For nearly four decades, Colombia has been embroiled in a civil war. After almost a year of off-and-on negotiations, peace talks began again last month between government officials and guerrilla leaders. But no end to the conflict is in sight.
In the past 10 years, more than 35,000 people have died in a conflict that began when Marxist rebel groups fought for the rights of peasant farmers. Armies of insurgents have massacred campesinos to gain control of drug-growing regions. Militants have killed social activists working on peace efforts. And there have been thousands of street murders, some involving corrupt police officers.
It is a war largely funded by profits from Colombia's drug traffic, which supplies 80 percent of the world's cocaine. Bogota is seeking as much as $1.5 billion dollars in U.S. assistance. In 1999, Colombia received $289 million, but the Clinton administration has indicated it does not want U.S. money to be used to fight the rebels. Meanwhile, average Colombians yearn for peace. Last month, millions there marched in a massive anti-war protest.
Among the human-rights activists working for peace is attorney Agustin Jimenez Cuello, president of the Committee in Solidarity with Political Prisoners. The CSPP assists political prisoners, including those accused of guerrilla activity, who are at times detained without trial.
Jimenez, 35, was in Chicago recently to speak to members of the Chicago Religious Leadership Network on Latin America.
How is your organization viewed by the government, especially in light of your defense of those accused of guerrilla activities?
We want the government to recognize that our work is constitutional and to also recognize that we are independent of the guerrillas. The problem is at times there are some authorities, mostly military leaders, who pretend that our legal defense of accused guerrillas means that we are auxiliaries of the guerrillas.
The Colombian military does not understand that in a democratic environment everyone has a right to a legal defense. At times, they confuse us with the people we defend.
I am a civil person and I am not in favor of arms, and I deserve the respect of the government and military authorities.
What are the conditions of the prisoners you represent?
They are in very difficult conditions, because they share jail space with all the other prisoners. They are not in special wings, but with the rest of the jail population, which puts them at greater risk. They are living in a situation of great danger in jail due to violence and threats from prisoners who are paramilitaries.
The guerrilla group known by the Spanish acronym FARC, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, is responsible for a significant amount of the violence in Colombia. According to Amnesty International, 73 percent of politically motivated killings were carried out by right-wing paramilitary groups, 17 percent by the guerrillas and 10 percent by state security forces. How do you separate the violent actions of the guerrillas from those taken by the paramilitaries and other groups?
What we have seen is that most of the worst atrocities have been committed by the paramilitaries. This is a fact that worries us because there are increasingly stronger acts against civilians.
But people have also died at the hands of the guerrillas. This also worries us that they take civilians as a method of their war. There was the case of the hijacking of an airplane and the kidnapping at the church. We have said that the guerrillas should not take unarmed civilians as part of their conflict. It is very troubling.
The Colombian government is seeking as much as $1.5 billion in U.S. aid. Is there a need for additional funding and do you think it will help fight the war on drugs?
In Colombia there has been about 12 years of the war on drugs and instead of reducing drug production it has increased. To me, this is clear proof that you can't end the drug trafficking problem with a war.
I think that a more integral solution is needed to close the legal and judicial holes under which the drug traffickers operate. There is a social problem in Colombia and in the U.S. that creates sectors that push the consumption of drugs and that allows drug traffickers to act with impunity.
The most important thing is not the war on drugs but that there should be different conditions so that the drugs are not a business. In Colombia, drugs should not be the only way for the campesinos to make a living.
The Colombian army says it wants to combat drugs. But I don't think that is its intention. The intention of the Colombian army is to use the money to strengthen itself and to fight the guerrillas.
Colombians are not interested in prolonging the war. Colombians want a political solution and an end to the conflict.
Do you think the drug problem is resolvable?
In the short term it is not possible to eliminate the problem, but it can be reduced. Looking toward the future, I think that it is possible to have a worldwide accord to define what to do about the drug problem. It is necessary to think of more radical solutions. For example, make drugs legal if it is possible to control consumption. It is not only the responsibility of the Colombian community, but also of North American industry and policymakers.
We think that the war on drugs has turned into a business, a business that produces advantages for all of those that are interested in our war. For example, there are industries that profit by producing weapons and producing chemicals to fumigate the drug crops.
What alternatives are there for the campesinos to earn a living?
There are some areas where the cultivation of new products could be explored. There could be an accord among different countries interested in fighting drugs that could stimulate changes in cultivation.
For example, France has proposed the purchase of palmito, which is a natural food product produced in the zone where drugs are dominant. But any of the Colombian products-tomatoes, fruits, grains-could be more widely cultivated and sold on the international market.
Last month, millions of Colombians demonstrated against the violence and war plaguing your country. What did that demonstration symbolize?
That demonstration was not a demonstration against the government. It was not a demonstration against the guerrillas. It was a demonstration in support of peace and that is very important. The media tries to paint an image of supporting the war, but public opinion resists it. The people are for the peace negotiations. We want to be able to express ourselves and to have our opinions taken into account on how to change our country and how to have a better Colombia.
It will be difficult to achieve peace, but there also are many people interested in achieving peace. Every day there is more international support. This gives us hope that we will achieve peace with social justice for Colombia-a peace that means a social transformation so that all Colombians can live together.