

One of our Afro Colombian leaders says that the Afro and Indigenous have really good luck. God placed us in territories that are privileged. Everyone wants our territories - the military, paramilitary and foreign companies. Everyone wants our lands.

However, we are totally convinced that "The Law of Origin" will never be overcome. This is our Divine law, Gods law. This law commands us to resist, to remain where we are, in our territories, building world peace from our spirituality. As long as we have voices, to cry out this message, we will continue to resist. We have lost many lives. Much blood has been spilled in our rivers. But we also have hope and we are sure that this will come to an end some day.

In Colombia they said that my message here would be very important. And there are many other people, of sweet words in Colombia who could also be standing here speaking sweet words to you. I want to tell you that it is not possible to talk about security when we have hunger. It is not possible to talk about security, in terms of more military and more weapons.

We are spiritual beings. We believe and trust in God, a God that in the black communities has become a black God to make sure that there is never discrimination on the basis of race. We believe in a God who understands the languages of our 84 indigenous communities so that there will not be confusion. We are beings who believe in a spirituality that nourishes us day to day. We think it is possible to light our hearth fires and to nourish hope, even when we have nothing to cook except love.

I invite you to amplify our voices and spread our message. I ask you also to be men and women of sweet words. This is only possible if you are vigilant, all of your churches, denominations and representatives - and committed to finding out what is really happening.

I want to leave my sweet word in your hearts along with the hope that we have life that endures forever.