Walking the Word

From http://www.nasaacin.org
Tejiendo la palabra desde los pueblos para pueblos
[ 04/27/2010] [ ] [ Autor: Tejido de Comunicación - ACIN]

Desde el pasado viernes 23 de abril de 2010, arribaron a la sede del Tejido de Comunicación en Santander de Quilichao, representantes de diferentes regiones del país para participar del primer encuentro de la Escuela de Comunicación desde norte del Cauca. Espacio de formación y capacitación que se realiza en la vereda el Guavito, Resguardo de López Adentro Caloto.

Cabe resaltar la integralidad étnica representada en esta escuela, con amplia participación de afros, campesinos, mestizos, urbanos y diferentes pueblos indígenas provenientes de Casanare, Antioquia, Valle del Cauca, Nariño, Huila, Cundinamarca y Cauca.

Además participan medios de comunicación como: Red Juvenil y Colectivo de Investigadores Independientes Ayahuasca, de Medellín; Colectivo de Investigación Minga de Pensamiento y Colectivo de Comunicación Popular el Andarín, de Cali; Red de Comunicación Alternativa de Manizales: y Colectivo Contracultura Bella Ciao de Bogotá.

Bajo el slogan, “Escuela de Comunicación para la conciencia crítica y la defensa integral de la vida y del territorio”, empezó el trabajo colectivo desde la comunicación. Con la presentación de todos los participantes, el intercambio de la experiencia del Tejido de Comunicación y la conformación de grupos de trabajo, se entró en confianza la mañana del sábado. Usando escarapelas de diferentes colores, se organizaron los cerca de 150 participantes, en 10 grupos de trabajo. Esta fue una manera práctica de integrar todo el personal de manera fácil y participativa.

Estos grupos realizaron su primer trabajo con un ejercicio de análisis y de reflexión, con el propósito de discutir las diferentes problemáticas sociales que viven en cada territorio. Entre ellos se identificaron muchas falencias sociales que vienen desarraigando a los pueblos en Colombia. Pero también, problemáticas como la ley de aguas, la explotación petrolera, el desplazamiento forzado, el narcotráfico, las masacres, y las contradicciones internas y entre organizaciones. Además, una de las más graves, como es la contaminación del planeta por medio de los megaproyectos que vienen implementando las transnacionales y los gobiernos de las grandes potencias del mundo.

Al mismo tiempo, algunas autoridades indígenas del cabildo local, de Tacueyó y de la Consejería ACIN, se acercaron para dar el saludo de bienvenida a los visitantes y manifestaron su alegría por haber tomado la iniciativa de formarse para retomar las riendas de la comunicación alternativa de los pueblos, al mismo tiempo estas autoridades hicieron las recomendaciones pertinentes para que la escuela siga adelante.

“Es muy interesante que en un futuro muy cercano sean nuestros mismos jóvenes quienes lideren este proceso organizativo, que hoy por hoy, necesita de gente capacitada con claridades políticas. Es por eso que esta escuela no debe desfallecer, hay que trabajar con mucho ánimo para que al finalizar de esta capacitación terminen todos sin que nadie se quede en el camino. Es hora de demostrar que somos capaces de hacer comunicación desde el pueblo y para el pueblo”. Estas fueron las palabras enérgicas del consejero de comunicación de la ACIN, Freddy Guevara.

Las temáticas de esta escuela han tenido expositores muy importantes del movimiento indígena, de los afrocolombianos, de los campesinos y de los urbanos, quienes han hablado de la historia de sus procesos organizativos de Colombia. De igual forma, desde el inicio de este espacio de intercambio ha quedado claro que los medios de comunicación son instrumentos para apropiar y transformar según el contexto, las necesidades y las políticas de los pueblos.

Así se siguen desarrollando con mucho entusiasmo y expectativa las jornadas de trabajo, y se esperara continuar con el trabajo comunicativo desde el tejer de la palabra con otros pensamientos.

Message from the Association of Indigenous Councils of Northern Cauca

Libertad de Expresión en Colombia from Adam Isacson on Vimeo.
More Attacks and Defamation Against ACIN's Communication Network
Dear Friends,
The following is a communique I just received from our friends in Cauca, from the Association of Indigenous Councils of Northern Cauca, ACIN, and specifically, their communication team, which has been at the forefront of getting the word out about the struggles of Colombia's indigenous and popular movement.

Please circulate it widely as we try to build and strengthen the solidarity with ACIN and the dozens of communities they represent. -- Mario Murillo

"We want to help build a new country by sharing the truth and showing realities";
Emilio Basto, Indigenous Communicator at Police Headquarters in Santander de Quilichao, April 4th 2008.
Accused of a Crime: Showing documentaries to a community.
This is the framework within which our Tejido de Comunicacion is under attack:
Alvaro Uribe and Freedom of Expression from Adam Isacson on Vimeo

Yesterday, Emilio Basto, a Nasa native who usually runs el rebusque, a morning show in Nasa and Spanish on Radio Payumat, where he listens and exchanges with indigenous peoples from the fields, explains the process and the contexts, opens a debate on critical issues, does interviews so that everyone in their homes understands the project of aggression and continues to think and resist, was arrested by the police in Santander de Quilichao.

Emilio was coming back from Tacueyo, in the mountains of Cauca, where he was showing documentaries at one of the video fora, which are part of an agenda planned to "sweep" the entire territory to engage people in debating diverse issues. He carried with him a number of videos, including "The revolution will not be televised," "Water, our life, our hope," and "Spakapa is not for sale". He also had two documentaries done in Colombia, "The cost of Land" from the Paciufic Coast focusing on displacement for Palm Oil industries, and ACIN's own "Country of the people without owners," the latest documentary produced by our team that tells the story of last year's Minga, the National mobilization against the FTA and the economic model being imposed.

Emilio was accused of carrying subversive material and inciting to violence. He was interrogated for 2 hours without access to lawyers, phone calls or protection. His finger prints were registered as well as all information regarding his activities. There was talk about weapons, which he could not understand. He explained what he does and what we do. He demanded respect for his obligations as a journalist, for the freedom of expression, for the indigenous process and rights. Finally, they let him go, but we do not know whether there are charges against him or whether they will use this event in a judicial process against the communication network or in a physical attack against his life and the lives of all of the other members of our communication team in ACIN.

This is the rule, the pattern and what we must expect, as you will be able to see on the videos attached below on Mario Murillo's note on the presentation at the Interamerican Commission for Human Rights.

The attack against Emilio was the latest in a series of attacks against ACIN's communication Tejido:

1. October 2008, during our coverage of the indigenous mobilization and while the armed forces of Colombia were shooting against unarmed natives, our website and listserve was blocked.

2. December 14th, 2008, an act of sabotage against the transmission equipment of Radio Pa'Yumat, leading to the silencing of this radio station until now. Two days later, Edwin Legarda, the husband of indigenous leader Aida Quilcue, was murdered by the Colombian Army in an attempted magnicide against her.

3. December 16th, 2008. Live radio interview on La W, a National radio station with a massive audience. We had called in to break the news in Colombia and the world of the assasination of Edwin Legarda, with direct information from the ground. The anchor, Fernando Sanchez Cristo, called us back for the interview an hour after we gave him the facts and put us on during a section of recognition to the armed forces of Colombia in their war on terror. The Commander of the Third Brigade gave his version of the facts first: The vehicle refused to stop at a police post and was suspected to be FARC. Manuel Rozental, on the line from Cauca, explained that the car had received 16 shots from automatic weapons, 14 of these in the front, a fact that contradicted the army commanders version. They shot him intentionally from the front. There was no police post. The general went off the air and Rozental was engaged in a live exchange with Sanchez Cristo on these lines:

JSC: You are the same Dr Rozental, a surgeon that works in Canada?
MR: Yes that's me
JSC: You are a close friend of the sons of the international representative of FARC there and you write for the Journal resistencia
MR: I know them well, as any Colombian engaged in solidarity efforts does. I have never written for Resistencia and what you are attempting to discredit a witness in the air in order to cover up a crime. I am not FARC, have never been and my life has been committed to a peaceful effort for social justice. I am part of an indigenous process committed to social justice, freedom and change through peaceful means. I hope we have not reached a stage where every journalist in commercial media serves a regime to silence the voices and rights of people
JSC: So do I Dr Rozental. You are right
MR: Who provided you with this false information against me?
JSC: A listener sent it on email, but don't worry about it.
Strangely, this interview was never posted on their webpage (all others are) and our request to obtain the copy of the interview and of the listener's message was never answered. All this points at Military Intelligence providing distorted information to discredit and threaten the witness on air.

4. February 7th, 09. Gustavo Ulcue. Nasa, member of the ACIN Communication network and webmaster, had just left his home in Santander de Quilichao, when two armed men arrived in a motorcycle, forced his brother to let them into their house at gun point and looked for Gustavo inside. They took away his laptop and told his brother Gustavo was lucky not to have been found as they came to kill him. Gustavo had to go into hiding. The armed men have been seen near his house since then. No police action was taken.

5. March 4th, 2009. Cambio (the equivalent of Time or Newsweek in Colombia) publishes a report against Hollman Morris, where it states falsely that Rozental and Morris are helping ELN (National Liberation Army) in their territorial struggle against FARC for the indigenous territory of Northern Cauca; These lies have been followed in the past by the assassination of those named. Rozental had to flee Cauca.

6. March 14th, 2009. For the second successive night, Hugo Dagua, arrives late at his modest ranch in Santander de Quilichao on his motorcycle. He had been conducting a video forum at an indigenous peoples encounter with participants from Ecuador and Colombia, where the video "Country of the People without owners" was launched. He noticed a motorcycle with two people following him and managed to escape. He is the main technician of the radio station and runs his own radio program. Hugo is under community protection measures and his wife and his year old son had to be moved out of town into their community in the mountains for safety.

Other threats and attacks against the communication process have been occurring. Now Emilio has been attacked. ACIN's communication network has been awarded the recognition as the best alternative media in Colombia in October 2007 and has become the strongest voice for a peaceful alternative in Colombia and an awareness raising and debate space for the base.

This is a crime in Colombia. As the policemen told Emilio yesterday: you are inciting violence with those documentaries. We will keep walking our word. Please see the following note and video.

April 5th 2009
Manuel Rozental
Santander de Quilichao Cauca
--
Mario A. Murillo
Host/Producer, Wake UP Call
WBAI Pacifica Radio
99.5FM in New York; www.wbai.org

Executive Producer/Faculty Coordinator
Hofstra's Morning Wake Up Call
WRHU Radio 88.7FM www.wrhu.org
(516) 463-6062

Colombia community radio station suffers another technical setback by the forces of terror in Cauca

Members of the Communication Team during the "Minga" the historic march from Cauca to Cali and Bogota.
This is the English translation of the communique put out by ACIN on Monday regarding recent acts of sabotage against the community radio station, Radio Pa'yumat. It is urgent that the national and international community make known their repudiation of these ongoing acts of intimidation and terror against one of the most important community media in Colombia. ACIN's primary community radio station suffers another technical setback by the forces of terror in Cauca

12/15/2008 Author: Communication Team for External Relations, Life and the Truth
ACIN (Association of Indigenous Councils of Northern Cauca)
(Tejido de Comunicacion y Relaciones Externas para la Verdad y la Vida-ACIN)
We are the victims of an integral plan of aggression that clearly emanates from all the armed actors operating in our territories. In the name of the struggle of the people for a country without owners, we reject these actions, come from where they may! We call your attention to events that occurred on Saturday, December 13th, in the mountain of Munchique de los Tigres, in northern Cauca, where the small shed housing the transmission equipment and the antenna of ACIN's community station Radio Pa'yumat was ransacked and damaged. The perpetrators stole the copper wires that protect the
equipment, causing severe technical damage to all the transmission equipment of Radio Pa'yumat, the voice of theNasa people,

It is important to point out that this is not the first time that such acts of sabotage have occurred against our radio station, given that in previous occasions, not only have they robbed the copper protective cables, but thugs have also stolen the broadcast equipment from within the station's studios in Santander de Quilichao. Not coincidentally, these prior acts of sabotage have occurred at the precise time that our communities were initiating major mobilizations and important actions against the armed actors that constantly provoke war in our territories.Therefore, the assault against our community radio station is not an isolated incident, but is part of a deliberate strategy of silencing the indigenous movement of northern Cauca, because the radio station is the most important medium within the community. It allows us to listen to one another, to discuss important issues, reflect on them, make decisions in the interest of the community, and take actions collectively in defense of life and of our territory.From the Association of Indigenous Councils of Northern Cauca, ACIN, we publicly denounce these acts of aggression against the word of the indigenous movement, because to silence us within this context of aggression that we are living is to shut down the voice of resistance, and put us in immediate risk. This is because when something severely urgent occurs in our territory, the important mechanism of communication that is radio will no longer be at our disposal to alert the community and to create solidarity in times of emergency. From our own experiences, we know that when there are persecutions, kidnappings, threats, attacks and all the other acts of violence, radio is our primary means of communication.Therefore, the intention of this latest act of sabotage is to silence the voice of the Nasa people, to weaken the political and organizational process, and the ability to react immediately to acts of violence in our territory. This is already evident in the resguardo of Munchique, where we currently have an entire family disappeared-- the Sanchez-Serna family; Florentino Sanchez, 55, Aminta Serna, 47, and Carol Ximena Sanchez, 12.

Precisely at a time when we need this important communication medium to move the community in search of this family, we cannot count on the station to carry out our work more effectively. Furthermore, we currently have information about diverse acts of terror, mobilization and defamation being planned against the indigenous processes, specifically against the resguardos of Corinto, Tacuey, and Huellas-Caloto, among others.

These are actions that present themselves with different justifications, they are nefarious crimes carried out by actors who hide themselves from the public, with the objective of intimidation and terror. We denounce these acts of aggression with anticipation, come from where they may, considering that they only benefit those people who want to rob and displace us of our territory, and they work against the interests of the popular struggle, for the dignity that we defend through the agenda of the Social and Community Minga, la Minga Popular.For all the reasons cited above, we reject the sabotage carried out against the indigenous movement, the Communication Team of ACIN, and specifically, against Radio Payumat, because these acts once again prove the systematic strategies of repression and defamation being carried out against the indigenous communities of northern Cauca.

Finally, we put out a call to the indigenous authorities for their help in investigating these acts and catching those who are responsible, and to the national and international community, to denounce this aggression against our process and to mobilize the economic resources of support that might help us to recuperate the equipment that was damaged.We are victims of an integral plan of aggression that undoubtedly emanates from all the armed actors in our territories. In the name of the struggle of the people for a country without owners, we reject these actions, come from where they may!
Tejido de Comunicacion y Relaciones Externas para la Verdad y la Vida-ACIN Santander de Quilichao, diciembre 15 de 2008.
An earlier photo during the "Minga" march to Bogota. Members of the Tejido de Comunicación (Communications network of the Association of Indigenous Councils of Northern Cauca) preparing for the assembly.

Report by Mario Murillo from Colombia: Attack on CRIC

This morning, at about 4:00am, on the road between Inza, Tierradentro, and Totora, on indigenous territory, the official car of the Regional Indigenous Council of Cauca, CRIC, was shot at 19 times by a column of the Third Division of the Army, fatally wounding the driver, Edwin Legarda Vazquez, Quilcua's husband. Quilcua is the Chief Counsel of CRIC, and one of the most visible leaders of the recent Indigenous and Popular Minga that began on October 11th, culminating in a massive march and rally in downtown Bogota¡ on November 21st.

Three bullets penetrated Legarda, who did not survive the emergency surgery he was given after being rushed to San Jose Hospital in Popayan, the departmental capital.

But most people close to CRIC believe the bullets were really meant for his wife, who apparently was just returning from Geneva where she had been participating in the United Nations Human Rights Commission sessions on Colombia. She was not in the car when the attack occurred.

Ernesto Parafan, the lawyer for CRIC, believes it was a deliberate act committed against the organization, and specifically an attempt on Quilcua's life by the government's security apparatus. According to the indigenous leadership, Quilcua, along with other prominent leaders, has received numerous death threats in recent months, especially during the six weeks of mobilization and protests that captured the attention of both national and international public opinion.....

Silencing the Truth in Northern Cauca
The senseless tragedy befalling Quilcua, her family, CRIC and the entire indigenous community of Colombia is currently being reported peripherally by the corporate national news media such as El Tiempo, Caracol Radio and other sources. However, one media outlet where it is not currently being reported is on the community radio station of the Nasa people of northern cauca, Radio Payumat, licensed to the ACIN.Over the weekend, the station's transmitter equipment, and antenna were severely damaged in an act of sabotage by as of yet unnamed actors, although the community refers to the perpetrators as the same forces of terror that continue to try to silence the indigenous movement with acts of violence. ACIN has denounced the latest assault on their primary communication vehicle on its website, stating that it is part of an ongoing process of intimidation and fear:

"Not coincidentally, these prior acts of sabotage have occurred at the precise time that our communities were initiating major mobilizations and important actions against the armed actors that constantly provoke war in our territories. Therefore, the assault against our community radio station is not an isolated incident, but is part of a deliberate strategy of silencing the indigenous movement of northern Cauca, because the radio station is the most important medium within the community. It allows us to listen to one another, to discuss important issues, reflect on them, make decisions in the interest of the community, and take actions collectively in defense of life and of our territory."This is a photo, taken in 2007 of Mario Murillo and the staff of Radio Payumat, whose transmitter was destroyed in the recent violence.

It is understood by most observers that the indigenous communities that have been most successful over the years at confronting the myriad threats to their autonomy throughout the country, are those with the strongest organizational structures, legitimized by being in a constant dialogue with the base. These are the same communities that continue to play the role of interlocutor with other, non-indigenous actors, be they state institutions, different social sectors like the peasant or trade union movements, and international solidarity organizations.

And not surprisingly, many of these communities, like the cabildos that make up ACIN, maintain their own, independent media channels as essential components of their collective resistance. These community media channels spring from a long tradition of grassroots, independent, citizens' media projects that have emerged throughout Colombia over the past 35 years, and that coalesced alongside broad based social movements with the rewriting of the Constitution in 1991. Naturally, these community-based media are only as effective as their organizations capacity to successfully confront the destructive, militarist, and undemocratic models that surround them. In the long run, strong organizational bases make them more secure and protect them from the inevitable, reactionary backlash, given the high levels of violence that has always been directed towards independent voices in Colombia. But sometimes that high level of organizing is not enough to prevent the kind of sabotage that occurred over the weekend.

"Those who carried out this act of sabotage knew what they were doing," said Dora Muñoz, Coordinator of the Radio station. She added “all of this points to a systematic wave of terror. I'm afraid we're only just beginning to see what may come in the coming days and weeks, directed against us."

The Nasa communities of Cauca, with their long trajectory of mobilization spearheaded by CRIC and ACIN, in the spirit of constructing sustainable, democratic alternatives, are working alongside truly revolutionary, transformative practices in communication. Radio Payumat happens to be one of the national models of these transformative communication practices, rooted in indigenous traditions of bottom-up consultation and community reflection. However, it is not supported in any way by state institutions.

If there were some state communication policies that were in defense of the rights of the people, the immediate reaction of the government would have been to repudiate these acts of sabotage and provide some resources to support the radio station's efforts, efforts that we depend on for our security and well being while we are under constant attack," said Ezequiel Vitonas, a member of the council of chiefs of ACIN.

Today, December 16th, 2008, on the 17th anniversary of the massacre of 20 Nasa on the Nilo estate, on the same day that the husband of CRIC's chief spokesperson was killed by a fusillade of Army bullets, ACIN's radio station remains off the air due to ruthless acts of sabotage.

For more information go to Mario Murillo's blog from Colombia: http://mamaradio.blogspot.com/
or the CRIC site: http://www.cric-colombia.org/noticias/?content=detail&id=208

Guatemala-- Community Station Raids

Rosendo Pablo Ramirez, 34, and his five-year-old daughter, Abeth, beside a wireless antenna/transmitter. http://www.culturalsurvival.org/node/8132
Promoting the Rights, Voices, and Visions of Indigenous Peoples
If there's a model of hope for the world's indigenous peoples, it is the town of Todos Santos Cuchumatnin in northwestern Guatemala. The Mayans who live here still wear their traditional clothing with pride and practice their traditional ceremonies and customs, and 95 percent of the population still speaks Mam. At the same time, the people of Todos Santos also participate vigorously in the larger society and have a thriving economy. The key to this indigenous success story is Radio Qman Txun, the town's community radio station.

But in recent weeks police have confiscated equipment at four radio stations near Todos Santos. Radio Qman Txun, along with all the other community radio stations in Guatemala, is at extreme risk. The Guatemalan constitution guarantees to the right to community radio, but the national telecommunications law does not, and government forces are using the pretext of this law to shut down the stations and cut off this vital cultural lifeline. This assault on Mayan culture has to stop, and right now we have a unique chance to do it: a new telecommunications bill has been introduced in the Guatemalan Congress, and recent elections resulted in 94 (of 158) new members of Congress. We have a very short window of time to reach these new legislators before they are swamped with conflicting agendas. For the new bill to pass, 80 legislators must vote for the bill. Currently, we have the support of 24; we need 56 more.

Government's Propaganda vs. Indigenous Media Perspectives

Achi Bedea, the virtual radio voice of ONIC (www.onic.org.co)

Saturday, October 18, 2008
Media Representations of Popular Mobilizations Ignore the Movement'sMessage
By Mario A. Murillo (Bogotá, Colombia)

Six days into the Indigenous and Popular Mobilizations in Cauca (and the rest of Colombia), and it is fair to say that the propaganda war is well underway. And so far, it looks like the government of Alvaro Uribe is winning.

On Friday, the President held another press conference stating that they had “clear evidence” that the mass popular protest in Cauca was being controlled by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, FARC. The Commander of the National Police, General Óscar Naranjo, stated unequivocally that the Sixth Front of FARC was behind the disturbances. And at the Palacio Nariño, the Minister of Social Protection, Diego Palacio, stated, with a straight face, “the government continues to respect social protest and mobilization, as long as it is for civil causes,” adding that the sugar cane workers strike and the indigenous mobilizations of the past few days contain the presence of “destabilizing forces.”

These words are echoing throughout the media as I write this, and will undoubtedly go on for hours on the radio and TV broadcasts, as well as the websites of RCN and Caracol, the two mega-giants of Colombia’s mass-commercial media. The government’s claims are also among the top stories in the front-page of El Tiempo, and other major national and regional newspapers, and it has almost become conventional wisdom in the last few days because of the capacity of the Uribe Administration to set the agenda, present its arguments to domestic journalists with indignation and authority, and come off as the victim once again.

And the indigenous movement’s demands for justice are set aside as they face off against the Colombian Army and Police in La Maria, while their leaders are forced to deny the charges directed against them by those in authority. Who do you believe?

Looking over the last few days of news coverage on some of the major news sources, the imbalance of perspectives is unbelievable. On Friday alone, I scoured through over 25 news articles and dispatches on the websites of RCN, Caracol, El Tiempo, El Liberal and Noticias Uno, the first three being the media of record in the country, with a massive reach that is unchallenged, the latter two representing a local newspaper from southern Colombia, and an independent, national news channel that provides some of the most comprehensive investigative reporting in all of Colombia. Naturally, many other media are covering the developments in the south, and it will take some time to filter through it all.

What was most telling of this brief scan of these news media outlets was the wide array of sources that were cited providing the government’s perspective, and the very few voices that were cited providing that of the indigenous movement. President Uribe, General Naranjo, Minister Palacio, as well as the director of the DAS, Colombia’s equivalent of the FBI, María del Pilar Hurtado, were quoted repeatedly throughout the sample, stating again and again how they have exposed this nefarious plan to topple the Uribe government, manifested in both the sugar cane workers strike and the indigenous protests.

Hurtado was quoted in one report in El Tiempo saying that “the cane workers strike in Valle del Cauca and Cauca contained the participation of foreigners who were looking to destabilize the government,” without providing any names or other evidence. The accusations about the FARC’s role in the indigenous protests appeared in 19 of the 25 articles I collected in this limited period, with at least ten not even presenting the indigenous community’s response (I should point out that as I was going through these news articles, I had Caracol Radio turned on in my desk, and over a period of about two hours, the same correspondent reporting from the Presidential Press conference came on at least four times, with dramatic soundbites from the President and Minister Palacio). No doubt, the government’s message was getting out through its communication channels.

On the other hand, the sources used from the indigenous movement were very limited. The one voice that was heard/quoted again and again was that of Daniel Piñacué, a Nasa leader from Belalcázar, in Tierradentro, Cauca, who has a long history in the indigenous movement, but who was not one of the principal organizers of the mobilization. He was quoted in several of the articles in this small sample, stating “that the mobilization will continue,” and that “we will continue to respect the authorities, while they provoke us.” On several occasions he denied the accusations about FARC infiltration in the movement, but only after the case was already made by several of the above-mentioned government officials.

On several reports from RCN Radio we heard the voice of Daniel Piñacué’s brother, Jesus, one of the most visible indigenous personalities in the country, having served on the Senate for several terms. Only in one report, notably on Noticias UNO, did a voice representing the Association of Indigenous Councils of Northern Cauca, ACIN, come through in the coverage, a significant oversight given that ACIN was one of the main organizations behind the protest. They and CRIC, the Regional Indigenous Council of Cauca, have been putting out communiqués and reports for weeks about the march, and have been calling on the government to meet with them to discuss their demands, but to no avail.

Meanwhile, the entire narrative contained within the press coverage of the past several days remained stuck on the battles unfolding on the Pan American highway, and who was to blame for the violence. Television images have shown the army and police using gunfire, which in a sense refutes the government’s claims that no live fire has been used on the protesters. But again, commanders on the ground have been given top priority, presented as the voice of reason against a horde of indigenous protesters running wild.

The coverage has been fundamentally about the violence, while the underlying reasons for the mobilization have been relegated to the trash bin of history. The concerns and demands of the popular movement were made completely irrelevant. It is difficult to imagine that the media workers covering this story are not even partially aware of the issues the communities are raising in the protests, but in some of the coverage the ignorance comes across loud and clear. For example, in one report in El Tiempo, which to its credit was about the International Federation of Human Rights’ criticism of Uribe’s handling of the protests, the author states: “The Indians initiated the encounter last week in commemoration of 516 years since the discovery of America, what they call the displacement.”

Nowhere in the piece, or in any other articles I tracked in this sample, were the five points being put forth by the indigenous movement mentioned, even in passing. If even a fraction of the movement’s fundamental concerns were made known to the public in the reporting, and the fact that their main purpose for the mobilization was to start a dialogue with the government about these concerns, the repressive response from the government to the protests probably would have been a lot clearer – and indeed much more intolerable- for the average viewer.

The movement is not remaining silent, but very few media are really paying close attention to what they’re saying. If one were to read from the missive the “Popular Minga” released on Thursday, their arguments are pretty clear and make perfect sense within the current context. For example, in response to the constant accusations that FARC is behind the movement, they write: “Let us be clear: If there are Indians involved in the insurgency, or any other armed group, it is a personal decision of theirs that goes against our organizational and community process.”

The communiqués and the actions of the movement have always taken a position of autonomy vis a vis the guerillas. The ACIN and CRIC have publicly denounced FARC for its incursions into its territories. Nevertheless, the Uribe government continues to make the unsubstantiated link in an attempt to avoid any dialogue with the communities. This fact does not come through in any of the coverage whatsoever, leaving the audience in a permanent state of being misinformed.

Taking it a step further, the indigenous movement is always trying to make the point about the “dark forces” behind the current regime, something that the news media consistently overlook. The same government that accuses the movement of being manipulated by FARC is in many ways illegitimate in the eyes of the popular movement, as they expressed clearly in their missive released on Thursday. Perhaps one day we will see the news media echo these claims as often as they present the charges of the government against the movement:
“The majority of the members of Congress that support the government of President Uribe, those legislators who have elaborated and approved the laws that displace us of our rights and our liberties, occupy their official spaces with the backing of paramilitary groups, and are involved in the Para-politics scandal currently under investigation. Neither they nor the laws they have approved have any degree of legitimacy.”

The reasons for the protests, which are based on a profound critique, not only of the current government but of the entire system itself, are not elaborated on in the media coverage for the obvious reason that it goes against the interests of those same media, and the political class they serve.

A lot has been written about how the commercial mass information and cultural industries continue to perpetuate profound myths about Colombian democracy and society. This is done on several levels, most prominently in the way reporters, editors, commentators and the like accept the institutional definitions provided by official sources to frame the so-called fringes of society. For generations, this marginalization has also been manifest in the way state institutions have limited the spaces whereby these dissenting community voices may be heard, although precisely because of the years of organizing around media and democracy, this latter approach has been curtailed considerably. Colombia, despite its very fragile democratic institutions, has a long tradition of community, citizen's based media projects that consistently challenge the corporate media.

The indigenous communities currently mobilizing throughout the country around five basic points have their own media channels, and are utilizing them extensively as the current crisis unfolds. There are 26 indigenous radio stations around the country licensed as public interests broadcasters, plus a constellation of other smaller, low-power community stations broadcasting to local indigenous communities.

In the department of Cauca, the indigenous media are perhaps the most effective and well organized, particularly that of the ACIN, whose communication network includes one public interest station in Santander de Quilichao, two community stations – one in Toribio and the other in Jambaló – a smaller, low-power station in Canoas, plus a video production team and an elaborate website (www.nasa_acin.org). The National Indigenous Organization of Colombia, ONIC, also has its own website, which includes a virtual radio station, Achi Bedea, which for the last several days has been streaming the voices of indigenous activists from every region of the country.

These and other indigenous media outlets are linked to the broader network of national, alternative media, such as IndyMedia-Colombia, SICO, SIPAZ, La Red de Prensa Alternativa del Sur del País, among many others. They have been working feverishly in the last week to present an alternative narrative to the corporate media.

In many respects, they have been successful in gathering support on an international level, and getting NGOs and other human rights groups to pay attention. I would argue they have not been as successful in getting progressive and independent media outlets in the U.S. to pay attention. Unlike developments in Oaxaca a few years ago, which received considerable coverage by the independent media movement up north, this latest struggle in Colombia is barely on the radar screen of media such as Democracy Now, Pacifica Radio and Alter-Net, media that are completely caught up with the presidential campaign in the U.S. In this regard, the alternative media movement and the social sectors they represent here in Colombia has a long way to go in terms of penetrating the agenda of like-minded folks in the U.S.

The bigger question at the moment is whether or not the indigenous community and alternative radio stations and media networks in Colombia can counter-act the damaging effects of the mainstream media’s overwhelming tendency to give an unfiltered voice to the official authorities, especially on radio and on television news. It is part of a pattern that has gone on for many years in the Colombian news media that is not easy to break.

When it comes to coverage and representation of indigenous communities, the tendency of the mass communication media has been consistent: they either ignore the communities by making them invisible, clump them all together in a process of homogenization, thereby negating their diversity and complexity, or present them as nothing more than passive actors, the poor, defenseless victims of an unjust system – “el pobre indio.” There is also the more benevolent yet equally harmful tendency of celebrating their exotic-ness, embracing the novelty of their different forms of dressing, their spiritual and healing practices, or their internal justice system, without really understanding the significance of each.Radio host of Voces de Nuestra Tierra, community radio in Jambaló, Cauca, promoting the mobilization two days before its start.

Meanwhile, when the communities take matters into their own hands in acts of massive protest and mobilization, as they are currently doing, the dominant media usually represent these situations as acts of criminality, emphasizing their tendency to break the law–block highways, occupy territory “illegally,” etc.–as a way to address their grievances. The unsubstantiated association with “dark forces of terror,” meaning the FARC guerillas, becomes the accepted message that is very difficult to refute for the people directly involved in the confrontations.

These faulty patterns of media coverage leave the audience with the perennial question, why would people behave like this if they can employ the legitimate instruments of the democratic system to promote their interests and seek redress from the dominant society? I’ve heard it repeated by many people here in Colombia, even those one would normally consider to be enlightened: “Those Indians in Cauca are always looking for trouble, and they constantly want more.”

The current backlash against indigenous organizations that are on the upswing under the Uribe administration has made it much more difficult for the movement to put forward its message of social transformation through peaceful means to the broader public, especially through mainstream channels. This is connected to the fact that, with very few exceptions, the Colombian mass media rarely if ever represent the complex organizational structures of indigenous communities, characterized by deliberative consensus building, grassroots participation, and leadership accountability.

All of this should not be surprising, given the institutional structures that have for decades characterized the Colombian media, structures specifically put in place by very powerful private and state interests who are naturally threatened by the kinds of issues being raised by the communities and their allies in the popular movement. I’ll have more on this in a future post.


Luis Evelis Andrade, president of ONIC, with Roberto Cobaria, U'Wa council of chiefs, at ONIC press conference on October 15th.

The Indigenous Association Website is Shut Down in Colombia

The website of ACIN, the Association of Indigenous Councils of Northern Cauca, has been shut down, limiting their ability to communicate to the world about on-going clashes with special forces police in the area. There are reports of several wounded indigenous activists in La Maria, where the communities have been mobilized since Sunday, as well as reports of two deaths.
Activists are asking people to contact the Colombia government representatives to protest this censorship. For the present, information can be obtained at the CRIC web site: http://www.cric-colombia.org
Nos han bloqueado www.nasaacin.org . Por favor sigan insistiendo y exijan que el Estado colombiano respete el
derecho a la comunicación. Estamos subiendo la información que podemos a la página del CRIC www.cric-colombia.org.

Por favor publiquen y reenvíen todo lo que reciban de nosotros para que no nos silencien, mientras nos masacran.
Tejido de Comunicación y Relaciones Externas para la
Verdad y la Vida
Asociación de Cabildos Indígenas del Norte del Cauca -
ACIN
Telefax: 0928 - 290958 - 293999
Email: acincauca@yahoo.es
Web: www.nasaacin.org
Santander de Quilichao Cauca -Colombia

From Mario Murillo:
As I write this, over 12,000 indigenous activists and representatives of other popular and social sectors of southern Colombia are urgently congregating in the “Territory of Peace and Coexistence” in La Maria Piendamó, in Cauca, confronting a massive presence of state security forces who have been ordered to dislodge them.

The popular mobilization began on October 12th, and was called to protest the militarization of their territories, the US-Colombia Free Trade Agreement, and the failure of the government of President Alvaro Uribe to fulfill various accords with the indigenous communities relating to land, education, and health.

On Monday, as expected, the communities participating in the indigenous protest blocked a portion of the Pan American Highway that connects the cities of Popayán and Santander de Quilichao, in the department of Cauca, in an act of civil disobedience meant to force the government to meet with them to discuss some of their demands.

Instead, what we’ve seen over the last two days are serious confrontations between special-forces police units and the communities assembled, with several indigenous activists severely wounded, one possibly fatally, in the ensuing clashes. These unfolding developments come just days after two other Nasa Indians – Nicolás Valencia Lemus and Celestino Rivera - were assassinated by unidentified gunmen late Saturday night and into Sunday morning, a few hours before the start of the mobilization, bringing the total number of indigenous activists killed in the last three weeks throughout Colombia to 11.