(published in La Prensa de Minnesota, 9/30/05 — English below)
Simon Wiesenthal murió el 20 de septiembre, a la edad de 92 años.
El era sobreviviente de los campos de concentración y cazador extraordinario
de los criminales de guerra Nazis durante los ultimos 60 años, llevando
a muchos de ellos a la justicia.
Los criminales nazis huyeron de alemania después de la Segunda Guerra
Mundial, escondiendose en diferentes países. Muchos se quedaron en Argentina.
En 1954, Wiesenthal consiguió localizar e identificar en Buenos Aires
al destacado criminal nazi Adolf Eichmann, el hombre que planificó la
deportación y muerte en masa de millones de judíos en Europa.
Eichmann fue secuestrado en 1960 en la capital argentina, trasladado clandestinamente
a Israel, enjuiciado, sentenciado a muerte en 1961 y finalmente ejecutado en
1962. Wiesenthal también localizó a decenas de criminales nazis,
llevándoles a la justicia desde sus refugios escondidos en Europa, igual
que en América.
Hace dos años, Wiesenthal anunció su retiro, diciendo: "Si
hay algunos [criminales nazis] pendientes, ya son demasiado viejos y débiles
para enfrentar un juicio ahora. Mi trabajo esta hecho."
Si los criminales nazis ya son "demasiado viejos y debiles para enfrentar
un juicio," los criminales de guerra salvadoreños y guatemaltecos
y chileños y colombianos no son tan viejos. De igual forma en que los
criminales nazis huyeron a otros países, muchos de los criminales de
guerra latinoamericanos escaparon a los Estados Unidos. Adital reporta sobre
un ejemplo:
"El militar salvadoreño Nicolás Carranza enfrentará
juicio el próximo día 31 de octubre acusado de ser uno de los
líderes de los Escuadrones de la Muerte en la década de los 80.
Hoy, según Francisco Flores, miembro del Proyecto Alto a la Impunidad,
el presunto criminal vive en Nashville, Tennessee (Estados Unidos)."
El Proyecto Alto a la Impunidad, semejante al Centro Simon Wiesenthal, ayuda
a llevar criminales de guerra a la justicia. Flores, quien personalmente ha
sufrido tortura en los manos de la Policía de Hacienda salvadoreña
durante los 80, explica ""esto no lo hacemos por venganza, sino porque
nuestro pueblo debe saber la verdad." En El Salvador, la Ley de Amnistía
protege a muchos de los criminales de guerra, continuando con su impunidad.
Pero El Proyecto Alto a la Impunidad y otras organizaciones han usado las cortes
de los Estados Unidos para llevarlos a la justicia, tramitando casos civiles
contra ellos. Buscando justicia, ellos esperan que, "incluso el pueblo
estadounidense debe saber quienes son estos "vecinos" que viven en
sus comunidades."
Adios, Simon Wiesenthal/Goodbye, Simon Wiesenthal
by Mary Turck
(published in La Prensa de Minnesota, 9/30/05)
Simon Wiesenthal died September 20, at the age of 92. He was a survivor of
the concentration camps and an extraordinary hunter of Nazi war criminals during
the past 60 years, bringing many of them to justice.
The Nazi criminals fled from Germany after the Second World War, hiding in
various countries. Many relocated to Argentina. In 1954, Wiesenthal succeeded
in locating and identifying in Buenos Aires the notorious Nazi criminal Adolf
Eichmann, the man who had planned the deportation and mass murders of millions
of Jews in Europe. Eichmann was kidnapped in 1960 in the Argentine capital,
secretly transported to Israel, finally convicted and sentenced to death in
1961 and executed in 1962. Wiesenthal also located dozens of other Nazi criminals,
bringing them to justice from their hidden refuges in Europe and in the Americas.
Two years ago, Wiesenthal announced his retirement, saying: "If there are
any [Nazi criminals] still there, they are now too old and weak to stand trial.
My work is done."
If the Nazi criminals are now "too old and weak to stand trial,"
the criminals of the Salvadoran, Guatemalan, Chilean and Colombian wars are
not that old. Just as the Nazi criminals fled to other countries, so have many
of the Latin American war criminals fled to the United States. Adital reports
one example:
"The Salvadoran military officer Nicolás Carfranza will be brought
to trial on October 31, accused of being one of the leaders of the death squads
of the 1980s. Today, according to Francisco Flores, a member of Project End
the Impunity, the accused criminal lives in Nashville, Tennessee (United States."
The Project End the Impunity, like the Simon Wiesenthal Center, helps to bring
war criminals to justice. Flores, who personally suffered torture at the hands
of the Salvadoran Hacienda Police during the 1980s, explains "we do this
not for vengeance,k but because our own people ought to know the truth."
In El Salvador, an amnesty law protects many of the war criminals, continuing
their impunity. But Project End the Impunity and other organizations have used
U.S. courts to bring them to justice, filing civil cases in the courts. Seeking
justifce, they hope that, "the U.S. people as well should know who these
"neighbors" are, who live in their communities."
(published in La Prensa de Minnesota, 9/30/05 — English below)
Simon Wiesenthal murió el 20 de septiembre, a la edad de 92 años.
El era sobreviviente de los campos de concentración y cazador extraordinario
de los criminales de guerra Nazis durante los ultimos 60 años, llevando
a muchos de ellos a la justicia.
Los criminales nazis huyeron de alemania después de la Segunda Guerra
Mundial, escondiendose en diferentes países. Muchos se quedaron en Argentina.
En 1954, Wiesenthal consiguió localizar e identificar en Buenos Aires
al destacado criminal nazi Adolf Eichmann, el hombre que planificó la
deportación y muerte en masa de millones de judíos en Europa.
Eichmann fue secuestrado en 1960 en la capital argentina, trasladado clandestinamente
a Israel, enjuiciado, sentenciado a muerte en 1961 y finalmente ejecutado en
1962. Wiesenthal también localizó a decenas de criminales nazis,
llevándoles a la justicia desde sus refugios escondidos en Europa, igual
que en América.
Hace dos años, Wiesenthal anunció su retiro, diciendo: "Si
hay algunos [criminales nazis] pendientes, ya son demasiado viejos y débiles
para enfrentar un juicio ahora. Mi trabajo esta hecho."
Si los criminales nazis ya son "demasiado viejos y debiles para enfrentar
un juicio," los criminales de guerra salvadoreños y guatemaltecos
y chileños y colombianos no son tan viejos. De igual forma en que los
criminales nazis huyeron a otros países, muchos de los criminales de
guerra latinoamericanos escaparon a los Estados Unidos. Adital reporta sobre
un ejemplo:
"El militar salvadoreño Nicolás Carranza enfrentará
juicio el próximo día 31 de octubre acusado de ser uno de los
líderes de los Escuadrones de la Muerte en la década de los 80.
Hoy, según Francisco Flores, miembro del Proyecto Alto a la Impunidad,
el presunto criminal vive en Nashville, Tennessee (Estados Unidos)."
El Proyecto Alto a la Impunidad, semejante al Centro Simon Wiesenthal, ayuda
a llevar criminales de guerra a la justicia. Flores, quien personalmente ha
sufrido tortura en los manos de la Policía de Hacienda salvadoreña
durante los 80, explica ""esto no lo hacemos por venganza, sino porque
nuestro pueblo debe saber la verdad." En El Salvador, la Ley de Amnistía
protege a muchos de los criminales de guerra, continuando con su impunidad.
Pero El Proyecto Alto a la Impunidad y otras organizaciones han usado las cortes
de los Estados Unidos para llevarlos a la justicia, tramitando casos civiles
contra ellos. Buscando justicia, ellos esperan que, "incluso el pueblo
estadounidense debe saber quienes son estos "vecinos" que viven en
sus comunidades."
Adios, Simon Wiesenthal/Goodbye, Simon Wiesenthal
by Mary Turck
(published in La Prensa de Minnesota, 9/30/05)
Simon Wiesenthal died September 20, at the age of 92. He was a survivor of
the concentration camps and an extraordinary hunter of Nazi war criminals during
the past 60 years, bringing many of them to justice.
The Nazi criminals fled from Germany after the Second World War, hiding in
various countries. Many relocated to Argentina. In 1954, Wiesenthal succeeded
in locating and identifying in Buenos Aires the notorious Nazi criminal Adolf
Eichmann, the man who had planned the deportation and mass murders of millions
of Jews in Europe. Eichmann was kidnapped in 1960 in the Argentine capital,
secretly transported to Israel, finally convicted and sentenced to death in
1961 and executed in 1962. Wiesenthal also located dozens of other Nazi criminals,
bringing them to justice from their hidden refuges in Europe and in the Americas.
Two years ago, Wiesenthal announced his retirement, saying: "If there are
any [Nazi criminals] still there, they are now too old and weak to stand trial.
My work is done."
If the Nazi criminals are now "too old and weak to stand trial,"
the criminals of the Salvadoran, Guatemalan, Chilean and Colombian wars are
not that old. Just as the Nazi criminals fled to other countries, so have many
of the Latin American war criminals fled to the United States. Adital reports
one example:
"The Salvadoran military officer Nicolás Carfranza will be brought
to trial on October 31, accused of being one of the leaders of the death squads
of the 1980s. Today, according to Francisco Flores, a member of Project End
the Impunity, the accused criminal lives in Nashville, Tennessee (United States."
The Project End the Impunity, like the Simon Wiesenthal Center, helps to bring
war criminals to justice. Flores, who personally suffered torture at the hands
of the Salvadoran Hacienda Police during the 1980s, explains "we do this
not for vengeance,k but because our own people ought to know the truth."
In El Salvador, an amnesty law protects many of the war criminals, continuing
their impunity. But Project End the Impunity and other organizations have used
U.S. courts to bring them to justice, filing civil cases in the courts. Seeking
justifce, they hope that, "the U.S. people as well should know who these
"neighbors" are, who live in their communities."
El asesinato de mujeres sólo por ser mujeres, es conocido como
femicidio. Según el periódico El País, los asesinatos
de mujeres no son un fenómeno exclusivo de Ciudad Juárez.
Ya se han extendido a otras partes de México. El País
mantiene que existe algo en común entre los asesinatos que se
describen como femicidios, ya que muestran "rasgos de una crueldad
brutal." Entre 2002 y 2004, se encontraron "20 cadáveres
en Ciudad Juárez con un patrón de excesiva crueldad; en
Guanajuato (a 300 kilómetros al noroeste de México DF)
se registraron 21 casos, y en Morelos (60 kilómetros al sur de
la capital), 19 asesinatos." (El País, 7 agosto 2005). Según
la Comisión Especial de la Cámara de Diputados que investiga
los asesinatos de mujeres en Ciudad Juárez, hay problemas similares
en 14 de los 32 estados y no es posible establecer la magnitud del fenómeno.
Los senadores que investigan los casos de Ciudad Juárez piensan
que existe conexión entre los femicidios, el tráfico ilícito
de personas y la explotación sexual de niños y niñas.
La Secretaria General de Amnistía Internacional, Irene Khan,
se reunió con oficiales mexicanos durante el mes de agosto, y
les reportó que, "A pesar de las iniciativas del Gobierno
Federal y el cambio de actitud positiva por parte de las autoridades
estatales, los asesinatos de más de 20 mujeres en Ciudad Juárez
y Chihuahua en los últimos seis meses son muestra de que las
autoridades deben replantear sus antiguas estrategias con miras a que
exista verdadera seguridad y justicia para las mujeres del Estado."
Ella recomendó que la Comisión Federal Especial debe ahora
incluir a la ciudad de Chihuahua en sus investigaciones.
"Chihuahua y Ciudad Juárez son síntomas de una epidemia
de violencia contra las mujeres alrededor del mundo," sentenció
la secretaria.
El fenómeno de femicidio no está limitado a México.
Según un reporte de la agencia de noticias Cerigua de Guatemala,
"La Procuraduría de los Derechos Humanos (PDH, de ese país)
presentó el informe Muertes Violentas de Mujeres 2004, que revela
un importante aumento de casos de asesinatos de mujeres en comparación
con años anteriores, así como un leve y poco eficaz esfuerzo
por parte del gobierno para contrarrestar los efectos del femicidio."
El Procurador de los Derechos Humanos de Guatemala, Sergio Morales,
reporta que "En muchos casos las violan, las estrangulan, las acuchillan
y las golpean hasta matarlas." Las mujeres suelen morir en un contexto
de mayor violencia que los hombres.Mientras casi el 80 por ciento de
los hombres guatemaltecos que son asesinados muere de uno o dos balazos,
dos de cada tres mujeres mueren de forma mucho más sádica.
The murder of women, just because they are women, is called femicide.
According to the Spanish newspaper El País, this killing of women
is not limited exclusively to Ciudad Juárez. Now it has spread
to other parts of the country. El País maintains that the killings
called "femicides" have something in common. They show "injuries
of brutal cruelty." Between 2002 and 2004, "20 corpses [have
been found] in Ciudad Juárez with a pattern of excessive cruelty;
in Guanajuato (300 km to the northeast of Mexico City), some 21 cases
were reported; and in Morelos (60 km south of the capital), there were
19 murders. (El Pais, 8/7/05).
According to the Special Commission of the House of Deputies investigating
the murders of women in Ciudad Juárez, there are similar problems
in 14 of 32 states and it is impossible to determine the magnitude of
the phenomenon.
The senators investigating the Ciudad Juárez murders think there
is a connection between femicide and trafficking in human beings and
sexual exploitation of minors.
The Secretary General of Amnesty International, Irene Khan, met with
Mexican officials during August and reported to them that, "Despite
the initiatives taken by the federal government and the positive change
in attitude of the state’s authorities more than 20 women were
killed in Ciudad Juarez and Chihuahua in the last six months. The authorities
must rethink their strategy if there is to be real security and justice
for women here." She recommended that the Special Federal Commission
should begin to include the city of Chihuahua in its investigation.
"Chihuahua and Ciudad Juárez are symptoms of an epidemic
of violence against women around the world," the Secretary sais.
The phenomenon of femicide is not limited to Mexico. According to a
report by Cerigua in Guatemala, "The Procurator of Human Rights
(PDH) presented a report titled "Violent Deaths of Women in 2004,"
which revealed a significant increase in murders of women in comparison
to previous years, along with a slight and ineffective attempt on the
part of the government to combat the effects of femicide. "
The Procurator of Human Rights, Sergio Morales, reported that "In
many cases they are raped, strangled, stabbed and beaten to death."
The women are usually killed in a manner far more violent than men.
While about 80 percent of men killed in Guatemala are murdred with one
or two shots, two-thirds of women are killed in a much more sadistic
manner.
Hace dos meses, miles de bolivianos y bolivianas llenaban las calles de las ciudades grandes, viniendo de los campos y de las montañas para dar voz a sus demandas: nacionalización de los hidrocarburos y asamblea constituyente. Según periodista y escritor boliviano Alex Contreras Baspineiro, “la lucha es entre un pequeño grupo de oligarcas, latifundistas, terratenientes y empresarios que tienen el apoyo de las transnacionales y la embajada norteamericana contra la mayoría de la población boliviana.” La consigna de los movimientos sociales era “El Alto de pie, nunca de rodillas.”
Los bolivianos y las bolivianas llenando las calles son, por la mayor parte, indígenas. Por supuesto: el último censo nacional descubrí que el 62 por ciento de la gente mayor de 15 años de edad, se identifican como indígena.
Ellos comparten en un movimiento más grande de pueblas indígenas de las Americas, reclamando el respeto del mundo, sus derechos humanos, sus derechos sociales y económicas y su parte propio de la herencia común. Por eso, reúnen con los trabajadores y los campesinos y los estudiantes, en fin, con los movimientos sociales, rechazando las imposiciones del Fondo Monetario Internacional y el Banco Mundial, rehusando los propósitos de privatización del agua y de los minerales, de la educación y de la salud.
Se puede decir que la gente ganó una victoria en junio, cuando renunció el presidente Carlos Mesa, cómo se puede decir que los protagonistas de la “guerra del gas” de 2003 ganaron una victoria cuando renunció el presidente Gonzáles de Lozada. Pero ninguna renuncia, sin más, puede solucionar los conflictos en Bolivia. Ahora, todo el mundo espera la próxima etapa en el drama boliviana.
——-
Two months ago, thousands of Bolivians filled the streets of the largest cities, coming from the countryside and from the mountains to voice their demands: nationalization of gas and oil resources and a Constituent Assembly. According to Bolivian writer and journalist Alex Contreras Baspneiro, “the struggle is between a small group of oligarchs, large landholders, landlords and business owners who are supported by transnational corporations and by the U.S. Embassy and, in oppositioin, the majority of the Bolivian population. The slogan of the social movements was “El Alto on its feet, never on its knees.”
The Bolivians filling up the streets are, for the most part, indigenous people. Naturally — the last national census discovered that 62 percent of all people older than 15 years of age identified themselves as indigenous.
They share in a larger movement of indigenous peoples of the Americas, insisting the the world show them respect, demanding their social and economic rights and their own part of the common heritage. Because of this, they have united with workers and farmers and students, in short, with all the social movements, rejecting the impositions of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, refusing the proposals for privatization of water and minerals, of education and of health care.
One could say that the people won a victory in June, when President Carlos Mesa resigned, just as one could say that the protagonists of the “Gas Wars” of 2003 won a victory when President Gonzáles de Lozada resigned. But neither resignation, by itself, can solve the conflicts within Bolivia. Today, everyone awaits the next step in the Bolivian drama.
June 2, Altar, Mexico: Omar is the son, eighteen years old, shy but with a ready smile. His mother, Mireya, is a short, stout woman, hesitant to talk much. Omar says she worked in Veracruz as a cook and a maid, taking care of other people’s homes. He thinks she will do the same in Santa Anita, California, which is their destination. Cecella is Omar’s aunt, Mireya’s sister, and the family resemblance between them is clear. She and her husband, a quiet man who stands apart from the women and Omar, complete the family party.
The family had a business in Veracruz, selling shoes, mostly children’s shoes and sandals. Then, says Cecella, “after the bombing of the Twin Towers (9/11), the whole economy of the country fell down”. Factories in Veracruz closed. Just as the big businesses closed, so t. heir small business became heavily indebted, unable to survive. They could no longer afford to buy food and clothing and pay the light bill, so they decided to leave, to go “up there.”
Omar says he will stay in the United States for four years, save his money and go back to open his own business, selling something, maybe clothes, maybe shoes. He will be a businessman, a merchant. His aunt does not want to stay that long. Just long enough to make enough money to start their business again, she says. The grandparents are still in Veracruz. They are in good health, but you do not want to leave family.
I ask Cecella what work she will do, surreptitiously observing her carefully groomed nails. Any work, she replies. Any honorable work. When you need work, you cannot say “I will do this, but not that.” Any job that there is. And we do not want luxury, she assures me, so we will save money to go back and start a business again. And to live on while we start the business, until it begins to make money.
The family spent 24 hours on the bus, traveling from Veracruz to Altar. The next leg of the journey will take them to Sásabe. Then they will travel across the desert for three nights, maybe four. They will travel only at night because of the dangerous heat of the desert days. They have been waiting in Altar for eight days for a “friend” to arrive from Arizona to guide them across. He will come today or tomorrow, they say. Meanwhile, they sit and wait outside the church of Our Lady of Guadalupe, on the shady side, in the plaza of Altar.
I planted flowers today, lining the sidewalk with deep blue pansies and refilling the empty flowerpot on the porch with a mix of two-tone yellow and purple pansies.
I know very well that it is too early to plant flowers in Minnesota – even pansies – but I really needed to plant today, to throw a blue and yellow defiance in the teeth of death, to claim that spring is here and life is growing.
Eight days ago, my friend Mary Swenson died. She had fought a years-long battle with cancer, leaving us a gallant, faithful, often even joyous example of the way to fight and the way to finally die. One year older than me, Mary also grew up as the oldest daughter in a Catholic family. She found in the Church an inspiration to dedicate her life to social justice. Despite her differences with the institutional Church (and they were many and deep), her life was celebrated in a funeral mass in the parish where she was baptized and made her first communion and was confirmed.
Mary was a founder of the Resource Center of the Americas, where I met her more than 20 years ago. She never left the Resource Center, and all of us mourned her death during this past week.
The Pope died this week, too. And Terry Schiavo. And campesinos and soldiers in Colombia. And Iraqis and Afghans and U.S. soldiers.
Just over 25 years ago, on March 24, 1980, Archbishop Oscar Romero was assassinated in El Salvador. Last Saturday more than 100 of us gathered to honor and remember his life and death. At that gathering, and three days later at Mary’s funeral, we renewed our commitment to work for justice and peace.
Just over 13 years ago, Grandpa Macy died in California. Tonight we will go to services and say the Kaddish prayer, remembering him.
But words are not enough. So today I cleared away dead leaves and old grass from around the tender tulip stems and put together the frame for a raised bed for vegetables and planted pansies. Spring is coming. Spring will always come.
Twenty-five years ago, assassins sent by the right-wing government and army
killed Roman Catholic Archbishop Oscar Romero as he celebrated Mass. That was
March 24, 1980. This year, on March 24, Christians celebrate the institution
of the Eucharist on Holy Thursday. It is fitting to remember Archbishop Romero
during this Holy Week, to remember his martyrdom and his faith.
"I do not believe in death without resurrection. If they kill me, I
will be resurrected in the hearts of the Salvadoran people."
Archbishop Romero had reason to believe he was targeted for death. He preached
the Gospel in concrete and immediate terms. His life and words challenged Christians
to involvement in political affairs and to action for social justice.
"No one should take offense when the light of the words of God illuminates
the social, political and economic realities. Because not to do this would not
be Christianity for us. And it is in this way that Jesus Christ chose to be
incarnated so that this light that He brought from His Father, could bring life
to individuals and to peoples."
He challenged the government, denouncing it for oppression and for the reign
of terror it imposed on the Salvadoran people.
"When someone makes power an absolute and an idol and turns against
God’s laws, against human rights, violating the people’s rights, then
we cannot say that such authority comes from God."
As he denounced idolization of power and wealth, he challenged El Salvador’s
ruling elite. We, in the United States, are the ruling elite of the world today.
As citizens of the richest country in the world, a country which nonetheless
leaves its schools under-funded and its health care system controlled by insurance
companies and inaccessible to large numbers of its people, what can we learn
from his words?
"I denounce especially the absolutizing of wealth. This is the great
evil in El Salvador: wealth, private property, as an untouchable absolute."
As citizens of the country that repudiates international environmental treaties
and pollutes our own skies, we hear his call to responsible stewardship.
"You know that the air and water are being polluted, as is everything
we touch and live with, and we go on corrupting the nature that we need. We
don’t realize we have a commitment to God to take care of nature."
Archbishop Romero’s El Salvador was torn by civil war and terror. His
country’s army was trained to torture and to kill the "enemies"
of the regime. The United States supported the government and army of El Salvador.
Today the United States is a country at war. Some of our soldiers stand convicted
of torture. The Bush Administration has talked of choosing "the Salvador
option" for Iraq. Archbishop Romero’s words resound with power.
"I want to make a special appeal to soldiers, national guardsmen and
policemen: each of you is one of us. The peasants you kill are your own brothers
and sisters. When you hear a man telling you to kill, remember God’s words,
‘thou shalt not kill.’ No soldier is obliged to obey a law contrary to the law
of God. In the name of God, in the name of our tormented people, I beseech you,
I implore you; in the name of God I command you to stop the repression."
After the events of the past week, remembering Mary Swenson and remembering
Archbishop Romero, I was ready this morning to encounter the words of Paul Knitter
of CRISPAZ.
CRISPAZ – Christians for Peace in El Salvador – has spent 20 years
working for peace and justice in El Salvador. Its current focus areas are high-risk
youth, rural communities, economics for people, and south-north solidarity.
Looking back on his own twenty years with CRISPAZ, Knitter characterizes this
time as a "long haul" and a "good way." His analysis is
as relevant to Colombia and the United States as to El Salvador.
Like the compañera who shared with Teresa and Irma and me after Mary’s
funeral, he recognizes that "so many dreams for El Salvador have not been
realized; so much pain is still with us. … poverty due to injustice is
still as murderous as ever; political corruption and intrigue abound; the "powers
that be" are even more staunchly entrenched…. What Jon Sobrino calls
"the anti-kingdom" is stronger …"
Looking back and looking ahead, Knitter talks about mysticism as a basis for
action.
"[Mysticism] is a slippery, often sugary, word, I admit. As used among
theologians and scholars of religion, it’s a blanket term that covers the
many different ways people come to feel (yes, feel) that they are connected
with, part of, or a vehicle for Something More. I use the expression "Something
More" not as a description but as a pointer to that mysterious Reality
that stirs, in different ways and forms, within the many religions of the world.
This Something More is imaged as a personal Being in some traditions, while
in others it is conceived as a universal, compassionate energy, or as the dynamic
interconnectedness of everything. ‘Mysticism,’ then, is the word specialists
use to indicate what can happen to people when, generally through the stories
or practices of religion, they feel connected and animated by this Something
More."
Knitter goes on to speak about a mysticism of resistance and a mysticism of
quiet.
A Mysticism of Resistance
"Most, maybe all, of us have become part of CRISPAZ because we had to.
In a sense, we didn’t have a choice. Once we heard about the suffering
of the people of El Salvador, once we learned of the causes of such suffering
– especially the role of our government in it – we felt called, or
obliged to respond in some way. We felt that we had to resist – that is,
do something to remedy – the suffering-caused-by-injustice …
"There is Something that generates those feelings within us. Something
that vibrates between us and the victims of injustice. I call it Something More
because even though we feel it within the depths of our own being, it is also
a power that, as it were, invades our being and puts it in motion. The Confucian
philosopher Mencius, over 3000 years ago, called this Something "the Heart
that cannot bear the sufferings of others." We all have that Heart, he
claimed. As a Christian, I would call it the Spirit given to all of us, living
in and connecting all of us. Buddhists use similar imagery when they tell us
that we all share the same Buddha-nature of Compassion. Whatever the symbolic
name, the experience is pretty much the same – we feel in touch with Something
that requires us to resist the injustice that causes so much suffering."
Published on Thursday, March 17, 2005 by the Star Tribune (Minneapolis,
MN)
On Feb. 25, they found a trail of blood leading away from a farm. One hundred
men and women from San José de Apartadó, Colombia, accompanied
by international witnesses from Peace Brigades International, the Fellowship
of Reconciliation, the Corporation for Judicial Liberty and Concern America,
followed the trail to the first grave.
Two-year-old Santiago and his 6-year-old sister, Natalia, were buried with
their parents, Sandra Milena Muñoz-Rozo and Alfonso Bolivar Tuberquia-Graciano,
and Alejandro Perez Cuiles. Later that day, they found more bodies in an open
field. Eleven-year-old Deiner Guerra was there with his father, Luis Eduardo
Guerra, and Luis’ 17-year-old companion, Bellanira Areiza-Guzman.
According to Amerigo Incalcaterra, a U.N. human rights official at the scene,
bodies in the graves had been hacked apart with machetes. At least one body,
that of Luis Eduardo Guerra, showed signs of torture. The search stopped at
the graves, but the story does not end there. In a deeper sense, the bloody
trail leads to the United States.
The people of San José knew knew what to expect when they left their
town to search for their neighbors. In 1997, led by the murdered Luis Eduardo
Guerra, they had declared their town a "peace community," refusing
entry and welcome to all of the armed factions in Colombia’s bloody civil war.
Since 1997, more than 130 residents have been murdered. No one has been convicted
for a single one of those murders.
Peace communities stand against both the Colombian Army and its paramilitary
allies and the FARC guerrillas. (FARC is the Spanish acronym for the leftist
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.) Peace communities forbid carrying weapons.
They insist that no fighters from any side are welcome.
At times, members of peace communities have succeeded in turning back FARC
or Army forces intent on violating their territory. At other times, armed men
from the Army or the right-wing paramilitaries or the FARC have entered and
killed.
Luis and Alfonso were friends. Alfonso was a leader in the nearby peace community
of Mulatos. As a leader in Colombia’s peace community movement, Luis had traveled
to Madison, Wis., and to Europe to raise awareness about peace communities.
But Luis was not a politician or a human rights official. He was a farmer.
Luis and his family had left San José days earlier, walking seven hours
to Luis’ fields, to harvest cacao beans.
On the way home, they were stopped by soldiers from the 17th Army Brigade and
taken to Alfonso’s nearby farm. Luis’ half-brother, also part of the group,
escaped and ran to San José to raise the alarm. A small group found blood
and human remains at Alfonso’s farm. They returned to San José to assemble
the larger search party, which found the graves.
One might expect President Alvaro Uribe and other government officials to offer
their profound apologies for the Army’s actions and a promise of investigations
and prosecutions. They neither apologized nor promised legal actions. Instead,
on March 2, the Army occupied San José.
On March 9, President Uribe denounced the peace communities, saying that no
community could bar the Army from entering.
The United States shares responsibility for the actions of Colombia’s president
and the massacres carried out by Colombia’s military. Colombia is the third-largest
recipient of U.S. military aid. Under "Plan Colombia," we help to
train and arm Colombia’s army. U.S. soldiers train their Colombian counterparts
to guard oil pipelines, and U.S. mercenaries fly helicopter missions and languish
in FARC custody as prisoners of war.
As chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere,
Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., has been unwavering in his support of Plan Colombia’s
military aid and the Uribe administration.
On June 23, Coleman said on the Senate floor, "For anyone familiar with
the situation in Colombia, it is clear President Uribe is bringing security,
stability and law and order to a country that so desperately needs it."
On Feb. 28, seven days after Luis Eduardo Guerra and his family and friends
were killed by the Colombian Army, the U.S. State Department issued its annual
human rights report. As usual, the report praised the Colombian government for
progress in human rights.
Like the men and women of San José, the world can follow the trail of
blood from the massacred farmers and human rights workers and teachers and journalists
and labor leaders in Colombia. That trail of blood leads to our door.
One morning this March week, we awoke to almost an inch of soft, fluffy
snow. As I drove to work in the balmy, thirty-degree temperatures, I saw many
neighbors shoveling. One in particular caught my eye, a man in his fifties. He
stood on his front porch, shoveling it clear of snow that, on its own, would have
melted in a few hours. No matter. This good Minnesotan shoveled away–still
in his pajamas, and barefoot.
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Mary Turck is a writer, editor, and blogger. She is also the former editor of theTC Daily Planet and of the award-winning Connection to the Americas and AMERICAS.ORG and a recovering attorney.
Mary Turck