In the large town Vitonico the son of the star Juan Tama studied the coca leaves and fortold: even more terrible times will come times of war and bloodshed where every voice that rises shall be silenced. They will destroy the earth and flesh; they will strive to erase eternally our language. But from the embers, from the rubble, from the despoiled land, from the condemned people, from oblivion, will arise new beings. New hands will seize arms and injustice will be driven out forever. The martial tunes from reeds announced the hour had arrived for Juan Tama. The elders say he became lost in the mountains on the road which travels to the Patalo lagoon to take his place in the heavens. A poem based on the Paez myth of Juan Tama 38 A Paez woman stoops over the cook fire in her mud hut and says, "The Indians have always fought alone. We fight for our land, our language, our customs. Now the government wants to destroy us. And if we survive, we'll know we did it alone!" The woman speaking with so much pride is a members of the In- dian defense organization CRIC (Regional Council of the Cauca In- dians). Her husband is on the ex- ecutive committee of CRIC. He and thirty other Indian leaders have been hiding in the mountains from government troops since ear- ly March. Six other Indian leaders and four white sympathizers have been in prison since mid-February. They are suspected, according to the government, of belonging to the recently discovered urban guerrilla group named M-19. According to an Amnesty Inter- national report on the situation, they have all been subjected to tortures including electric shocks, beatings, starvation, near- drowning in mud, and lighted matches applied to their testicles. The entire Cauca province is now under official military state of seige. What is the cause of such heavy repression? The author spent a week travelling through the region, interviewing the In- dians, anthropologists, church- men, lawyers and police officers. LIFE IN CAUCA The Cauca region is one of the most important Indian centers in all of Colombia. The province con- tains 58% of all the Indian reser- vations officially recognized by the Colombian government. It is also one of the poorest regions in all of Colombia. NACLA Reportupdate * update . update * update According to the study of the In- dian town Tierradentro done by the Colombian anthropologist Elias Sevilla Casas, only 10% of the population lives in towns. The rest live in mud huts scattered through- out the mountains and connected to the outside world only by treacherous horse paths. It is not uncommon for the few dirt roads to be a week's walk from each other. Sevilla Casas estimates that the infant mortality rate is 20% and that the literacy rate may be as low as 8% in some areas. The diet consists mainly of rice, potatoes, yucca root, and an occasional egg. Says a local schoolteacher, "They're starving. You see it just by looking at them. The Indians are also plagued by endemic tubercu- losis, parasites and malnutrition. Despite their poverty and isola- tion-or perhaps because of it- the Indians of the Cauca, and especially the Paez, have been famous for their long history of resistance to outside "invaders". Around their cook fires they still tell their children about their legen- dary warrior protector, Juan Tama, son of the rivers. Using the power of the thunder, he slew thousands of invading Pijao Indians (Indians contracted to fight for the Spanish Conquistadors) in one terrible bat- tle. Indeed, so fiercely did the Paez resist the Conquista that the Span- iards termed them Indians of "mala paz" (ill-peace), and were forced to withdraw their one settle- ment from within the reservation. Throughout history they have remained marginalized in Colom- bia, and on occasion they have rebelled violently. The one con- stant in their history has been their passive, and sometimes active, resistance to outside influences and threats to the sovereignty of their land. An anthropologist who works in the area, and who asked not to be identified, explained the recent conflicts. "There has been a more or less constant conflict over land ownership between the Indians and the large landholders since the time of the Spaniards. Lately, however, the struggles have sharpened. "Since the undeclared civil war called the 'Violencia' of the 1950's the whites have been taking ad- vantage of new roads and mar- kets, consolidating their control over their large landholdings and also absorbing Indian lands. When the Indians organized themselves by forming CRIC, of course the situation became graver. Another factor is the growing population pressures and unequal land- holdings in large parts of the Benjamin Dindicud, ex-vice president of CRIC and governor of the Paez community of Belalcazar, was killed February 4, 1979. (Alternativa) 39 JulylAugust 1979update * ate update updt update Cauca region, which make conflict almost inevitable." Sevilla Casas points out that in the Indian stronghold of Tierraden- tro alone, the Indians have lost 25% of their lands since 1954. He adds, "From the Indian point of view, the most pitiful situation is that of reservations which suffer population pressures because part of their lands have been seized by white landlords. Paradoxically, these landlords do not take advan- tage of the lands, but simply 'have them.' " THE ORGANIZATION CRIC Since its foundation in 1971, CRIC has had strong support among the Paez, the Coconuco, and the Guanaca Indians, and a lesser support among the Guam- bianos of the region. "The purpose of CRIC," says one of its spokes- men, "has been to recover lands, protect out languages and cus- toms, strengthen the Indian reser- vations, and fight for the rights of the poor." The group has fought openly for these ends, principally using court battles and non-violent "land recuperations" (moving onto and planting unused lands) as its tac- tics. They have also engaged in literacy programs for their mem- bers and have established a series of co-operative stores in the Indian communities. "Given the charges against our leaders," says the spokesman, "it is important to point out that we always worked in the open, we have never ad- vocated violence and we have always been independent of all political parties." A Catholic priest in the area confirms, "Any violence in this area has been directed at CRIC, not by it." In the eight years since its foun- dation CRIC has seen more than 40 45 of its leaders assassinated, ac- cording to group spokesmen. Groups of armed thugs (parjaros) roam the mountains at night. "We know they are paid by the land- lords," says the spokesman. "We know they have a death list. But the government has never pro- secuted a single case for the murder of an Indian." The latest victim was Benjamin Dindicue, a member of CRIC's executive com- mittee, who was murdered in his home by fifteen pajaros on February 4th. The most recent group of ar- rests of Indian leaders began with the robbery of a large number of arms by the urban guerrilla group M-19 on January 1st. This gave the newly-elected liberal government of President Julio Turbay Ayala a perfect opportunity to use its recently approved "Statute of Security," a statute which passes all crimes "against the integrity and security of the State" to the military tribunals. A roundup of more than 200 leftists, union leaders, Indian leaders and other progressives was begun and still continues. Accusations of torture have been made by churchmen, lawyers and international human rights organizations. All of the ar- rested are accused of being members of the M-19. Under mili- tary "justice" they face up to four- teen years in jail. "It's a witchhunt," says CRIC lawyer Alvaro Velasco Alvarez. But the repression isn't intended just to destroy CRIC or stop the popular movement, but rather to begin a new model of develop- ment like the famous 'peace' of Pinochet." Although the govern- ment continues to deny its use of torture, Velasco Alvarez says, "I, as a lawyer, swear that my clients, the Indians, have been tortured." His observation is confirmed by a member of the Carabineros (mili- tary police) stationed in Tierraden- tro. The officer remarked to this author, "Of course they're tortur- ing them. They wouldn't talk if they didn't torture them." While the resolution of the events in Cauca and in the rest of Colombia remains unclear, what is clear is that the government has not succeeded in its efforts to destroy or intimidate CRIC. Says WRITE! Amnesty International urges concerned people to send let- ters or telegrams to support CRIC and its imprisoned leaders: Marcos Avirama, CR1C president Taurino lZluscuk, CRIC secretary Edgar Avirama, CRIC ex- secretary Miguel Nuscue Mario Escu6 Laurentino Apusta Communications should be sent to: Sr. Julio Casar Turbay Ayala Presidente de la Republica Bogota, D.E., Colombia Sr. Gilberto Cruz Villegas Gobernador del Cauca Popaydn, Cauca, Colombia CRIC Apartado Aereo 516 Popaydn, Cauca, Colombia NACLA Reportupdate * update * update * update the Paez woman in her hut, "The government doesn't understand, but we are not just an organization or an office or an executive com- mittee. We are a movement!" She then explains, "Juan Tama did not die after fighting the Span- iards. When he saw that the Paeces were free he left, leaving his titles and his possessions and he disappeared into the Lagoon of Juan Tama. For years he has been resting and some even forgot him. But we are going to ask his help, and as long as there is a single In- dian there will be a CRIC!"
