Action Alert!

September 2008

SUMMARY: The U.S. Colombia-Free Trade Agreement (FTA) is stalled in the U.S. Congress but there is a possibility it may come up for a vote in a lame duck session later this year. Recently, Colombian President Álvaro Uribe and his delegates spent $2 million USD in two months promoting the FTA, while the average per capita income among Afro-Colombians is between $500-$600 a year. In its current form, the agreement constitutes an egregious violation of human rights and, in a country still engaged in a five-decade old war, would only entrench violent intersections of conflict and commerce. Action is needed to urge members of Congress to firmly oppose the FTA, demand increased security for leaders and human rights workers being attacked for defending Afro-Colombian civil rights, demand the immediate return of expropriated, ancestral territories to their rightful owners, and demand evidence of the enforcement and implementation of Law 70 (1993), the Law of Black Communities.

BACKGROUND: The passage of the FTA would provide a blank check for paramilitaries, guerrillas, drug cartels and government colluders to destroy the livelihoods of countless union workers, Afro-Colombians, Indigenous peoples and human rights defenders. Afro-Colombians in particular comprise 26% of the national population. Since the 1980s, Afro-Colombians have waged a successful movement for civil rights, which has resulted in the recognition of their collective ownership of ancestral territories as well as special cultural development protection.

Over 157 years after Afro-Colombians survived centuries of slavery and colonization, the FTA would further jeopardize their achievements and cultural and territorial autonomy.

Proponents of the FTA deceitfully parade the agreement around as some sort of affirmative action plan and claim it will foster black entrepreneurship. The reality is the agreement would only continue a cycle of neo-liberal economic policies that perpetuate inequality. Afro-Colombian collective lands are rich in natural and mineral resources, yet over 75% of Afro-Colombians live in absolute poverty. Pressures imposed by actors within and outside Colombia who view the Afro-Colombian human rights struggle as a threat to their material interests will only gain momentum.

Proponents also claim the FTA will lead the way for productive projects in agribusiness and shared areas for benefiting local communities. This is a myth clearly illustrated by the situation of Afro-Colombians in rural areas such as the Jiguamiandó and Curvaradó river basins in the Chocó Department, where Afro-Colombians have endured repeated displacement for nearly ten years. Once displaced, companies unlawfully seized Afro-descendant lands (mostly held under the collective titles granted pursuant to Law 70), then deforested the area and sowed the land with extensive cash crops, such as African palm. Community leaders and human rights defenders working to return lands violently and illegally taken over by paramilitaries and their allies have been held at gunpoint, harassed and murdered.

Finally, proponents of the FTA insist that Colombia has addressed impunity through a transformation of the judicial system, and violence against union members and worker advocates has been reduced over 70%. The reality is that murders of Colombian trade unionists continue to be a serious and worsening problem and the total number of union murders for the first eight months of 2008 now surpasses the figure for the entire previous year. In Buenaventura, a city with a majority Afro-Colombian population, union workers operate in deplorable conditions, are forced to work overtime without adequate compensation, and are subjected to terror and violence. The impunity rate for murdering a trade unionist in Colombia remains over 96 percent.

The U.S. Colombia FTA would be disastrous for Afro-Colombians and increase economic disparities throughout the country. This does not mean much for the few families and elites that would sustain record profits from raping marginalized groups and exploiting the working class. However, it means a great deal to those who believe in true justice and democracy for fellow citizens of the world.

ACTION: Recently, over 168 Afro-Colombian grassroots organizations wrote letters reaffirming their opposition to the U.S. Colombia-FTA. TransAfrica Forum stands in solidarity with Afro-Colombian civil society and recommends you call your member of Congress and senators (Capitol Switchboard 202-224-3121). Urge them to:

• Stand in firm opposition to the proposed U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement, which threatens to systematically destroy Afro-Colombian culture and civil rights. Among other concerns, the FTA would legitimize the forced removal of Afro-Colombians from their constitutionally protected lands in order to satisfy illegal, material interests.
• Demand the Colombian government speed up the return of Afro-Colombian collective territories expropriated by force and intimidation to their rightful owners.
• Demand increased security for civil society leaders involved in the Afro-Colombian land return process, who have experienced a recent resurgence of attacks by paramilitary and guerrilla groups. The government must carry out a full investigation to sanction those responsible.
• Demand evidence that the Colombian government has followed Law 70, the Law of Black Communities (1993), requiring consultation and participatory approaches in creating development plans.

TransAfrica Forum is the leading U.S. advocacy organization for Africa and the African Diaspora in U.S. foreign policy. TransAfrica Forum helped lead the world protest against apartheid in South Africa and today works for human and economic justice for African people on the continent of Africa, in Latin America and in the Caribbean. Contact us: TransAfrica Forum, 1629 K Street, N.W., Suite 1100, Washington, D.C., 2006, 202-223-1960, www.transafricaforum.org.

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