Many of the civilians murdered by Colombia’s armed forces and paramilitaries are family farmers. While claiming to fight narcotics and guerrillas, the Colombian army and its paramilitary allies have driven subsistence farmers off their land to make way for agribusiness. The proposed “free trade” agreement (FTA) between Colombia and the United States is the next step. If approved by the U.S. Congress, the FTA will  give wealthy investors increased power to take over those lands. In the region near Panama, paramilitary death squads and the Colombian army’s 17th Brigade violently displaced 15,000 people in 1997, killing more than 100. Sustainable farms and forests were replaced by large cattle ranches and monocrop plantations, especially oil palm.

Despite death threats, some displaced people have returned in a nonviolent effort to regain their stolen lands. While the courts delay in restoring the land, the returning communities are establishing a toe-hold in the region by forming humanitarian zones. A humanitarian zone is a living area of a few acres surrounded by a barbed wire fence. The community puts signs on the fence proclaiming that this is a civilian zone, and nobody with a weapon is allowed inside. Because threats continue, these communities rely on international attention for their survival.

WHAT TO EXPECT ON THE DELEGATION:
Half the time, we will be in Bogotá, where the climate is cool and comfortable. We will meet political analysts, human rights defenders and government officials. The rest of the time we will visit humanitarian zones in Urabá (the region near Panama) in the states of Antioquia and Chocó.

Meet with community leaders and learn about their lives and how they have created such courageous communities

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