Update: On 22nd June, Espacio members Ben and Nathan took part in a radio interview with Radio Bristol to help raise awareness of Juan's vigil. A prayer for Colombia was broadcast live just before 8am, and interviews were recorded for later broadcast. We aim to make these available as MP3s at a later date.

Vigil Colombia

108 Hours of Prayer and Meditation for the Victims of Political Violence

From Sunday 20th in the evening to Thursday 24th June, a Vigil for all the Colombians that have been, or still are, victims of the political violence within the country, will be held at St. Stephens Church in Bristol’s City Centre (UK).

Juan Gabriel Gutiérrez, sound and film maker, will be present for 108 continuous hours in the church’s front garden. Through meditation and prayer, while fasting and in silence, the Vigil is a call to put end to all the political violence in Colombia and to remember all the victims that have been silenced, threatened, tortured, assassinated, massacred or disappeared.

Colombia has one of the highest levels of Human Rights violations in the world and is suffering a prolonged armed conflict of over four decades. This can be translated into shocking acts like the more than 36000 people who have been disappeared in the last 3 years –it’s more than the total during the whole Argentinian dictatorship-; the systematic extermination of a whole political party –Union Patriotica- of over 3500 political leaders and members during the 80’s and 90’s; and more recently the case of the so called ‘false positives’, with over 2300 innocent civilians being disappeared and assassinated by the Colombian National Army and presented as guerrillas being shot during combat. The Government today hasn’t taken any direct political responsibility for these events, including Juan Manuel Santos, the former Defence Minister who’s running as a presidential candidate in the next elections and highly probable becoming the future Colombian President.

This particular moment that Colombia is going through, with the general elections being held this Sunday 20th June, present themselves as the best opportunity to highlight these issues of the country and reflect about its direction.

From Sunday 20th 9pm, Juan Gabriel will reside in meditation and prayer at St Stephens front garden until Thursday 24th June, while fasting and keeping silence for the four days. Every day at Midday, Tim Higgins will lead a prayer during the Vigil. During the day, people doing solidarity work for Colombia will be present informing about the current situation. In the evenings, documentaries and films will also be projected.
The Vigil will end with a Mini-Pilgrimage at 5:30pm to celebrate St. John the Baptist Day.

This is an open event for those of who want to participate in its totality or just a part of it, and an invitation to support this Vigil in other cities in the world.

Last year, Juan Gabriel did a 4 day fast in North Wales, where he recorded the album and film ‘Erw Dinmael’. The result is been considered a mystical call to the ancient and powerful spirits of the earth and within us.

This whole process will also be documented and recorded.

FFI:
http://juangabrielgutierrez.tumblr.com/
http://www.janosgabor.com/
http://www.colombiasolidarity.org.uk/
http://www.espacio.org.uk/
http://www.saint-stephens.com/

News from Colombia

Fortnight of Action against BP
1st April (Fossil Fools days) - 15th April (BP AGM)
The Tar Sands Network came together to stop oil exploration in indigenous territories in Canada, both as an act of solidarity with the First Nations indigenous people and as a necessary action against Big Oil, as part of the struggle against the fossil fuel capitalist economy, responsable for climate change. They have called for a fortnight of action against BP, who are shortly set to make a decision as to whether to begin extraction in the Tar Sands.

Here is an Open letter to the Tar Sands Network from the Movement for the Dignity of Casanare (13/03/10) asking the question about how they can act in solidarity with each other, recognising the similarities of their struggles to defend territory and natural resources.

8th March 2010: Mobilisations against BP
Workers for BP and communities in the department of Casanare, Colombia have been mobilising since 23 January, demanding that BP addresses serious issues around labour conditions, social investment, goods and services, the environment and human rights. Workers were forced to go on strike after BP reneged on the agreements they had made with the workers. After more than a week on strike, during which workers and community members were attacked by the riot police and the town mobilised in response on mass, BP was forced to negotiate, after stating that it was company policy to not negotiate under pressure. The outcome of this negotiation was to set up five working groups on the five key themes which will negotiate from the 24rd March to the 23rd April.

Below are the powerful and expressive press releases written by USO (National Oil Workers Union) and COSPACC (Casanarean community capacity building organisation) and an article by Espacio member who accompanied the mobilisations.

No.9 (Spanish only) 11/03/10
No.7 07/03/10
Popular assembly to continue collectively deciding on what demands will be during negotiations that begin on the 23rd March.
No.6 06/03/10
Neither weakness, nor ignorance, but a fight for dignity
No.5 05/03/10
BP attempts to control participation in initial meetings and walks out of meeting.
No.4 24/02/10
BP caves in and meets with Strike reps
No.2 (Spanish only) 23/02/10
No.1 (Spanish only) 19/02/10

Is a murder needed for BP to negotiate? Blog article 20/02/10

Monthly Newsletter from the Solidarity Network
A six month project putting together a monthly newsletter which contained a look at the current national situation, information from Colombian organisations that are part of the Red de Hermandad and articles by internationals working with La red in Colombia.

RedHer News Bulletin No.5Oct09
RedHer News Bulletin No.4Sept09
RedHer News Bulletin No.3Aug09
RedHer News Bulletin No.2July09
RedHer News Bulletin No.1 June09

Para leerlos en español clic acá