En Asamblea
It seems to take at least three months in any place to start to get a feel for it, to fall into a work and social rhythm, to become familiar with places and faces, to start to feel at home. As my time here draws almost to close (or seemingly so - i still have a month left) im really settling in: good contacts with student and social organisations leading to a multitude of extra projects it would be great to be involved in, a favourite bakery and a weekly fair trade organic food delivery by a project some friends are running. It’s almost always the way, as time runs out things pick up pace, you get into the rhythm and think, if only I had a little bit longer going like I could do so much more.
But I don't and as such I've been running around a little. Last week, after a violent run of events the week before I found myself out of town at a regional meeting of the Permanent Assembly of Civil Society for Peace (Asamblea Permanente de la Sociedad Civil por la Paz). The assembly claims not to be organisation in itself but a project by which other organisations can come together to get informed, talk and develop ways of pushing the peace process forward. They have been going for eight years and run seminars on conflict resolution, do research and propose alternatives working towards negotiated political solutions to the conflict and promoting dialogue between armed groups including the Government.
Key to their conception of their mission is ‘peace with social justice’, a repeatedly employed phrase across the movement first coined by the FARC and later used by the Pope and now by many social organisations. The palpability of the statement must not disguise its overtly political nature: To call simply for peace is not enough in a world where social injustice or the vast divisions in wealth and power that afflict the nation mean suffering for large portion of the population creating conditions conducive to violence. As such achieving peace is about more than a cease fire and involves a wider process of social transformation and the guarantee of constitutional human rights currently ignored for much of the population.
The main strand is the search for a negotiated solution, that violence will not bring an end to conflict as the National Army, Paramilitaries and Guerillas all claim. The group came across to me as very pragmatic. The introductory speaker stating the obvious but important point that we are not going to reach a solution here today, that things may well get worse and indeed that this is the likelihood. In recognition of the conflict and its perdurance the group seeks either to negotiate an end to fighting in certain areas or if conflict is unavoidable in the short term to reduce its impact through ad hoc humanitarian agreements between armed groups and the community - to get parties to play by the rules and exclude civil society which too often falls victim to a war in which they support neither side.
Amongst the participants, including, church representatives, trade unionists, students, local government, and academics there was personal experience of this as always reiterating the urgency of change. A woman whose daughter had been kidnapped by the FARC told during breakfast of how they had lost negotiation contact as the Colombian security services dealing with the matter had attempted to give the Guerillas fake money in exchange for the hostage, now they know nothing of her. A girl form the University of Nariño explained after lunch how her boyfriend, a prominent student leader, had received a phone call nine months ago from someone he knew to meet outside the church in Pasto and was shot dead on the steps when he arrived.
The last talk at the event was by two local government representatives from Samaniego, a small town in the mountainous Nariño region to the south of the country bordering Ecuador boarder. Once known as ‘the Peaceful State’ the region has suffered an escalation of violence in the past 20 years. The town itself is doted with the sandbag pillboxes of National Army, the AUC have a strong presence and both the FARC and ELN are active in the surrounding area. In spite of such conditions, in negotiations between of armed groups, local government, comunity and business representatives and the church an agreement has been reached and peace achieved. The Local Peace Pact as the agreement has been called includes the respect of the civil population as neutral, the no obstruction of basic goods to the population, that schools colleges and municipal administration and health centres are respected and that cultural events are allowed to go on. While historically such agreements are broken far more frequently than they are made it the speakers were hopeful and positive about its progress due to their commitment to continual dialogue.
There are many sides to the peace with social justice movement of which I in three months have only scratched the surface. A large part that I have been involved with is heavily centred on the denunciation of abuses, the reporting of the horrific side of what goes on to the national and international community. While I am convinced this side is crucial it was encouraging and refreshing to meet with a group putting forward solutions as well as criticising policies, and in the case of Samaniego to hear of small successes.
But I don't and as such I've been running around a little. Last week, after a violent run of events the week before I found myself out of town at a regional meeting of the Permanent Assembly of Civil Society for Peace (Asamblea Permanente de la Sociedad Civil por la Paz). The assembly claims not to be organisation in itself but a project by which other organisations can come together to get informed, talk and develop ways of pushing the peace process forward. They have been going for eight years and run seminars on conflict resolution, do research and propose alternatives working towards negotiated political solutions to the conflict and promoting dialogue between armed groups including the Government.
Key to their conception of their mission is ‘peace with social justice’, a repeatedly employed phrase across the movement first coined by the FARC and later used by the Pope and now by many social organisations. The palpability of the statement must not disguise its overtly political nature: To call simply for peace is not enough in a world where social injustice or the vast divisions in wealth and power that afflict the nation mean suffering for large portion of the population creating conditions conducive to violence. As such achieving peace is about more than a cease fire and involves a wider process of social transformation and the guarantee of constitutional human rights currently ignored for much of the population.
The main strand is the search for a negotiated solution, that violence will not bring an end to conflict as the National Army, Paramilitaries and Guerillas all claim. The group came across to me as very pragmatic. The introductory speaker stating the obvious but important point that we are not going to reach a solution here today, that things may well get worse and indeed that this is the likelihood. In recognition of the conflict and its perdurance the group seeks either to negotiate an end to fighting in certain areas or if conflict is unavoidable in the short term to reduce its impact through ad hoc humanitarian agreements between armed groups and the community - to get parties to play by the rules and exclude civil society which too often falls victim to a war in which they support neither side.
Amongst the participants, including, church representatives, trade unionists, students, local government, and academics there was personal experience of this as always reiterating the urgency of change. A woman whose daughter had been kidnapped by the FARC told during breakfast of how they had lost negotiation contact as the Colombian security services dealing with the matter had attempted to give the Guerillas fake money in exchange for the hostage, now they know nothing of her. A girl form the University of Nariño explained after lunch how her boyfriend, a prominent student leader, had received a phone call nine months ago from someone he knew to meet outside the church in Pasto and was shot dead on the steps when he arrived.
The last talk at the event was by two local government representatives from Samaniego, a small town in the mountainous Nariño region to the south of the country bordering Ecuador boarder. Once known as ‘the Peaceful State’ the region has suffered an escalation of violence in the past 20 years. The town itself is doted with the sandbag pillboxes of National Army, the AUC have a strong presence and both the FARC and ELN are active in the surrounding area. In spite of such conditions, in negotiations between of armed groups, local government, comunity and business representatives and the church an agreement has been reached and peace achieved. The Local Peace Pact as the agreement has been called includes the respect of the civil population as neutral, the no obstruction of basic goods to the population, that schools colleges and municipal administration and health centres are respected and that cultural events are allowed to go on. While historically such agreements are broken far more frequently than they are made it the speakers were hopeful and positive about its progress due to their commitment to continual dialogue.
There are many sides to the peace with social justice movement of which I in three months have only scratched the surface. A large part that I have been involved with is heavily centred on the denunciation of abuses, the reporting of the horrific side of what goes on to the national and international community. While I am convinced this side is crucial it was encouraging and refreshing to meet with a group putting forward solutions as well as criticising policies, and in the case of Samaniego to hear of small successes.
