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THE TRUTH BEHIND TORIBÍO

By: Carolina Arteaga y Daniel Lozano

In the early morning of April 14, FARC guerrillas from the Jacobo Arenas Mobil Column and the Sixth Front attacked the northern Cauca town of Toribío, hitting seven boroughs simultaneously.

In the urban area of Toribío, the guerrillas were everywhere, but basically attacked the police station, which is located in a strategic sector away from the center of town to guarantee public safety. More than 90 police officers resisted the assault. The material damage inflicted on the station by this narco-terrorist group was minimal: just one broken window, but homes belonging to the whites were hit hard.

The Army received word of the attack on Toribío at 5:30 in the morning. It quickly deployed forces and managed to bring the situation under control in less than three hours, despite the bad weather and the strategic problems reported by journalist Jaime Orlando Gaitán. “Only those who dared to brave the winding road to Toribío know the kind of danger and difficulties the soldiers faced to ensure the safety of the population by silencing sharpshooters and neutralizing the explosives and mines the terrorists had planted."

As proof of the Army's control over the area, the President of Colombia appeared in Toribío's main square at 10:00 a.m. the next day, and there were no problems. Since then, the FARC has perpetrated no new action in the zone.

From a military standpoint, the attack on Toribío was not representative for the FARC. Assaulting a town for more than three hours without managing to seize control is no military victory. The initial objective of the attack was both political and strategic. Political, because the eyes of the international community are on Toribío. The local Indian population has been recognized widely for its efforts towards peace and development. Consequently, any attack, however small, has national and international impact. In this case, the FARC was intent on discrediting President Uribe's democratic security policy

As to their strategic objective, Toribío is in the center of a corridor that extends from Tolima to Ecuador and is used by the FARC to mobilize troops and equipment. It also is the route to the Pacific for sending narcotics to the United States. Coca and poppies are grown, processed and transported along this same corridor (more than four thousand hectares of coca are being cultivated in the Toribío region).

Toribío is known the world over because of its indigenous population (90% Paez, 10% Caucasian). It also is home to an innovative development project based on a philosophy of peaceful resistance that rejects any and all armed groups and is backed by an unarmed Indian militia.

Being a tribal community, the Paez in Toribío receive per capita payments from the government and assistance from international organizations. They are free to manage these internal resources as they see fit, and each family is allowed to grow a certain amount of coca. This makes Toribío an attractive target for the guerrillas. As would be expected, far more coca is produced than is allowed and there is evidence linking local Indians not only to coca and poppy growing, but also to processing the narcotics made from these substances. This clear link between the Indians and the guerrillas is even closer than it seems on the surface. For example, the commander of the Indian militia is the brother of Dago, who heads one of the FARC squads in the region. This is just one of many cases. And, why not, inasmuch as the Paez Indians have lived with the guerrillas for more than 20 years?

Some questions need to be asked. Why is it that most of the houses destroyed during the attack belonged to the few whites that live in Toribío? Why did a number of Indians know about the attack in advance, take cover and fail to inform the legitimate authorities? Why did we find pictures of Indians in combat and explosives in the homes of Indians? Why have the Indians not complained to the national and international community about the human rights violations perpetrated by the guerrillas? "The conspiratorial silence of those who throw up their hands in horror when trying to blame law enforcement, the military or the government for human rights violations, but don't say a word about the aberrant actions of the guerrillas is frankly disconcerting." (Jorge Ariel Palacio 2005). And, what happened to peaceful resistance?

Peasans and their relation with cocaine

Some questions need to be asked. Why is it that most of the houses destroyed during the attack belonged to the few whites that live in Toribío? Why did a number of Indians know about the attack in advance, take cover and fail to inform the legitimate authorities? Why did we find pictures of Indians in combat and explosives in the homes of Indians? Why have the Indians not complained to the national and international community about the human rights violations perpetrated by the guerrillas? "The conspiratorial silence of those who throw up their hands in horror when trying to blame law enforcement, the military or the government for human rights violations, but don't say a word about the aberrant actions of the guerrillas is frankly disconcerting." (Jorge Ariel Palacio 2005). And, what happened to peaceful resistance?

Indians

The reality of life in Toribío is one of constant hypocrisy. The Indians march in protest when the government and law enforcement arrive on the scene, but not when the guerrillas attack their villages and towns. The problem is that none of this is brought to the attention of the public by the mass media. Perhaps the constant threats against the media and the bomb at RCN in Cali are part of the reason why. It is hard to know the truth when the Indians distort the reality of the attack by slandering the Army and President Uribe , with no proof whatsoever and without making a formal complaint.

Even the Paez themselves support this in a document presented to President Uribe by one of their own at the tribal council meeting in Santander de Quilichao on April 30, 2005. In it, he claims to be "ashamed and sorry to be part of the Toribío Reservation” and calls the foregoing accusations into question.

Repetment letter

In this game of deceit, many have been fooled. While the Paez clamor for neutrality and peace, they played an active role in the attack and, in turn, had the honor of hosting the awards ceremony for the National Peace Prize (June 7, 2005). In the midst of the war, an Indian community's hypocrisy is powerful weapon for the FARC.