Statement by the Anti-imperialist Camp
Colombia: Pacification will never bring peace for the people
The Colombian oligarchy breaks off the peace process with the FARC after not having succeeded in imposing its “peace” without structural changes.
On Wednesday, February 20, Colombian president Pastrana announced the definitive breaking off of the peace process with the FARC (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia-Ejercito del Pueblo – Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-Peoples Army) and gave orders for the immediate entering of troupes into the demilitarised zone of San Vicente Caguán. The pretext for this breaking off of negotiations, which had already been announced by the “anti-terrorist” crusade of US-imperialism, was the alleged kidnapping of senator Jorge Eduardo Gechem Turbay´s plane by the FARC. This event has, however, not not been confirmed to date.
It appears obvious that the Colombian oligarchy is not ready to build peace in the way the majority of the Colombian poor people desire: peace with social justice. Oligarchy seeks to pacify the country, demobilise the revolutionary opposition in order to create appropriate conditions for economic exploitation without social or political popular opposition.
Since the peace negotiation had entered into a crisis at the beginning of this year, the oligarchy has been seeking to impose new and different “methods of negotiation”. With the help of the media as well as numerous NGOs and civil society organisations, a campaign has been launched to reduce the complex problem of peace in Colombia to phrases like “humanisation of the conflict”, cease fire and the end of war, leaving aside the necessary and demanded changes of the unjust social structures, which have caused the conflict. A number of repressive measure carried out against the Communist Party of Colombia as well as the continuing massacres by paramilitary forces have clearly shown what the oligarchy wants: an appropriate climate to eliminate once and for all the popular resistance. Meanwhile the Colombian state is armed to its teeth and is carrying further violent attacks against the population through its paramilitary units of state terrorism.
The FARC as an organisation of profound and historical sense of responsibility towards their people have shown that they are not ready to commit suicide and that they are not ready to leave poor peasants, unemployed and marginalized slum inhabitants, popular human rights activists without any defence. They are not ready to accept peace without any meaning, without democracy, social justice and real independence from imperialism.
Immediate responsibility for the break up of the peace process lies in the hands of president Pastrana and the Colombian oligarchy. Measures mutually agreed upon during the peace talks have not been put into practice by the president. Several appeals by the FARC to continue the talks have been ignored. Bombing of the Caguán zone has already started. Black lists of names with alleged “guerilla collaborators” among the Caguán civil population have already appeared.
We are very well aware of the fact that imperialism and the Colombian oligarchy will launch a fierce campaign of disinformation and propaganda in order to prove the “terrorist” character of the uprising and its “lack of willingness for peace”. Moreover, we do not have any illusions in the so-called civil society and those parts of the medium layers who would have gained through peace without social changes. Also, we have to be prepared to hear many of the alleged “friend of peace” in western solidarity movements saying that “responsibility lies in the hand of both parties”. They will continue to repeat their meaningless phrases in this war of the rich against the poor that “civil society has to raise its voice”. This is nothing more than a pretext allowing to not take side in this popular struggle.
In Palestine, in the Basque Country and in Colombia it appears obvious that peace has class contents. Peace of the rich means pacification of the poor´s struggle, while peace of the poor means profound changes of social structures. This is the only form of possible, sustainable and real peace. Obviously this is unacceptable to the Colombian oligarchy and imperialism since it questions its totalitarian and exclusive power.
Together with the poor of Colombia, the peasants without land, the cocaleros, the displaced, the marginalized of the big cities and the guerrilla as political expression of the liberation struggle we, anti-imperialists from all over the world, firmly express our support for the Colombian insurrection movement. We owe our respect to their courageous decision to not cede to the pressures of “civil society” and “imperialists masked with human rights” to accept pacification, but on the contrary to continue to demand peace with social justice.
The Anti-imperialist Camp
February 22, 2002
