COLOMBIA La Violencia Revisted
Beckjord, Sarah H.
According to the Lawyers' Committee for Human Rights and Americas Watch, there were more political killings in Colombia last year than in the rest of the Western Hemisphere combined....
...The only significant opposition party to emerge under the National Front was the National Popular Alliance (ANAPO...
...Violence has grown beyond drug wars and politics to take on a dynamic of its own...
...Given scant resources and the lack of infrastructure, the new mayors face formidable challenges in their twoyear terms...
...The violence is in the zones where the Liberals and the UP are fighting for dominance...
...A crucial component in the country's first national strike in 1977, these associations proved highly efMAY/JUNE 1988 by a gubernatorial appointee...
...Samper...
...It championed a populist agenda and drew support from members of the traditional parties left out of the bi-paitisan accord, as well as from the large urban population, many of whom had been displaced by La Violencia...
...In a recent proposal to reform the constitution, the debate centered on whether or not it was legal to approve the reform process by plebiscite...
...The guerrillas have two arms and must decide whether to seek power through force or through legal chan- nels...
...The recent DAS report detailed how, through informers, se- curity forces identified supposed Popular Liberation Army (EPL) sym- pathizers on plantations and later killed them...
...Indeed the last ceasefire agreement ended in disaster in November 1985 when the military countered an M-19 takeover of the Palace of Justice, killing 100 people, including the justices of the Supreme Court.** Not only did the armed forces boycott Betancur's peace negotiations, they had no stake in guaranteeing the electoral process which ensued...
...In addition, rural development, agrarian reform and housing subsidy programs will fall under local control...
...XXI, No...
...Once arch-enemies, the leadership of the two traditional parties teamed up in 1953 to try to remain control of the 5fective mobilizers, and in many ways reflected the crisis of municipalities neglected by the central government and party machines...
...To a far lesser degree, Liberal and Conservative candidates have also been hit...
...The government says that its hands are tied, that it cannot do any- thing...
...U **See Clara Ponce de Le6n, "Colombia: Another 'Dirty War...
...To compound conflicts between the UP and Liberals, and between small and large landholders, in the Lianos the drug mafia and guerrillas are at odds over "taxes" collected by the guerrillas in exchange for protection...
...Ironically, much of the killing is related to last March's mayoral elections, a reform intended to defuse the violence by broadening the legal means for participation in the political system and decentralizing authority (mayors were previously appointed by governors, in turn appointed by the president...
...The lack of strong opposition par- ties tended to channel grass-roots political activity into the civic movements...
...Although the UP did less well than expected, it managed to win 15 mayoralties and, through alliances, gain representation in 113 city governments...
...Voicing a commonly heard criticism of the UP, former president Misael Pastrana (1970-1974) referred to the party's origins...
...But other towns have failed to find such solutions...
...The political crisis came to an end, but fighting in rural areas continued...
...Our party has had the least number of deaths and has been least accused (of violence)," said Pastrana, who leads the Conservative party...
...Yet during the campaign alone, 24 candidates for mayor and city council were assassinated...
...As Colombian historian Gonzalo Sanchez wrote recently, "Assassinations and mas- sacres in Colombia today are no longer clearly defined as a struggle between opposing bands for territorial or political control, although these are important...
...However, once Conservative-Liberal rivalry was reopened in 1974, ANAPO was unable to muster support as a third party and soon fizzled...
...The brief truce with the government signed by six of them in 1984 was boycotted by the military and soon broke down over allegations of abuses on both sides...
...These plains southeast of Bogota were colonized during La Violencia by sharecroppers fleeing terror elsewhere...
...Before the winners could be sworn in on June 1, another was killed, and one more resigned due to threats...
...Others disagree...
...It championed a populist agenda and drew support from members of the traditional parties left out of the bi-partisan accord, as well as from the large urban population, many of whom had been displaced by La Violencia...
...Violence has grown beyond dnig wars and politics to take on a dynamic of its own...
...As one plantation owner told Semana magazine, "Here the communists and guerrillas want to get rid of us...
...The National Front anesthetized Colombia's capacity to manage and resolve conflicts...
...While towns will be responsible for raising their own taxes by the year 1992, the Bogota daily El Tiempo estimates that 85% of them will not have sufficient administrative and technical support to provide the range of services required...
...To a far lesser degree, Liberal and Conservative candidates have also been hit...
...Despite the obvious threat, a strike paralyzed the industry for five days, and the UP coalition won the regional capital of Apartado...
...Given scant resources and the lack of infrastructure, the new mayors face formidable challenges in their twoyear terms...
...Indeed, the last plebiscite in Colombia in 1953 voted to outlaw all further plebiscites...
...Increasingly active over the last decade, civic movements have held strikes to obtain their demands, one of which was the direct election of mayors...
...While the reforms did bring some of the guerrillas into the political process, the armed forces remained outside of the "democratic opening...
...Others disagree...
...It's the first democratic conquest we've had in this country in 50 years," said UP Sen...
...We have learned many things," said the UP mayor in the Ilanero town of San Juan de Arama, appointed as a result of the 1986 elections...
...Human rights leader Alfredo Visquez Carrisoza argues that the discussion is out of place...
...A recent modification of the electoral law states that if an official is killed within one year of taking office, another election must be held...
...It's the first 4 REPORT ON THE AMERICAS Sarah H. Beckjord, former Features Editor of Report on the Americas, returned from a trip to Colombia in March...
...Human rights leader Alfredo Vasquez Carrisoza argues that the discussion is out of place...
...A Threat to Party Machines Despite the intent of the reforms, the elections exacerbated tensions because they were perceived as a threat to the rural power centers of the Liberal and Conservative parties...
...And in neighboring Piflalito, 14 people, in- cluding both UP and Liberal party members, were massacred one night last February...
...Formally proposed by Conservative Party legis- lators in 1986, the electoral reform has long been a popular demand...
...However, once Conservative-Liberal rivalry was reopened in 1974, ANAPO was unable to muster support as a third party and soon fizzled...
...Five insurgent armies unified last October under the "Simon BolIvar" Guerrilla Coordi- nating Committee and offered to renew talks with the government...
...The violence is in the zones where the Liberals and the UP are fighting for dominance...
...No longer primarily a political weapon, murder has become the mediator for everyday affairs...
...Reports of human rights violations committed by some insurgent groups, including kidnap- ping and massive purges, have earned them strong criticism...
...Most of the bloodshed has targeted the UP, killing 14 mayoral and 32 city council candidates...
...In 1957, they formed the National Front, an agreement in which Liberals and Conservatives would alternate in power and divide government posts between them for the following 16 years...
...While towns will be responsible for raising their own taxes by the year 1992, the Bogota daily El Tiempo estimates that 85% of them will not have sufficient administrative and technical support to provide the range of services required...
...Meanwhile, other government efforts at reform have stagnated...
...And just before the March elections, 20 laborers on two plantations were woken up in the mid- dle of the night and shot in front of their families by men in military uni- form...
...Increasingly active over the last decade, civic movements have held strikes to obtain their demands, one of which was the direct election of mayors...
...said Clara L6pez Obreg6n, a progressive Liberal who was the UP's candidate for mayor in Bogota...
...Yet during the campaign alone, 24 candidates for mayor and city council were assassinated...
...Before the winners could be sworn in on June 1, another was killed, and one more resigned due to threats...
...Formed during the peace accords, it brought together amnestied guerrillas and other sectors of the Left, who took advantage of the political opening under Conservative president Belisario Betancur (19821986...
...These plains southeast of Bogota were colonized during La Violencia by sharecroppers fleeing terror elsewhere...
...Uraba's 260 plantations, which produce 13% of the world's bananas, employ 20,000 workers...
...The Na- tional Front anesthetized Colombia's capacity to manage and resolve conflicts...
...In the beginning, we felt so threatened that whenever anything went wrong, we would call for help by radio...
...The guerrillas have two arms and must decide whether to seek power through force or through legal channels...
...A recent modification of the electoral law states that if an official is killed within one year of taking office, another election must be held...
...Given the Random murders have plagued the sti number of political killings, it is un- derstandable that the the so-called "civic movements" won 97 mayoral- ties in March...
...And, in the words of the first-ever civilian attorney general for military affairs Omar Henry Velasco, "If we are going to continue seeking a military solution, we will be fighting here for many years...
...6 REPORT ON THE AMERICAS fective mobilizers, and in many ways reflected the crisis of municipalities neglected by the central government and party machines...
...We have learned many things," said the UP mayor in the Ilanero town of San Juan de Arama, appointed as a result of the 1986 elections...
...COLOMBIA La Violencia Revisited BY SARAH H. BECKJORD Violence has grown beyond drug wars and politics...
...In Uraba, an isolated tropical zone bordering on Panama, labor con- flicts between unionized banana workers and plantation owners have been exacerbated by the presence of guerrillas and army counterinsurgency units...
...But its history and geography make it a very different case...
...Our party has had the least number of deaths and has been least accused (of violence)," said Pastrana, who leads the Conservative party...
...Five insurgent armies unified last October under the "Sim6n Bolivar" Guerrilla Coordinating Committee and offered to renew talks with the government...
...The drug-related crimes and the dirty war against human rights, trade union, opposition and civic leaders of the last two years have been compounded by large scale massacres of peasants, reaching, analysts say, the gruesome level of the 1950s...
...Formed to seek basic services such as water and electricity, these local or regional coalitions eschew political affiliations...
...Since the elections, the violence has taken on a new dimension, engendering absurd and desperate legislative measures which point to the government's inability to control the situation...
...Meanwhile, other government efforts at reform have stagnated...
...Theoretically, the popular elec- tion of mayors is one step towards consolidating democracy...
...XXI, No...
...But how can it do nothing in Uraba if that area is militarized...
...We are learning how to govern...
...All will be required to provide services previously funded by the central government from potable water to highways, schools, hospitals, transportation and electricity...
...As Colombian historian Gonzalo Sanchez wrote recently, "Assassinations and massacres in Colombia today are no longer clearly defined as a struggle between opposing bands for territorial or political control, although these are important...
...An Anesthetized System The roots of the problem go back to 1948-1958, when 200,000 Colombians died in La Violencia, which began as an undeclared war between Liberals and Conservatives, but soon led to chaos...
...Terror in the Bananeras As during La Violencia, the fight- ing has taken on a different logic according to region in this vast rugged nation...
...In the 1986 parliamentary elections, the UP won 14 seats in ConREPORT ON THE AMERICASgress and representatives on 187 city councils, often in alliance with rural Liberal and Conservative leaders...
...A Threat to Party MachInes Despite the intent of the reforms, the elections exacerbated tensions because they were perceived as a threat to the rural power centers of the Liberal and Conservative parties...
...The recent DAS report detailed how, through informers, security forces identified supposed Popular Liberation Army (EPL) sympathizers on plantations and later killed them...
...And just before the March elections, 20 laborers on two plantations were woken up in the middle of the night and shot in front of their families by men in military uniform...
...Once arch-enemies, the leadership of the two traditional parties teamed up in 1953 to try to regain control of the country...
...In the 1986 parliamentary elec- tions, the UP won 14 seats in ConREPORT ON THE AMERICAS La Violencia Revisited BY SARAH H. BECKJORD '1 Sarah H. Beckjord, former Features Editor of Report on the Americas, re- turned from a trip to Colombia in March...
...The drug-related crimes and the dirty war against human rights, trade union, op- position and civic leaders of the last two years have been compounded by large scale massacres of peasants, reaching, analysts say, the gruesome level of the l950s...
...No longer primarily a political weapon, murder has become the mediator for everyday affairs...
...To compound conflicts between the UP and Liberals, and between small and large landholders, in the Llanos the drug mafia and guerrillas are at odds over "taxes" collected by the guerrillas in exchange for protection...
...country...
...Bandits arose in some areas, revolutionary armies in others...
...And its southern jungle area, now under FARC guerrilla control, is a major center for coca production...
...The only significant opposition party to emerge under the National Front was the National Popular Al- liance (ANAPO...
...Here, constitutions are not enforced...
...According to Senator and former Liberal party chief Ernesto Samper, * 'the country is divided not between Liberals and Conservatives, but between democrats and extremists...
...One is vulnerable today simply for belonging to a social group, a profession, or a way of life...
...Report on the Americas, Vol...
...According to Senator and former Liberal party chief Ernesto Samper, "the country is divided not between Liberals and Conservatives, but between democrats and extremists...
...Once a Liberal stronghold of large cattle ranchers, the UP has made inroads, winning four mayoralties in the last elections...
...As of yet there has been no serious effort to renew peace talks with the guerrillas...
...All will be required to provide services previously funded by the central government-from potable water to highways, schools, hospitals, transportation and electricity...
...What is important is not that there be new constitutions, but that they be enforced...
...As in most Latin American countries, members of the military do not vote and are prohibited from having party affiliations...
...4 democratic conquest we've had in this country in 50 years," said UP Sen...
...Urabd's 260 plantations, which produce 13% of the world's bananas, employ 20,000 workers...
...Once a Lib- eral stronghold of large cattle ranchers, the UP has made inroads, winning four mayoralties in the last elections...
...The process of decentralization will give broad responsibilities to 1,008 cities and towns...
...Those killed after one year will be replaced sets of Call...
...But its history and geography make it a very different case...
...Resulting violence has forced many peasants to leave the area-an exodus of 8,000 was reported in January by the Colombian Permanent Committee for the Defense of Human Rights-creating a large squatter settlement outside the regional capital, Villavicencio...
...Other than a short-lived ceasefire and the formation of a third party-the leftist Patriotic Union (UP)-the elections were the only achievement of the 1985 peace negotiations between the government and armed insurgents...
...Now I have learned that many problems can be solved by working with the police chief...
...In 1957, they formed the National Front, an agreement in which Liberals and Conservatives would alternate in power and divide govern- ment posts between them for the following 16 years...
...The political crisis came to an end, but fighting in rural areas continued...
...But how can it do nothing in Uraba if that area is militarized...
...Underneath the official country, there has been a different, convulsed country," according to Sen...
...Those killed after one year will be replaced Rnndnm murdmrn hanvA nnnund thA atrtnt of Crll...
...Both Amnesty International and Colombia's Admin- istrative Department of Security (DAS), equivalent to the FBI, charged the military with direct involvement in the killings...
...Most belong either to SINTAGRO or SINTRABANANO, the two largest trade unions, both allied with the UP...
...Exenober Quintero, appointed mayor of nearby Vistaher- mosa, has had several attempts on his life...
...Voicing a commonly heard criticism of the UP, former president Misael Pastrana (1970-1974) referred to the party's origins...
...In a recent proposal to reform the constitution, the debate centered on whether or not it was legal to approve the reform process by plebiscite...
...Twelve UP members have been killed in this hamlet in the last year...
...Exenober Quintero, appointed mayor of nearby Vistahermosa, has had several attempts on his life...
...But we conquered these lands 30 years ago, and we won't be pushed out...
...And its southern jungle area, now under FARC guerrilla control, is a major center for coca production...
...Bernardo Jaramillo Ossa...
...Still, it is in these rural areas that the electoral reform will most likely have an impact...
...Meanwhile eight guerrilla groups arose over the past 20 years...
...But other towns have failed to find such solutions...
...In addition, rural development, agrarian reform and housing subsidy programs will fall under local control...
...Other than a short-lived ceasefire and the formation of a third party the leftist Patriotic Union (UP) the elections were the only achievement of the 1985 peace negotiations between the government and armed insurgents...
...and in February, a death squad rode around the plaza, spraying the town hail with machine gun fire...
...Bernardo Jaramillo Ossa...
...Terror in the Bananeras As during La Violencia, the fighting has taken on a different logic according to region in this vast rugged nation...
...Drugs and Politics Like Uraba, the Lianos is a region with strong military presence and has been one of the worst hit by violence...
...But since its founding in 1985, over 500 UP members including its leader and presidential candidate, Jaime Pardo Leal have been assassinated...
...Typically, rural areas have lacked even the most basic educational and healthcare facilities...
...Drugs and Politics Like UrabA, the Llanos is a region with strong military presence and has been one of the worst hit by violence...
...Formed to seek basic services such as water and electricity, these local or regional coalitions eschew political affiliations...
...Report on the Americas, Vol...
...The government says that its hands are tied, that it cannot do anything...
...Over 200 unionized workers have been killed in the past year, many during pay negotiations...
...by a gubernatorial appointee...
...Most of the bloodshed has targeted the UP, killing 14 mayoral and 32 city council candidates...
...Indeed, many credit the National Front with stifling the development of legal political opposition...
...Most belong either to SINTAGRO or SINTRABANANO, the two largest trade unions, both allied with the UP...
...We are learning how to govern...
...Underneath the official coun- try, there has been a different, convulsed country," according to Sen...
...The process of decentralization will give broad responsibilities to 1,008 cities and towns...
...What is important is not that there be new constitutions, but that they be enforced...
...Reports of human rights violations committed by some insurgent groups, including kidnapping and massive purges, have earned them strong criticism...
...As in most Latin American countries, members of the military do not vote and are prohibited from having party affiliations...
...And the party claims that due to the violence, it could not run in 25 towns where it anticipated a major- ity...
...Theoretically, the popular election of mayors is one step towards consolidating democracy...
...Meanwhile eight guerrilla groups arose over the past 20 years.* The brief truce with the government signed by six of them in 1984 was boycotted by the military and soon broke down over allegations of abuses on both sides...
...Twelve UP members have been killed in this hamlet in the last year...
...And in neighboring Pifialito, 14 people, including both UP and Liberal party members, were massacred one night last February...
...Samper...
...Although the UP did less well than expected, it managed to win 15 mayoralties and, through alliances, gain representation in 113 city governments...
...In UrabM, an isolated tropical zone bordering on Panama, labor conflicts between unionized banana workers and plantation owners have been exacerbated by the presence of guerrillas and army counterinsurgency units...
...Resulting violence has forced many peasants to leave the area an exodus of 8,000 was reported in January by the Colombian Permanent Committee for the Defense of Human Rights creating a large squatter settlement outside the regional capital, Villavicencio...
...They are: Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), April 19 Movement (M-19), National Liberation Army (ELN), Popular Liberation Army (EPL), Workers Self-Defense (ADO), Free Fatherland, Ricardo Franco, and Quintin Lame...
...In the beginning, we felt so threatened that whenever anything went wrong, we would call for help by radio...
...Still, it is in these rural areas that the electoral reform will most likely have an impact...
...Despite the obvious threat, a strike paralyzed the industry for five days, and the UP coalition won the regional capital of Apartado...
...See Clara Ponce de Leon, "Colombia: Another 'Dirty War...
...Indeed the last ceasefire agreement ended in disaster in November 1985 when the military countered an M-19 takeover of the Palace of Justice, killing 100 people, including the justices of the Supreme Court.** Not only did the armed forces boycott Betancur's peace negotiations, they had no stake in guaranteeing the electoral process which ensued...
...Ironically, much of the killing is re- lated to last March's mayoral elections, a reform intended to defuse the violence by broadening the legal means for participation in the political system and decentralizing authority (mayors were previously appointed by governors, in turn appointed by the president...
...An Anesthetized System The roots of the problem go back to 1948-1958, when 200,000 Colombians died in La Violencia, which began as an undeclared war between Liberals and Conservatives, but soon led to chaos...
...Formally proposed by Conservative Party legislators in 1986, the electoral reform has long been a popular demand...
...Formed during the peace accords, it brought together amnestied guerrillas and other sectors of the Left, who took advantage of the political opening under Conservative president Belisario Betancur (19821986...
...4 (July/ Aug.1987...
...Here, constitutions are not enforced...
...They are: Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), April 19 Movement (M-19), National Liberation Army (ELN), Popular Liberation Army (EPL), Workers Self-Defense (ADO), Free Fatherland, Ricardo Franco, and Quintin Lame...
...The End of Reform...
...and in February, a death squad rode around the plaza, spraying the town hall with machine gun fire...
...One is vulnerable today simply for belonging to a social group, a profession, or a way of life...
...Both Amnesty International and Colombia's Administrative Department of Security (DAS), equivalent to the FBI, charged the military with direct involvement in the killings...
...Typically, rural areas have lacked even the most basic edu- cational and healthcare facilities...
...As one plantation owner told Semana magazine, "Here the communists and guerrillas want to get rid of us...
...The lack of strong opposition parties tended to channel grass-roots political activity into the civic movements...
...Now I have learned that many problems can be solved by working with the police chief...
...Indeed, the last plebiscite in Colombia in 1953 voted to outlaw all further plebiscites...
...But since its founding in 1985, over 500 UP members-including its leader and presidential candidate, Jaime Pardo Leal-have been assassinated...
...4 (July/ Aug.1987...
...A crucial component in the country's first national strike in 1977, these associations proved highly MAY/JUNE 1988 5 gress and representatives on 187 city councils, often in alliance with rural Liberal and Conservative leaders...
...Over 200 unionized workers have been killed in the past year, many during pay negotiations...
...And, in the words of the first-ever civilian attorney general for military affairs Omar Henry Velasco, "If we are going to continue seeking a military solution, we will be fighting here for many years...
...The End of Reform...
...Since the elections, the violence has taken on a new dimension, engendering absurd and desperate legisla- tive measures which point to the government's inability to control the situ- ation...
...Indeed, many credit the National Front with stifling the development of legal political opposition...
...Bandits arose in some areas, revolutionary armies in others...
...And the party claims that due to the violence, it could not run in 25 towns where it anticipated a majority...
...Given the number of political killings, it is understandable that the the so-called "civic movements" won 97 mayoralties in March...
...But we conquered these lands 30 years ago, and we won't be pushed out...
...said Clara LOpez ObregOn, a progressive Liberal who was the UP's candidate for mayor in Bogota...
...While the reforms did bring some of the guerrillas into the political process, the armed forces remained outside of the "democratic opening...
...As of yet there has been no serious effort to renew peace talks with the guerrillas...
Vol. 22 • May 1988 • No. 3
