First Nations expose imperialism in Colombia

by a comrade and MC5

After years of bloody struggle, four months of a protest 
encampment in the yard of the Environment Ministry and several 
weeks of intensified protests in April, on April 19 the Embera-
Katio people signed an agreement with the government of Colombia. 
The agreement gives the Embera-Katio economic compensation for the 
flooding of their lands by the government hydroelectric project 
and it also bars construction of the second proposed hydroelectric 
project.

The Urra Dam is a joint imperialist project. It started filling 
with water November 18th, 1999. The Canadian government loaned it 
$28 million through its Export Development Corporation (EDC). 
According to the Globe and Mail of November 16, 1999 in Canada, 
BFC Construction Corporation of Ontario specifically benefited 
from EDC's loan activity of $18 million related to the Urra 
Dam.(1) The EDC is not required to consider environmental impact 
or any impact in its own internal procedures concerning 
development projects.

In turn, BFC Construction is only procuring supplies for the 
leading contractor for the dam, a Swedish company. Swedish firm 
Skanska has dam activity in both India and Colombia.(2) Skanska is 
the largest holder of real estate in Sweden.

Skanska's imperialist activity belies the frequent social-
democratic yammering about Sweden. Nor is this Urra Dam a project 
of the quaint petty-bourgeoisie that usually enamors the social-
democrats. The Urra Dam project value exceeds $780 million and 
involves profits going to paramilitary groups who intimidate 
people off their land, partly with the help of a local corporation 
set up to handle the project. (See for example the press release 
excerpt from the People's Global Action on the paramilitary forces 
at work.) It is important to realize that Colombian internal 
forces are not the main reason this dam project happened. Without 
imperialism, this project would not have occurred. The money for 
the death squads comes from the European imperialists.

It goes to show that while the rights of imperialist country so-
called workers in Sweden are respected, when it comes to the Third 
World, Swedish companies are involved in repression just like the 
other imperialists who do most of the work clearing the way for 
the Swedish usually. The relative freedom of the Swedish so-called 
workers is bought with the repression of the Colombian people and 
other Third World peoples.

Also subcontracting with Sweden's Skanska is Voest-Alpine MCE, 
another major hydro dam contractor. (3) Voest-Alpine MCE is based 
in Austria. Even the Russian Energomachiexport company is involved 
in the Urra Dam project(4) financed overall mainly by the Nordic 
Investment Bank. The Nordic countries are Denmark, Finland, 
Iceland, Norway and Sweden

The Nordic Investment Bank has this to say about itself: " The 
Nordic Investment Bank (NIB) has its headquarters in Helsinki, 
Finland. The bank was established in 1976 to direct international 
capital to the Nordic countries. The bank has a "triple A" status 
awarded by the two leading American rating institutes. . . .

"The bank's main role is to assist Nordic firms in financing 
industrial projects, environmental schemes, ports, power plants 
and tourist facilities, amongst other things.

"NIB also supplies investment loans for projects which can serve 
Nordic interests in credit-worthy developing countries and in 
Central and Eastern Europe, but the main activities funded today 
are located in southeast Asia."(5)

Finally, the bank behind the whole Urra dam project has this to 
say for itself: "One of the main interests of the Nordic 
Investment Bank is environmental conservation. The Nordic 
Environment Finance Corporation (NEFCO) is a subsidiary which 
works on a trans-national level."(5)

According to the progressive organization known as the World 
Rainforest Movement, however, the Urra Dam is an environmental 
catastrophe that the Nordic Investment Bank financed: "This 
situation constitutes both an environmental catastrophe and a 
genocide. Downstream from the dam, the river level has already 
decreased dramatically, resulting in the collapse of the river's 
banks and the entailing destruction of the peoples' houses. The 
most valuable fish for the Embera's diet--a species called 
'bocachico'--is massively dying in the suddenly drying wetlands. 
At the same time, the Embera Katio indigenous peoples living 
upstream are powerless to prevent the flooding of their fields, 
sacred sites, cemeteries and houses, with the consequent 
destruction of their traditional culture."(6)

So much for protecting the environment with imperialist self-
interests. The new government agreement with the Embera-Katio 
people also has provisions to protect what the government calls 
"human rights" in Embera-Katio territory. MIM knows that there are 
no universal humyn rights under capitalism, just concessions the 
government is forced to offer the people. In this case protecting 
the Embera-Katio humyn rights means the government giving lip 
service to curbing some of the abuses by its own military.

On Apr. 10 the National Indigenous Organization of Colombia called 
on the indigenous people of Colombia to defend the U'wa and 
Embera-Katio peoples rights, declaring a "territorial, cultural 
and social state of emergency of the indigenous peoples of 
Colombia."(7) The U'wa are fighting against Occidental Petroleum's 
(a U.$. company) oil drilling on their sacred ancestral lands and 
the Embera-Katio are fighting the flooding of their lands by the 
Urra dam project.

Throughout April protests by indigenous people took place across 
Colombia. On April 4, four indigenous legislators began a hunger 
strike outside the Congress building in Bogota while a few days 
later 800 Embera-Katio and U'wa protesters set up camp outside the 
Environment Ministry and the Congress. Forty U'wa people joined 
the hunger strike on April 10.(8) As the protests have intensified 
more indigenous groups have been seizing and occupying land. 

On April 5, more than 400 indigenous people blocked the 
Panamerican highway in the southwestern region of Colombia as part 
of the national mobilization.(7) Demanding land titles, people 
from the Prensa Zanja Honda First Nation seized the Tolima 
Triangle dam. On April 13 nearly 7,000 protesters tried to 
blockade the Pan-American highway between Popayan and Cali but 
were forced to return home after the army and police attacked 
their demonstration.(8)

The indigenous people in Colombia are rightly demanding that the 
imperialist-backed Colombian government give back their land and 
grant them national self-determination. Here in the united states, 
where the congress is pushing through a huge funding bill for the 
Colombian military, the role of Amerikan imperialism in Colombia 
is very clear. As is often the case, in the Urra Dam situation, 
European imperialists benefit from the repression mainly directed 
by Uncle Sam.

The original authorization of the dam construction took place 
under an environmental license that forced the government to 
compensate the Embera-Katio communities each with about $40,000 
annually for 50 years. The new agreement gives them all of the 
money in a lump sum to pay for purchase of lands to expand their 
reservation.(9) While this is a victory for the Embera-Katio 
because it will allow them to acquire new land, it does not 
compensate for the original theft of their land or the hardship 
endured.

The agreement also requires that the government not use Embera-
Katio people as military or police guides or bodyguards or 
informants, prohibits them from using community radio frequencies 
and from any other activity that could be interpreted as involving 
them in the armed struggle currently going on in the country.(9) 
The Colombian military is infamous for its brutality against both 
the armed resistance groups in the country and the people who 
happen to be in the way of the battle. There is no reason to 
believe the military or the Colombian government will abide by 
this agreement, but it represents a concession that the Embera-
Katio people are correct to demand.

The struggle by the Embera-Katio shows us the concessions that can 
be won from the imperialists through persistent protest. But 
without armed struggle the imperialists will continue to oppress 
and exploit the majority of the world's people. Individual 
corporations or governments may be forced to give in to small 
demands, but they will never give the power of self-determination 
to the people. This power can only be won through revolutionary 
struggle. 

The indigenous peoples in Colombia continue their active protests 
demanding improvements in living conditions, making it clear that 
the battle continues even after this accord between the Embera-
Katio and the government. On April 28 about 4000 Embera-Chami and 
Embera-Katio people occupied the town of Pueblo Rico to demand 
that the governors of this and a nearby department meet with them 
to come up with solutions to their lack of health care, education 
and infrastructure. The occupation prohibited all people from 
entering or leaving the town.

The First Nation peoples and the people of Colombia in general are 
fighting imperialist backed corporations and an imperialist-lackey 
government. The battle will not be won until imperialism has been 
overthrown by the people. It is not that MIM opposes all 
development projects. However, the projects should be run for the 
needs of the people, not the profits of imperialist companies.

We are confident that these types of struggles throughout the 
world will gradually lead the people to an understanding of the 
need for Maoist leadership in the revolutionary movement. The 
history of anti-imperialist struggles makes clear that this is the 
only effective path to victory. As we are building for this 
victory we must support the day to day struggle for self-
determination of indigenous people everywhere.

Notes: 

See MIM Notes #210, May 15, 2000 for a more detailed story on the 
U'wa and Embera-Katio struggle in Colombia.

1. http://www.eca-watch.org/coldam.html also, 
http://www.parl.gc.ca/InfoComDoc/36/2/FAIT/Studies/Reports/faitrp0
2/11-part1-e.htm

2. http://www.fivh.no/norwatch/english/enno599.htm

3. http://www.voesthydro.com/mce97_2e/colomb.htm

4. http://www.corpwatch.org/trac/corner/worldnews/other/300.html 
also, http://www.irn.org/programs/latamerica/action991209.html

5. www.randburg.com

6. WRM Newsletter #29, http://www.wrm.org.uy/ , also WRM 
Newsletter #30 
http://144.16.65.194/hpg/envis/doc99html/biodwr200202.html also, 
http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:www.results-
resultats.ca/en/actions/acte01%25202000.html+Urra+dam+World+Bank&h
l=en

7. Weekly News Update on the Americas Issue #532, April 9, 2000. 
Nicaragua Solidarity Network of Greater New York, 339 Lafayette 
St., New York, NY 10012, wnu@igc.org.

8. Weekly News Update on the Americas Issue #533, April 16, 2000. 

9. Weekly News Update on the Americas Issue #535, April 30, 2000. 

10. Weekly News Update on the Americas Issue #536, May 7, 2000.