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Punished for protesting

Farmers and indigenous peoples in Latin America are subject to government and military sanctions.




(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)

The security situation of human rights defenders and social leaders from various sectors in Colombia is very serious, according to Latin American Groups in Norway (LAG). It is not only the army and guerrilla movements that are behind the assault on civil society. Social protest meets violence and criminalization of rebel police and intelligence service.

"Our government allows multinational companies to plunder our lands without us having anything to say," said Martha Lucía Rodriguez, a farmer and activist from Colombia, when Ny Tid meets her in Oslo. "Our main concern is that farmers should be recognized as individuals with rights, and that these rights should be enshrined in law," she continues. Rodriguez works for the National Network for Farmers in Colombia (CNA), and is in Norway as a participant in LAG's exchange project for grassroots activists.

Martha Lucía Rodriguez (left) and Angélica Ortíz Sales (this year's Globalization Conference, on the criminalization of social protests in Latin America. PHOTO: CTH / MODERN TIMES
Martha Lucía Rodriguez (left) and Angélica Ortíz Sales (this year's Globalization Conference, on the criminalization of social protests in Latin America. PHOTO: CTH / MODERN TIMES

Own police patrols. In Colombia, both peasants, indigenous peoples and Afro-Colombians feel that statutory rights to land are weakened in line with the government's investment in the mining industry, and with international companies' increased freedom to establish themselves in the country. This is also one of the reasons for the ongoing demonstrations.

"In Colombia, the authorities have set up their own police patrols to control the social activists. We are regularly subjected to violence and incarceration. The hardest thing goes for those who lead the protests. It's a vicious circle: We have to protest because we don't have good enough rights, but then we get fewer rights because we protest, ”Rodriguez says. She thinks the situation would have been different if the country's media had focused more on ground-level narratives: “The media is not good at portraying what is happening down here among the population. Then it's hard to see how things look to us, ”Rodriguez says.

"Several organizational leaders have been sentenced to between 50 and 100 years in prison."

Failing indigenous peoples and peasants. Across Latin America, violence, threats, persecution, and killings occur against political activists – and this is happening more and more frequently. In 2014, almost 75 percent of all known environmental activist killings were committed in Latin America. The majority of those killed are indigenous peoples fighting against industry in their territories. The use of police and military to crack down on social protest continues the traditions of the repressive regimes of the past, in which repressive power structures are maintained. Cross-border tendencies are being observed for protests against human rights violations and oppression to be met with threats and violence. Again, states and multinational corporations are left with leeway to expel locals and capitalize on resources.

Angélica Ortíz Sales from Guatemala is a Mayan woman working for the Guatemala Farmers' Association (CUC). «Mining in the country affects the population extremely. Many people get sick and lose their livelihood because international companies plunder land with the permission of the authorities, "says Sales. Guatemala has ratified UN Resolution 169, which guarantees the rights of indigenous peoples. Nevertheless, they do not follow the agreement they have committed to through ratification:

"The leader of the CUC, Daniel Pascual, who is a clear figure in the work for the rights of farmers, has been persecuted, subjected to black campaigns and arrested. In general, there are also frequent arrests of those who protest. Several organizational leaders have been sentenced to between 50 and 100 years in prison, ”says Sales.

carima@nytid.no

Carima Tirillsdottir Heinesen
Carima Tirillsdottir Heinesen
Former journalist for MODERN TIMES.

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