A-Infos (en) Anarismo.net: Colombia - Arbitrary and unfair to the beggar: About detainees La Marina (Tolima) (ca, fr) [machine translation]

January 25 was scheduled a new hearing in the trial against the eight peasant leaders of 
La Marina accused of "supporting subversion" and rebellion. Edwin Lugo Caballero, José 
Lugo Norbey Caballero, Arcesio Díaz Morales Aycardo Guzmán, Saan Maceto Marín Marín 
Fredynel Chávez, Alexander Guerrero Rey Castañeda and Armando Montilla (the latter a 
native of RíoBlanco), were accused by false "demobilized guerrillas" witnesses to balance 
network collaborators in the context of the persecution in areas of consolidation against 
any military organization of the people. ---- Trial based on the testimony of a person who 
is not identified. In reality, they are pursued because of their opposition to the 
proposed hydro-electric ISAGEN in Ambeima and their advocacy of farmers in the Communal 
Action Committee and the agrarian union ASTRACATOL. [1]

For farmers, it is very difficult to find money for transport and to attend the trial as 
witnesses for the defense. They are in terrible poverty, the journey is long (about six 
hours, sometimes more), it is very expensive and is at least two working days lost. 
Despite these sacrifices, and with the international solidarity of comrades linked to 
alternative media as Rebelión and La Pluma, as well as those of the Patriotic March, we 
were able to raise funds to support farmers so that they can attend hearing as defense 
witnesses. But on this day, January 25, the Attorney Isabel Núñez Villalba, casually, has 
decided to leave and simply not be in the official supposedly for health reasons, but 
farmers do were informed that the same day at eight o'clock in the morning, they were 
already all there.

In this way, we not only prolongs the agony of our imprisoned comrades, but in addition, 
spends few resources on which farmers can rely for their defense. Who is responsible for 
this? We wonder if it is not a strategy of attrition vis-à-vis the families of the accused. .

Note in passing that while farmers are prosecuted and imprisoned unjustly, without the 
means to defend themselves and to use while enormous sacrifices to prove their innocence, 
the military accused of false positives, massacres and rapes children, in turn, receive a 
free defense of the State, through taxes paid by all Colombians, including victims of 
these criminals in uniform. Not only that, while our farmers are languishing in jails such 
as Picaleña in Ibagué, where they suffer abuse, are deprived of water and medical care, 
soldiers implicated in crimes against humanity have their balances , mobility, who visit 
prostitutes, beating to drink and party in the barracks and detention centers five stars 
(as El Tolemaida Resort) where they serve their sentence. All this tax-funded Colombians, 
including those who have lost their children because of these criminals.

A popular adage says that Colombian law is only for the beggars. But one does even realize 
there is a law, any unfair, it is all relative, what counts is the absolute arbitrariness. 
Law in the areas of military consolidation became the caprice of army officers who are 
both judges and executioners.

They may have prisons, half a million men in uniform to impose their "law" and "order", 
they may have thousands of paramilitaries to enforce their "laws" unwritten, they may have 
batons to try crush the ideas, but they are wrong. They have not had during these 60 years 
of war against the poor people, and they will not get it in 60 more, a thousand, two 
thousand years. This is the reason that gives us the strength to continue to fight against 
injustice is the solidarity that we can override it. And it is this solidarity that we 
need to be able to mobilize to ensure that during the new hearing to be held on February 
14 we can reconvene funds and this time heard the voice of defense. These parents, they 
were already delighted two Christmases with their children. Do not allow another they 
spend behind bars. We want to see them finally free, free to live, free to love, free to 
organize and to continue to fight for a new Colombia.

José Antonio Gutiérrez D.
January 31, 2013
[For donations from Colombia: Fundación Dignidad of Lazos, Banco Davivienda, Cuenta Número 
009800160823 stating "presos La Marina"]

[From abroad: write at contact [at] lapluma.net]

Notes

[1] For more details on the case and the situation in La Marina, Chaparral, see the 
article http://anarkismo.net/article/24862
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