I sometimes wonder when I sign urgent actions and petitions what impact they have. Do leaders listen? Are our concerns heard? One thing is certain – our partners on whose behalf we write these urgent actions most certainly do hear and appreciate our solidarity.CoDev’s partner NOMADESC recently asked us to share this letter of appreciationwith all those who have raised their voices in defense of their work for social justice in Colombia. CoDev also thanks all of you who have taken the time to write letters and send messages of support – your solidarity is clearly appreciated by those on the frontlines of the struggle for a better world.Here is the original letter in Spanish, with the English translation below.NOMADESC
Santiago de CalíOctober 1st, 2015Dear friends of CoDevelopment Canada and unions in solidarity with ColombiaOn behalf of the team at NOMADESC and the organizations with which we carry out our work of prevention, attention and defense of human rights in the southeast of Colombia, we wish to extend our warmest greetings of friendship and brother- and sisterhood.With this letter, we want to express our profound thanks for all your work on urgent actions regarding cases of threats and persecution against members of NOMADESC and the arbitrary arrest of ACIN’s indigenous leader Feliciano Valencia. Thank you for taking the time to carry out actions of prevention and defense of the rights of those of us who continue dreaming of justice and social transformation in Colombia.The work that you do is an important demonstration of solidarity, struggle and resistance in the midst of a world where social humanism has lost its value thanks to the imposition of the economic interests of a few, who wish to eliminate the possibility of thinking differently, and who persecute those of us who work to defend the rights of everyone.Thank you for accompanying us in this difficult work of defending the right to life, economic, social, cultural and environmental rights, and bringing these issues to the attention of world leaders – in this case, Colombian leaders, who favour international economic interests over the rights of the poorest and most vulnerable communities in our country.Thanks to your solidarity, those who violate human rights in Colombia know that we are not alone, and that important sectors of workers, human rights defenders, labour activists and humanists in Canada are aware of these injustices and demand respect for human rights defenders’ safety and freedom.Talking about peace cannot continue to be simply a discourse of Government of Colombia; to talk about peace is to talk about respect for the rights of human rights defenders, social movement leaders, and union leaders. To talk about peace is to talk about social justice, respect for difference, social transformations, truth, the inclusion of marginalized sectors, and above all, guaranteeing that the barbarity and extreme violations of human rights historically committed against the leaders of Colombia’s organized movements never be repeated.Thank you for defending the right to solidarity of the peoples of the world.A fraternal hug,Berenice Celeita A.Director of NOMADESC
The Painted Angels of Ciudad Juárez
Local artists in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico have found a profound and beautiful way to pay tribute to the lives of missing women from their city. Painting their images in murals.The project entitled, Luchando Hasta Encontrarlas (Fighting Until We Find Them), is run by the mothers (and other members) of the missing and presumed murdered women. They work with local artists to have their daughters’ images rendered in murals so that they can never be forgotten. Many of these missing cases are linked to human and sex trafficking as well as the epidemic gang violence that exists in that region. Since 1993, more than 430 women have been killed or disappeared. According to the National Citizen Femicide Obervatory, “at least 6 women are targeted every day in Mexico.”
In a show of solidarity many public buildings, churches, businesses, etc. have donated their outer walls to be used as canvases. The families work with the artists, and in some cases, assist in painting the murals. The goal of the project is to paint 200 of these colourful tributes across Ciudad Juárez so that no one in the city can ever forget the tragedy of these lost women.One such artist, Maclovio Macias put his well-honed graffiti skills to use painting the murals. His inspiration came from participating in a 200-mile march alongside the many mothers whose daughters disappeared. His first mural depicted a group of mothers and daughters from this march and was painted on the back wall of a school in a busy intersection of the city. This past summer, in an act of pure disregard for the missing and their families, this precious homage to the disappeared was painted over with white paint. Could it have been the school’s doing? A group of mothers is trying to have a meeting with the school directors to try ask questions and hopefully learn the truth.No other theories have presented themselves and no one has come forward to claim responsibility. An initial report indicated that the municipal government ordered the repainting, but this has never been confirmed. One mother lamented upon hearing the news of the repainting, that her daughter Luz Angelica whose image appeared in the repainted mural, was taken from her a second time.Maclovio vows to repaint the mural and return the faces of the missing to their mothers, families and communities. These murals are a living legacy and reminder of what has been lost. They deserve to be seen and protected.