Women Against War

Not One Woman, Not One Man, Not One Dollar for War

Women in Black, an internatioal anti-war organization founded in Israel, is holding its convention in Bogotá this week. This morning they rallied along Jimenez Ave., chanting against war and vowing that women 'Do not give birth to send their sons and daughters to war.'

No War in My Name!

War is always terrible, and Colombia has suffered far more than its share of it, with its many civil wars and its ongoing armed conflict involving guerrillas, the military and right-wing paramilitaries. The current conflict, which has dragged on for more than a half century, has killed untold thousands of people, driven millions of peasants from their homes and cost the nation tremendously in wealth and opportunity.

Everybody in their right minds wishes it would end!

But in the late 1990s the Pastrana government tried to negotiate with the FARC guerrillas, even giving them a region larger than Switzerland in southern Colombia to use as a neutral negotiating region. But the guerrillas were apparently never sincere, and Colombia's two succeeding presidents have used a no-holds-barred military strategy, with billions of dollars in aid from Washington. The military offensive has produced results - altho with a big cost in human rights - and made both presidents Alvaro Uribe and Manuel Santos very popular.

Today, the guerrillas continue invading towns and attacking vehicles in remote parts of the country and display little interest in negotiating peace. When groups like Women in Black call for an end to war, they often seem to be demanding a unilateral government disarmament.

International Encounter of Women in Black

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours