Colombia Journey: Report from Scott Nicolson

Dear friends,

Luis Carlos is 11-months old and has a congenital heart problem (“soplo” or inflammation). His parents, Rosalba and Luis Alberto, are part of the three million “displaced” people here in Colombia – people who had to flee from their homes to escape the war and repression. The family is currently living in Arauca City and I met them at the Permanent Human Rights Committee office there on July 26.

Rosalba and Luis Alberto managed to work their way through the bureaucratic maze and officially register as displaced people. As such, the family is entitled to government-subsidized health care through a private company - Caprecon. The doctor says that Luis Carlos needs an electrocardiogram (EKG) but none of the public hospitals in the state of Arauca have that equipment. Caprecon made an appointment for Luis Carlos to have an EKG in the public hospital in Bucaramanga (15 hours west of Arauca City by bus) for July 28, but the company refused to cover any of the travel costs.

Pedro is a member of the Permanent Human Rights Committee and a leader of the organization of displaced people in Arauca – we met him during our delegation here last year. He and I accompanied Rosalba and Luis Carlos to the Social Action office – the Colombian government program for the displaced. We were told that Caprecon is supposed to provide “integral” health care which would include the travel costs to Bucaramanga, so Social Action wouldn’t help with those costs. They suggested that we go to the government Human Rights Defenders office. The woman there called the national Red Cross, international Red Cross, mayor’s office, and the governor’s office but no one offered to help with the travel costs. The local expression that describes my feelings is “It nearly broke my soul.” (“Casi me partió el alma.”)

On July 27, the Arauca legislature debated the budget for the “Governor’s Office and Citizen Security” – which includes support for the displaced. Nearly 100 displaced people gathered in the central plaza to march to the legislature. The police started harassing them and threatening to take away their bicycles if they didn’t leave the plaza. Pedro began dialoging with the police while I took a few photos, and things calmed down a bit. As soon as we arrived at the steps to the legislature a DAS (security and immigration police) agent demanded to see my identification papers. I showed him my passport (with volunteer visa!) and a letter of support from Senator Baucus. He reviewed my passport and made a copy of the letter, and then told me that my documents were in order and everything was fine.

The governor’s secretary reviewed the 2006 budget for the Governor’s Office and Citizen Security. The budget includes $667,000 for the government security forces and $542,000 for a military base, and just $104,000 for the displaced. Pedro told me that there are 1,600 displaced families in Arauca.

Pedro is risking his life by speaking out on behalf of the displaced in Arauca. On March 11, three armed “civilians” were watching his house. Pedro called the police and the men identified themselves as off-duty soldiers. Four days later, Pedro was followed from the central plaza to the Social Action office. Pedro couldn’t return to his house and he stayed for several days in the Permanent Human Rights Committee office. The committee sent an action alert about the situation and I contacted the commander of the 18th Military Brigade to express our concern. Pedro said, “Your response was beautiful.” The commander of the base called Pedro to a meeting and asked how people in the United States knew about his situation. Pedro responded, “We’re family.”

In love and solidarity,
Scott