The North Shore Colombia Solidarity Committee Blog
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Monday, November 06, 2006
Report from Guajira delegation
Reply to: Avi Chomsky
Reply to: Avi Chomsky
Date: Nov 5, 2006 3:01 PM
This is a preliminary report from our October 29-Nov. 4 delegation to the Guajira, Colombia, home of the Cerrejon coal mine. I hope others from the delegation will chime in, and that Yvette (who is still there) will continue to send updates, if she can ever get an internet connection to work!
Our four days in the Guajira were absolutely packed and amazing on many levels. Our itinerary was organized by Freddy Lozano and Jairo Quiroz of Sintracarbon (the union at the Cerrejon mine), Remedios Fajardo of Wayuu indigenous rights organization Yanama, and Jose Julio Perez of the Organizacion de Comunidades Negras Territorio Hosco and the Comite Social Pro-reubicacion de Tabaco, representing the various communities affected by the mine.
We had three main agendas on the delegation: carrying out health clinics in the affected communities; carrying out a health study of the affected communities; and accompanying Sintracarbon as the union prepares to enter into contract negotiations and works to strengthen its commitment to the communities. A last-minute addition to the delegation, videographer Don McConnell, added a further component of filming the communities and recording many interviews and testimonies, which he will be using to produce a professional documentary.
We held clinics for three days, in Chancleta, Patilla, and Albania. (For efficiency's sake, we invited people from Tamaquito and Roche to the Chancleta and Patilla clinics, rather than trying to visit all of the communities.) The two heroic doctors on the delegation, Tom Whitney and Tim Bood, worked non-stop for hours and the demand was huge. The donated medications were extremely useful and much appreciated, and the money that was donated was also well-spent on antibiotics and anti-parasite meds. Tim is staying on in the Guajira for a week and will be carrying out further clinics in Los Remedios and Media Luna. I hope one or both of them will write a more detailed report.
Doctor and public health expert Claudia Llanten designed a questionnaire which she and volunteers that she trained from the delegation and from the communities administered parallel to the clinics. We surveyed the populations of Tamaquito, Chancleta, Roche, and Patilla, and also 61 households of displaced Tabaco residents in Albania. She is going to be tabulating and evaluating the results of the questionnaires, which will provide invaluable information about health and social issues affecting the communities in the mining zone.
Much of the delegation's time was filled with endless discussions how the international supporters can help both the union and the communities, and how the union can realize its growing commitment to support the rights of the communities. The union leaders who accommpanied us were shocked and moved by what they saw and heard in the communities, and each day their commitment to using their resources to engage with and support the communities' struggles seemed to redouble.
All of those involved--the delegates, the union leaders, and the people from the communities--have plans in place for how to move forward from here. Just a few highlights, and I hope others from the delegation will contribute to this discussion.
--the union is looking at ways to include in its bargaining proposal a demand regarding the communities rights to collective negotiations, collective relocation, and reparations. It is also looking at ways beyond the collective bargaining process that it can support the communities in any negotiations with the company, and other concrete ways to help the communities with their urgent needs (electricity, transportation, etc.)
--the communities are looking at ways to strengthen their collective position with respect to the company, and demand that ALL of the communities negotiate together, with participation by both the union and the international community to ensure that the "negotiations" are not manipulated by the company to divide or buy off their members.
--the international delegates are looking at ways to realize international oversight of both the union negotiations and the community negotiations, to increase the public pressure on the mine with regard to human and labor rights, and to provide material support
More to follow---
Avi
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