A female rebel poses with her Egyptian made AK47 in a camp in Caqueta. Photo: Jason P.Howe, 2002.

High user fees and inefficient public services, low quality �privatization- and budget austerity for education and public health, unjust labour and pension regimes, urban and rural insecurity, open and disguised unemployment, internal refugees, and so many other problems that afflict the majority of Colombians: the government and the ruling class try to hide them all through manipulation of the news, especially those concerning public order.

The crisis Colombia is experiencing is one of the system and its model. The crisis is economic, political and social; it is the expression of the class struggle, which continues to be the motor of history, and not just a problem of public order. It is structural and also signifies the advance of the Colombian people, women and men, labour unionists, campesinos, true academics and intellectuals, students, housewives, indigenous people, unemployed and internal refugees, in the building of the nation with sovereignty, and peace with dignity and social justice.

For example, in spite of knowing that in the world 90% of the murders of labour unionists occur in Colombia, and that violation of union rights is a state policy, the 90th conference of the ILO did not sanction Colombia, that being a political decision it was not prepared to take. And the worst about this case is that it accepted the pretext put forward by the Colombian government, which presents itself as one more victim �that is in the midst of armed actors and as such is not responsible for these deeds. �

The accusation is clear: the dirty war is being waged against popular and social organizations and those who denounce violations of human rights.

Justification is being given for the fallacy of a confrontation between demons: supposedly, the �poor state� stands between the forces of evil, the left and the right. This ignores it is this state, its various governments, the establishment and that abject and corrupt ruling class serving the interests of U.S. imperialism, which are responsible for the violence and paramilitarism. That phenomenon is part of the policies set down by imperialism, and is the legitimate offspring of the state that pushes and promotes it and sets its tasks in the dirty war.

Allow a parenthesis here, because there is a strange coincidence (or is it?) between the rationale of the Colombian government and what those who call themselves intellectuals or personalities of academic life put forward in their late June letter. Who do they think they can fool with such unoriginal arguments and subservient and mercenary attitudes? End of parenthesis.

Two FARC soldiers relax at a reten on the outskirts of San Vicente del Caguan. Photo: Jason P.Howe, 2002.

In Colombia:

- The labour union struggle to save social security;
- The movement of educators against reform of the education statute that legalizes the robbery of what had been won in the contract agreements;
- The denunciation of the Special Economic Zones for Exportation, in which piece work pay prevails, and as such, social security and benefits disappear;
- The fight informal sector workers, who have no other alternative for subsistence, are developing in the face of constant persecution by the authorities;
- The demands and strikes of taxi drivers for change to the taxes with the authorities try to cheat them;
- The blockading of the Pan American Highway by the aboriginal people of north Cauca Department demanding their ancestral rights;
- The growth of massive movements of those who connect illegally to electrical power out of pure necessity, and not vagrancy or illegal intent, as has been claimed;
- The Telecom strike, depicted as a wage dispute �a matter of continuing importance- to hide the hand of privatization that would present it as a bankrupt company with losses, in order to justify its sale. This would mean unemployment for thousands of workers, some for having dared to defend their rights, and others, the minority, in order to raise the level of surplus value for the few �of privilege� that would remain on the payroll, as well as representing a theft from the Colombian people;
- The interesting workers� electoral process that will conclude on October 4, where lists of candidates pursuing unity and class struggle stand out;

are expressions of social, labour union, civic and popular struggle. This is the now neo-liberal face of capitalism that cares not for the well being of the majorities, and the demonstration that in Colombia the people does not bow down; rather, it fights for its rights, in defense of some, to win others, and does so by all possible means. The action of the FARC � People�s Army for the aspiration of a better, more united nation for all, is part of this torrent of struggle. Because this oligarchy gives nothing away, everything must be taken from it by struggle.

A young female rebel fighter grimaces as a bullet passes close over her head. Photo: Jason P.Howe, 2002.

Translation on English by: elbarcino@laneta.apc.org