Colombia: News & Updates

Twenty-five years ago, the first Fairtrade bananas appeared on supermarket shelves in Europe, imported by Fairtrade pioneer Agrofair, and grown on Volta River Estates in Ghana, which are still Fairtrade certified today. Since then, the Fairtrade banana sector has grown, as demonstrated by the now over 250 Fairtrade certified banana farms and plantations in 16 countries with more than 36,000 farmers and workers. Colombia, Dominican Republic, and Ecuador remained the top 3 largest suppliers of Fairtrade bananas for the United States in 2021. 

Cooperativa Bananera de Rio Frio (COOBAFRIO) is based in Magdalena, Colombia, and has offered Fairtrade certified bananas since 2011. Cooperative members produce around 4,000 tons of bananas a year and now sell two-thirds of that on Fairtrade terms, which include a Minimum Price that accounts for costs of production and an additional Fairtrade Premium of $1.00 a box.

Almost 100% of cooperative members report that their quality of life and economic situation has improved because of Fairtrade certification and that they have greater control over their futures and those of their families. All members said they now have greater freedom in growing their businesses and have received financial services, technical support, and access to fertilizers.

Since the Colombian peace treaty in 2016, many veterans of the civil war have taken part in a reincorporation program; many are being trained to become security guards. A multitude of security guards, including ex-combatants being retrained through the reincorporation process,  seek representation by joining  The Memoria Viva (Living Memory) Union of security guards. Following the rise of the union, many have become targets, leading to six killings of union leaders and intimidation actions. 

The article below contains an interview explaining the struggles the union is going through as well as asking for support for its work. 

On behalf of IRTF’s Rapid Response Network (RRN) members, we wrote six letters this month to heads of state and other high-level officials in Colombia, Honduras, and Guatemala,  urging their swift action in response to human rights abuses occurring in their countries.  We join with civil society groups in Latin America to: (1) protect people living under threat, (2) demand investigations into human rights crimes, (3) bring human rights criminals to justice.

IRTF’s Rapid Response Network (RRN) volunteers write six letters in response to urgent human rights cases each month. We send copies of these letters to US ambassadors, embassy human rights officers, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, regional representatives of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and desk officers at the US State Department. To read the letters, see https://www.irtfcleveland.org/content/rrn , or ask us to mail you hard copies.

As Fiscal Year 2022 is almost over, we are hearing numbers of 750 or more migrant deaths over the past twelve months. While, tragically, it does still happen that migrants die while being chased by Border Patrol agents or shot when attempting to cross the border, the majority of these deaths are a result of the so-called “prevention through deterrence” strategy that forces people to take on more dangerous routes when traveling up to the southern U.S. border to seek safety. And if they do make it through to the U.S., they are often expelled immediately or put into deportation proceedings, waiting for their hearing in Mexican emergency shelters or U.S. detention centers. Read IRTF's monthly overview of recent updates on U.S. immigration and what has been happening at the border!

https://www.irtfcleveland.org/blog/migrant-justice-newsletter-sep-2022

As the Colombian government transitions from the right wing conservative Iván Duque to the leftist Gustavo Petro, the violence and crime holds on. 

WOLA (Washington Office on Latin America), has received reports of a multitude of cases of human rights violations including shootings, assassinations displacements and death threats. On the 12th of September an armed conflict broke out in the Afro-Colombian community in the town of San Miguel, displacing 100s of families, causing power outages and lockdowns. The  Afro-Colombian General Community Council of San Juan (Consejo Comunitario General de San Juan, ACADESAN) calls on the State to defend the human rights of the community and urges the armed groups to respect human rights and laws.

Only 2 days earlier, a hitman killed the secretary of administrative affairs of the Oil Workers Union (Unión Sindical Obrera, USO) Sibares Lamprea Vargas in a drive by shooting.  The Human Rights Ombudsman (Defensoría del Pueblo) issued an Early Warning Alert, indicating that trade unionists belonging to the USO face danger due to their activities. USO members are frequent targets of death threats intimidation and sabotage in their workplace. 

On September 9th, in Surcre, the female social leader Eva Amaya Vidal was killed in her home. Vidal participated in Sucre government innovation programms and was an example of leadership for other women. An early alert was issued stating that female social leaders are often targets based on their gender. 

The The Afro-Colombian Peace Council (Consejo Nacional de Paz de Afro-Colombianos, CONPA) reports that between July 27 and August 7,  957 male and female leaders as well as human rights activists were assasinatied, 261 signers of the peace accords were killed, and 1,192 people were killed in 313 massacres. Furthermore, the CONPA reports 2,366 death threats, 555 kidnappings and 178 early warnings. CONPA urges the government to declare a state of humanitarian emergency and to seek politically negotiated solutions to the conflicts. 

A full list of the WOLA reports can be found in the article below.   

In his meeting with the United Nations Secretary Antonio Guterres, Colombia's president Gustavo Petro stated his goal to achieve total peace in his country, by restructuring the crime fighting strategy within Latin America.

Following his visit to the United Nations, Petro held a speech in Queens, stressing the difficulties Columbian emigrants are facing in the United States. 

Colombia's president Gustavo Petro announced the possibility of an "economic emergency" in Colombia due to the upcoming winter season, which could trigger a climate crisis due to the possible increase in rainy activity. 

Previous to his statement, the Colombian Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology and Environmental Studies (IDEAM) declared that the rainy season may extend until December, causing floods and landslides. 

Due to the pandemic, the heavy rains are even more likely to cause an economic emergency. 

To prevent a disaster, the president has mentioned the possibility of updating the risk maps and enable voluntary relocations.