[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Pages 16548-16550]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                            MAGDALENA MEDIO

  Mr. WELLSTONE. Mr. President, sometimes one speaks in the Senate 
Chamber and is not sure what exactly the effect of it all is--maybe 
more than sometimes.
  I am speaking today on behalf of a lot of the human rights workers 
and social service workers and community development workers, civil 
society people in Colombia. I am hoping--I will be very straightforward 
about it; I don't think this is illusion--that the words of a Senator 
on the floor of the Senate about a priest and about a very important 
organization, of which two members have been brutally murdered in the 
last 35, 40 days, communicates a message that our Government cares 
deeply about human rights in Colombia and about the importance of the 
Government and the military defending civil society individuals.
  I rise today to speak out on behalf of many defenseless human rights 
workers, social service providers and community economic development 
workers, in our neighbor Colombia, who are besieged by the growing 
paramilitary

[[Page 16549]]

violence in their county. These individuals, some of whom I have come 
to know personally, all of whom I greatly respect, are heros for their 
contributions to democracy and peace in Colombia. They deserve to be 
heard and to be aided by the United States government.
  I have traveled twice to the city of Barrancabermeja, sometimes 
called ``the Sarajevo of Colombia.'' During those visits, I have come 
to know the extraordinary and courageous work of a Colombian non-profit 
program based in a largely rural region of oil refineries, rivers, and 
mountains. In many hamlets and towns it provides the only hope amidst 
so much despair.
  The Program of Development and Peace of the Magdalena Medio, located 
in Barranca, is lead by the Jesuit Father Francisco De Roux. The 
Program's name gives away their mission--sustainable, locally based 
social and economic development in the context of an inclusive 
community at peace. They stand for democracy, civil rights, and human 
rights. They are against the war, and have no enemies in the conflict.
  They strive for an inclusive community where disputes are settled by 
civil authorities and not by armed gangs. They want to provide 
opportunity for all in their community to work and raise they families 
in peace and dignity. But paramilitaries are taking over their region 
and extrajudicial killings are a daily threat.
  Recently, they have been beset by tragedy. Two defenseless staff 
members have been killed and multilated. Ms. Alma Rosa Jaramillo was a 
volunteer attorney, a dedicated mother and courageous member of her 
community. Her dismembered body was found in the community of Morales 
on July first of this year. On July 17, another brutal assassination 
took the life of Eduardo Estrada. He was murdered right in front of his 
family, after a family reunion. He was a respected leader in the 
community of San Pablo, working as the coordinator of the Program of 
Development and Peace.
  Why are these innocent people, who are doing such good work, being 
targeted? Lamentably, these are just two more examples of paramilitary 
impunity in Colombia.
  As the Plan Colombia debate has unfolded in the U.S. Senate, we have 
come to know the terrible reality of the last few decades for the 
people of Columbia--kidnaappings, assassinations, disappearances and 
terror by the guerrilla and the paramilitary organizations. I am no 
defender of the guerrilla organizations. They are vicious in their 
treatment of the civilian population and publicly renounce universally 
accepted human rights standards.
  But the paramilitary organizations, because of their open association 
with the Colombian military, also must be held to the highest standards 
of human rights. They cannot be allowed to justify their human rights 
abuses by equating the laudable civic involvement of those they 
persecute, with sympathy for the guerrillas. The paramilitary 
organizations have penetrated ever deeper into Colombian civil society, 
bringing their terror to communities all across Colombia. In many 
cases, they do so with the acquiescense of the Colombian military and 
government, at the local and even national level.
  The Colombian government must find a way to respond to the 
paramilitary threat. It is a threat to the rights of free speech, free 
assembly, and moreover, the rule of law in Colombia. We must send a 
message to all violent actors in Colombia, especially parammilitary 
groups: ``The targeting of the civilian population with murder, 
extortion, kidnapping, torture and multilation is unacceptable!''
  The United States has an obligation to nurture and defennd civil 
society efforts in Columbia. The Program of Development and Peace of 
the Magdalena Medio is doing critically important work, helping 
Colombians find a way out of the labyrinth of war and terror. They need 
and deserve our thanks and our encouragement; for they represent the 
future of hope and peace for Colombia.
  In my view, a peaceful, prosperous Colombia is a better neightor and 
partner of the United States. We must defend these courageous people 
who daily risk their lives for human rights, democracy and peace. Given 
our deep involvement in Colombia, we have an opportunity, and a duty, 
to defend Colombian civil society against the abuses of guerrillas and 
paramilitaries alike.
  Mr. President, I traveled twice to the city of Barrancabermeja, 
sometimes called the ``Sarajevo of Colombia.'' During the visits, I 
have come to know a very courageous priest who is in charge of an 
organization, a nonprofit organization, that does the economic and 
social development work in a largely rural region of oil refineries, 
rivers, and mountains. For many hamlets and towns, this organization is 
the only hope for people.
  The name of the organization is the Program of Development and Peace 
of the Magdalena Medio located in Barranca, led by a Jesuit priest 
named Francisco de Roux, also called Father Poncho. The program's name 
gives away its mission. The occupant of the Chair would love it as a 
businessperson and a Senator from New Jersey. They do the most credible 
local sustainable economic development work. They stand for democracy, 
civil rights, and human rights. They are against the war. They are not 
aligned with the FARC, ELN, or any of the left groups--the 
paramilitary--and they should have no enemies in this conflict.
  This organization has been beset by tragedy. Two defenseless staff 
members have been killed and mutilated. Ms. Alma Rosa Jaramillo was a 
volunteer attorney, a dedicated mother and a courageous member of her 
community. Her dismembered body was found in the community of Morales 
on July 1 of this year. On July 17, another brutal murder took place. 
This assassination took the life of Eduardo Estrada. He was murdered 
right in front of his family after a family reunion. He was a respected 
leader of the community in San Pablo, working as the coordinator of the 
Program of Development and Peace headed up by Father Francisco de Roux.
  Why are these innocent people, doing this economic development work--
who have done such good work--why are they being targeted? Lamentably, 
these are just two more examples of paramilitary impunity in Colombia.
  I intend for this statement not only to be made on the floor of the 
Senate, but I hope it is sent out throughout Colombia. As the Plan 
Colombia debate has unfolded in the Senate, we have come to know the 
terrible reality of the last few decades for the people of Colombia--
kidnappings, assassinations, disappearances, and terror by the 
guerrilla and paramilitary organizations.
  I am no defender of the guerrilla organizations. The FARC and ELN are 
involved in narcotrafficking up to their eyeballs. They have been 
vicious in their treatment of the civilian population. They publicly 
renounce universally accepted human rights standards. But the 
paramilitary organizations, the AUC, because of their open association, 
because of their extrajudicial killings and open association, 
especially at the brigade level with the Colombia military, must be 
held to the highest standard of human rights. They cannot be allowed to 
justify their human rights abuses by equating the laudable civic 
involvement of those they persecute with the sympathy for the 
guerrillas. The paramilitary organizations penetrated ever deeper into 
Colombian civil society and brought terror to many of the communities--
in many cases, with the acquiescence of the military.
  I rise as a U.S. Senator on the floor of the Senate to communicate a 
message to the Colombian Government that the paramilitary should not be 
allowed to murder civil society people, defenders of human rights, 
people doing good work, as the men and women in Father Francisco de 
Roux's organization do, with impunity. We must send a message to all 
the violent actors in Colombia, especially the paramilitary groups: The 
targeting of the civilian population with murder, extortion, 
kidnapping, torture, and mutilation is unacceptable. Our Government has 
an obligation to nurture and defend civil society efforts in Colombia. 
The Program of Development

[[Page 16550]]

and Peace of the Magdalena Medio is doing critically important work. 
They need and deserve our thanks and encouragement. They represent hope 
and peace for Colombia.
  Before you came to the chair, Mr. President, I was saying this 
organization is doing the best, by all accounts, social and economic 
development work. This priest is beloved and highly respected. Two 
members of his organization have been brutally murdered in the last 40 
days. Their plea, and the plea from many civil society people in 
Colombia, is: Please, U.S. Government, please U.S. Senate, call on the 
Government and the military and the police to defend us. That is what I 
am doing. That is supposed to be part of Plan Colombia.
  We have a deep involvement in Colombia. Therefore, we have an 
opportunity and a duty to defend Colombian civil society against the 
abuses of the guerrillas and the paramilitaries alike. The message 
needs to be communicated to the military in Colombia that with the 
Blackhawk helicopters and the military assistance come human rights 
conditions you have to live up to. Otherwise, we are going to continue 
to see the murder of innocent people with impunity.
  I want this statement to certainly be sent out to Colombia because I 
want the paramilitary forces and others to know we are paying attention 
to Father Francisco de Roux and his organization, the Program for 
Development and Peace, and their work, and that we mean to defend civil 
society people.
  Again, I want to point out that the Colombian Government has an 
obligation to defend civil society people from the violence both from 
the guerrilla left and the paramilitary right. Up to date, they have 
not defended people from violence in Barranca, which I have visited 
twice now. The paramilitary cut the telephone wires, isolated the 
people. They have no phone service. They took away their cell phones 
and moved into their homes. They control the city. With the exception 
of the bishop and the priest and his organization, and a few others, 
hardly anybody can speak up any longer without the real risk that they 
will be murdered.
  Francisco de Roux's organization, widely credited for this great 
economic development work, has had two members--a woman and a man--
dismembered, brutally murdered. It is time for our Government to make 
clear to the Colombian Government and police and military that they 
have to defend these civil society people.

                          ____________________