In response to the recent escalation of violence against civilian population and social leaders in the Colombian department of Cauca and ongoing discussions within U.S. Congress on the future of assistance for Colombia, Witness for Peace Solidarity Collective is circulating a petition calling on the U.S. Representatives to prioritize their support for peace efforts in Colombia.

Context:

Witness for Peace Solidarity Collective accompanies Black, Indigenous, and Campesino organizations in Colombia, especially in Northern Cauca.  

Following the 2016 Peace Accords, there has been a reconfiguration of armed actors fighting to control areas where campesino, Indigenous, and Black communities have lived for centuries. The internal armed conflict has worsened every year since then, claiming many lives.

The situation of social leaders in Colombia continues to be extremely worrying. Since the beginning of 2023, 127 social leaders have been murdered. The highest number of those assassinations (25) took place in the department of Cauca. In September there were at least two attacks against military infrastructure by the EMC (Estado Mayor Central) that had an impact on the civilian population, including civilian deaths. The communities that WFPSC visits share disturbing news of rising numbers of teenage youth being recruited by illegal armed groups.  

The negative impact of the U.S.-funded militarization has been felt largely by Campesino, Indigenous, and Black Communities. Last year Colombia received the largest budget for Colombia in the decade ($471.3 million), of which $40 million were earmarked for the Armed Forces. Today, the new Colombia government has proposed a new strategy based on the dialogue with illegal armed groups that has been a historical demand from communities and grassroots organizations most affected by the armed conflict.

At present, the members of the U.S. Congress are discussing the future of U.S. assistance to Colombia. The Gustavo Petro and Francia Marquez’s government have engaged in peace talks with the ELN (Army of National Liberation) and other illegal armed groups, in an effort to end the Colombian internal conflict. Ending U.S. assistance to Colombia would jeopardize the success of the peace talks.

Witness for Peace Solidarity Collective (WFPSC) and Witness for Peace Southeast (WFPSE), U.S.-based non-profits that have worked collectively in Colombia since 2000, are organizing an advocacy tour and congressional meetings with Briceida Lemos Rivera. Lemos is a Colombian human rights defender and a dedicated leader of peacebuilding projects, including the La Elvira farm and peasant women farmers university in northern Cauca, one of the regions that has been the most impacted by violence in Colombia.

Briceida is speaking on the important work the peasant farming communities are participating in as it relates to the construction of peace on reclaimed ancestral lands, the substitution of illegal crops, and ongoing educational projects. She also comes as a representative of the voices of many grass-roots communities of Northern Cauca asking the U.S. policymakers to prioritize the support for peace efforts in Colombia.