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August 27, 2016 - No. 33
Denounce the
Intransigence of Canada Post!
Defend the Right
of Postal Workers to
a Say
on Their Working Conditions!
- Louis Lang -
  
All Out
to Establish an Anti-War Government!
• No to War and Imperialist Divide
and Rule in the Name of Peace!
- Enver Villamizar -
• Trudeau Government Launches New Program to
Meddle
in the Affairs of Other Countries
• Canada
Prowling For a Military Role in Africa
Colombia Peace Agreement
• Congratulations on an Historic Achievement!
• The Most Beautiful of All
Battles
- Ivan Marquez, Head of the Peace Delegation of the
FARC-EP -
• Joint Communique #93 -- Government of the
Republic of Colombia and FARC-EP
Fora Temer!
• Brazilians Vigorously Oppose Coup
President During Rio Olympics
U.S. Imperialist
Destabilization Attempts in El Salvador
• Supreme Court Decisions
Support Neo-Liberal and U.S. Interests
• Unfolding Events Since the Signing
of the Peace Accords
- Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front -
• U.S. Senator's Outrageous
Remarks Lead to Reopening of
Investigation into FMLN Leader
Korean People's
Opposition to U.S. War Preparations
• Huge U.S.-South Korean War
Exercises Underway
• DPRK Permanent Representative to the UN
Security Council
Opposes Aggressive "Ulji Freedom Guardian (UFG)" War Exercises
• Week Five of Opposition to U.S. Missile
Defence --
"Seongju Is Korea and Korea Is Seongju"
- Hyun Lee -
Denounce the Intransigence of Canada Post!
Defend the Right of Postal Workers to a Say on
Their Working
Conditions!
- Louis Lang -
On Thursday, August 25 the Canadian Union of Postal
Workers (CUPW) postponed a press conference and after an all-day
meeting
of its National Executive Board announced that it was issuing a
72-hour notice of strike action. In a bulletin to its members CUPW
stated, "Based on Canada Post's refusal to agree to the
24-hour extension of our strike mandate, we have issued our
72-hour notice of strike activity. We will be in a legal strike
position as of 11:59 pm Sunday, August 28, 2016. The NEB will
inform everyone if, when and what strike activities will occur.
Please monitor all communication channels so that you are
informed."
 CUPW had no choice but
to issue the notice because the
strike mandate from the membership expired at midnight on August
25, 2016. Without the mandate the union would not have been able
to defend its members from attacks of the corporation such as
threats of lockout and unilateral changes in working conditions
and benefits. These are methods of intimidation which Canada Post
has been using all along in these negotiations in order to force
the workers and CUPW to accept severe rollbacks in working
conditions and benefits. In reality no real negotiations have
taken place since January of this year. Instead the corporation
has used every delaying tactic it could to bring the negotiations
period to an end so that it could use the threat of lockout to
force the union to make concessions.
During the last round of negotiations in 2011, after a
few
days of rotating strikes, Canada Post locked out postal workers
nationally and the Harper government used back-to-work
legislation to impose a contract on the workers, which included a
final offer selection process of arbitration which was heavily
biased in favour of the corporation. CUPW challenged the
legality of the federal legislation under the Canadian Charter
of Rights and Freedoms, claiming that the legislation
violated the rights of workers to freedom of association and
freedom of expression.
The court challenge was heard in October 2015 and,
subsequently, in April 2016, Justice J. Firestone of the Ontario
Superior Court of Justice rendered his decision, "Based on the
evidentiary record there can
be no question that, on the facts of this case, the Restoring
Mail Delivery for Canadians Act abrogated the right to strike of
CUPW members." He went on at length to explain how the Act
violated the Charter of Rights and
Freedoms. He said, "The Act
abrogated the right to strike of CUPW members. The effect of this
abrogation was to substantially interfere with -- and to disrupt
the balance of -- a meaningful process of collective bargaining
between CUPW and Canada Post. I find accordingly that the Act
infringed the s.2(d) freedom of association of union members and
must be justified under s.1 of the Charter." Justice Firestone
further found that the Act was in fact not a "reasonable limitation" on
rights and not justifiable under this section.
 In this round of
negotiations postal workers are faced with
the same difficult situation: severe rollbacks and the
corporation refusing to negotiate in good faith and using
threats and intimidation to achieve their goal of further
privatization and gutting what is left of the contract. This includes:
precarious part-time and temporary employment, no improvements in
staffing, and the ability to close all 493 protected CUPW staffed
retail locations which would eliminate up to 1,200 full-time jobs. The
attacks
on retirement security continue with demands to
increase the cost of retiree benefits and to change to a defined
contribution pension plan for all new regular employees. It also
includes demands to
change the working conditions for all Urban employees. Canada
Post's proposal on pay equity for Rural and Suburban Mail Carriers
(RSMCs) was nothing more than an
attempt to complicate and delay that process.
The union has participated in several meetings where
representatives of the Trudeau government were involved in the
discussions between the two parties. On Friday, August 19, Scott
Brison, President of the Treasury Board, along with senior
officials from Employment and Social Development Canada met with CUPW
negotiating Committee and Canada Post officials but no advance
was made. Similarly CUPW negotiators were very disappointed with
the results of a meeting on Tuesday, August 23, when the
Minister of Labour and her officials attended a negotiations
session.
Montreal postal workers demonstrate against back-to-work legislation,
June 20, 2011.
Throughout the process of failed negotiations the
Trudeau
government has been pretending that it has no responsibility for
what is going on. Prime Minister Trudeau has simply avoided the issue
by
making declarations about his belief in "good faith negotiations
that happen around the bargaining table," and even declared that
his government is "not considering back-to-work legislation."
But this pretense of being an innocent bystander cannot
go on
for much longer.
After all, the Prime Minister must recognize the fact
that the
Government of Canada is the sole shareholder of Canada Post
Corporation and is ultimately responsible for the conduct of
Canada Post officials.
When Canada Post threatened to lock out the workers in
July and force them to work without a contract and under
unilaterally imposed conditions, Trudeau did not say a word and
left postal workers hanging out to dry. It is difficult to
believe Trudeau when he says that he doesn't want to interfere in
negotiations since it is his cabinet that initiated a mandate
review in the middle of crucial negotiations. This mandate review
is being used to float all kinds of unsubstantiated claims about
the "dire financial situation of Canada Post."
The so-called consultation with Canadians is not to
give
anyone an opportunity to say what kind of Post Office we want but
to present people with a fait
accompli that because of the
"financial crisis," people should decide which of their postal
services they want eliminated.
In the coming days, postal workers and the Canadian
people
will be presented with another crisis -- the disruption of postal
service from one end of the country to the other. This is the
direct result of the intransigence of Canada Post and their
refusal to respect the right of workers to negotiate their wages
and working conditions. Solving this problem will be extremely
difficult for the workers and their defence organization but it
will be even more difficult if the workers go into this fight
with illusions about the role of the Trudeau Liberals at this
time.
To talk about "the rogue Chopra," and say that the
"Harper
appointees" are the main culprits in sabotaging negotiations is
to create illusions about the role of the Trudeau cabinet. How
does this type of discussion help postal workers get ready for
the coming battle with the corporation and the government?
 Does anyone seriously think
that it will be easier for postal
workers to negotiate with Treasury Board than Canada Post? The
PSAC components who are fighting tooth and nail to save their
sick leave benefits know that the Trudeau Liberals have not
brought any "fresh air" into those negotiations.
Yes, Chopra, "the Harper appointee," is out to carve
Canada
Post into pieces and hand it over to the private sector. But this
latest rush to privatization was initiated by Moya Greene who was
appointed by the Paul Martin Liberal government. Postal workers
know from bitter experience that so-called negotiations with
Canada Post during this period have been disastrous regardless of
which of the two parties were in power.
And who can ever forget that it was Pierre Elliott
Trudeau
Sr. who was responsible for the jailing of CUPW National
President Jean-Claude Parrot, when he refused to direct postal
workers to obey federal legislation and return to work.
As this latest struggle of postal workers for dignity
and the
right to have a say in their wages and working conditions reaches
its most crucial stage, workers cannot have any illusions that
those who are the source of the problems will somehow come to
their rescue.
Our collective memory teaches us that workers must rely
on
their own strength, organization and determination in the fight
to defend their rights.
All Out to Establish an Anti-War
Government!
No to War and Imperialist Divide and Rule
in the Name of
Peace!
- Enver Villamizar -
Demonstration in Ottawa, March 19, 2016 marks 13th anniversary of U.S.
invasion of Iraq.
During the 2015 federal election, the Liberals'
campaign
tried to create the impression in the minds of Canadians that
electing the Liberals meant that in international affairs, Canada
would play a role for peace, rather than for war. However, since
being elected, the Liberals have stepped up participation in
U.S.-led war-making and war preparations.
Since the Trudeau Liberals have come to power there has
been
a constant
stream of excited gossip
in the media that soon, very soon, Canada will send soldiers to Africa.
No one knows yet to
which countries, the monopoly journalists say, but it could be Mali, or
the Central African
Republic, among other countries and this is very good because people
speak French there.
Supposedly these will be "peace operations" but now things have changed
and "peacekeeping"
also involves counterinsurgency and training military and police
forces. People are told they
should be very glad that finally there is an opportunity for Canada to
take its place again on
"the world stage."
Prime Minister Trudeau said in a statement on "National
Peacekeepers Day," August 9, "Moving forward, we will increase
Canada's support to United Nations peace operations..." The term
"peace operation" is being used to fool people into believing
that such interventions are to prevent or stop conflict. In fact
"peace operation" is a blanket term increasingly being used to
describe whatever those using it want it to mean. It has no
objective basis in international law or international affairs and
has become a catch-all phrase for any military operation which
the aggressors say will create peace and/or stability.
Intervening in a sovereign country with military forces as was
done in Haiti after the U.S., Canadian and French-led coup d'etat
in 2004 -- an operation that continues to this day -- is called a
"peacekeeping operation" by those who wish to cover up that it is
to facilitate imperialist regime change and suppress any
resistance to it.
In this regard, the Liberals are also trying to
resuscitate
the same so-called 3D approach -- Defence, Diplomacy and
Development -- unleashed on Afghanistan to conceal their aim and
suppress any resistance to U.S. imperialist domination. For
example, Canadian Minister of National Defence Harjit Sajjan said in
July that
if Canada does
become engaged in an African mission, potentially the army will
be involved not only in peacekeeping as traditionally conceived,
but also in "capacity building" -- typically code for sending
Canadian military and police forces to train local military and
police and assist them in repressing the people -- and in "controlling
the spread of Islamic militants
across the Middle East and Africa." Here we can see that "peace
operations" will include fighting a war against not only the nebulous
ISIS but whosoever can be deemed "extremists."
 Sajjan visited various
African countries in
early August for a week-long
"fact-finding mission," shopping for a conflict to which Canadian
troops and materiel can be deployed. While in Ethiopia, he told media,
"I
think we can definitely say what we
used to have as peacekeeping, before, is no longer. We don't have
two parties that have agreed on peace and there's a peacekeeping
force in between. Those peacekeeping days, those realities, do
not exist now and we need to understand the reality of
today."
This is being repeated by other spokespersons for
"reform" to UN peacekeeping in the most self-serving fashion as they
try to breathe new life into the imperialist program of presenting
regime change and foreign interference as "protecting civilians" and
"stabilization."
The peoples of Africa, who won their independence in
huge
wars and struggles of resistance against empire-builders from the
time of colonization up to the 1990s, are now facing increased
dangers from the big powers and particularly U.S. imperialism. In
recent years the U.S., along with France and Britain, has greatly
increased its military presence and bases throughout the
continent. Already these forces are participating in the open
overthrow of governments that defy their dictate, such as in Côte
d'Ivoire where in 2011 the President was arrested and the
government overthrown by French troops.
Likewise, the U.S. and other NATO countries are
violating Syria's sovereignty, sending in warplanes and thousands of
special forces. What began as an attempt to carry out regime change and
failed has morphed into an all-out war to rip the country apart. The
U.S. has declared an "exclusion zone" in northern Syria, a new
code-word for "no fly zone" and declared to the Syrian Arab Republic
that its planes and those of its allies will be shot upon
"trespassing." This is part of Sajjan's "reality of today." If
peace is the aim, should the UN not intervene to uphold the
international rule of law and block the U.S. and its "coalition"
from its current war against Syria? Would this not be a stand for
peace in international affairs rather than seeking a new
existence by meddling in the affairs of Africa? The U.S.
imperialists will not agree to peacekeeping of this nature
because they are the aggressor and not interested in peace if it
will not get rid of governments they target for regime
change.
This is not the problem Sajjan is talking about when he
says
"we don't have two parties that have agreed on peace and there's
a peacekeeping force in between them." Sajjan is trying to
justify U.S. aggression in the name of "peace," legitimized by
the United Nations.
 Canada under the Harper
government,
with the support of the
Liberals, took a lead role in the U.S./NATO-led destruction of
Libya. What kind of role Canada will play now and with what aim
is not discussed. Instead we are simply told that involvement in UN
missions or anything with the word "peace" is good, and not being
involved is bad. Did the UN not rubber stamp the illegal U.S. invasion
of Afghanistan after it began? Did the UN Security Council not
authorize no-fly zones
over Libya in the name of "protecting civilians" that ensured
only NATO planes could carry out their attacks and shielded
NATO-backed rebels? Did any of this lead to peace and security
for the peoples of those countries or others? Canadians are not
so naive as to give up their own anti-war sentiments and ignore
their own direct experience when it comes to assessing the role
played by the UN in such cases.
The mask is off. What Obama and Trudeau want is a UN in
which
the big powers, so long as they all agree or no other power tries
to stop them, are able to trample the rights of other nations
with impunity, based on Might Makes Right but now under the guise
of "peace operations."
Canadians rejected the fraudulent imperialist doctrine
of
responsibility to protect and, no sooner than it had been
uttered, they also rejected the Liberals' Responsible Conviction
(which fell flat on its face and has scarcely been spoken about since).
So too Canadians stand
against meddling in other countries' affairs in the name of
"peace operations."
For more information read "Revamping Peacekeeping to
Meet War
Aims" in TML Weekly,
November 21, 2015.
Trudeau Government Launches New Program to Meddle in
the
Affairs of Other Countries
On August 26 the Trudeau government announced the
establishment of the Peace and Stabilization Operations Program
(PSOP). A news release from Global Affairs Canada describes the
program as a "comprehensive approach to support Canadian
interests and UN peace efforts." The announcement comes shortly
after Canadian Minister of National Defence Harjit Sajjan led a
Canadian
delegation to five African countries to seek out "facts on the
ground" to help decide on a new military adventure appropriate
for Canada within the U.S. imperialist push for new "peace
operations" worldwide.
 According to a government
backgrounder the program is also
aimed at giving Canada "a stronger voice on the world stage,"
something the Liberals said they would do once elected.
The government announced $450 million in funding to the
PSOP
and 600 Canadian Armed Forces "for possible deployment to UN
peace operations." Canada's "peace and stabilization operations"
and "future contributions will focus more on the areas of early
warning, conflict prevention, dialogue, mediation and
peacebuilding, and the empowerment of women in decision-making
for peace and security." Beneath the high-sounding phrases is the
fact that Canada has allocated 600 soldiers tasked with using
force to intervene in internal conflicts according to what the
government deems to be "Canadian interests."
A CBC report the same day stated, "The Liberal
government was
required to make the specific commitment as prerequisite to get
into the upcoming international UN peacekeeping conference in
London, which will take place [in September.]"
Responsibilities of "PSOP"
The Peace and Stabilization Operations Program has
"three
core responsibilities:"
 1. "Leadership on
stabilization and fragile states policy."
The program will "support Canadian efforts to influence and shape
dialogue and collective action among allies and partners,
particularly at the UN."
2. "Support coordinated responses by the Government of
Canada
to conflicts and crises abroad." This means the PSOP will
"coordinate whole-of-government responses to catastrophic natural
disasters and complex political crises abroad."
"For political crises in particular, PSOPs will serve
as a
focal point for information sharing, joint analysis and the
coordination of diplomatic, military, security and development
efforts to ensure that they are mutually reinforcing and are
coherent with and supportive of broader, collective efforts of
the international community."
3. "Design and deliver catalytic stabilization
initiatives."
This allegedly means to "manage the deployment of Canadian police
officers and civilian experts to areas in need." We
are informed that PSOPs will be used to fund sending Canadian
police, in particular the RCMP, to participate in "peacekeeping."
Examples of this provided are:
"- strengthening Ukraine's security sector;
"- reducing
tensions among communities hosting Syrian refugees in Lebanon;
"-
supporting the implementation of Colombia's peace process;
"-
supporting anti-Daesh coalition efforts and stabilization
operations in Iraq, among others;
"- expert deployments, for
which $17 million per year has been allocated; they will include
the deployment of Canadian police officers, managed in
conjunction with Public Safety Canada and the RCMP through the
International Police Peacekeeping and Peace Operations program,
as well as the deployment of civilian experts for technical
support to external organizations or for rapid response to crises
and natural disasters."
In other words, countries targeted by U.S.
imperialism
will receive Canadian militarized police agents, spies and other
security officers and this is called peacekeeping.
Canada's role in "peace operations" will be a
"whole-of-government effort," using "the full range of Canada's
military and police as well as other capabilities in integrated
responses." It is telling that when speaking about the "whole of
government effort" the government mentions the military and police
only. This is another indication that with this program Canada is
at the disposal of those who want the United Nations to be
reformed in a manner that violates its founding Charter so as to
serve the contention of the big powers to ensure that
international conflicts are resolved in their favour.
 Minister of Foreign Affairs
Stéphane Dion gave a tortured
explanation of why Canada must line up behind new U.S.
imperialist interventions around the world:
"Now, more than ever, is the time for our country to
choose
engagement over isolation, a time to redouble our combined
efforts to address the world's toughest challenges, from complex
emergencies to climate change and security. Based on our
unparalleled experience in building a peaceful and inclusive
society, our bilingualism and our diversity, Canada will do what
is needed to support the international community in bravely
fighting for justice and security on the global stage; in
promoting humanitarian assistance, development, training and
capacity building; and in protecting gender equality and all
human rights."
Canada's "unparalleled experience in building a
peaceful and
inclusive society" is an age-old fraud of the Liberals to cover
up the experience in Canada of state-organized racist and fascist
attacks, repression of the workers' resistance as well as the
resistance of the people of Quebec and Indigenous nations. Since
U.S. President Obama declared in the Canadian Parliament that
"the world needs more Canada," the Liberals have drunk the
kool-aid and are beginning to believe their own lies.
Minister of Public Safety Ralph Goodale gave his own
perverse
twist to promote the deployment of RCMP to interfere in the
affairs of other countries and peoples. "Peacekeeping has been a
long-standing tradition for Canada, and we are taking concrete
steps to build a more secure world through police participation
in international peace support and stabilization missions. The
RCMP, in collaboration with officers from police forces across
the country, will help strengthen local policing, improve
security and build capacity in fragile and conflict-affected
states," he said.
 Is this the kind of
peacekeeping Goodale thinks Canadians
want? Do the Liberals think that Canadians see problems faced by
other peoples around the world and think that if they only had
Canadian police things would be better? Is that the experience of
Canadians? Goodale is no doubt aware of the actions of police in
Canada to organize terror plots today and in the past, their abuses
against Indigenous women; as well as abuse and killing of
Canadians at the hands of police. Goodale is also surely aware of the
Sûreté du Québec officers accused of sexual
misconduct while on duty in Haiti as UN peacekeepers, where the Police
Commissioner of the illegitimate UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti
(MINUSTAH) is an RCMP officer. Is this the kind of local
policing they will help strengthen?
The Trudeau Liberals' new Peace and Stabilization
Operations
Program is another attempt to eke out an existence in
international affairs. Canada's "voice on the world stage" is based
on better serving U.S. imperialist aims in the countries it has
targeted for regime change, destabilization and domination. Now
is the time for Canadians to step up their demands that Canada
actively oppose the use of force to settle conflicts in
international affairs.
Canada Prowling For a Military Role in Africa
It is being widely reported that Canada is looking for
a
new "peace operation" to join or possibly lead in Africa.
 From August 10-16, Canada's
Minister of National Defence Harjit Sajjan
carried out a "fact-finding" trip to Africa, which is part of the
preparations for a new role for Canada in Africa. Sajjan was
accompanied by retired Liberal Senator and Lieutenant-General
from the Canadian Armed Forces Roméo Dallaire (Dallaire was also
Force Commander of United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda
from 1993-1994); Retired Supreme Court Justice and former Chief
Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunals for the former
Yugoslavia and Rwanda, Louise Arbour; and Canada's Ambassador to
the United Nations, Marc-André Blanchard. In the particular case
of Dallaire and Arbour, they are key point people in the
international campaign to justify the intervention of
imperialist states in the internal affairs of other nations in the name
of stopping genocide or war
crimes. This is then used to justify war crimes by the
imperialists. Their participation in the Canadian delegation
indicates that similar pretexts will be created for meddling in Africa.
During the trip, the delegation traveled to Ethiopia,
Kenya,
Uganda, Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
In the five African countries they visited, they met
with
Sajjan's ministerial counterparts and a number of other
ministers, top military officials and heads of state. It is also
reported that he met with representatives from the United
Nations, the African Union and NGOs "to better understand the
nature of conflict on the ground and the work currently being
done by African partners and NGOs." Canada appears to be
positioning to involve itself in "conflict" in Africa which it is
presenting as a "peace operation." This indicates that Canada is
positioning itself to play a more dirty role in the
divide-and-rule politics of imperialism, which has caused immense
damage and destruction on the African continent and which the
peoples of Africa have fought to overcome. This whole shift was
articulated during U.S. President Barack Obama's speech to
Parliament in which he called on Canada to act more forcefully to
uphold "common values" internationally -- a direct appeal for
Canada to embroil itself in U.S. intervention in the affairs of
other countries in the name of "human rights," "protecting women
and children" etc.
 This re-engagement in Africa
is intended to demonstrate
that
Canada is playing its role in the United Nations, which the
Liberals assert the Harper government did not do. It is also likely
linked to the Trudeau government's
announcement of its intention to bid for a United Nations
Security Council seat, with a two-year term beginning in
2021.
Upon his return to Canada,
Sajjan stated: "My meetings with
African partners were an important opportunity to learn the
ground truth about security issues affecting the continent. The
information gathered during these meetings has helped us get a
better understanding of the situation on the ground, and will
inform future partnerships as Canada looks to re-engage in a full
spectrum of multilateral peace operations." Canada's concern for
"security issues" and "gathering information on the ground"
appears to be more about cherry-picking a country where it can
flex its muscle most effectively than about assisting the peoples
of Africa.
Note
1. A statement issued on August
16 by
the Department of National Defence / Canadian Armed Forces
reports that while he was in Ethiopia on August 10-11, Minister
Sajjan toured the Ethiopian International Peacekeeping Training
Center and participated in a series of roundtable meetings with
NGOs, think tanks, and UN representatives. He also met with
African ambassadors currently hosting or contributing troops to
peace support operations, as well as with ambassadors from
countries funding United Nations and African Union peace
operations. His visit concluded with a meeting with
representatives from the African Union Peace and Security
Department, "where he received a comprehensive presentation on
their current efforts and capabilities."
On August 12 in Nairobi, Kenya, Sajjan visited the
International Peace Support Training Centre, among other places.
In Uganda the next day, he met with representatives of UNICEF and
the World Food Programme "to discuss the protection of vulnerable
children in armed conflict." On August 14 in Tanzania, he met
with representatives from the Aga Khan Development Network,
discussed construction of the Aga Khan University and toured the
Aga Khan Hospital. The statement indicates that since 2000 Canada
has provided over $320 million to the Aga Khan Foundation Canada "in
support of development and humanitarian assistance activities" in
Africa, Asia and the Middle East.
On August 15-16 in the Democratic Republic of Congo,
Sajjan
met with political and military representatives of the UN
Stabilization Mission in the country (MONUSCO) and
representatives from the Special Police Squadron for the
Protection of Women and Children. He also visited a hospital run
by the International Committee of the Red Cross and toured a
shelter for demobilized children supported by UNICEF and
Canada.
Colombia Peace Agreement
Congratulations on an Historic Achievement!
Press conference on conclusion of peace agreement in Havana, August 24,
2016. (Farc-EP)
The Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) sends
its
heartiest congratulations to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of
Colombia-People's Army (FARC-EP) for reaching
an historic peace agreement signed with the Government of
Colombia on August 24, 2016. This ends the 50-year-old armed
conflict in Colombia and opens up serious prospects of peace and
reconciliation as well as social progress, for the first
time.
On June 23, a significant milestone in the peace
dialogues
was reached with the signing in Havana of the agreement on a
definitive bilateral ceasefire and cessation of hostilities. Then
on August 24 a final, full and definitive agreement was signed on
all the points contained in the Agenda of the General Agreement
for the Termination of the Conflict and the Construction of a
Stable and Lasting Peace in Colombia, established at the outset
of the talks in 2012. The final agreement must now be approved by the
10th national Conference of the FARC-EP which will take place September
13-19, after which it will be submitted to a national plebiscite on
October 2 for final acceptance or rejection.
CPC(M-L) takes this occasion to pay deepest respects to
all
the
fighters who have laid down their lives to see such an historic
achievement, as well as all the victims of the conflict. The
peaceful resolution of armed conflict is the deepest desire of
peoples all over the world. The FARC-EP has achieved it by
upholding the principles of human dignity for which it fought all
these years. Congratulations!
The conflict was fuelled from the outset in the 1950s
by the
U.S. imperialist rampage to "contain communism," which was
subsequently turned into "Plan Colombia" to wage a phony "War on
Drugs" and "War on Terrorism." This historic peace agreement
defeats all the attempts of U.S. imperialism and its agents in
Colombia to undermine any political resolution to the conflict by
trying to terrorize and divide the Colombian people through the
use of assassination, defamation and untold crimes against
humanity. By achieving peace in Colombia, the Colombian people
with the support of other peace-loving peoples and governments
have also made an important contribution to making Latin America
and the Caribbean a zone of peace.
 To its shame the Canadian
state has taken its lead from the U.S. and done everything possible to
undermine the search for peace and fuel the internal conflict in
Colombia. It now presents itself as wanting to contribute to peace by
“help[ing] the Government of Colombia implement peace in the most
conflict-affected parts of the country." This reflects what Obama said
in his speech to Parliament after the North American Leaders' Summit on
June 29 that “the nations of North America will be an important partner
to Colombia going forward.” For some time Canada has been involved in
training Colombian police and military forces and is now said to
be considering participating in a UN peacekeeping mission in the
country. The record of Canadian training missions in law enforcement in
the name of “peacekeeping” is not great in Haiti and other countries
where it has made such a contribution.
Canadians must continue to hold the
government to account and make sure the nefarious impacts of the
Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement signed by the Harper
government in 2011 do not undermine the peace process. This
free-trade agreement was signed shortly after the
U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement in the hopes of ensuring
Canadian mining and other monopolies are not disadvantaged in the
race to exploit Colombia's land and resources that is displacing its
people and violating their rights in the process.
In 2013, right in the midst of the peace dialogues, the
Canadian government approved the sale of automatic assault
weapons, banned for sale in Canada, to the Colombian government.
This is on top of sales of Light Armoured Vehicles to the
Colombian military like those the Liberals recently approved for
export to Saudi Arabia. Before that there were helicopters and
engines for the Tucano attack airplanes used in counterinsurgency
operations. All of this was used politically and materially by
the Colombian state and its military and possibly also its
paramilitary associates to carry out the repression of the Colombian
people in the service of the foreign monopolies that want to use
the country for their own ends.
The interference of the United
States and Canada to undermine sovereign governments in Latin
America and the Caribbean continues unabated, as in the case of
Haiti, Venezuela, Brazil, Honduras and now El Salvador. Canadians
must be aware of the dangers that lie ahead for the peoples of
Latin America and the Caribbean and do their utmost to make sure
the Colombians' profound desire for peace, justice and prosperity
by establishing sovereignty over the use of their own resources
succeeds.
CPC(M-L) is confident that just as they have done
heroically
for the past 50 years, the politically organized Colombian people will
foil the
attempts by pro-war forces to divide the public opinion that has
been created for the building of a lasting peace and a new
Colombia.
The Most Beautiful of All Battles
- Ivan Marquez, Head of the Peace
Delegation of
the FARC-EP -
Havana, August 24, 2016
Today in Havana, Cuba we have concluded Colombia's much
longed-for peace agreement.
Land, democracy, victims, politics without arms,
implementation of agreements with international monitoring, are,
among other things, the elements of an agreement that will have
to sooner rather than later be turned into rock-solid legislation
by its primary constituent, guaranteeing a future of dignity for
all.
 We can proclaim that the war
with arms ends and the debate of
ideas begins. We have concluded the most beautiful of all
battles: of laying the foundations for peace and coexistence.
The peace agreement is not an end point but the
starting
point for a multiethnic and multicultural people, united under
the banner of inclusion, to be the goldsmith and sculptor of the
change and social transformation the majorities clamour for.
Today we are handing over to the Colombian people the
transforming power we have been building during a half century of
rebellion, so that with it, and with the strength of the union,
the people can begin to build the society of the future, the one
of our collective dreams, a sanctuary dedicated to democracy, to
social justice, to sovereignty and to fraternal and respectful
relations with everyone.
We have signed commitments on the six points that make
up the
Agenda of the General Agreement:
Agreement "Towards a new Colombian countryside:
Comprehensive
Rural Reform," which pursues the transformation of the conditions
of misery and inequality prevailing in the agricultural areas of
our country, providing plans and programs for good living
conditions and development, beginning with the titling of lands
held by rural communities.
Agreement "Political participation: democratic opening
for
peace," in which the emphasis is on the elimination of exclusion,
beginning from the expansion of democracy that will allow broad
citizen participation in defining the country's destiny.
Agreement "Solution to the problem of illicit drugs,"
which
designs a new policy to fight against illicitly used drugs,
taking into account its social connotations and providing an
approach with an emphasis on human rights that overcomes the
shortcomings of the failed "war on drugs."
Agreement on Victims, consisting of a "Comprehensive
System
of Truth, Justice, Reparation and Non-Repetition," a "Special
Jurisdiction for Peace," a Unit for the search for persons
missing in the context of and due to the conflict, plans for
comprehensive reparation, land restitution measures and
guarantees of non-repetition, among others.
Agreements on the point End of Conflict: "1. The
Bilateral
and Final Ceasefire and Cessation of hostilities; 2. The Laying
Down of Arms; 3. The Monitoring and Verification Mechanism
launched by the United Nations with the deployment of observers
from countries of CELAC; 4. Agreements were defined on security
guarantees and dismantling of the phenomenon of paramilitarism,
creating a unit for the investigation and dismantling of criminal
organizations, including those that have been considered
successors of paramilitarism and their support networks ..., but
with a vision that is not militaristic but rather one of seeking
solutions to avoid further bloodshed and pain; and as a fifth
aspect, the most recently reached, were agreements on the
Reincorporation of the FARC-EP into civilian life -- in economic,
social and political terms, which, starting from a pardon and the
broadest political amnesty, will open the door for us to become a
legal political party or movement in the new social scenario that
will emerge from the entire set of peace agreements.
 We also have an Agreement on
Implementation, Confirmation and
Verification, which provides guarantees for planning, funding and
budgets, such as for the creation of regulatory changes that will
allow for the realization of the commitments.
During the treatment of each point, the Gender
Subcommission
worked in parallel on the analysis of all the agreed texts and
issues under debate, providing input to open the way for the full
affirmation of the human being.
We have fulfilled the task. In the coming days we will
be in
Colombia, holding the National Guerilla Conference, our highest
body of authority, to which we are subordinate and must submit
for its verdict on the political work represented by the Special
Agreement for Peace in Havana.
We confess that it has been a tough task, full of
difficulties, with lights and shadows perhaps, but addressed with
a heart full of love for the motherland and the poor in Colombia.
We are convinced that we have faithfully interpreted the
sentiment of our comrades in arms and ideas, who always fought in
the spirit of finding a political solution to the conflict, and
above all, the possibility of a just homeland, without the
horrifying abyss that today stands between development and
poverty.
To the comrades held in prisons and jails in the
country and
across borders, goes our message of love with the hope of soon
having you free, building the New Colombia envisioned by our
founding fathers.
To the people of Colombia goes our embrace with all the
strength of our heart to reaffirm to you that the guerrilla
struggle that was staged in all parts of the national territory
was for no other reason than to dignify human life, in keeping
with the universal right that falls to all peoples of the world
to take up arms against injustice and oppression. Unfortunately,
in every war, but especially in those of a long duration, errors
are committed and these unintentionally affect the population.
With the signing of the peace agreement, which implies a
commitment to Non-Repetition, we hope to definitively eliminate
the risk of weapons being turned against citizens.
Peace is for everyone and embraces all strata of our
society,
calling for reflection, for solidarity, and tells us that it is
possible to take the country forward. To the sector of society
surviving in the catacombs of despair, neglect and official
abandonment we say that it is possible, relying on the inner
strength and determination that we all carry inside, to rise out
of misery and poverty. While we have life, everything is
possible, and much better if we do it with organization. There
are the youth of Colombia, from cloisters and universities,
always generous, ready to help in the collective search for
solutions to social problems.
To the peasants, men and women full of humility and
purity,
seeking with their labour and sweat food sovereignty for Colombia
in the furrows, we offer a place for struggle in the agreed
Comprehensive Rural Reform. To the Afro communities in Colombia,
to the indigenous peoples: we invite you to see the
differentiated ethnic approach in everything that was agreed to,
won with your own struggle. To women, we say that we will enforce
the gender approach that breathes through the Special Peace
Agreement.
It will not be possible to stop the powerful force of
change
originating in the dreams and hopes of a people claiming their
rights. Nothing can lead us astray. The people of Colombia demand
answers to their concerns and the government must provide them,
with tangible action.
There will be international monitoring of the
commitments of
both parties, not only of the guerrillas, as some would like, but
also of the Government's commitments on fundamental issues of the
end of conflict, such as the reincorporation in political,
economic and social terms, on safety guarantees, and on the
transition of the guerrilla into a legal political movement.
We have great expectations about the development of the
commitment to institutional reforms and adjustments needed to
meet the challenges of peace-building. To do this, we believe the
ground should be opened after the plebiscite by the GREAT
NATIONAL POLITICAL PACT, proposed by the parties, to which we
invite the active forces of the nation so that in this new space
we can all think of a new framework for political and social
coexistence that will guarantee tranquility to the coming
generations.
We will have peace if the agreements are respected. The
people must become the main guarantor of their implementation.
The Special Peace Agreement and the people should be one like the
sea and the waves, where the agreements are the sea and the
people are the persistent waves demanding compliance.
On behalf of the FARC-EP I turn to the nations of the
world
asking the peoples and governments for their solidarity, their
support in every sense so that the longest conflict on the
continent will become a reference point and issue of the past
that no people should repeat.
To the Government of the United States that for such a
long
time supported the State's war against the guerrillas and against
social nonconformity, we ask you to continue in a transparent way
supporting Colombian efforts to restore peace, and are expecting
humanitarian gestures from Washington consistent with the
kindness that characterizes the majority of the American people,
who are friends of harmony and solidarity. We are waiting for
Simón Trinidad.[1]
We hope the ELN can find a way towards peace so that
the
peace we long for can be complete, involving all Colombians.
Finally, the FARC-EP expresses its deepest appreciation
to
the government led by General Raul Castro Ruz and to the people
of Cuba, for everything they have done for peace in Colombia;
eternal gratitude to the homeland of Martí.
Thank-you also to the Kingdom and the people of Norway
for
their generous contribution and accompaniment as guarantor to the
efforts of reconciliation in our country.
Our appreciation and affection go to the Bolivarian
Republic
of Venezuela, for its permanent assistance to its sister
Colombia, in the realization of the peace agreement. Thank-you
Nicolás Maduro for continuing the work entrusted to you by
President Chávez.
A thank-you to President Michelle Bachelet and the
people of
Chile for their extraordinary accompaniment to a peace that, they
know only too well, is essential to consolidate peace on the
continent.
Allow us to pay heartfelt tribute to the fallen in this
long
fratricidal confrontation. To the families, mothers, widows,
brothers, children and friends, our condolences for the grief and
sadness of the war.
Let us join hands and voices to shout NEVER AGAIN,
NEVER
AGAIN.
From the Havana conclave, white smoke has emerged.
Habemus Pacem, we have peace. Viva Colombia! Long live
peace!
Note
1. Simón Trinidad refers to
Ricardo Palmera, a senior member of the FARC imprisoned in solitary
confinement in the U.S. Florence SuperMax prison in Colorado.
Joint Communique #93 -- Government of
the Republic of Colombia
and FARC-EP
Havana, Cuba, 24 August 2016
The delegations of the National Government and the
FARC-EP
announce that we have reached a final, comprehensive and
definitive agreement on all the points of the agenda of the
General Agreement for the Termination of the Conflict and the
Construction of a Stable and Lasting Peace in Colombia.
Preamble
Recalling that the talks in Havana between delegates of
the
National Government, headed by President Juan Manuel Santos and
the delegates of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People's
Army, with the mutual decision to end the national armed
conflict, took place as a result of the Exploratory Meeting in
the capital of the Republic of Cuba between February 23 and
August 26, 2012;
Bearing in mind that as a result of the aforementioned
exploratory talks a General Agreement for the Termination of the
Conflict and the Construction of a Stable and Lasting Peace was
agreed to and signed on the last mentioned date before national
witnesses and delegates of the Republic of Cuba and the Kingdom
of Norway, who also served as witnesses and have assented to the
process as guarantor countries since then;
Bearing in mind that the Bolivarian Republic of
Venezuela and
the Republic of Chile have been prepared at all times to lend
their good offices as accompanying countries;
Recalling that in the development of the agenda adopted
in
the agreement in question, the Negotiating Table was established
on October 18 of 2012 in the city of Oslo, the capital of the
Kingdom of Norway, to then continue in Havana without
interruption until today when the Final Agreement for the
Termination of the Conflict and the Construction of a Stable and
Lasting Peace is signed;
Underlining that the Final Agreement entered into today
corresponds to the free expression of the will of the National
Government and the FARC-EP, having both acted in good faith and
with the full intent of complying with what has been agreed;
Bearing in mind that Article 22 of the Political
Constitution
of the Republic of Colombia holds that peace is a right and a
mandatory duty; that Article 95 states that the quality of being
Colombian ennobles all members of the national community and
therefore it is the duty of all to enhance and dignify it; that
the exercise of the rights and liberties recognized in the
Constitution implies responsibilities, among them to pursue the
achievement and maintenance of peace;
Emphasizing that peace has come to be universally
qualified
as a human right and a necessary condition for the exercise of
all other rights and duties of persons and citizens;
Bearing in mind that the Final Agreement contains all
of the
agreements reached on the Agenda of the General Agreement signed
in Havana in August 2012; and that to achieve it, both the
National Government and the FARC-EP have always and every time
adhered to the spirit and respect for the Constitution, the
principles of International Law, the International Law of Human
Rights, International Humanitarian Law (Conventions and
protocols), the mandate of the Rome Statute (International
Criminal Law), of the rulings handed down by the Inter-American
Court of Human Rights concerning conflicts and their termination,
and other judgments by universally recognized competent
authorities and authoritative rulings concerning the matters at
hand;
Recalling that Article 94 states that "the enunciation
of
rights and guarantees contained in the Constitution and in
international agreements in force, shall not be intended as a
denial of others which, being inherent to the human person, are
not expressly contained therein," that treaties on human rights
approved by Congress, and which cannot be suspended even during
states of exception, prevail in domestic order;
Taking into consideration that the totality of the
agreements
that form the Final Agreement contribute to the satisfaction of
fundamental rights such as political, social, economic and
cultural rights, and the rights of the victims of the conflict to
truth, justice and reparation; the right of children and
adolescents, the fundamental individual or collective right to
legal security and physical security, and the fundamental right
of every individual in particular and of society in general,
without distinction, to non-repetition of the tragedy of the
internal armed conflict which this Agreement aims to
overcome;
Underlining that the Final Agreement pays special
attention
to the fundamental rights of women, vulnerable social groups such
as Indigenous peoples, children and adolescents, Afro-descendant
communities and other ethnically distinct groups; the fundamental
rights of the peasants, the essential rights of persons with
disabilities and those displaced because of the conflict; the
fundamental rights of older persons and the LGBTI population;
Considering that in the opinion of the National
Government
the transformations involved in implementing this Agreement
must contribute to reversing the effects of the conflict and
changing the conditions that have facilitated the persistence of
violence in the territory; and that in the opinion of the FARC-EP
these changes must contribute to solving the historical causes of
the conflict, such as the unresolved issue of land ownership and
particularly its concentration, the exclusion of the peasantry
and the backwardness of rural communities, that especially affect
women and children.
Valuing and honouring the fact that the central axis of
peace
is to promote the presence and effective action of the State
throughout the national territory, especially in many regions
crippled today by abandonment, by the lack of an effective civil
service, and by the effects of the internal armed conflict
itself; that an essential goal of national reconciliation is the
construction of a new paradigm of development and territorial
welfare for the benefit of broad sectors of the population thus
far victims of exclusion and despair;
Recognizing the rights of society to comprehensive
human
security with participation of the civil authorities;
Honouring and enshrining a prospective justice to
recognize
essential fundamental rights for new and future generations such
as the right to a land that has been preserved, the right to the
preservation of the human species, the right to know one's
origins and identity, the right to exemption from liability for
actions committed by previous generations, the right to the
preservation of freedom of choice, and other rights, without
prejudicing the rights of the victims to the truth, justice and
reparation;
Recalling that on June 23 this year, the delegations of
the
National Government and the FARC-EP signed in Havana agreements
on a Bilateral and Definitive Ceasefire and Cessation of
Hostilities and the Laying Down of Arms and Security Guarantees,
in the presence of the President of the Councils of State and
Ministers of the Republic of Cuba, the Secretary General of the
United Nations, the President of the General Assembly of the UN,
the President of the Security Council of the same organization,
the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Norway, the
Heads of State of the accompanying countries, Heads of Government
of countries in the region, the Special Envoy of the United
States of America and the Special Representative of the European
Union;
Accepting that the rules of customary international law
continue to govern questions related to fundamental rights not
mentioned in the Final Agreement, including the binding mandate
which instructs that "in cases unforeseen by the law in force,
the human person remains under the protection of the principles
of humanity and the demands of the public conscience;"
Recognizing the constitutional mandate stating that it
corresponds to the President of the Republic as Head of State,
Head of Government and supreme administrative authority to agree
and ratify peace agreements;
The Government of the Republic of Colombia and the
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People's Army, have
agreed:
To sign this Final Agreement for the Termination of the
Conflict and the Construction of a Stable and Lasting Peace,
understanding that its enforcement will end in a definitive way
the armed conflict that has lasted over fifty years.
This Final Agreement for the Termination of the
Conflict and
the Construction of a Stable and Lasting Peace is signed by the
National Government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of
Colombia-People's Army (FARC-EP), as a Special Agreement under
the terms of Article 3 common to the Geneva Conventions of
1949.
The National Government and the Revolutionary Armed
Forces of Colombia-People's Army (FARC-EP), sign seven originals
including
their annexes, one for each of the parties, one for each of the
guarantor countries and one for each of the facilitating
countries. The seventh original copy will be deposited
immediately upon signature with the Swiss Federal Council in Bern
or with the body that replaces it in the future as depository of
the Geneva Conventions.
Introduction
After a confrontation of more than half a century, the
National Government and the FARC-EP have agreed to end the
internal armed conflict in a definitive manner.
The termination of the armed conflict will mean, in
first
place, the end of the enormous suffering that the conflict has
caused. Millions of Colombians have been forcibly displaced,
hundreds of thousands have died, tens of thousands are missing,
not to mention the large number of populations that have been
affected in one way or another throughout the territory,
including women, children and adolescents, rural communities,
Indigenous, Afro-Colombians, black, palenqueras, native islanders
and Roma, political parties, social movements and trade unions,
business associations, among others. We do not want another
victim in Colombia.
Second, the end of the conflict will open a new chapter
in
our history. It means the beginning of a transition phase that
will contribute to the greater integration of our territories,
greater social inclusion especially of those who have lived on
the margins of development and have suffered from the conflict
and that will strengthen our democracy so it extends throughout
the entire country and ensure that social conflicts are processed
through institutional channels, with full guarantees for those
involved in politics.
It is about building a stable and lasting peace, with
the
participation of all Colombians. With that purpose, to end once
and for all the historical cycles of violence and lay the
foundation for peace, we agreed to the points on the Agenda of
the General Agreement of August 2012, which this Agreement
develops.
The Agreement consists of a series of agreements, which
nevertheless constitute an indissoluble whole, because they are
permeated by the same rights approach, so that the measures
agreed here contribute to the realization of the constitutional
rights of Colombians; by the same differential and gender
approach to ensure that implementation is carried out taking into
account gender, ethnic and cultural diversity, and that measures
will be taken for the poorest and most vulnerable populations and
collectives, especially children and girls, women, persons with
disabilities and victims; and especially by the same territorial
approach.
The territorial approach of the Agreement is to
recognize and
take into account the needs, economic, cultural and social
characteristics and particularities of the territories and
communities, ensuring social and environmental sustainability;
and seeks to implement the various measures in a comprehensive
and coordinated manner with the active participation of citizens.
Implementation will be carried out from the regions and
territories and with the participation of local authorities and
the various sectors of society.
Citizen participation is the foundation of all
agreements
that constitute the Final Agreement: participation of the society
in general in building peace and participation in particular in
the planning, implementation and monitoring of the plans and
programs in the territories, which is also a guarantee of
transparency.
In addition, participation and dialogue among the
different
sectors of society contributes to building confidence and
promoting a culture of tolerance, respect and coexistence in
general, which is a goal of all the agreements. Decades of
conflict have opened gaps of distrust within the society,
especially in the areas most affected by the conflict. To break
these barriers, spaces must be opened for the most diverse
citizen participation along with spaces that promote the
recognition of victims, recognition and establishment of
responsibilities, and in general, the recognition by the whole
society of what happened and the need to seize the opportunity
for peace.
Therefore, the Government of Colombia and the FARC-EP,
with
the aim to further consolidate the foundations on which peace and
national reconciliation will be built, shall, after the
plebiscite has taken place, convene all parties, social and
political movements and active forces of the country to arrive at
a great NATIONAL POLITICAL AGREEMENT aimed at defining the
reforms and institutional adjustments needed to meet the
challenges that peace demands, launching a new framework for
political and social coexistence.
***
The Final Agreement contains the following points with
their
corresponding agreements, which aim to contribute towards the
necessary transformations to lay the foundations for a stable and
lasting peace.
Point 1 contains the "Comprehensive Rural Reform,"
which will
contribute to the structural transformation of the countryside,
closing the gaps between rural and urban areas and creating
conditions for the welfare and good living of the rural
population. The "Comprehensive Rural Reform" should integrate the
regions, helping to eradicate poverty, promote equality and
ensure the full enjoyment of citizenship rights.
Point 2 contains the agreement "Political
Participation:
Democratic Opening to Build Peace." The construction and
consolidation of peace within the framework of the end of the
conflict requires a democratic expansion that allows the
emergence of new forces in the political arena to enrich the
debate and deliberation about major national issues and thereby
strengthen pluralism and hence the representation of different
visions and interests in the society, with the appropriate
guarantees for political participation and inclusion.
In particular, the implementation of the Final
Agreement will
contribute to the broadening and deepening of democracy as it
will involve the laying down of arms and the proscription of
violence as a method of political action for all Colombians,
allowing to move to a scenario in which democracy prevails, with
full guarantees for those involved in politics, and thus opening
new spaces for participation.
Point 3 contains the agreements on "Bilateral and
Definitive
Ceasefire and Cessation of Hostilities and the Laying Down of
Arms" which aim to permanently end offensive actions between the
Public Forces and the FARC-EP, and in general the hostilities and
any action contemplated in the rules that govern the ceasefire,
including effects on the population, and thus create the
conditions for beginning the implementation of the Final
Agreement and the laying down of arms and preparing the
institutional framework and the country for the reincorporation
of the FARC-EP into civilian life.
Point 3 also contains the agreement on "Reincorporation
of
the FARC-EP into civilian life in social, economic, political
terms -- in keeping with their interests." Laying the basis for
building a stable and lasting peace requires the effective
reincorporation of the FARC-EP into the social, economic and
political life of the country. Reincorporation confirms the
commitment of the FARC-EP to close the chapter of internal
conflict, to become a valid actor in the democracy and to
decidedly contribute to the consolidation of peaceful coexistence
and non-repetition, and to transforming the conditions that
facilitated the persistence of violence in the territory.
Point 3 also includes the agreement on "Ensuring
security and
the fight against criminal organizations responsible for killings
and massacres or that attack human rights defenders, social
movements and political movements, including the criminal
organizations that have been called the successors of
paramilitarism and their support networks, and the prosecution of
criminal behaviour that threatens the implementation of the
agreements and peace building." To achieve this end, the
agreement includes measures such as the National Political Pact;
the National Commission on Security Assurances; the Special
Investigation Unit; the Elite Corps in the National Police; the
Comprehensive Security System for the Exercise of Politics; the
Comprehensive Security and Protection Program for Communities and
Organizations in the Territories; and Measures for the Prevention
and Fight against Corruption.
Point 4 contains the agreement "Solution to the Problem
of
Illicit Drugs." To build peace it is necessary to find a
definitive solution to the problem of illicit drugs, including
illicit crops and the production and marketing of illicit drugs.
For which a new vision is promoted, that gives a different and
differentiated treatment to the phenomenon of consumption, the
problem of illicit crops, and to the organized crime associated
with drug trafficking, ensuring a general human rights and public
health approach, one that is differentiated and has a gender
perspective.
Point 5 contains the "Victims" agreement. From the
Exploratory Meeting of 2012, we agreed that compensation for
victims should be at the core of any agreement. The agreement
creates the Comprehensive System of Truth, Justice, Reparation
and Non-Repetition, that contributes to the fight against
impunity combining judicial mechanisms for the investigation and
punishment of serious violations of human rights and grave
breaches of International Humanitarian Law with complementary
extra-judicial mechanisms that contribute to clarifying the truth
about what occurred, the search for missing loved ones and
reparation of the damage caused to individuals, collectives and
entire territories.
The Comprehensive System is composed of the Commission
for
the Clarification of Truth, Coexistence and Non-Repetition; the
Special Unit for the search for missing persons in the context of
and due to the armed conflict; the Special Jurisdiction for
Peace; the Measures for Comprehensive Reparation for peace
building; and the Guarantees for Non-Repetition.
Point 6 contains the "Implementation and Verification
Mechanisms" agreement in which a "Commission for the
implementation, monitoring and verification of the Final Peace
Agreement and resolution of differences" is created, composed of
representatives of the National Government and the FARC-EP in
order, inter alia, to track
the components of the Agreement and
verify their fulfilment, serve as an entity for resolving
differences and promoting and monitoring the legislative
implementation.
Additionally, it creates a mechanism of accompaniment
for the
international community to contribute in different ways to
guarantee the implementation of the Final Agreement; and with
respect to verification, a model is initiated with an
international component to be made up of the countries that
during the process have assumed the role of guarantors and
accompanying countries, and two international spokespeople, all
supported technically by the Kroc Institute for International
Peace Studies Project of the University of Notre Dame, United
States.
***
The delegations of the National Government and the
FARC-EP
reiterate our profound gratitude to all the victims, social and
human rights organizations, communities, including ethnic groups,
women's organizations, peasants, youth, academia, business
people, the church and faith communities, and all citizens who
actively participated and who through their proposals contributed
to the Final Agreement. With their participation we will achieve
the building of a stable and lasting peace.
Fora Temer!
Brazilians Vigorously Oppose Coup President
During Rio
Olympics
Demonstration against Coup in Rio De Janeiro during the Olympic Games.
During the Olympic Games in Rio and other cities
Brazilians vigorously expressed their opposition to the coup
presidency of Michel Temer and his backers.
The impeachment process against President Dilma
Rousseff
initiated by the Brazilian oligarchy and the imperialists that
stand behind them is now in its final stage. They had hoped
"interim President" Temer's presence at the Opening Ceremony of
the Olympics would strike a blow to the people's opposition and
keep it from bursting out onto the world stage. However the
opposite happened and the people used every opportunity,
including the Opening Ceremony, to say No to him and to the
coup.
 The people have been
holding large demonstrations in cities
around the country, including during the pre-Games Torch Relay.
They also refused to have their voices silenced during the
Olympics, using the Games as a venue to show their rejection of
the coup and its leaders. "Fora Temer!" (Temer, Out!) was seen
and heard everywhere in Rio and beyond. It was on banners at the
front of mass rallies, on signs held up by spectators in the
stands, on people's T-shirts and written on their bodies as well
as shouted in stadiums. Things got so bad for the coup president
that he was accorded only the most perfunctory of roles in the
August 5 Opening Ceremony seen around the world -- of declaring
the games open, the traditional function of the host country's
head of state. Even the few seconds it took for him to do that
and sit down again were met with loud and sustained booing from
the audience. At the Closing Ceremony on August 21 Temer was
nowhere to be seen.
During the first few days of the Games, police,
soldiers and
Olympic volunteers moved in to remove those who in any way
protested inside Olympic venues. This was said to be in response
to a policy of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) which
attempted to justify the actions in the name of the
"clean arena policy" in line with the IOC Charter's ban on
"political, religious, or racial propaganda in any Olympic
site."
During a women's soccer match between the United States
and
France at the Mineirão stadium in Belo Horizonte, nine
spectators
wearing t-shirts spelling out Fora Temer were told they had to
take them off or leave the stadium.
 One Olympic Games volunteer
is reported to have became
outraged when he saw commandos grab a seated man at an archery
event and remove him for holding up a sign with the same slogan.
The incident was caught on camera and shared on Facebook millions
of times. Rather than being asked to carry out a similar order,
the man who was the coordinator of a group of 30 volunteers at
the venue quit.
"For the IOC to decide what we can and cannot do in my
country is not right," he said. "Freedom of speech is guaranteed
in our constitution, and the committee can't do anything against
that."
On August 9 this stand was affirmed by a federal judge
who
issued an injunction forbidding police or security from removing
fans from Olympic events for protesting peacefully by wearing
T-shirts, waving signs or chanting slogans. Judge João Augusto
Carneiro Araújo ruled that Brazilians do not forfeit their
constitutionally protected right to free speech just by attending
Olympic games and set a fine of 10,000 reales (US$3,000) for each
violation of his ruling.
Mass actions against the coup and impeachment proceedings against
President Rouseff
were held August 9 in (top to bottom) São
Paulo,
Fortaleza and Natal, as well as other cities.
Impeachment Process Coming to a Head
Brazil's Senate is presently hearing arguments in an
impeachment trial to determine whether to permanently remove
President Dilma Rousseff from power for allegedly manipulating
the national budget to conceal a fiscal shortfall prior to her
2014 re-election, or to reinstate her. Dilma has been suspended
since May, with Vice-President Michel Temer installed as acting
president for a maximum of 180 days while the impeachment process
runs its course in Congress. An investigation by the Federal
Prosecutor's office in July has already concluded that Rousseff
did not violate any fiscal laws, nor does what she is accused of
constitute an impeachable offence. However the oligarchy has
continued trying to hide their own corruption and escape
prosecution by carrying out a parliamentary coup d'etat against
the legitimate president. It is reported for example that of the
81 members of Brazil's Senate (59 of whom voted earlier this
month to proceed with the impeachment trial), 60 percent have
cases against them for bribery, money laundering and other
crimes. Five face criminal charges and 24 have been placed under
investigation by the Supreme Court. Additionally, three of the
cabinet ministers appointed by "interim President" Temer had to
resign within a period of one month because of evidence coming to
light of their involvement in bribery and corruption as part of
what has become called the "Car Wash," a scandal connected with the
national oil company Petrobras.
President Dilma Rousseff attends event August 23, 2016.
The parties of the Brazilian oligarchy are desperately
hoping to have their coup against Dilma rubber-stamped by a
favourable vote in the Senate expected on August 30 or 31 when
the impeachment trial concludes. Their attempts to tie Dilma to
one or another scandal, which have been unsuccessful, are also
aimed at former President Luiz Inácio "Lula"
da Silva. They
fear Lula will run again for the presidency in the next election under
the banner of the
Workers' Party and if elected will block
their attempts to impose a vicious new anti-social offensive in
Brazil and use the country as a base for U.S. imperialism. Proof
of their intentions is that as soon as he took over as "interim
president" while Dilma's case wound its way through the Congress,
Michel Temer immediately set about appointing his own cabinet and
changing government policy to reflect the oligarchy's demands for
privatization, harsher austerity measures, attacking workers'
rights and making changes to foreign policy.
Dilma for her part says she is the subject of a
fraudulent
political trial, is guilty of nothing and has no intention of
giving up the fight or resigning. Nor are the Brazilian people
fooled by the attempts of the coup government to use the issue of
corruption allegations to whitewash the corruption of the
oligarchy and their political representatives. They continue to
be in action to say NO to the coup and its despised leaders.
U.S. Imperialist Destabilization Attempts
in El
Salvador
Supreme Court Decisions
Support
Neo-Liberal
and U.S. Interests
Rally against attempts to destabilize the government of El Salvador,
July 16, 2016.
The people of El Salvador are rejecting rulings by the
Constitutional Chamber of the country's Supreme Court on July 11 which
go against the interests of the people, interfere in governance and aim
to destabilize the government led by the Farabundo Martí
National Liberation Front (FMLN). These rulings of the Constitutional
Chamber of the Supreme Court favour the interests of the neo-liberal
oligarchic forces and U.S. imperialism and coincide with other attacks
by those who would see El Salvador once again subservient to U.S.
interests. The Salvadoran people are organizing and mobilizing against
the corruption in the Supreme Court and to affirm their confidence in
the FMLN government and its pro-social program.
Ruling to Repeal 1993 Amnesty Law
The FMLN defended the people through a 12-year armed
struggle
against the oligarchic forces and a government and the most brutal
death squads
funded and trained by U.S. imperialism. When the historic peace
accords were signed in 1992, the FMLN continued to represent the
aspirations of the Salvadoran people and was elected to the presidency
in 2009.
One of the outcomes of the 1992 peace accords was the
1993 Amnesty Law. The Amnesty Law barred investigation
and prosecution
of crimes committed during the 1980 to 1992 civil war. It was
considered problematic as it shielded perpetrators of atrocities from
being brought to justice.
The Constitutional Chamber on July 11 ruled the Amnesty Law
unconstitutional, stating that it denied Salvadorans the right to
justice and compensation for war crimes.
President Salvador Sánchez Cerén in televised comments
following the ruling affirmed the government's commitment to
restitution for the victims of the war and the protection of human
rights. However, he pointed out that the court's decision does not
address "the real and current problems of the country" and could
threaten society's unity. "Far from helping to resolve the day-to-day
problems of Salvadorans," Sánchez Cerén said, the court
ruling "aggravates" them and will not contribute to "strengthening
institutionality." In 2010, then President Mauricio Funes of the FMLN
made an historic apology on behalf of the state for crimes committed by
the U.S.-backed dictatorship during the civil war.
During the war in El Salvador the state and paramilitary death squads
carried out unspeakable atrocities and state terror against the people.
During El Salvador's Truth Commission after the cessation of
hostilities, 95 per cent of all complaints received were directed at
the
state and its agents for their crimes against the people.
Today there is concern that the decision to overturn the Amnesty Law aims to target those
who fought for the people during the civil war and who today continue
to fight for the people's interests in the FMLN government against U.S.
imperialist and neo-liberal forces. Meanwhile, the U.S., the main
backer of the crimes during the civil war, remains unpunished.
Ruling to Declare $900 Million in Government Bonds
Unconstitutional
Protest against corruption in the Supreme Court, August 19, 2016.
In another July 11 decision, the Constitutional Chamber
ruled that the approval of $900 million in government bonds by
the National Assembly was unconstitutional. The bonds are
intended to provide funding for Plan El Salvador Seguro,
the government's program to improve the justice system, including
prisons and rehabilitation programs, and improve living conditions and
increase opportunities for youth in high crime areas.
U.S. blogger on El Salvador Tim Muth explains the
particulars
of the decision in a July 20 post excerpted below:
"The $900 million in bonding originally failed to pass
by one
vote of the super majority needed to approve such borrowing. The
measure was then removed from the legislative calendar and sent
to archive. Later that night, the GANA [Grand Alliance for
National Unity] deputy who had abstained from voting for the
measure departed. A back-up deputy (diputado suplente)
from GANA took her place. The bond approval measure was recalled
to the floor where the back-up deputy cast his vote for the
measure, allowing it to pass by one vote.
"The decision by the Constitutional Chamber ruled that
the
manner in which the two-thirds majority was achieved to approve
the bonds was unconstitutional. In doing so, the court went in an
unexpected direction. It threw out the votes of diputados
suplentes because those deputies had not been elected in a
popular election. While the primary deputies are subject to
individual election by Salvadoran voters, the backup deputies are
appointed by party leadership.[...]
"In order to avoid throwing into
question all previous legislation passed with the votes of
back-up legislators, the Chamber ruled that its decision would
have prospective application only.
"The decision overturns long-standing practice and was
criticized by many legislators. The court's ruling would seem to
be in tension with various references to the existence of diputados
suplentes found in provisions of El Salvador's
constitution. [...]
"In the second decision, the Constitutional Chamber
agreed to
hear a challenge to a 13% surcharge to electricity bills which
the executive branch wanted to impose. The surcharge was
supposedly to help pay for improvements to the power
infrastructure including work on a hydro-electric dam. The court
agreed to hear the challenge which alleges that the surcharge was
in reality a tax which should have been passed by the legislature
and not imposed by executive fiat. The Chamber entered an
injunction prohibiting the collection of the energy surcharge
while the appeal is being decided.
"The FMLN issued a strongly-worded communique calling
it
highly suspicious that the Constitutional Chamber would suddenly
decide to issue these decisions, along with the repeal of the Amnesty Law, all on the same day.
The FMLN called its militants
out to the streets in a rally in San Salvador on Saturday [July
16]. According to the FMLN, the court had to know this combination
of rulings would have a destabilizing effect, and that this was
the court's plan all along [...]"
The question the Salvadoran people are asking is whose
interests are served by such decisions of the court? Blocking
improvements to social programs and public services and to the
country's basic infrastructure undermines the people's well-being while
serving the interests of the neo-liberal oligarchic forces who seek to
line their own pockets and put El Salvador at the mercy of foreign
exploitation once again. The people will never accept this undermining
of their aspirations to build a bright future for themselves or attacks
on the legitimate authority of the FMLN government to carry out its
mandate to serve the people.
Unfolding Events Since the Signing of
the Peace Accords
- Farabundo Martí National
Liberation Front -
Since the signing of the peace accords, El Salvador has
made progress in building a democratic society with the
separation of powers, strengthening of its institutions, and an
armed forces respectful of the existing legal framework, without a
political role.
In this context, the Farabundo Martí National
Liberation
Front (FMLN) states to the Salvadoran people and national and
international public opinion:
1. A recent combination of rulings issued by the
Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court, through which the
state's access to funds is being blocked and the Legislative
Assembly attacked, represent a clear confrontational and
irresponsible act with serious political, social and economic
consequences and demonstrate perverse political intentions that
over and above any legal considerations are against the country's
stability and the rule of law.
2. With their latest decisions they are not only
blocking
funds for security and the social programs that benefit the
people, but with the stroke of a pen attacking the country's
institutionality by eliminating the constitutional entity
Alternate Deputy (art. 129 and 131 of the Constitution) and
violating the popular will expressed at the polls. This ruling
represents the de facto
dismantling of an organ of the state, a
very serious act that, we must point out, is part of an agenda of
destabilization.
3. With this action, by presuming to put themselves
above the
other branches of government, this group of judges of the
Constitutional Court, whose electoral process has been and
remains strongly questioned, are showing themselves for what they
really are: political operators of powerful oligarchic sectors
who never have accepted losing control of the Legislature and
Executive since 2009, and today, through conspiracy and the
strategy of the soft coup d'etat, seek to destabilize the
government in hopes of recovering their privileges.
4. The FMLN calls on the Salvadoran people to step up
their
struggle in defence of democracy and the social gains that have
been achieved. Despite these destabilizing activities, we will
continue working for El Salvador to move forward in the struggle
for security, employment, education and the right to a better
life. We defend and will defend the constitutional and social
rule of law that we continue to build thanks to the sacrifice of
thousands of men and women throughout the history of this heroic
people.
U.S. Senator's Outrageous Remarks Lead to Reopening of
Investigation into FMLN Leader
On June 29, U.S. Senator Marco Rubio slandered the
progressive forces in Venezuela, El Salvador and Colombia during
a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on global
corruption, specifically naming José Luis Merino, one of
the historic leaders of the Faribundo Martí National
Liberation Front (FMLN), which currently holds the presidency of
El Salvador.
Rubio stated, "[...] you've got the right hand man of
the
president of El Salvador, José Luis Merino. This
guy is a top-notch, world class money launderer, armed smuggler
for the FARC, as well as corrupt Venezuelan officials, why is
this guy not sanctioned?" Rubio is part of the anti-Cuba mafia in
Miami, Florida, a former contender for the Republican Party's
presidential candidacy and known for his virulent anti-Cuba,
anti-Venezuela and anti-communist views.
Rubio's accusations are a repetition of spurious
accusations
against the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and others
based on files contained in laptops
the Colombian government of then-President Alvaro Uribe
supposedly seized in a 2008 raid in which its military violated
Ecuadoran territory and led to a serious diplomatic incident.
These computers were ridiculed as "magical laptops" for the
information they conveniently provided to attack the FARC and the
progressive governments of Ecuador and Venezuela, and also to
interfere in El Salvador's 2009 presidential election in which
the FMLN nonetheless prevailed.
Shortly after Rubio's attempts to defame Merino,
Attorney
General of El Salvador Douglas Melendez said he was reopening a
2014 investigation into Merino to which he would add the
accusations made by Rubio. Melendez was appointed by El
Salvador's Congress in January, but his statements to reporters
make it clear his mandate comes from the U.S.: "Given these
statements from a public official of another country, and given
that they are addressing a politician and public official of our
country, we can't not investigate," he claimed.
The FMLN has expressed its full support for Merino.
FMLN
Secretary General Medardo González on August 23 highlighted
Merino's work over the years as a social activist, politician and
now as an advisor to the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of
Our Americas (ALBA) to boost social programs. Merino is a
"historic leader of our party, who works tenaciously to improve
the living conditions of the Salvadoran people, a
self-sacrificing man who has been working from his youth," said
Merdado.
Korean People's Opposition to U.S. War
Preparations
Huge U.S.-South Korean War Exercises Underway
Koreans from north and south Korea as well as all
peace-loving people around the world are demanding an end to the annual
U.S.-south Korean Ulchi Freedom Guardian (UFG) war exercises
being carried out from August 22 to September 2. UFG is one of
the largest military exercises in the world. It is reported that
50,000 south Korean troops and 25,000 U.S. troops are
participating in exercises that simulate a
pre-emptive nuclear strike against the Democratic People's
Republic of Korea (DPRK) followed by the military occupation of
that country. An additional 2,500 troops from Australia,
Colombia, Denmark, France, Italy, the Philippines, Britain, New
Zealand and Canada are also involved.
The U.S. Forces Korea spuriously claims that these
exercises
"are non-provocative" in nature and that they "highlight the
longstanding military partnership, commitment and enduring
friendship between the two nations; help to ensure peace and
security on the peninsula..." The peace-loving Korean people who
have first-hand knowledge of the true nature of the U.S.
imperialists as warmongers as a result of the Korean War and
since, beg to differ.
Besides widespread opposition to these war exercises,
the
Korean people are also united in opposing the decision of the
U.S. and south Korean Park regime to install a terminal high
altitude area defence (THAAD) anti-missile system in the village
of Seongju, south Korea. The people of Seongju are in the 6th
week of their protest and have sworn to continue until the
decision is rescinded and the THAAD is barred from Korean soil.
In their courageous stand they have been joined by compatriots
from cities and towns in the south, compatriots in the north and
anti-war and peace activists the world over.
 In response to the U.S.
overall hostile policy toward the
DPRK including the aggressive UFG war exercises and the refusal
to sign a peace treaty to formally end the Korean War, the DPRK
successfully test-fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile on
August 24. Monopoly media, the U.S., its allies and others raised
a hue and cry about the missile launch, but did not condemn the
massive war games and other threats to the DPRK.
U.S. nuclear blackmail, that includes the UFG war
games,
targets independent countries like the DPRK to deny them
the right to be. It puts them in terrible danger of annihilation,
not to mention the dangers to all the peoples of the region. Time
and time again, the DPRK has been put in an impossible position
-- that it give up its right to be and all the sacrifices it has
made to take an independent path free from U.S. imperialism and
defend the interests of the Korean nation, or submit to a foreign
power and all that this entails for the people. What should a
country in this position do when all of its attempts to negotiate
peace have been sabotaged or rebuffed? How should the DPRK defend
itself under these circumstances when the irrationality of U.S.
nuclear blackmail threatens to wipe out the DPRK or even all of
humanity?
It is noteworthy that the monopoly media in Canada and
the
world called the DPRK missile test a "provocation" and the United
Nations Security Council (UNSC) is once again deciding on what
further sanctions to take against the DPRK. In the meantime, a
letter of appeal to the UNSC by DPRK Ambassador and Permanent
Representative to the United Nations, Ja Song Nam
calling on the UNSC to take action to stop the UFG exercises,
which are an act of aggression against the DPRK and contribute
to destabilization of the Korean peninsula, has gone
unmentioned.
TML Weekly calls on the peace-loving Canadian
people
to consider these developments and strengthen their support for
the Korean people in their right to live in peace. The Trudeau
Liberal government must be held accountable for Canada's
participation in these war games which in international law are
crimes against peace -- defined by the Nuremberg Tribunal as the
supreme war crime. Canada had no business being embroiled in the
Korean War -- a war of aggression against the Korean people to
keep them divided and under the yoke of U.S. imperialism. Canada
has no business participating in UFG 2016 and preparing for
another Korean War. It must not pass!
DPRK Permanent Representative to the
UN Security Council Opposes Aggressive
"Ulji Freedom Guardian (UFG)" War Exercises
New York, 23 August 2016
Excellency,
Upon instructions from my Government, I have the honour
to
bring to your attention the aggressive joint military exercise
so-called "Ulji Freedom Guardian (UFG)" which is now being
conducted by the United States in south Korea against the
Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
The U.S.-led large-scale joint military exercise in
collusion
with the south Korean forces despite repeated warnings of the
DPRK is a grave military provocation aimed to launch a preemptive
nuclear attack on the DPRK and a challenge to regional peace and
stability in every way.
In particular, this joint military exercise is an
unpardonable criminal act of pushing the situation on the Korean
peninsula to the brink of a war as the situation has become
unprecedentedly unstable due to the introduction of nuclear
strategic bombers, the anti-ballistic missile system of Terminal High
Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) and other strategic assets by the
U.S. to the Korean peninsula and its vicinity.
The U.S. war games clearly prove that it is the U.S.
which
instigates the vicious cycles of escalating confrontation and
tension and creating the danger of war on the Korean peninsula.
Peace, security and relaxation of tension on the Korean peninsula
and in the region are unthinkable unless the U.S.-south Korea
aggressive joint military exercises are totally halted.
The U.S.-south Korea joint military exercises
constitute a
grave threat to the DPRK as well as international peace and
security and deserve urgent consideration by the Security
Council.
Therefore, I request that the issue of the U.S.-south
Korea
joint military exercises, be placed on the Security Council
agenda, and that a meeting of the Security Council be urgently
held in accordance with Articles 34 and 35 of the Charter of the
United Nations.
I would like to remind you that the Security Council
has
unjustifiably ignored the DPRK's several requests to place the
issue of the U.S.-south Korea joint military exercises on the
agenda of the Council.
Should the Security Council again ignore the DPRK's
just
request to discuss the U.S.-south Korea joint military exercises,
that in itself will expose that it is not only giving up its
primary mission of maintaining international peace and
security, but also becoming a political tool of an individual
power, only serving the interests of the United States.
It is the consistent stand of the DPRK government to
fundamentally terminate the danger of a nuclear war posed by the
U.S. by dint of powerful nuclear deterrence and defending
regional and global peace.
I should be grateful if you would have the present
letter
circulated as an official document of the Security Council.
The identical letter has been sent to the
Secretary-General,
requesting this letter be circulated as an official document of the
General Assembly and of the Security Council.
Please accept, Excellency, the assurances of my highest
consideration.
JA Song Nam,
Ambassador
Permanent Representative
Week Five of Opposition to U.S. Missile Defence --
"Seongju Is Korea and Korea Is Seongju"
- Hyun Lee -
On August 15 in Seongju, North Gyeongsang Province, 908
people sat in rows of chairs and waited for their heads to be
shaved as an act of protest against the U.S.-South Korean
decision to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense
(THAAD) missile defence system in their hometown. Even Confucian
scholars, who regard all parts of the human body as a gift from
one's parents and their hair as precious as their lives, sat
stoically, willing to join the symbolic act against the
deployment of the controversial weapons system. As the ceremony
began and clumps of hair fell to the ground, onlookers gasped and
even dabbed tears from their cheeks.
But the moment of anguish was brief. As soon as the
ceremony
concluded, everyone quietly tied their headbands behind their
heads and shouted "No THAAD!" as they headed to a
demonstration.
Petition to White House Surpasses 100,000
Since a U.S. and South Korean joint working group
announced
the small agricultural town of Seongju as the designated site for
THAAD deployment on July 13, the people of Seongju, mostly melon
farmers, have become the front line in the fight against missile
defence in Korea. And in just a few weeks, they have organized
themselves into a force to be reckoned with. The online "We the
People" petition against THAAD deployment surpassed its goal of
100,000 signatures on August 10. The Seongju residents gathered
for their 29th nightly candlelight vigil that evening were
beaming with joy. The emcee shouted, "What day is today?" and the
residents shouted back in unison, "The day we reached
100,000!"
According to the White House petition website, any
petition
that garners 100,000 signatures in 30 days triggers an official
response from the White House within 60 days of the date that the
goal is reached. To be sure, waging an online petition campaign
in Seongju was no easy task. Most residents don't have computers
nor read English. The petition requires an email verification
step, but most didn't have email accounts. College students set
up booths at the nightly candlelight vigils and patiently helped
older residents through the process, starting with opening an
email account.
The residents made clear that they are not appealing
for
sympathy from the White House. The petition campaign was a
process of organizing the entire country beyond Seongju to demand
that the United States rescind its THAAD decision and exert
pressure on the White House.
"Until when do we hold the rain ceremony?" asked Lee
Jae-dong, the chair of the Seongju branch of the Korean Peasants
League and the emcee of the nightly candlelight vigils. "Until it
rains!" replied the crowd. "Until when do we fight THAAD
deployment?" he asked. "Until it's rescinded!" replied Seongju
residents in unison.
Seongju Residents Walk Out on Defence Minister
The relentless opposition in Seongju prompted a visit
by defence Minister Han Min-koo on August 17. He met with the
Seongju Task Force against THAAD Deployment, but the meeting
ended with no substantive result. The Task Force demanded a
detailed explanation of how the U.S. and South Korean joint
working group decided to deploy the THAAD system in Seongju, but
Minister Han only fanned the residents' indignation by offering a
cursory response.
The meeting abruptly came to a close when Han started
to
discuss the possibility of changing the location of the THAAD
deployment to a different site. According to members of the Task
Force, Saenuri Party Representative Lee Wan-young, who represents
Seongju in the National Assembly, requested the Defence Minister
consider deploying the THAAD system at a different location
within Seongju County, and Minister Han replied, "If the
residents request it, I will consider it."
At this point, members of the Task Force walked out of
the
meeting after declaring, "Our official position is to oppose
THAAD deployment on the Korean peninsula." At a press conference
after the meeting, they stated, "Changing the location of THAAD
deployment is not the official position of the Task Force, so it
was not part of the discussion at today's meeting." When Seongju
residents, who had gathered outside the meeting, heard the news
that changing the location of THAAD deployment was being
discussed inside, they yelled, "We hereby declare this meeting
invalid!"
Meanwhile, on the road to Seongju, the police blocked
two
buses carrying residents of nearby Gimcheon, a site being
discussed as a potential new site for THAAD deployment. The
residents were on their way to protest the meeting with Minister
Han when the police refused to let them through. "The police
should be upholding the law, but they are illegally holding up
traffic!" said Gimcheon City Council member Lee Woo-cheong, who
had joined the residents on the bus.
Defending Seongju for Future Generations
 Defence Minister Han Min-koo
must not have read the Seongju
residents' resolution released on August 15. Had he read it, he
would have known better than to try to appease the Seongju
residents with offers to discuss a new site for the THAAD
deployment. In the collective declaration, the Seongju residents
remembered the struggle of their ancestors against Japanese
occupation and vowed to pass down a land of peace to their next
generation.
In 1905, the Japanese colonizers opened the Seoul-Busan
railway. Colonial Japan used the railway as a transport line to
expropriate materials from Joseon, and wherever the railway
passed, traditional societies collapsed. With the same sense of
urgency as we feel today, countless Seongju residents, including
Confucian scholars, stood up and ultimately defended their
hometown from foreign imperialists.
Today, the residents of Seongju face yet another
challenge
from foreigners. The foreign power that our ancestors faced was
not easier than what we face today. Our forebears did not kneel
or retreat in the face of the terrifying might of the foreign
power and defended their hometown. We are the residents of that
land that our forbears defended and their proud descendants. We
have a duty to defend this precious land and pass it down to our
future generations.
We cannot give Seongsan, the sacred land of Seongju, to
be
forever used as a military base by foreigners. Nor can we pass
down the disgraceful THAAD to our children. Just as our forebears
did, we will defend Seongsan and Seongju even if it means putting
our lives on the line. We will stop the THAAD deployment, make
Seongsan a symbol of peace and proudly pass it down to our future
generations.
THAAD Fight Calls into Question U.S.-ROK Alliance
As the THAAD fight wages on, scholars and lawmakers are
openly raising questions about the uneven nature of the
U.S.-South Korean alliance. At a forum at Yonsei University on
August 18, Professor Lee Nam-ju of Sungkonghoe University warned
that a regional arms race and military confrontation could become
unavoidable if China considers South Korea the key cause of a
strategic threat.
"Pointing to the so-called Iranian threat, the United
States
tried to construct missile defence in Eastern Europe, and this
became the cause of marked deterioration in relations between
Europe and Russia. That should be a lesson to us," Lee said. "The
attitude that we have no choice but to accept all the negative
side-effects of the THAAD deployment decision in the interest of
the U.S.-ROK alliance is the ultimate obstacle in the THAAD fight,"
he added, "The THAAD issue begs the question -- should the U.S.-ROK
alliance always be considered unconditional?"
 Representative Seol Hun of
the Minjoo Party agreed. "Until
now, anything carried out in the name of the U.S.-ROK alliance was
given an automatic green light," he said, "But the THAAD issue
clearly demonstrates that U.S. and South Korean interests are not
always aligned."
The scholars and lawmakers at the forum also
agreed that the decision to deploy the THAAD system in Korea
should go through a ratification process in the National
Assembly.
Professor Song Gi-chun of the North Jeolla University
School
of Law denounced the Park Geun-hye administration for railroading
a unilateral decision without the consent of the National
Assembly and refuted the administration's argument that the
Mutual Defence Treaty between the United States and South Korea
gave it the right to do so. Song referenced article 60 of the
South Korean constitution, which states that the National
Assembly has the right to "consent to the conclusion and
ratification of treaties pertaining to mutual assistance or
mutual security" and "treaties which would incur grave financial
burden on the state or people," and argued that the THAAD
deployment decision needs to be ratified by the National
Assembly.
"The THAAD deployment decision is an agreement between
two
countries that would significantly transform the security
environment of South Korea," Song noted, "It goes beyond the
framework of the Mutual Defence Treaty and is an agreement of
serious import that will cause fissures in the balance of
military powers in the Northeast Asian region. An agreement that
goes beyond the framework of the existing treaty and outlines new
rights and responsibilities between countries should, of course,
be approved by the National Assembly."
People's Party Representative Choi Gyeong-hwan, who
served as
the last secretary to the late President Kim Dae-jung, agreed.
"Through a ratification process in the National Assembly, we have
to empower the Assembly to oversee military matters," he said and
committed to do all he can in the National Assembly to oppose the
THAAD deployment, including calling for a ratification process
and the impeachment of the Defence Minister, as well as creating
a special committee of all opposition parties.
Seongju Is Korea and Korea Is Seongju
As the fight against THAAD enters its sixth week,
Seongju
residents are appealing for candlelight vigils around the country
to oppose the THAAD deployment. "You don't have to come to
Seongju to give us support," said Park Su-gyu, the publicity
coordinator for the Seongju Task Force, "We, the residents of
Seongju, will defend Seongju. You can raise your candles
wherever you are. Whether it's three people or five people, raise
your candles. That way, we can be unified in the fight to stop
the THAAD system from being deployed anywhere in Korea."
One hundred and forty-five civil society organizations
came together on August 18
to form the National Action to Oppose THAAD Deployment in Korea
and announced plans to answer Seongju's call. It plans to hold
simultaneous candlelight vigils in 50 cities around the country
on August 26, which marks the 50th nightly candlelight vigil in
Seongju, then 100 cities on October 20, the date of the 100th
candlelight
vigil in Seongju. The
newly formed coalition embraced the slogan that has become the
battle cry of the anti-THAAD struggle -- "Seongju is Korea and
Korea is Seongju."
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