Colombia: URGENT, Latifundium uses goons to attack a peasant occupation

We hereby share an unofficial translation of a note published by the media outlet Nueva Democracia.

Peasants who are legitimately occupying the Carmelas and María Victoria properties, organized under the Peasant Integration of Cesar, report that “the owners of the property have an army, private security, police, and plainclothes individuals who have completely surrounded us. They do not allow us to bring in water or food, nor to enter or leave. They treat us worse than criminals, but we are not criminals; we are peasants. This is like a concentration camp, and we are prisoners. They have trucks with armed civilians that come by, pick up people, and bring them to the property.” Additionally, they hold the landowners, relevant institutional entities, and especially Fedegan [Translator’s note: Federation of Colombian Cattle Ranchers] and its “livestock solidarity brigades” responsible for any harm to their safety or anything that may happen to them.

Since March 25, around 80 peasant families have entered the María Victoria property, known as “7 Plagues,” and the Carmelas property, in the Casacará district, jurisdiction of Codazzi Cesar. In a statement, the organization Peasant Integration of Cesar declares that the reason for the occupation of these lands is “for our families; we are victims of the internal armed conflict that has plagued Colombia for decades. Violence has stripped many of us of our lands and means of livelihood, leaving us in a situation of extreme precariousness. Currently, we are facing the harsh reality of not having land to produce the necessary food for the sustenance of our families.” They also denounce that the National Government has no commitment or political will to fulfill the agreements reached during the dialogue and negotiation table established on September 28, 2023.

According to a denounce by the National Agrarian Coordinator (CNA), Fedegan and its “Livestock Solidarity Brigades,” in coordination with the army, police, and plainclothes individuals, have besieged and stigmatized peasants who are currently under threat of displacement. In the big landlord media outlet, Contexto Ganadero, they accuse poor, landless peasants of committing crimes, labeling them as invaders and criminals. In this way, they seek to justify the repression, the siege, and the attacks against the peasantry. Fedegan has also announced through its social media that the peasants have already been evicted. In response to these statements, the peasants distrust the intentions of these big landlords and declare, “The occupiers of the Carmelas and María Victoria continue in resistance; we remain in the territory until we conquer the land. We are not criminals or invaders; we are peasants, workers of the land who are struggling for a piece of land to work.“

At the end, the peasants of Cesar call on organizations and popular activists to unite in defense and support of their struggle for land, which is the only guarantee for achieving a true agrarian reform, and to remain aware to this ongoing situation that is still developing.