by James Patrick Jordan Colombian Armed Forces attacked prisoners on Sunday who were striking against filthy conditions and lack of protections against the COVID-19 coronavirus. Colombian agents killed at least 23 persons and wounded more than 90 at La Modelo prison in the capital city of Bogotá. This attack takes place in the context…
by James Patrick Jordan Killings of Colombian social leaders and peace process participants have skyrocketed over the past month to a rate of over one victim per day. As if to underscore the point in blood, on January 21, 2020, two persons were killed, two wounded, and 70 persons displaced in Tarazá, in Colombia’s Bajo…
By James Patrick Jordan by James Patrick Jordan The lack of coverage in the United States of the national strike in Colombia is unbelievable. What little coverage it does receive has been misleading, at best. Colombia is the U.S. government’s closest ally in Latin America. It is held out as a model of democracy,…
Report from James Jordan, with interview of Lorena Ochoa from Lazos de Dignidad Colombia’s machinery of repression started kicking in even though the National Strike for peace, justice, and human rights was still a day away. My partner, Raquel Mogollón, and I arrived in Bogotá at 3am on Wednesday November 20, 2019. After a much…
Join this historic delegation to Colombia sponsored by US Labor Against the War (USLAW) and the Alliance for Global Justice (AfGJ), November 24 – December 4, 2019 Come with USLAW and AfGJ to learn about labor conditions on the third anniversary of the peace accords. We will develop and release a report on Workers and Peace…
On September 27, 2019, the Coalition for Peace in Colombia and the People’s Human Rights Observatory (Observatorio de los Derechos Humanos de los Pueblos) are calling for a Day of Actions for Peace in Colombia. We will formally kick off our new campaign to promote the People’s Travel Advisory on Colombia. We will deliver documents…
by James Patrick Jordan Back in 2015, I went with leaders of the Fensuagro agricultural workers federation to observe a series of consultations in the coffee growing areas of the Department of Tolima. These consultations were to ask rural communities about what their hopes were for the pending Peace Accord, and what kinds of…
Is responsible travel to Colombia even possible given the levels of repression that occur there daily? Our answer to that question is a resounding YES!!! In fact, the Alliance for Global Justice is partnering with US Labor Against the War (USLAW) to take a union solidarity delegation to Colombia November 24-December 4, 2019. If you’d…
Originally published in Liberation by James Jordan A new phase of armed conflict in Colombia has emerged with the declaration by some former leaders of the FARC-EP (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia — People’s Army) that they are reorganizing and rearming as an insurgent force. Iván Márquez (aka Luciano Marín Arango) made the announcement in…
Colombia remains the world’s most dangerous place to be a union organizer. The International Trade Union Confederation reports that in 2018, 34 union members were murdered. The tally for 2018 is more than double that of 2017’s 15 victims, and 2019 is on pace to surpass 2018. In one organization alone, the FENSUAGRO federation of…
