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A local
cameraman who didn’t wish to be named said that every now and
then the police arrest a couple of paramilitaries. "Within
a few days, they are released and roaming the streets again.,"
he added. "We all know they are good friends. Army, police,
and paramilitaries can be seen in the same bars, sharing drinks
and playing cards."
"Our region is so rich in natural resources, but 80 percent
of the population is living below the poverty line," said Lozano.
"With the current 40 percent unemployment rate, the paramilitaries
have a never-ending source of recruits." Lozano explained that
the paramilitaries offer a monthly salary of $250, nearly twice
what the ELN can pay. Many former guerrilla fighters have switched
sides and now inform on their former buddies. Locals say that paramilitaries
receive substantial support from the region’s narco-traffickers.
Lozano, who travels by armored car and whose family has been living
in another town for security reasons, said that the paramilitaries
bluntly declared his human rights group a `military target.’
"So far this year, we have received twenty death threats by
phone and mail," he said. "Six members of our staff have
been killed over the years, scores of others quit working, or moved
or safer towns."
He pointed at two foreign nationals sitting in the Credhos waiting
room. They were volunteers, he said, from the London-based Peace
Brigade. They serve as human shields by being constantly in the
physical presence of people living under death threats. It is assumed
that killing a foreigner would generate bad publicity for the paramilitaries.
"Without the Peace Brigade, our work would have been impossible,"
Lozano stated. The volunteers refused to comment, saying they had
strict orders from London to be extremely discreet since, a few
months ago, they too had been declared a `military target.’
"Everybody with leftist leanings is in fact on the paramilitary
death list," said Yolanda Becera, head of the women’s
organization OFP. "The paras always find a reason to kill people.
It doesn’t matter if they are friends or family of suspected
guerrilla members, sympathizers, or supporters. Their aim is to
spread terror and to destroy the popular base of the unions and
human rights groups. The message is: Pretend not to see or know
anything, just stay home and do nothing." Becera said she did
not believe in bulletproof glass. "Protection should come from
the police," she said wryly. "But we all know that’s
a joke."
Serve the people
Several heavily-armed men in civilian clothes were hanging out at
the market square of San Rafael. It was a sleepy Sunday afternoon
and the armed men, some of them standing in doorways and chatting
with girls, others talking on cell phones, were all but ignored
by the inhabitants of the dusty village. San Rafael is a paramilitary
stronghold an hour’s drive from Barrancabermeja. Commander
Esteban, head of operations, agreed to an interview in a local pool
bar. His men stood guard, watching the pool players and sipping
colas.
"We have never killed any innocent civilian," Esteban
said. "We only kill guerrillas." He did not know who had
murder union organizer Rafael Attencia, and suggested that ordinary
criminals were responsible. "People working for the popular
organizations are just guerrilla informers and collaborators,"
he added.
"Colombia is tired of the guerrillas," Esteban continued.
"Before we had a presence in Barrancabermeja, people were scared.
You never saw army or police in the outskirts. Now the people can
go out every night. The whole world should know that we are here
to serve the people."
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