Colombian Protestant Church leaders’ letter to the U.S. House of Representatives:

by Global Ministries | published on Oct 10, 2014

“We are hungry, but the food does not come—only weapons.”

The following letter is from two leaders of the Protestant Council of Colombian Churches’ (CEDECOL) Commission for Restoration, Life and Peace. As CEDECOL encompasses 70% of the Protestant Churches throughout Colombia, these church leaders speak for a population largely ignored in this officially Catholic nation.

“We are hungry, but the food does not come—only weapons.”

When Congress passed Plan Colombia in 2000, we alerted U.S. churches to the negative consequences U.S. military assistance to Colombia would have on our nation and people. Now, five years later, we are obliged to confirm the fulfillment of our predictions given the escalation of Colombia’s internal armed conflict.

In the five years of Plan Colombia’s life span, we’ve suffered the assassination of more than 70 pastors and leaders of different denominations across the country. Three hundred and fifty churches have been closed by order of the armed groups, by bombings, by fumigations or because of fear of combat. Hundreds of families have been displaced. Our pastors have been kidnapped and others are in exile. Thousands have died, thousands of life projects destroyed, and thousands of hectares of jungle, fertile soil and rivers have been contaminated by fumigations.

Our church members are among the victims of detrimental health effects caused by aerial spray targeting illicit crops. For example, in the department of Putumayo, epicenter of Plan Colombia’s counter-drug initiative, children in our preschool facility for victims of violence demonstrate the typical symptoms attributed to fumigations: respiratory problems, skin ailments, and vomiting. We have also received reports of miscarriages. The food crisis is also aggravated by fumigations destroying sustenance crops. Despite the damage done, the Narcotics Control Agency reports that there has not been a meaningful reduction in the amount of coca produced and that the United States continues to be the world’s greatest consumer of illicit drugs, just as they confirmed nine years ago.

The military aid sent to the Colombian government by the U.S. government through the so-called “Plan Colombia” has been more than throwing kindling on the fire.It’s been like gasoline enflaming the fire that consumes the Colombian society, prolonging and multiplying its lethal effects. The implementation of Plan Colombia with its presence of military advisors, sophisticated weaponry and airplanes and fumigation chemicals, has not helped to stop the war, but rather has increased it. The guerrilla, to match up to the military might of the army, have increased their extortion requests, kidnapping, the attacks on villages and armed actions. They participate in drug trafficking, as do paramilitary and the self-defense groups.

It is noteworthy that there are some national government officials who understand that peace can only be attained as the fruit of social justice and also work to create the appropriate conditions for a politically negotiated solution. They understand that war and violence only generate more violence and further distance us from true and lasting peace. They need encouragement from the U.S. More weapons and military aid does not do that.

Plan Colombia funding provides for a military that seeks control of the civilian population, but at the same time works in collaboration with the paramilitary groups. In rural areas the paramilitary have carried out their military incursions in church buildings. For example:

On September 4, 2004 armed men fired into a gathering of church members in the department of Putumayo, setting off a firefight that killed four people and injured another 13. Four of these 13 are now handicapped.

On May 7, 2003 in front of the “Sardi” church, armed men who appeared to belong to the Self-Defense Forces (AUC) assassinated four church members in the municipality of Tierralta, Cordoba, where the current dialogue between the government and paramilitary are being held. AUC ordered the closure of the church and the forced displacement of all church members. A church in a neighboring village, also working with CEDECOL, received and attended to the displaced families of the Sardi church.

Currently intense combat between the army and guerrilla is occurring in the department of Cauca, just north of the Nasa Project, awarded the National Peace Prize and symbol of unarmed resistance to war. In addition to the blatant disregard for indigenous autonomy, the right of the civilian population to stay out of armed conflict is being violated. A young minor from one of the CEDECOL churches is among the three casualties of these armed confrontations. Six hundred members from three CEDECOL churches are among those who have fled the violence. International and national agencies, as well as the Commission, are attending to the ensuing humanitarian crisis.

The Commission is currently present in approximately 130 municipalities across the country with more than 2,500 volunteers who carry the active light of the gospel towards dignified and abundant life, offer humanitarian relief for the victims of armed conflict, and provide conceptual tools for the transformation of conflict.

Honorable members of Congress, you carry a great responsibility on your shoulders. You are deciding the fate of thousands of Colombian lives. At this juncture, when we are under your responsibility, remember that the path of true justice paved by U.S. tax dollars must be one that offers life and peace to the world, not war, death and destruction. Do not allow your names to be on the list of those responsible for untold numbers of Colombians’ death. We believe that God has placed you in this beautiful and powerful country to bear testimony to peace and ensure that blessings, justice, and peace flow from there to the rest of the world.

Sincerely,

Ricardo Esquivia President- Commission for Restoration, Life and Peace of The Protestant Council of Colombian Churches (CEDECOL)

Peter Stucky
Member- Commission for Restoration, Life and Peace of CEDECOL
President of the Colombian Mennonite Church