Hey Fye,

I wanted to send you a quick, exciting update on the situation with the Afro-Colombian community La Toma:

We stopped the eviction!

As I was emailing you last week, 400 personnel from the public forces were already assembling on La Toma's lands, poised to carry out the eviction the next day. But then, in less than 24 hours you sent over 850 faxes to the U.S. State Department's Colombia desk and they listened. We got them to convince the Colombian government to keep the community of La Toma on their land! Yes, that was your work that made that happen!

Still, the plans for the eviction were only suspended, not stopped for good. We will be in touch with you as the situation progresses. But for now, click here to send a message to the Colombian government to let them know that the international community is still watching and that they must keep their promises to La Toma.

Thank you so much for taking action and helping to make a real difference!

Best,
Vanessa, LAWG Colombia Team

August 17, 2010        

Dear Fye,

If the Colombian government does not change its mind, tomorrow the 1052 families that make up the Afro-Colombian community La Toma will be evicted from the land that they have lived on for almost 400 years. We cannot let this happen.

Click here to support the community and stop the eviction!

Members of the Afro-Colombian Community of La Toma have been living on the resource rich, mountainous lands of northern Cauca, Colombia since they escaped the enslavement that brought them to Colombia in 1636. Over the centuries, they have developed a culture and history that is tied to this land, carving out an environmentally sustainable living through artisanal gold mining and basic agricultural projects, and grounding their traditions in this ancestral place.

In recent years, the Colombian government gave these lands away to some big corporations in the form of thirty-five mining permits without consulting the community, so they could gut out this beautiful place, simultaneously destroying its precious ecosystem and the lives of thousands of people. To do this without consulting the community was completely against the law, so the community said, "No." No, they would not move.

And as a result of this brave, non-violent commitment to stay in their homeland, the community has now suffered a rising number of death threats and assassinations by paramilitary groups that favor the displacement of local residents from the areas where there are gold mines. After a ruling from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, in December 2009, the Colombian government made an agreement with Afro-Colombian leaders promising to protect communities from this targeted violence and review the illegally granted permits.

But they haven't made good on these promises, with killings of miners on the rise in the past couple months, and now the government's decision to evict the community tomorrow.

Will you take one minute to ask the U.S. State Department to urge the Colombian government to halt the eviction?  Just click here to send a message!

If the U.S. government speaks out strongly enough against this eviction, we can stop it from happening. Our partners the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) and the U.S. Network in Solidarity with Afro-Colombian Grassroots Communities (NASGACC) have been working for months to make sure our government puts on the pressure. But with one day left, they need a cacophony of voices to make them take that final step.

So please click here now to add your voice to the call for respect for the people of La Toma.

In January, I visited La Toma and I can tell you first hand that its community members are some of the most amazing people I have ever met and their culture is truly one of a kind. Displacing them from their lands is not only a violation of their territorial and human rights, but also an act that would lead to their impoverishment and devastation of their traditional culture. Thank you for joining me in standing with this brave community today.

Best,
Vanessa, LAWG Colombia Team