This is part one of our Putumayo Series, sharing
information with our grassroots community about
the on-the-ground reality of U.S. policy in
Colombia.
Witness for Peace has been working in Colombia
since 2000, when Plan Colombia brought major
U.S. government investment-- 80% of which was
military funding--to a conflict-ridden country.
Over the next weeks, WfP-Colombia will tell the
story of Putumayo, the Colombian province that
was home to the initial push of Plan Colombia in
2000 and continues to be a focus of U.S. policy
in Colombia. These emails bring on-the-ground
testimonies about the impacts of US policy in
Colombia and help you to take action to improve
the situation in Putumayo.
Putumayo History:
Located
in southern Colombia on the border with Ecuador
and Peru, the province of Putumayo
is largely covered by Amazon rainforest. This
moderately populated land is rich in
biodiversity, water, mineral wealth and has a
significant indigenous population, including 12
indigenous ethnic groups.
Since the 16th century Putumayo has
been a focus of resource extraction. First,
quinine and gold, then lumber and rubber, and in
1963 oil extraction began in the region. The oil
boom brought both violence and royalties. Yet
the royalties that are not lost to corruption
have brought only minimal infrastructure
investment to an otherwise abandoned territory.
The FTA and the US's export-driven model for
failure:
In the early 2000's the U.S. Agency for
International Development (USAID) in Colombia
provided substantial funding for Putumayo due to
a congressional concern about drug production
and trafficking in the region. Unprepared for
the substantial level of funding and the
outrageously short timeline for implementation,
USAID scrambled to put together some projects
following a model of export-oriented
development.
One of USAID's projects was the heart of palm
processing plant, where farmers who transition
from coca to heart of palm crops can sell this
delicacy for canning and marketing in
supermarkets in Colombia and abroad.
Unfortunately, the factory has had a series of
problems, including a lack of demand and
difficulty in transporting the crop to the
factory.
"They
want us to stop growing coca, so they offer us
'development'. They offer us crops that don't
support our food sovereignty, but rather are
export crops. Peppercorn, heart of palm,
chocolate, exotic flowers. I planted 10 acres of
heart of palm. Now the factory they supported
won't buy it and all I have to feed my family is
heart of palm. It has no nutrients and tastes
bad."
-Heart of palm farmer in Putumayo.
In Colombia and worldwide, the U.S. is promoting
an export-based economic development. U.S.-based
agribusiness wants to export staple crops - such
as corn, wheat, rice, chicken, while other
countries specialize in what the U.S. doesn't
produce: tropical goods. The problem, of course,
is that staples always have a market, while in
tough times, people cut back their tropical
fruit consumption and market prices consequently
fluctuate violently.
The
export-driven model also threatens local food
sovereignty and security.
Experience in Mexico and elsewhere indicates
that with this model farmers are unable to
compete with U.S. subsidized goods, and
therefore have no choice but stop producing
staple foods and move to the tropical
specialties (or coca). When the international
prices of the staples rise, there is no longer
local, affordable production, and people go
hungry.
These are just some of the difficulties that the
proposed Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the
U.S. and Colombia poses to the small-scale
farmers of Colombia. The FTA would also make
reduced trade barriers permanent, allow for
easier U.S. investment and resource extraction
in Colombia, and strengthen intellectual
property rights on medicines and biodiversity.
Over the past few years, when discussing the
U.S.-Colombia FTA, Democrats have generally
expressed concern regarding violence against
trade unionists. This violence is an additional
unfair burden on workers and unfair competitive
advantage that lowers wages while discouraging
unionizing. Beyond the real concerns about
human rights, however, we see that the FTA is
also a threat to the economic and social rights
of Colombians. For this reason, WfP is
organizing to stop the FTA for good. To read
more about the FTA, see
Witness for Peace's new FTA fact sheet.
As you know, despite the congressional
leadership's disapproval, President Bush has
sent the U.S.-Colombia FTA up for congressional
consideration. Thanks to all of you who
responded to our call for action! While we were
happy to see congressional Democrats rebuke the
Bush Administration by removing the expedited
timeline, we are deeply concerned that corporate
pressure could lead Congress to pass the FTA
unless we
keep up the pressure.
To get plugged into local organizing in your
community and region contact us at
jess@witnessforpeace.org or see our
contact list.
Only through on-going grassroots organizing can
we convince our legislators of the need for fair
and just trade and economic policies. Work with
your networks - your faith community, your
neighborhood group, and your friends - to
educate your community and to put pressure on
your legislators to work for fair trade policies
and to vote No on the U.S.-Colombia FTA if and
when it comes for a vote.
Please
forward this
email to
friends, colleagues, and other interested
parties. Also encourage them to join Witness
for Peace's email list to continue receiving
Colombia Putumayo updates and other important
information.
