Archives: Colombia

On January 8, 2002, we showed Colombia: Getting Away With Murder, a film on the regime of violence that has brutalized Colombia for nearly forty years. Joshua Rubenstein, director of Amnesty International's north-east division, reviewed the state of human rights there. MIT Anthropology Professor Jean Jackson, who has spent thirty years working in and studying Colombia, presented her report on "Plan Colombia," a military-political program supported by more than a billion dollars in US military aid and weaponry.

After returning from a trip to Colombia as a member of a Witness for Peace delegation, Patrick Keaney joined us on February 13 to present a paper on "Colombia's Dirty War Against Trade Unionists."

On April 4, peace activists Nimia Teresa Vargas Cuesta and Marino Cordoba spoke about the struggle for peace and justice in Choco, their home region in northwest Colombia.

On October 3, Carolina Aldana and Eder Sanchez discussed the prospects for peace under the new Uribe government. They also talked about the fumigation campaign going on in the southern part of the country, and about how its effects seemed at odds with — or at least orthogonal to — the stated purpose.

Professor Jean Jackson joined us again on November 13 to discuss Plan Colombia, this time asking the question: is it anti-terrorism or is it, in fact, state terrorism?

On March 7, 2003 Catholic priest Luis Teodoro Gonzalez Bustacara & lay activist Luz Marina Gomez spoke about the campaign of killing being waged against religious leaders in their home country.

On January 23, 2004 we screened Primera Noche, a feature film by Luis Alberto Restrepo.