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28/06/2006
The warnings, intimidations, and pressure of the XVII Brigade military units and police agents, the business owners and armed civilians against the inhabitants of the Humanitarian Zone of Curvarado were frequent since mid-April when farmers returned to Curvarado after 10 years of forced displacement. The same tactics were carried out against those who initiated the first Reserve Zone in the village of Cetino, where African palm has been planted illegally by palm companies since 2001. The army invited the farmers to negotiate with the private companies, accusing the afro-descendants and the Métis or being responsible for the violence. "When the accompaniers and the internationals leave, there will be massacres." They have also added that the farmers should stop cutting the African palm, that it was very dangerous, and that instead they should negotiate with the palm companies and stop complaining to the USA. Added to these warnings is the fact that it has been forbidden to circulate freely by the private companies who prevent the use of a platform which allows people to cross the Curvarado river. There are also many police abuses stemming from situations of control inside the Humanitarian Zones, and other paramilitary strategies of intimidation and control against the indigenous farmers who affirm their self-determination and their legal and legitimate rights to reclaim their land. Amidst the pressure and the attempts by the companies to turn the workers against local and international accompaniment organizations, who are blamed for the loss of jobs that would have been created, we find the movement of displaced peoples towards new population centers where they will work with the African palm and receive tiles and wood to build small villages. In Belen de Bajira and in the Curvarado, we don’t see the effects of paramilitary demobilization. On the contrary, the daily life of this region reflects the same patterns or paramilitary control, right in the middle or an institutional military presence. Moreover, the families who participate in the “Guardians of the Forest” program are accused of being tricked and were subsidized 600 000 pesos. This amount of money should go to the CORDESVIDA organization, which the afro-descendants, Metis, and the displaced participate in. The destination and use of that amount of diverted money has not been mentioned in any case.