Time and time again Daniel Prado’s boots sink into the sticky mud that reaches his knees as he travels the paths of Montes de Maria, until he reaches the exhumation site. Continue reading “What motivates me to be a defender is rebellion,” Daniel Prado Albarracín
All posts by pbicolombia
“We are right when we make denouncements,” Fabian Laverde
Fabian Laverde loves the countryside and, like any good farmer, he can walk for hours up and down hills to get to the community that needs his help. He understands all too well what the peasantry’s historic exclusion signifies and the “guerrilla” stigma that falls on those who live in distant regions abandoned by the State, because he has lived this story. “I am a classic young person… who is now over 40,1” he mentions in passing with a mischievous smile. His story as a human rights defender began in 1993 when he was still in high school, during a strike led by peasants who were drowning under predatory loans. They took to the streets to achieve better conditions and prices for their coffee. Continue reading “We are right when we make denouncements,” Fabian Laverde
Claudia Julieta Duque’s relentless search for justice
Claudia Julieta Duque is a journalist and human rights defender, accompanied by PBI since 2003. Over the years, we have accompanied Claudia Julieta as she has brought her search for justice before different entities and we have monitored her security situation, which is more alarming each day. Due to her investigations and publications on very delicate issues, in particular those related to the participation of the now-dismantled Department of Administrative Security (DAS) in the 1999 murder of political humorist Jaime Garzón. Since 2001, Claudia Julieta has been victim to a plan developed by the DAS, comprised of threats, harassment, persecution, and illegal interception.1 That is when Claudia began her long journey to find justice, which continues today. Continue reading Claudia Julieta Duque’s relentless search for justice
“Our Political Commitment Keeps Us Alive” –Reynaldo Villalba
The hugs and words of gratitude from those who come to him with hope of justice, are what give the most significance to Reynaldo Villalba’s life. Continue reading “Our Political Commitment Keeps Us Alive” –Reynaldo Villalba
Community organizing to face the pandemic: in the Peace Community solidarity prevails
While the world faces the COVID-19 pandemic and many are experiencing for the first time the unsettling reality of having to consider whether a visit to see family or friends could put oneself in danger, the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó, already accustomed to these risks, has been organising. Crisis management and limits on their movements are nothing new in a community that, in their 23 years of non-violent resistance to the armed groups that have controlled this area of Urabá, has seen over 300 of its members killed1. Continue reading Community organizing to face the pandemic: in the Peace Community solidarity prevails