Sunday, February 1, 2009

"In Colombia, Every Week They Say That We Students Are Terrorists"

This is my translation of an interview with David Flores, of the University Students Federation of Colombia. The interview was originally done by Anibal and Ana, on kaosenlared.net. Pueden encontrar la original aquí.

I have a cute anecdote about David. After a long night of partying, we decided to go to a friend's house here in Barcelona to continue the rumba. But unfortunately, Alex was too wasted and decided to start a conversation about Cuba and the revolution. It became a dialogue between Alex and Juan, and poor David, being a good student, tried to raise his hand to join the conversation. After literally hours of failing to break the dialogue, we finally heard from David... a nice nasally snore.

If anyone wants to know more about supporting the incredible work that David and other Colombian students are doing, you can contact me and I'll put you in touch with him. Or if you speak Dutch, you can visit www.colombianstudentswatch.eu.

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Only 21-years old, David, a law student, has turned into a student leader, persecuted and threatened for defending a good public education and a negotiated solution to the armed conflict in Colombia, so that his fellow countrymen stop killing each other. For security purposes, he left Colombia in December and for two months now he has been conducting a tour through Europe to bring attention to the persecution of the student movement. This interview was done while he was in Barcelona, thanks to the International Peace Observatory.

Kaosenlared.net
By Anibal Garzón and Ana Basanta of the International Peace Observatory

1- For years now, you have been leading some student movements in Colombia. When did you start and what were your objectives?

I joined the student movement 5 years ago, since I have been in the university, specifically the National University of Colombia, in Bogotá. It is the largest university in Colombia, with some 40,000 students. I decided to join the student movement after seeing the policies and decisions of different governments towards education and who have slowly caused the level of education to drop in Colombia, and in particular in the University.

2- What are your complaints about education?

Let’s say that there has been an extensive process of privatization, but we should highlight some general policies. First, there has been a process of de-funding of Colombia’s public universities. There are universities who in this moment function with about 50% of their own resources, in other words, they are privatized by about 50%. There have been laws that led to a widespread de-funding process, the last of which - perhaps the most controversial -, is that from Article 38 of the Development Plan of Uribe’s second period of government. It forces national public universities to pay pension liabilities, in other words, to pay the debt that the Colombia State owes to the university workers. This debt, for example, in my university, is 3 billion pesos (about US$1.23 million), which equals about 3 years of my university’s operation, coming from its budget. Obviously, this will cause the university to slowly be without any resources, and will have to open up more and more to private business, and charging students more.

3- What problems are student movements having in defending your proposals?

There is a big problem because in Colombia one could say that there is a generalized climate of repression. With the significance of “Democratic Security” policy, this panorama has intensified - human rights violations have increased ostensibly. Obviously the student movement is not foreign to this reality but rather very affected by it, but perhaps with a particularity that may not be seen as human rights violations, like those suffered by trade-unionist and peasant organization. Due to the strength and mobilizing ability that the student movement has had in the last few years, threats have increased, as well as student and student leader exiles, both inside and outside the country. Many students have been forced to stop their studies, we have had many student leaders murdered... during the Álvaro Uribe’s government, there have been some 15 students murdered in different circumstances, and let’s say that in particular, 20008 has been very complicated for some students.

4- Where are these threats coming from?

The threats originate from what we have always defined as paramilitarism, who have been a constant in Colombia history and who have had different names: chulavitas, AUC (United Self-defense Forces of Colombia), now they call themselves Águilas Negras (Black Eagles)... but let’s say that it is a constant strategy of those who have historically been in power in Colombia. Although these threats come principally from the paramilitaries, there is an aggravating factor which is the current persecution with a legal make-up against students.

5- And how are the threats made? Are they telephone calls, threats in the street, letter...?

Basically, they are stages. The first is through email to student bodies or to personal emails; later they approach the families of the threatened people to demonstrate that they mean it and that they are capable of hurting student activists. Finally, according the region of the country in which you are, they kill you or disappear you.

6- Have you suffered one of these threats?

Yes, in particular, 2008 for me has been really complicated, especially in the second half of the year. Since September, when my student organization finished our second congress, up until November, we have received 7 threats, particularly against the organization that I belong to, but also against other student leaders, professors and university workers.

7- You came to Europe in the middle of December. Why did you leave Colombia and what is this tour that you are doing?

There are two fundamental objective. The first is personal protection because through different reports that we have developed in terms of human rights, we have been able to discern a pattern, a common element, which is that the majority of serious attacks against student leaders have occurred during vacations, in order to take advantage of the inability to organize, to respond. So it is very important in this period of vacations, to be away. But more than simply this, the idea is to be able to denounce what is happening in Colombia with students; we do not trying to the context. The idea is to be able to start up and build solidarity between the Colombian student movement and other student organizations from different countries, other human rights organizations, and in general with other people who are interested in extending their solidarity to students and the Colombian people.

8- How is the educational system in Colombia?

It’s a pretty precarious system. It’s important to note that Colombia still has a very high rate of illiteracy, around 14%. In indigenous and afro-colombian communities, sometimes it reaches 20%. There are very poor areas of Colombia, like Chocó and Nariño, where the rate can reach 30%. Secondly, it is the only country in Latinamerica where primary school is not absolutely free. Third, of the few people who are able to complete primary and secondary schooling, only 20% are able to enter higher education. And in higher schooling, it’s not just universities, but also low-quality technical schools. Now, the Colombian government has initiated a grand reform in statistic measurement, where of this 20%, there are those who enter a 2-month course to learn to serve cocktails or cut oil-palm trees. It really is very precarious education system, of a low-quality, and obviously with a small budget.

9- By defending these ideas in different arenas have you been labeled as sympathizing with the insurgency?

Yes, of course. Let’s say that it has been a tactic that this government has used, and it is a central pillar of “democratic security” to label any opposition as terrorist. And obviously this has been applied to the student movement, particularly dedicating a whole year to doing just that... that is why I said that this year has been different because each month, each week, there has been a news clip saying that the students are terrorists. There have been occasions in which ministers have said extremely serious things to the press. For example, Minister Arias, the Agricultural Minister, after a forum on oil palm said that “I will not return to the University because it is a nest of farianos (FARC rebels).” The Vice-president, following a university protest, said that the National University is Bogota’s Caguán, making it understood that it is a place where there is only Colombian insurgents. And the very same President has said on different occasions, not just about leaders but about the student movement in general: “they are terrorists dressed as civilians, they are anarchist terrorists, gangsters, delinquents...” The most serious part came after September, when the director of DAS, which is like the intelligence police that is directly controlled by the President, accused one organization in particular, the one I belong to. But it is worth noting that they have done this with other student, peasant and indigenous organizations... in different moments. And all this has made the outlook - in terms of legal actions and illegal actions against us - very dark for us

10- You are, or were, studying law.

I am studying law. It was pretty difficult for me to be able to complete the second semester of 2008. I had to cancel some course because having a routine makes you an easy target for attacks. It is important to say that mine isn’t the only case, but there are many student leader, who especially during the second semester of 2008, had to cancel their courses, leave the country... I could finish some classes, but it wasn’t my normal academic life.

11- When will you be able to return to Colombia to register and finish your degree?

Well, my idea is to return in February and be able to resume my studies, since there is only a little left to finish. We believe that despite the persecution and so many difficulties, it is important that student organizations do not disappear because we believe that the struggle for education in Colombia is not just for education, but also for a different country, a truly democratic one where there are at least minimal conditions to be able to live.

12- All of these policies that you have mentioned have a lot to do with the Uribe government? Do you believe that a change of government will heed your demands?

The Colombian student movement, I believe, has worked hard on understanding and problems, in other words, the student movement understands that the university problem isn’t just about the university but rather is part of general policies, which in this case, have materialized under President Álvaro Uribe Vélez. In this way, we are part of the Colombian opposition as a social movement against all the policies implemented by the national government. And we are not just in opposition, but also in construction of alternative proposals, because we understand that this would be a huge benefit in terms of university politics, and in general for all sectors of Colombia. We obviously try and will try to bring together a great social force to change the Colombian government.

13- You all are against mandatory military service. I imagine that it is due to a mix of losing years of studying and also for a moral question on the conflict.

In this moment, there is high level of polarization, creating the idea that he who does not join the army is a traitor, especially with Uribe’s politics. For us, it is important for several reasons. The first is an understanding about the Colombian conflict. When we say that we do not want mandatory military service, it is because we understand that through war the Colombian conflict will not be solved, and that the only way to solver it is through a large-scale national dialogue that brings a political solution to the structural problems that have allowed the Colombian conflict to exist.

Secondly, we understand that many Colombian youths go to war for two reasons: because it is the only economic possibility that they have, the only way to get a job since the Colombian army is the biggest business at the moment, even if you don’t agree with the army; and because if you don’t enter university before age 18 you obligatorily have to go. Those youth who cannot enter university are the victims of an unjust system where there is no employment; those who are in the Colombian jungles right now killing themselves with other Colombians, too. We believe that the war cannot continue, that we youth cannot continue perpetrating a conflict that has a social and political origin, and evidently, solving that socio-political problem will we solve the conflict.

14- What do you know about the process of Bologna in Europe and the protests of social movements against it?

It is very important because my university signed onto the Bologna Declaration at the end of the year. In other words, the Bologna model will start to be applied in Colombia. In Europe, the means of privatization are the same as in Colombia: concentration of power, attacking university autonomy, the matter of standardization of education, of new cycles (first 3 years, and then two)... in Colombia, in the beginning it wasn’t called the Bologna process, but now it is. So our intention has been to inform ourselves about this process in order to tell Colombian students that neoliberal rhetoric is the same as always, very clear lies: “it is good because it is used in Europe, European universities are the best, and if they have the Bologna model there, we should apply Bologna here.” So for us it is important to be able to reveal that this discussion isn’t true, that there is a big privatization scheme, a reduction of quality in European universities, in order to demonstrate that this will negatively affect Colombian universities.

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