Folks... Here is a mail i just got from Vanessa on the development of our
black Colombians.

Please read and give more support to send a message to the Colombian
government..

Cheers
Niamorkono.




      [image: Latin American Working Group]    *Stand by Colombia's Victims
of Violence*

Hey Fye,

I wanted to send you a quick, exciting update on the situation with the
Afro-Colombian community La Toma:

We stopped the eviction!

As I was *emailing*<https://mail.google.com/mail/html/compose/static_files/blank_quirks.html#12ab4f4576497f47_old_email>you
last week, 400 personnel from the public forces were already
assembling
on La Toma's lands, poised to carry out the eviction the next day. But then,
in less than 24 hours you sent over 850 faxes to the U.S. State Department's
Colombia desk and they listened. We got them to convince the Colombian
government to keep the community of La Toma on their land! Yes, that was
your work that made that happen!

Still, the plans for the eviction were only suspended, not stopped for good.
We will be in touch with you as the situation progresses. But for now, *click
here*<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=JL1m%2BVPoYxzntlad3osyDQIBNGAGDNeW>
*to send a message to the Colombian government* to let them know that the
international community is still watching and that they must keep their
promises to La Toma.

Thank you so much for taking action and helping to make a real difference!

Best,
Vanessa, *LAWG*<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=wbXErXH5M2JCcsZ7GjvMSAIBNGAGDNeW>Colombia
Team
------------------------------

[image: Latin American Working Group]

August 17, 2010

Dear Fye,

[image: Community of La Toma]If the Colombian government does not change its
mind, tomorrow the 1052 families that make up the Afro-Colombian community
La Toma will be evicted from the land that they have lived on for almost 400
years. We cannot let this happen.

*Click here to support the community and stop the
eviction!*<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=F43Xqd6gYU01NR3yXVHRewIBNGAGDNeW>

Members of the Afro-Colombian Community of La Toma have been living on the
resource rich, mountainous lands of northern Cauca, Colombia since they
escaped the enslavement that brought them to Colombia in 1636. Over the
centuries, they have developed a culture and history that is tied to this
land, carving out an environmentally sustainable living through artisanal
gold mining and basic agricultural projects, and grounding their traditions
in this ancestral place.

In recent years, the Colombian government gave these lands away to some big
corporations in the form of thirty-five mining permits without consulting
the community, so they could gut out this beautiful place, simultaneously
destroying its precious ecosystem and the lives of thousands of people. To
do this without consulting the community was completely against the law, so
the community said, "No." No, they would not move.

[image: Artisinal miners working in La Toma]And as a result of this brave,
non-violent commitment to stay in their homeland, the community has now
suffered a rising number of death threats and assassinations by paramilitary
groups that favor the displacement of local residents from the areas where
there are gold mines. After a ruling from the Inter-American Commission on
Human Rights, in December 2009, the Colombian government made an agreement
with Afro-Colombian leaders promising to protect communities from this
targeted violence and review the illegally granted permits.

But they haven't made good on these promises, with killings of miners on the
rise in the past couple months, and now the government's decision to evict
the community tomorrow.

*Will you take one minute to ask the U.S. State Department to urge the
Colombian government to halt the eviction?  Just click here to send a
message!
<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=SwmoRKkTEL8o1%2F2vHOv4wAIBNGAGDNeW>
*

If the U.S. government speaks out strongly enough against this eviction, we
can stop it from happening. Our partners the Washington Office on Latin
America (*WOLA*<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=5IQeogU2%2F5s7z%2BFjVIRcEAIBNGAGDNeW>)
and the U.S. Network in Solidarity with Afro-Colombian Grassroots
Communities (NASGACC) have been *working for
months*<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=WZQdyJnnorIPtoxcaxQ7zgIBNGAGDNeW>to
make sure our government puts on the pressure. But with one day left,
they need a cacophony of voices to make them take that final step.

*So please click here now to add your voice to the call for respect for the
people of La Toma.*<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=pz4xQZzrgZGBKetdGN0jqAIBNGAGDNeW>

In January, *I visited La
Toma*<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=aAPESJkPjC%2FCfGn2TOB7xjOmxB8aBBnu>and
I can tell you first hand that its community members are some of the
most amazing people I have ever met and their culture is truly one of a
kind. Displacing them from their lands is not only a violation of their
territorial and human rights, but also an act that would lead to their
impoverishment and devastation of their traditional culture. Thank you for
joining me in standing with this brave community today.

Best,
Vanessa, *LAWG*<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=F3lClrwX1xdj8pL%2BeIlcRgIBNGAGDNeW>Colombia
Team

Latin America Working Group
424 C Street NE, Washington, DC 20002     Phone: (202) 546-7010     Email:
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