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Progress, and hope, seen in Colombia

Posted on Sun, Jun. 17, 2007

Progress, and hope, seen in Colombia

BY REP. GREGORY W. MEEKS

I recently had the opportunity to visit Colombia and participate in a six-hour town hall meeting between the Afro-Colombian civil society, President Alvaro Uribe and members of his cabinet. Notably, two newly appointed members of the administration at the meeting were Afro-Colombians: Deputy Minister of Labor Andrés Palacios and Paula Moreno, minister of culture, the first African descendant to assume a cabinet position in Colombia. Also there were several members of the Colombian Bancada, which is a caucus of nine Afro-Colombian legislators, who shared with me their plans to work with grass-roots organizations and advance a legislative agenda addressing disparities in education, health and economic development, and other issues.
I walked away from that meeting with the profound sense that I just had my hand on the pulse of an important synergy: the merging of individual plight into a collective movement for justice and social progress. As the crowd demanded that President Uribe end the presentation of his development plan so that its representatives could speak -- and Uribe agreed to pause to allow the community to have its say -- I was moved by the participatory and grass-roots democracy unfolding before me. It was as messy, exasperating and chaotic as democracy in action can be -- but it was vibrant and it was happening. Despite the many hurdles the Afro-Colombian community must overcome, my experience at the town hall meeting left me hopeful that its voices will never be quieted again.

I am committed to being as helpful as possible because the well-being of the Afro-Colombian community is vital to the development of the country itself. And the forward movement of Colombia is inextricably linked to the stability and security of our hemisphere.

STRONG SIGNAL

Colombia's dominance in cocaine production that ultimately makes up 90 percent of the cocaine on our streets is just one example why those of us in Congress are obliged to work harder than ever to strengthen our relationship with cooperative nations and to be the reliable neighbor that we must be to secure critical countries in the Americas.

The recent changes made to Plan Colombia, which shift funds from a lopsided military focus to a greater balance between social and military needs, is a strong signal that the United States Congress doesn't want to punish Colombia but instead wants to work with our ally to make things better.

Like it or not, our policy in the hemisphere dating back many administrations has been self-serving. The words of President Richard Nixon to a then-young Donald Rumsfeld characterize the unfortunate reality that would linger in our policy toward our neighbors to the south for decades. ''Latin America doesn't matter,'' Nixon said. ``Consciously, people don't give a damn about Latin America.''

Our policies would reflect this view: Using a Cold War prism, we aligned ourselves with dictatorial regimes. And we disastrously meddled in the affairs of South and Central America while ignoring the plight of the poor.

As Congress looks to reverse the shortcomings in our Latin America policies, now is not the time to send the message that we don't trust one of our strongest allies enough to deepen our economic ties. Turning away from the Colombia Free Trade Agreement will not end discontent with stubborn poverty, inequality and political marginalization. Rather, it will lock out a valuable tool that can be used to assist in the improvement of rule of law, economic investment and the transition of the poor out of the dead-end informal economy into the more stable formal labor market.

To fulfill this economic tool's promise, there must be real attention and action to accompany the agreement.

The Afro-Colombian community resembles similarly marginalized and impoverished communities in the hemisphere that want democracy to work but have developed a distrust for their governments because they have yet to feel a real difference in their lives under democratic rule. There must be tangible progress on critical projects of interest to the Afro-Colombian community.

FOLLOW-THROUGH

The Colombian government must follow through on its pledge to provide full health coverage for the poorest by 2010, provide potable water to all communities by 2019, develop affordable and safe housing in Buenaventura, expand on the plans for new hospitals like those coming to San Andres and Tumaco, and extend basic education to all by 2010.

Confidence in the government also heavily depends on expeditious action on reported violations of Afro-Colombian land-ownership rights by paramilitary thugs believed to be working with palm-oil conglomerates to forcibly take over land and displace families.

In addition, providing much-needed resources to the attorney general of Colombia is critical if it is to carry out the necessary judicial investigations for prosecution of cases. The burden on the prosecutors is incredible and continues to grow with each legislative demand, including processing thousands of high-level demobilized soldiers and around 2,000 paramilitaries; it likely will begin doing the same for demobilized FARC. The prosecutors are also tasked with pursuing 200 high-priority labor union violence cases with a team of 100 investigators and prosecutors, and as it stands, most cases remain unresolved.

After meeting with the attorney general, I understand his urgent request for increased funding and support for his agency. It is the only way this critical independent agency can continue its mission to bring brutal criminals to justice and rid the nation, root and branch, of the vestiges of corruption and deep-seated violence.

Colombia is turning an important, painful corner. For the first time in decades, there are Colombians who can say they feel safe in their neighborhood. There are Colombians who live in unsafe, remote and marginalized areas who can say they are not being ignored by their government -- or ours.

On my recent trip, I met with groups that have various views of the government. Some supported and some opposed Uribe's policies, but most did not lose sight of the fact that last year there were at least 40 percent fewer homicides and 76 percent fewer kidnappings than five years ago. Most also acknowledged that there has been progress in the peace process. The government has demobilized and disarmed more than 33,700 paramilitaries, and more than 8,000 guerrillas from the FARC and ELN have demobilized.

Each time I visit Colombia, I see a nation in transformation. There is still a long way to go, especially for the Afro-Colombian community, but the community's activism and the push for the government to confront the issues will continue to succeed.

I am convinced that what is happening in Colombia is also underway or beginning elsewhere in the region. I saw evidence of it in Brazil, Peru, Panama, Costa Rica and Ecuador. I look forward to hearing from the Afro-Latino community first hand when I visit Bolivia and other nations soon.

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© 2007 Miami Herald Media Company. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.miamiherald.com

By Simon on Jun 18, 2007, 14:26 in Politics & the war.

Simon says on Jun 18, 2007, 14:44:

''Latin America doesn't matter,'' Nixon said. ``Consciously, people don't give a damn about Latin America.''

Wow, that Nixon was a real prick!

"Just an honest, decent Colombian trying to do the right thing."--Simon

0 funny, 0 helpful.

scotty says on Jun 30, 2007, 03:11:

I think that maybe back in the days many people didnt know much about SA nor did they care, today i think its a different story, today people are aware of SA and they do care.

Get Rhythm, when you got the blues. Johnny Cash

0 funny, 0 helpful.