By John Lindsay-Poland Once the signature program of the U.S. drug war in Latin America, aerial fumigation of coca leaf crops is finally in deep trouble. Fumigation’s crisis comes in a moment when coca growers, like other farmers throughout Colombia, face an economic...
News
This Is Peace: “Walking The Word” in Colombia
By Chris Courtheyn "Caminando la palabra," or “walking the word,” is how Siriaco and Diego*, participants from indigenous Cauca and Guajira communities, described what we had done on our recently completed Peace And Solidarity Pilgrimage to Rodoxalí, in this war-torn...
Welcome to FOR Peace Presence!
Hello, and welcome to the brand new Fellowship of Reconciliation Peace Presence blog and news. We are blessed here at FORPP – we have a shiny new organization, with all the dynamism and drive that implies, yet we also benefit from over 10 years’ experience working...
URGENT: FOR peace award winner Ricardo Esquivia at risk
In 2008, the Fellowship of Reconciliation awarded the Pfeffer Peace Award to Ricardo Esquivia for his work in the peace movement of the High Mountain Zone of El Carmen de Bolívar, Colombia. Ricardo has recently received death threats from the paramilitary group Los...
Does Being in the Military Mean Renouncing your Conscience?
By Alejandro Parra On August 21, Bradley Manning (now known as Chelsea Manning), caught in the middle of a politicized legal process and social controversy, was sentenced to 35 years in prison, after receiving extensive media coverage for the nature of his act....
Assistance by Proxy
By Arlene B. Tickner The fact that Secretary of State John Kerry’s visit to Colombia [August 11] has gone by almost without notice generates the (false) sensation that Colombia’s close association with the United States has passed. Nevertheless, the listlessness of...
Colombia: “It’s Unacceptable that the Actions of a Few Impact the Lives of the Majority”
By Mabel Durán-Sánchez Since the beginning of the global economic downturn in 2008 governments around the world have faced protests led by popular movements. Recently there have been mass protests close to home, in Brazil. These protests were initially sparked by...
Living the Resurrection in a Culture of Death
By Shannan Vance-Ocampo Presbyterian accompaniment in Colombia “In a culture of death, we choose to live the Resurrection.” This is the phrase we hear over and over again from our church partners in Colombia as they describe how to live in a country of rampant...