<html xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:st1="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40">
<head>
<meta http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
<meta name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 11 (filtered medium)">
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="PlaceType"/>
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="PlaceName"/>
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="PostalCode"/>
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="State"/>
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="City"/>
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="Street"/>
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="address"/>
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="country-region"/>
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="place"/>
<!--[if !mso]>
<style>
st1\:*{behavior:url(#default#ieooui) }
</style>
<![endif]-->
<style>
<!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:Garamond;
panose-1:2 2 4 4 3 3 1 1 8 3;}
@font-face
{font-family:Verdana;
panose-1:2 11 6 4 3 5 4 4 2 4;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";}
a:link, span.MsoHyperlink
{color:blue;
text-decoration:underline;}
a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed
{color:purple;
text-decoration:underline;}
p
{mso-margin-top-alt:auto;
margin-right:0in;
mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
margin-left:0in;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";}
span.EmailStyle18
{mso-style-type:personal;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
color:windowtext;
font-weight:normal;
font-style:normal;
text-decoration:none none;}
span.EmailStyle19
{mso-style-type:personal;
font-family:Garamond;
color:black;
font-weight:normal;
font-style:normal;
text-decoration:none none;}
span.EmailStyle20
{mso-style-type:personal;
font-family:Garamond;
color:black;
font-weight:normal;
font-style:normal;
text-decoration:none none;}
span.EmailStyle21
{mso-style-type:personal;
font-family:Garamond;
color:black;
font-weight:normal;
font-style:normal;
text-decoration:none none;}
span.EmailStyle22
{mso-style-type:personal-reply;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
color:windowtext;
font-weight:normal;
font-style:normal;
text-decoration:none none;}
@page Section1
{size:8.5in 11.0in;
margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in;}
div.Section1
{page:Section1;}
-->
</style>
</head>
<body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple>
<div class=Section1>
<p><i><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-style:italic'>ACT-MA readers - <font color=black><span style='color:black'>If
you cannot make the event with Eustaquio Polo on Wednesday at Encuentro 5,
please note that he will also be speaking at MIT on Thursday.<o:p></o:p></span></font></span></font></i></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Eustaquio
Polo, a community leader from the Choco, <st1:country-region w:st="on">Colombia</st1:country-region>,
will be speaking in the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Boston</st1:City></st1:place>
area on Wednesday and Thursday of this week. Do not miss this chance to
hear him talk about what his community as well as numerous others have endured
in trying to protect themselves and their lands from forced displacement.
Please note that the location of the MIT event on Thursday has changed from the
earlier announcement. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:11.0pt'>Eustaquio
Polo will be presenting his story at the following times in the <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Boston</st1:City></st1:place> area:</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><b><font size=2 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:11.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>Wednesday, April 2, 2008</span></font></b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=2 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:11.0pt'>7:00
pm: Event on displacement, corporate power, and the pending US-Colombian
bilateral free trade agreement. Encuentro 5, <st1:address w:st="on"><st1:Street
w:st="on">33 Harrison Ave</st1:Street>, <st1:City w:st="on">Boston</st1:City></st1:address>.
Contact: Suren(a)fairjobs.org</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><b><font size=2 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:11.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>Thursday, April 03, 2008</span></font></b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><font size=2 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:11.0pt'>2:30 pm: Forum on displacement, land reclamation
and corporate power in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Colombia</st1:country-region></st1:place>.
Munce Conference Room, <st1:Street w:st="on"><st1:address w:st="on">20 Derne
Street</st1:address></st1:Street> (Archer building; behind the Mass. State
House), <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Suffolk</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType
w:st="on">University</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>. Contact:
MegMac6(a)hotmail.com<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><font size=2 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:11.0pt'>7:00 pm: Forum on displacement, land reclamation
and corporate power in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Colombia</st1:country-region></st1:place>. Room
</span></font><font color=black><span style='color:black'>4-163 (Please note
change of location). </span></font><font size=2><span style='font-size:
11.0pt'> MIT. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><font size=2 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:11.0pt'>Location map:</span></font><font face=Verdana><span
style='font-family:Verdana'> </span></font><font size=2><span style='font-size:
11.0pt'><a href="http://whereis.mit.edu/map-jpg?selection=4&Buildings=go"><font
color=black><span style='color:windowtext;text-decoration:none'>http://whereis.mit.edu/map-jpg?selection=4&Buildings=go</span></font></a>
Contact: agweiner(a)gmail.com<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p align=center style='text-align:center'><b><font size=2 face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana;font-weight:bold'>Violent
Displacement and Palm Oil</span></font></b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=2 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>There
are currently 285,000 hectares of African oil palm trees in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region
w:st="on">Colombia</st1:country-region></st1:place>, and President Álvaro
Uribe plans to increase that number to one million hectares in the next four
years. Oil palm produces a biofuel that has been hailed as a cleaner
alternative to petroleum. But many of these palm plantations are built on
stolen land - land that communities in Curvaradó once cultivated for sustenance
crops. </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=2 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>According
to an April investigation by the Colombian Ministry of Agriculture, “at
least 25,000 hectares suitable for the cultivation of oil palms…were
acquired by private interests through illegitimate land titles.”
The investigation admits, too, that this illegal land acquisition has coincided
with the forced displacement of hundreds of thousands of small farmers. </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=2 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>In
1997, under the pretext of a guerrilla presence in the region, the Colombian
military entered Curvaradó. While army helicopters bombarded civilian
villages, paramilitary groups committed massacres and burned houses and
crops. Today, those hundreds of communities who were forced to flee their
land in 1997 are among the 3.8 million internally displaced (IDP) Colombians. </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=2 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>Following
the Curvaradó displacement, some farmers, like those of Eustaquio Polo’s
community, El Guamo, returned to their land, only to find it planted with mile
upon mile of oil palm. The people of El Guamo have reclaimed their land
and are attempting to plant it once again with subsistence crops. But
they face ongoing attacks by paramilitaries (reformed after a purported
demobilization process) and by the Colombian military itself, who admit to
defending palm interests, and who brand community leaders like Eustaquio Polo
“guerrillas.” </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=2 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>Eustaquio
Polo is vice president on the board of the Major Council of the Curvaradó river
basin- <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Chocó</st1:City>, <st1:country-region
w:st="on">Colombia</st1:country-region></st1:place>. He is 39 years old and is
father of four girls and five boys. He is an active leader in the work
that his community has been doing to recover collectively titled lands occupied
by oil palm companies connected to the paramilitaries.</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=2 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>He
has dedicated his life to the strengthening of the organizational process of
his community and in demanding respect for the rights of his community. In this
work he has participated in meetings with the national government of <st1:country-region
w:st="on">Colombia</st1:country-region>, the United Nations and with Embassies
located in <st1:country-region w:st="on">Colombia</st1:country-region>,
including the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">US</st1:country-region></st1:place>
embassy. The communities of the Curvaradó river basin, which Eustaquio belongs
to, is protected by Provisional [protective] Measures from the <st1:Street
w:st="on"><st1:address w:st="on">Inter-American Court</st1:address></st1:Street>
on Human Rights. </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=2 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>As
a result as Eustaquio´s efforts as a community leader, he has received death
threats from the oil palm companies as has the legal representative of
Curvaradó’s Council, Ligia María Chaverra.</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=1 color=black face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:8.0pt;font-family:Verdana;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=1 color=black face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:8.0pt;font-family:Verdana;color:black'>Colombia Vive is an
all-volunteer human rights organization that supports efforts for peace, human
rights, and social justice in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Colombia</st1:country-region></st1:place>.
We defend and support civilian groups in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region
w:st="on">Colombia</st1:country-region></st1:place> that share our
perspective.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=1 color=black face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:8.0pt;font-family:Verdana;color:black'><br>
We condemn all forms of political violence and therefore do not
support any of the armed actors in the Colombian conflict.</span></font><font
size=1 color=black><span style='font-size:8.0pt;color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=1 color=black face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:8.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on"><font
size=1 color=black face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.0pt;font-family:
Verdana;color:black'>Colombia</span></font></st1:country-region></st1:place><font
size=1 color=black face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.0pt;font-family:Verdana;
color:black'> Vive<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:Street w:st="on"><st1:address w:st="on"><font size=1
color=black face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.0pt;font-family:Verdana;
color:black'>31 Holden Street</span></font></st1:address></st1:Street><font
size=1 color=black face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.0pt;font-family:Verdana;
color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on"><font size=1
color=black face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.0pt;font-family:Verdana;
color:black'>Lowell</span></font></st1:City><font size=1 color=black
face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.0pt;font-family:Verdana;color:black'>, <st1:State
w:st="on">MA</st1:State> <st1:PostalCode w:st="on">01851</st1:PostalCode></span></font></st1:place><font
size=1 color=black face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.0pt;font-family:Verdana;
color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=1 color=black face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:8.0pt;font-family:Verdana;color:black'><a
href="mailto:colombiavive@mindspring.com"
title="mailto:colombiavive@mindspring.com"><font color=black
title="mailto:colombiavive@mindspring.com"><span
title="mailto:colombiavive@mindspring.com"><span style='color:black;text-decoration:
none'>colombiavive@mindspring.com</span></span></font></a><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=1 color=black face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:8.0pt;font-family:Verdana;color:black'>978-441-9488</span></font><font
size=1 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.0pt;font-family:Verdana'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=1 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.0pt;
font-family:Verdana'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=1 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.0pt;
font-family:Verdana'>Colombia Vive is an all-volunteer human rights
organization that supports efforts for peace, human rights, and social justice
in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Colombia</st1:country-region></st1:place>.
We defend and support civilian groups in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region
w:st="on">Colombia</st1:country-region></st1:place> that share our perspective.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=1 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.0pt;
font-family:Verdana'><br>
We condemn all forms of political violence and therefore do not
support any of the armed actors in the Colombian conflict.</span></font><font
size=1><span style='font-size:8.0pt'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=1 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
8.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on"><font
size=1 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>Colombia</span></font></st1:country-region></st1:place><font
size=1 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.0pt;font-family:Verdana'> Vive<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:Street w:st="on"><st1:address w:st="on"><font size=1
face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>31 Holden
Street</span></font></st1:address></st1:Street><font size=1 face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:8.0pt;font-family:Verdana'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on"><font size=1
face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>Lowell</span></font></st1:City><font
size=1 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>, <st1:State
w:st="on">MA</st1:State> <st1:PostalCode w:st="on">01851</st1:PostalCode></span></font></st1:place><font
size=1 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.0pt;font-family:Verdana'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=1 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.0pt;
font-family:Verdana'><a href="mailto:colombiavive@mindspring.com"><font
color=black><span style='color:windowtext;text-decoration:none'>colombiavive@mindspring.com</span></font></a><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=1 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.0pt;
font-family:Verdana'>978-441-9488<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
</body>
</html>