Bogot�, Colombia
After many broken promises by the Colombian government to supply homes to displaced communities, 700 adults, 577 children, 15 pregnant women, 22 disabled people and 25 seniors took over vacant homes in the southwestern neighborhood of Kennedy in Bogot�.
 Displaced families driving to vacant homes in Patio Bonito. Photo: Ram�n Acevedo |
At 6 a.m. on Aug. 29, six buses and five trucks pulled into the Patio Bonito complex in Kennedy. Carrying all of their belongings�from rolled up mattresses to pots, pans and boxes�the families began to fill the 163 unfinished homes. These half-built homes have been unoccupied for the past six years.
At first the armed security guards tried to stop the masses of people, but once they understood the severity of the situation, they did not resist. As soon as the families got into the homes, they began to settle in. Within the first hour, both children and adults began to cut down weeds, clean the cement dust from inside and set up the kitchen. Three hours later windows were covered with plastic and cloth, mattresses were rolled out, babies were asleep and coffee was being passed around.
I spoke to a mother who had been traveling with another family. She explained how the paramilitaries had come into her town, in the Tolima region of Colombia, and assassinated her brother and husband with a chainsaw. They were farmers working a small plot of land. The paramilitaries accused them of working with guerrillas, which she denied. For the past five years she and her three children have had to move around to escape the �paracos.�
One of the spokespersons from the group stated, �The majority of us are displaced because of our political beliefs. � We have come from different regions of Colombia where the paramilitaries violently pushed us out.� Due to fear of repression by the government and the paramilitary, this spokesperson and other members of the community preferred not to give their names.
Government response to displaced community
From the first day of these houses being occupied, the riot police and the Mobile Anti [civil] Disturbance Squadron (ESMAD), were sent in by the local mayor�s office. The ESMAD has been known to violently repress protesters and was recently involved in the assassination of a 15-year-old demonstrator, Nicolas Neira, on May 1. Since the arrival of the police, families have been fearful. Community leaders have urged the media and government officials to be present in order to prevent police attacks and arrest.
Today in Colombia, more than 3 million people have been displaced. In 2004, some 287,000 were displaced, an increase of 38.5 percent over the previous year. The majority of these displacements were due to the violence of the Colombian Armed Forces and their paramilitary allies. Colombia is second to Sudan in human displacement due to violence.
 Photo: Ram�n Acevedo |
Continuously, the 40-year-old Colombian civil war has been fueled by military aid from the United States. Since 1998, when Plan Colombia was signed, over 4 billion U.S. dollars have been funneled into the police and military of Colombia. Human rights atrocities by government forces and their paramilitary allies have increased. For decades the Colombian government has been involved in gross human rights violations. At the same time, the United States has made Colombia the largest recipient of military aid in the Western Hemisphere.
After three days of occupation, the displaced community was isolated. The police did not let anyone in or out. Food and supplies that friends, family and neighbors bring is not allowed into the community. �We cannot sleep because of the cold and fear of being kicked out � my kids are sleeping on the floor on top of plastic sheeting,� stated one person. People are suffering from diarrhea and respiratory problems.
The displaced families who took over the houses in Bogot� had no other choice. The government has made no concrete effort to organize access to basic health, food, housing and education services. In Colombia, the situation of the displaced population, both in collective settlements and on the outskirts of cities, moves them to take matters into their own hands. �Don�t ask me my name, but let me tell you that what we need: a place to live,� stated one of the community leaders.
