Pubdate: Tue, 27 Aug 2002 Source: New Haven Register (CT) Copyright: 2002, New Haven Register Contact: http://www.newhavenregister.com Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/292 Author: Frederick J. Streets Note: The Rev. Frederick J. Streets is chaplain of Yale University, 66 Wall St., New Haven 06511. CREATING CULTURE OF PEACE, JUSTICE IS CHALLENGE It matters to the people of Colombia who are living in an environment dominated by poverty and extreme acts of violence to know that people are interested enough to learn about the conditions under which they live and are willing to help them deal with their situation. This is what we were told by the people there many times during our visit this summer. It was my second trip to Colombia. I went as a member of the Witness for Peace/Justapaz delegation and on the behalf of the Connecticut Conference of the United Church of Christ. There are at least 2 million people - men, women, children, and the elderly - - who have been separated from their families and displaced from land and homes they own by various heavily armed, organized, violent actors throughout the country. They live in government shelters, refugee camps, on urban streets and in city dumps surrounded by high rise garbage piles. There were 20 people in one man's family. He is the only one in the family who has survived and is now living as a "displaced person." His is not an uncommon story in Colombia. But it is not Colombia's only story. Colombia is a land of beauty with a rich history and an abundance of natural resources - control over which is a dimension of the long civil war there. The decency, beauty and extraordinary gifts of the Colombian people are overshadowed by the struggle for who will control Colombia's resources and the negotiations of its geo-political relationship with the United States and other foreign governments whose agendas are not in the best interests of Colombia. We were told many times by people throughout the country that Plan Colombia is only flooding the country with more weapons, and the fumigation of farmlands and forests is destroying Colombia's natural resources while causing people to become ill and babies to be born with various kinds of defects and illnesses. Half of our delegation visited the Choice region of Colombia, which is north of Bogota near the Panama border. The majority of the people there are Afro-Colombians, many of whom are farmers who have been displaced from their mineral- and oil-rich land. In addition to this struggle, they have been fighting the affects of racism and sexism since Colombia gained independence from the domination of Spain in 1849. Colombia's history and current problems make it clear that unemployment (half of Colombia's population of 40 million people is unemployed), poverty, and the power struggle for control of the country combine to create a formidable culture of violence that affects everyone. In this context, the Mennonite Church of Colombia, the United Church of Christ, the evangelical Protestant and Catholic churches of Colombia, along with other organizations like Witness for Peace face violence and the threat of death everyday. We encourage each other through our partnership to resist the seductiveness of power and the temptation to view evil and injustice as normal, so that the will to be unjust is preferred over justice. This produces an industry based on violence. Trying to create cultures of peace and justice is one of the major challenges facing religious people around the world. In a conversation with Ricardo Esquivia of Justapaz in Colombia, I was reminded of something very important. Social justice and peacemaking are bridges by which those involved develop basic trust in one another - even with their enemies. Ricardo has often risked his life talking with various armed actors. He said: "I will talk with the devil if doing so has the potential of saving a life." No trust, no justice. No justice, no peace. We have an opportunity, as people of God wherever we are, to be ambassadors for contributing to the building of cultures of trust, justice and peace. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens