> -----Original Message-----
> From: Andy Higginbottom [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: 27 January 2002 18:25
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: 48 Hours of Uncertainty SINTRAEMCALI OCCUPATION EYEWITNESS No
> 11 L2
> 
> 
> SINTRAEMCALI OCCUPATION: EYEWITNESS UPDATE NUMBER 11
> 
> Sunday 27th, January, 2002
> 
> 
> 48 Hours of Uncertainty
> -----------------------
> 
> The Occupation of the CAM Tower is about to enter into its most
> dangerous phase, and the possibility of military intervention to
> dislodge the occupying workers appears to be becoming a strong
> possibility.  From the optimism of the Day of Action, where 
> the working
> class movement and local communities united in the defense of public
> services, comes the brutal reality of a state that appears to have no
> limits.  In order to understand how this changed scenario has come
> about, we need to go back to Friday evening, and follow the 
> events that
> then prevailed up to today, and all the different media and means of
> communication that have been deployed by the Colombian government to
> construct a new reality to the people of what is going on in the CAM
> Tower occupation, and what is the potential solution.  
> 
> On Friday evening the Mayor announced that the FARC, the Revolutionary
> Armed Forces of Colombia, had called for an armed strike in the South
> West of the country on Monday, and that this coincided with the
> Municipal Civic Strike being planned by SINTRAEMCALI, and the 
> Municipal
> Strike Command.  He called for a high level security meeting with the
> military and police, and the meeting led to a range of 
> security measures
> being deployed from 6pm on Sunday evening until 6.am on 
> Tuesday morning.
> These measures call for a ban on all alcohol sales, meetings, marches
> and demonstrations, the deployment of troops at all public buildings,
> the restriction of movement of vehicles, and a ban on the carrying of
> firearms.  Two extra military Battalions will be brought in 
> to the city.
> The effect of these announcements was to start to build a link between
> the armed insurgency of the FARC, and the working class movement in
> Cali, particularly SINTRAEMCALI.  Quickly realising the trap that was
> being set up, SINTRAEMCALI and the Municipal Strike Command 
> immediately
> postponed the Municipal Civic Strike, and made public statements
> refuting any link between the trade union and community organisations
> and the armed insurgency.  
> 
> Despite these statements, the major newspapers in Cali ran stories the
> following day, which implied that the Armed Strike called by the FARC,
> and the Municipal Civic Strike were related. Two examples may help to
> illuminate this: In the daily EL PAIS newspaper on Saturday (26th
> January 2002) it stated that: "A terrorist plan to 
> destabilise the city
> through road blocks, the occupation of churches, public
> Buildings and other buildings as part of a civic strike 
> endorsed by the
> EMCALI workers union was discovered yesterday by the authorities".   
> In the same edition, the commander of the Third Division of the Army,
> General Francisco Rene Perlaza, alleged that " ... some trade union
> organisations and armed groups at the margin of the law are behind the
> calling of the civic strike..." These kind of comments 
> appeared in many
> newspapers and on the radio and television.  The imagery is clear, the
> popular movement is linked to the armed insurgency and there is a
> 'terrorist' plan.  In the post September 11th world this seems to be
> justification to do almost anything, and it is to the speculation of
> what may happen that I now turn.  
> 
> On Monday negotiations between the SINTRAEMCALI/Community 
> alliance, the
> Mayor of Cali, and the national Government begin in Bogotá.  This will
> coincide with the militarization of the streets of Cali, with 
> any public
> gatherings, demonstrations or meetings forbidden.  For that 
> reason those
> inside the CAM Tower are going to be very isolated, and with the
> increased military presence outside the building tension is 
> likely to be
> running very high.  This tension was further increased when 
> on Saturday
> evening the Mayor stated on television that either through negotiation
> or through force the occupation will end on Monday.  
> 
> With the militarization of the streets of Cali, the increasing
> criminalization of those inside, and the prevention of any supporters
> from lining the streets outside the building, if the negotiations do
> break down in Bogotá then the use of force becomes a high probability.
> Inside the CAM Tower preparations are being made to defend the
> occupation, and various scenarios are being discussed calmly and in an
> atmosphere of dignified resistance.  
> 
> This violent ending to the CAM Tower occupation, is not however
> inevitable.  If it is to be avoided, then on Monday the 28th 
> of January
> we all need to do what we can to pressure the Colombian government not
> to use military force.  Wherever you are reading this from, 
> you can play
> your part, sending letters to the Colombian authorities, 
> contacting any
> organisations that may be able to highlight to the rest of the World
> what is going on, and to pressure the Colombian government.  
> 
> I call for this in the name of all those heroic women and men that are
> today inside the CAM Tower.  People whose dignity and selflessness are
> an example to us all. They are putting their lives on the line to keep
> basic services in the public domain, and affordable for all.  But more
> than that, they are challenging an economic model that is 
> destroying our
> planet, and condemning over two thirds of the world's population to
> poverty and misery.  Please do all that you can to help them. 
> 
> Mario Novelli
> 
> From inside the CAM Tower Occupation. 
> 
> RECOMMENDED ACTION
> ------------------
> Send urgent protests opposing any forced entry into the CAM tower to
> evict the SINTRAEMCALI occupiers by violence to:
> 
> ANDRÉS PASTRANA ARANGO 
> Presidente de la República, 
> Presidencia de la República 
> Carrera 8 No. 7-26 Palacio de Nariño, 
> Santa Fe de Bogotá 
> Teléfono. +57.1.5629300 ext. 3550 (571) 284 33 00 
> Fax +(57)1 - 286 74 34 - 286, 68 42 -284 21 86 
> Mailto: [log in to unmask]
> 
> LUIS CAMILO OSORIO
> Fiscal General de la Nación.
> (Attorney General)
> Diagonal 22 B No. 52 - 01 Bogotá.
> Telefax: 57.1.5702022.
> 
> Mr VICTOR RICARDO,
> Ambassador to the UK,
> Embassy of the Republic of Colombia
> Flat 3A, 3 Hans Crescent, London SW1X 0LN, UK 
> Tel: (020) 7589 9177. Fax: (020) 7581 1829. 
> E-mail: [log in to unmask]
> 
> ( or in your country)
> 
> With copies to:
> 
> The National and International Human Rights Campaign Against 
> Corruption,
> Privatisation and the Criminalisation of Social Protest. 
> E-mail: [log in to unmask]
> 
> And Colombia Solidarity Campaign E-mail: [log in to unmask]  
> PO Box 8466, London N17 6NZ  Tel: 07950 923 448
> 
> EYEWITNESS REPORT BACK
> ----------------------
> Mario Novelli will be speaking immediately on his return from Colombia
> at 4pm Saturday 2nd February, CORAS Centre, 161 Lambeth Walk, SE11.
> (nearest tubes Vauxhall or North Lambeth), the monthly meeting of the
> Colombia Solidarity Campaign.
> 
> 
> PHOTOS
> ------
> We can e-mail photos of the occupation and London picket on request. 
> 
> 
> FUNDS NEEDED URGENTLY
> ---------------------
> Please collect and send in donations as soon as possible. Make cheques
> payable to 'Colombia Solidarity Campaign' and write 'SINTRAEMCALI' on
> the back. 
> 
> 
> COLOMBIA SOLIDARITY CAMPAIGN CONFERENCE AND AGM 
> -----------------------------------------------
> 
> SATURDAY 23nd & SUNDAY 24th FEBRUARY 2002
> CONWAY HALL, RED LION SQUARE, LONDON WC1
> 
> "Plan Colombia - Clearing the Way for the Multinationals"
> 
> For more information on the campaign contact 
> [log in to unmask], or
> PO Box 8446, London N17 6NZ, or tel (07950) 923 448 
> 
> -- 
> Andy Higginbottom
> Co-ordinator Colombia Solidarity Campaign
>