Wishing you peace

from the

Denver Justice & Peace Committee

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Deseándoles la paz

por parte del

Comité de Justicia y Paz de Denver

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WE WANT PEACE

(to the tune of “Jingle Bells”)

Let’s close the SOA,

Put an end to genocide,

No coups by CIA

Don’t give folks cyanide.

We speak on human rights,

The effects of gold-mining,

We work for Immigration Rights,

Help Project CURE shipping.

(Chorus)

Hey!

We want peace, justice too,

One world family.

We can do it together,

So join DJPC. (Hey!)

We want peace, justice too,

One world family,

We can do it together,

So join DJPC.

Only a week ago

We marched with Occupy,

Said NO to corporate greed,

and Wall Street’s alibis.

We want a more just world,

where peace is breaking out,

Our Justice banner is unfurled,

for Freedom give a shout!

(Chorus)

THE DENVER JUSTICE & PEACE COMMITTEE

--
Denver Justice & Peace Committee
P.O. Box 12403
Denver, Colorado 80212 USA
Tel. 303-623-1463
www.denjustpeace.org

Despite corruption and major human rights violations in Colombia and Panama, President Barack Obama said passage of the agreements was “a major win for American workers and businesses… I look forward to signing these agreements.”    

DJPC’s legislators voted as such:

HR 3078  -  Colombia Free Trade  (House passed:  262-167.  Senate passed: 66-33):

Rep. Diane DeGette (D, District 1):       NO

Rep. Jared Polis (D, District 2):            YES

Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D, District 7):       NO

Sen. Michael Bennet (D):                     YES

Sen. Mark Udall (D):                              YES

HR 3079 – Panama Free Trade (House passed:  300-129.  Senate passed: 77-22):

Rep. Diane DeGette (D, District 1):       YES

Rep. Jared Polis (D, District 2):            YES

Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D, District 7):       NO

Sen. Michael Bennet (D):                      YES

Sen. Mark Udall (D):                              YES

The documentary details how the Denver based Newmont Mining company hired the security company FORZA to harass, persecute and threaten the environmental workers in Cajamarca, Peru. These environmentalists wish to stop Newmont’s ecologically damaging practices and this award will hopefully get their cause known by more people.

The Denver Justice and Peace Committee premiered The Devil Operation in June of 2010 at the DocuWest Film Festival in Golden, CO. DJPC also presented the film at the Starz Theater in Denver, CO in October 2010. This issue is of great interest to DJPC and with Newmont’s headquarters being here in Denver, we can help the Peruvians directly. As a reminder, if you have not signed the petition to tell Newmont Mining Corporation that we know of their cruel practices and wish for them to stop, then make sure you do so.

For more information please click here:

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/1-Newmont-Mining/

http://www.larepublica.pe/index.php?q=16-02-2011/premian-operacion-diablo-en-berlin

Ecuador court case on oil

Recently Ecuadorean villagers have won a lawsuit against Chevron oil corporation for their actions in the Amazon. The Ecuadoreans, represented by Pablo Fajardo, were citing grievances against Texaco, acquired by Chevron in 1990, for polluting the environment, putting people’s lives at risk and failing to clean up their spills. The failure of Texaco to clean up its waste and instead dumping it and covering it with dirt in inhabited areas lead to the lawsuit.

After trying to go to court in the U.S. since 1990 and being sent to Ecuador in 2000, the successful result has been hard fought for. The legal team representing the Ecuadorean villagers, although happy at the award of 9 billion dollars, is currently looking into legal challenges against Chevron in other countries of Latin America and is pushing to receive a larger payout to fully pay for the damages caused to the people by Chevron’s negligent practices.

The documentary Crude: The Real Price of Oil, which focuses on these issues was presented by the Denver Justice and Peace Committee at our August 2010 Salon. At this time and throughout the fall of 2010,  DJPC members participated in the Chevron Toxico campaign which pressured Chevron’s CEO to clean up Ecuador now.

Thank you DJPC members for helping win this victory!

For more info on this story please click here: www.nytimes.com and search the following Article Titles:

Ecuadoreans plan to pursue chevron in other countries

Ecuador Judge Orders Chevron to Pay $9 Billion

For more info on the Chevron Toxico Campaign please click here: http://chevrontoxico.com/take-action/send-chevron-a-message.html

Appropriate Technology and Sustainable Development

With the following organizations in attendance:

El Porvenir assists people in rural communities in Nicaragua to improve their standard of living through sustainable development in clean water, sanitation, and health education. To date, EP has assisted rural communities with 705 projects that now supply 105,000 people with clean water and hygenic sanitation.

Friendship Bridge  is a nonprofit, nongovernmental organization whose mission is to provide microcredit and education to women so that they can create their own solutions to poverty. Currently, Friendship Bridge serves 12,000 women in predominatly rural Guatemala in areas characterized by extreme poverty and high levels of illiteracy.

The Lambi Fund of Haiti  is a unique grassroots organization whose mission is to assist the popular, Democratic movement in Haiti by providing financial resources, training, and technical assistance to peasant-led community organizations.

Potters for Peace  is a network of potters, educators, technicians, supporters, and volunteers. They work with clay artisans in Central America and worldwide on ceramic water purification projects.

Water for People is an international non-governmental development organization. They work with people and partners to develop innovative and long-lasting solutions to the water, sanitation, and hygiene problems in the developing world.

Join us as we learn about the various forms of enviornmentally friendly methods and technology being used in Latin America.

Click Here to Download a DJPC September Salon Flier (PDF)

Thursday September 16th

7:00-9:00PM

Denver Justice & Peace Committee

Denver Inner City Parish | Community Room

1212 Mariposa Street, Denver 80204 

Free parking is available along the street as well as in the lots beside the building.

Enter through the door located off of 12^th Avenue.

Website: www.denjustpeace.org | Phone: 303-623-1463 | E-mail:djpc@denjustpeace.org

New house goes up with old house behind

Carrying cement block and mixing mortar by hand in 95 degree heat can be torture. Or, it can be a small offering of hope and solidarity to a family living in a one room wooden shack. Moving block after block, separating rock into piles of sand and gravel, I concentrated on the task at hand and not my aching back. I could take a break, but I hadn’t come all this way to rest and I felt better when I was working as hard as I could.  There was so much still to be done.
My husband Peter and I were in Getsemani, a community of more than 130 families in the department of Ahuachapan, El Salvador, to participate in Habitat for Humanity’s Lenten build in honor of Monseñor Oscar Romero. Thirty years ago, on March 24, 1980, as he celebrated mass, Monseñor Romero was assassinated the day after he spoke out against poverty, injustice and publicly manifested his support for victims of political violence.  Monseñor Romero became a beloved martyr and catalyst for the ensuing 12 year civil war. Yet today, the majority of the country’s 6 million people still lack basic necessities such as potable water, electricity, education and employment. It’s estimated that more than half of Salvadorans also lack adequate housing. Through local affiliates such as this one in El Salvador, Habitat for Humanity has provided more than 1 million people in 90 countries simple, decent housing and a better life.

Denise in the sand pit

Peter and I, with 3 friends, worked as part of a large group of about 70 volunteers– college students on spring break, a  high school class and a church group– to build 30 houses in 30 days to honor Monseñor’s legacy. Thankfully, we were assigned to a house where the foundation had already been dug.  Some groups had to dig foundations in the rocky  dirt– over 100 lineal feet and 2 feet deep,  with picks and shovels.  We helped two masons by mixing concrete and mortar to their specifications, delivering it, filling joints between the blocks, bending rebar, moving block, leveling dirt and a variety of miscellaneous tasks.
Habitat’s houses in El Salvador are made of cement block, heavily reinforced with rebar because of the seismic activity in the area.  The houses are generally three rooms– a living area and two bedrooms, with a bath (toilet and shower) entered from outside. Most women use firewood for cooking so the “kitchens” are outside the house so the smoke can escape. Houses average about $8,000 and the interest free loans are repaid over 20 + years. Families and/or friends contribute hundreds of hours of “sweat equity” (i.e. labor) to build the houses.

Mom and two of her kids at build site

Our family’s new house was being built next door to their old, wooden one. Mom took care of 5 children, sold chocolate- covered bananas out of her house, while her husband worked in the logging business in another part of the country.  Family incomes in Getsemeni average between US$100 and $250 monthly, and many adults work as housekeepers, security guards and market vendors.
Peter and I have been on several Habitat Global Village builds (i.e. outside the US) and upon returning, we are often asked, “Did you finish a house?”.  The answer is always “no”, we just completed a small portion.  On this trip, our basic accomplishment was helping lay about 8 tiers of cement block.  That didn’t seem like much at all.
The truth was, I wished I were in the capital, participating in the mass demonstrations and celebrations of the 30th anniversary of the death of the country’s beloved Monseñor Romero. Instead, we were in a remote area, and I moved some block.  Some sand.  Some gravel.  Some dirt.  I watched the kids that will live in the  new house and hoped that it would represent a change for the better in their lives.
We were given T-shirts that said “Somos albañiles, no maestros de obra.” That means, we are workers (or masons), not master builders.”
When I looked up that reference, I thought about the importance of being a small part of a larger whole.  Here is part of the prayer, composed by Bishop Ken Untener and often called the Oscar Romero prayer:

Some neighborhood kids look on

It helps now and then to step back and take a long view
The Kingdom is not only beyond our efforts,
it is beyond our vision.
We accomplish in our lifetime only a fraction
of the magnificent enterprise that is God’s work…
We plant the seeds that one day will grow
We water the seeds already planted
knowing that they hold future promise.
We lay foundations that will need further development..
We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of
liberation in realizing this.
This enables us to do something, and to do it very well.
It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning,
a step along the way, an opportunity for the Lord’s
grace to enter and do the rest.
We may never see the end results, but that is the
difference between the master builder and the worker
We are workers; not master bulders
We are prophets of a future not our own

Find out more about Habitat’s trips outside the U.S. at www.habitat.org/gv

By now, most are aware of the terrible toll the recent earthquake has had in Haiti. Not only has it caused tens of thousands of deaths, it has also destroyed hospitals, schools, and government buildings, obliterating the country’s few health care and rescue services. The tremendous poverty and vulnerability made starkly clear by this disaster is but a legacy of Haiti’s long history of domination by powerful outside interests.

In 1804, Haiti became the first French colony to win independence and the first independent black republic. With stunning courage and at a cost of half their population, slave armies had alternately fought the forces of France, Britain and Spain to win their freedom. In honor of the island’s original inhabitants, they called their new country by its Taino-Arawak name, “Haiti” or “land of mountains.”

After this hard-won victory, however, France and Great Britain, later joined by the U.S., imposed a punishing economic boycott against the new nation. When Haiti finally achieved recognition by the French government in the 1860s, it was only by agreeing to pay 125 million francs to indemnify their former slave owners for the loss of their property. In addition, the French took control of Haitian finances to assure that timely interest-laden payments would be made. By the early twentieth century, Haiti’s burdensome debt obligation had turned what was once the richest colony in the world, into the poorest country in the western hemisphere.

U.S. hegemony replaced that of the French in 1910, when National City Bank of New York took over Haiti’s finances. When Haitian lawmakers balked at the arrangement, U.S. marines landed at Port-au-Prince, seized the half million dollars in the Haitian treasury and transported the funds to National City Bank of New York.

The marines continued in control until the 1930s when a professionally trained Haitian army took their place. In the decades that followed, a succession of dictators turned the army into a personal police force with the most notorious, “Papa Doc” Duvalier and his son “Baby Doc,” terrorizing their own population through paramilitary gangs known as tonton macoutes. Until finally ousted in 1986, Duvalier allies grew rich by embezzling government funds and seizing land from poor peasants. Public services fell into disrepair, illiteracy reached 90 percent, and poverty and malnutrition grew rampant. Because the regime remained staunchly opposed to Cuba’s Fidel Castro, however, it was rewarded with a steady flow of aid from the U.S.

In 1990, Haitian history changed. In the country’s first free and fair elections, voters chose parish priest Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who had worked many years in the slums of Port-au-Prince, to be their president. Upon taking office, Aristide promised to raise minimum wage, improve health care and education, and relieve misery in this country where one percent of the population owns half the wealth.

He faced stiff and often violent opposition among Haiti’s economic elites, however, who only ten months later backed the overthrow of their first legitimately elected leader. While Aristide was returned to office with help from the Clinton Administration, he was again ousted in 2004. The move was followed by a full revival of the debt-led model of trade and continued impoverishment of the majority.

Today, as the country struggles to recover from disaster, we must ask where recovery will take this country. Who will lead and what will the priorities be? Will elites continue to be favored over the 80 percent living in abject poverty? Or can humanitarians support a strategy where health care, education and a decent standard of living for all can be envisioned? In the midst of this great tragedy, it is up to those who care about Haiti to support a recovery process that can lead to a genuinely democratic system. In the absence of that support, only the most powerful interests will prevail – again.

Lynn Holland, Ph.D., is an adjunct professor of international studies at the University of Denver’s Josef Korbel School of International Studies and a Foreign Policy In Focus contributor, as well as a member of DJPC’s Salon Committee.