A comment from Anne Barstow, member of a recent delegation to Colombia

[Note dated 6-18-04, posted here 7-6-04]

Dear Doug,

Having been away for 3 weeks in South America, I have just now read your reflections on Abu Ghraib. You put your finger on it for me when you said that calling people evil (or inferior in any way) permits, indeed commands us to mistreat them. It's Bush's attempt to be God-like that has enabled
our soldiers to think they are above God's laws. Thank heaven there were some who questioned what was going on. Proves that we all aren't savages.

Our delegation to Colombia was a hard one. We encountered a bombing, a murder, and enough internal refugees to convince us that the country is falling apart. Now the Presbyterian Church there has had several of its staff arrested and is calling for accompaniment. Do you know of anyone fluent in Spanish who would spend several months in Barranquilla protecting the Synod staff at work?

As ever,
Anne Barstow

In another note, she added these details:

Just back from my third delegation to Colombia, I am aware all over again of how several million small farmers and families are being slowly ground down by military attacks and displacement. I learned an ugly new phrase, "displaced AGAIN." It confirmed my suspicion that the 2.7 million driven from their homes will be hounded until...until what? Until they give up and join the cheap labor force in the cities, thus driving down the minimum wage even further, both in Colombia and the US. Another fear confirmed: one of the> community organizers in a refugee camp in Medellin who spoke to us has since been arrested; so now I know that anyone who tries to help is targeted. And to cap it all, 37 farm workers in an eastern border province were murdered the other night - because they work for a land owner on the "other" side - whatever political side that may be.

This was a hard trip. We intersected with a bombing, a murder in a refugee camp, and the stories of dozens of displaced persons. Plus the arrest of some of the Presbyterian Synod staff. Our next Presbyterian Peace Fellowship delegation will go down in late Spring 2005. We must continue to stand with the church there.

Click here for the original announcement of this delegation.
For more reports on Colombia, click here.

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Also:  GA acts on Colombia

The 2004 General Assembly passed (by 459 to 20) a strong resolution calling for "ecumenical efforts toward peace in Colombia and call[ing] for the United States to demilitarize its anti-drug policies and support in Colombia." It also committed the PC(USA) to "support and accompany the 'communities of peace and resistance' who reject all military involvement by guerillas, paramilitary and Colombian armed forces."

Item 12-04 -- Overture 04-65 On Urging Peace in Columbia, South America

On Urging Peace in Colombia, South America----From the Presbytery of Baltimore.

Assembly Action

The Assembly voted to adopt the Committee recommendation to approve the item with amendment. (459/20/6)

Committee Action as approved by the General Assembly

The Assembly Committee voted to approve the recommendations, with amendment (64/1/3):

The Presbytery of Baltimore overtures the 216th General Assembly (2004) to do the following:

1. Reaffirm the positions of the 210th and 213th General Assemblies (1998) and (2001) that call for ecumenical efforts toward peace in Colombia and call for the United States to demilitarize its anti-drug policies and support in Colombia, that it speak against the violation of human rights, and that aid be in the form of national debt relief and humanitarian and self-developmental grants for the Colombian people.

2. Join the Presbyterian Church of Colombia, other Christian churches, and other Christian organizations in calling for the redirection of United States military aid into social, educational, health, and developmental assistance in the hope that peace would be restored.

3. Decry the characterization of human rights workers as terrorists.

4. Support and accompany the "communities of peace and resistance" who reject all military involvement by guerillas, paramilitary and Colombian armed forces.

5. Call for the immediate closure of the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, previously known as the School of the Americas.

6. Stand with our sisters and brothers in Colombia who are witnessing to the truth that peace cannot be achieved by armed military violence.

7. Because of the dire plight of more than 3 million internally displaced people in Colombia, including the Colombian Church, we urge the members of the PC(USA) to pray for displaced people, and to provide direct aid to the church, for their work with the displaced; and we direct the Stated Clerk and Presbyterian Washington Office to use every opportunity to urge the United States government to provide food, water, medicine, and other necessities to Colombia rather than weapons.

8. Commend the ministry and work of the Reverend Dr. Alice Winters with the Reformed University of Colombia, School of Theology. Winters has served on behalf of the PC(USA) since 1977.

9. Urge Presbyterians to learn about the situation through study and organized visits] and better understand the realities Colombians deal with every day.

10. Call upon all transnational corporations operating in Colombia to utilize their influence to promote publicly peace and justice, protect their employees from violence in the workplace and as they participate in trade union activities, and contribute to the well-being of the communities where they are located.

11. Commend to the church the resource created by the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program, in cooperation with the PC(USA) Office for Latin American and the Caribbean, entitled "Colombia," (PDS # 70-270-04-015), which is available from the Peacemaking Office and through the PC(USA) Website.