Garzal: A New Chapter in the People's Struggle

Garzal and Nueva Espéranza are communities near the Magdalena river a couple hours to the north of Barranca. The area is a lush mix of swamps, savannahs, and farmlands with an abundance of birds and other wildflife. The rest of the the municipio is almost entirely taken up by large oil palm agroindustry projects.
The farmers have lived there for 40-50 years. They do not have titles but according to Colombian law are eligible for titles since they have worked the land for more than 5 years. The Bareto family is a wealthy family that resides in Bogota but claim lands in Garzal. They are heavily implicated in the drug trade and Pablo Escobar was known to fly into their private landing strip in Garzal. For a few years, they have been starting legal processes to try to take possession of the entire area and displace the communities. They claimed, falsely, that guerrillas invaded and the small farmers forcibly stole the lands.
Don Salvador is a pastor for the Foursquare Gospel Church (a Pentecostal denomination) in Garzal. He became very concerned that the entire community would be displaced and felt called by God to organize the people. He called the people together to discuss their strategy and hired a lawyer, Rafael, to represent the communities. Rafael and Don Salvador are a very unusual pair. Rafael has represented many small farmer community processes in the past and is very committed to the people. He also smokes like a chimney and, while very friendly, is known for his frequent cursing, his cynical sense of humor, and at times an amazing irreverence. Yet these two have worked together and accomplished much.
In addition to filing suit against the community, the Baretos got a judge to sign an arrest warrant for 7 community members because they accused them of destroying their property. The judge eventually ordered a mediation between the farmers and the Baretos. Last week, around 30 members of the community piled into the back of an old pickup truck that would take them along the dirt road to Simiti where they would attend the mediation. All had decided not to sell their lands. I, and other CPTers, accompanied them in this journey and arrived at the courthouse with them. We ended up waiting for hours for the Bareto representatives to arrive. When they arrived, the Bareto and Rafaelwent before the judge. Rafael said that they could not discuss anything unless the Baretos knew precisely what lands they were claiming. He also said that the land titles needed to be investigated. Because the Bareto family's titles are false, they weren't ready to have them investigated. Somewhat surprisingly, the judge agreed with Rafael and said that the titles must be investigated and the land claims of the small farmers must also be investigated. This is great news for the community. Rafael ended up being very surprised and pleased. The levels of corruption are so high here that he never thought they would get a fair hearing. The Bareto family may still use intimidation and other methods to take/buy the land, but for now the people are feeling celebratory.