September 20, 2022 • 8 mins
In this episode, we look at the work, trials and hope of Colombian activist Jackeline Romero Epiayu.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
Hey, this sanny and Samantha and we're going to stuff
I never told your production of IHR radio, and this
week we wanted to talk about the activists in Colombia,
but before we start, we wanted to touch on the
dangers that the activists are facing today and have been facing.
(00:28):
So we're gonna go ahead and let you know this
is not a happy episode, like we are celebrating a
woman who was doing some amazing works and continue to fight,
but we also have to acknowledge the violence that they
are suffering as well, in the danger they are in
for doing this work. Just so you know, we're not
going to go into specific incidents, but there is mentioned
violence and rape and harassment and it's not unusual, unfortunately,
(00:52):
for those in Colombia and many other countries to suffer
this just for being activists. And that's the big conversation
that we're going I have that activism can be dangerous
and we've seen it and we know that that puts
a target on people's backs and when you have a
country that is government cannot or does not supply the
help that people need, especially in rural areas, then it
(01:15):
becomes even more dangerous and that's kind of what's happening
with Columbia and that's what's been happening. I do don't
know that politics have been a little rough and there's
a new president coming in and hopefully they will be
able to make some changes and provide more support and help.
But yeah, that's a long, big story. But, like I said,
we wanted to get into the history of it a
little bit. We're not going too deep, but just so
(01:37):
that you are aware, Um, of what is happening. And
as we were doing research for the amazing people who
continue to fight for the rights and the preservation of
their community. Um, so many reports are coming about the
violence and threats that are happening against the activists around
the world. Um. And Colombia has suffered many losses recently. Um.
But numbers are pretty staggering and I think it's changed.
(01:59):
When we first heard some numbers, I believe in twenty.
There is a watch group on the ground giving us
higher numbers and I can't not believe that. Obviously we
we wouldn't want to discredit that in any way, because
they know they are seeing things that often are are
not mentioned and or hidden. Um, as we know, according
(02:20):
to one report, in at least two hundred and twenty
activists have been murdered. According to that same report, and
it's from the INDA pause, and I'm so sorry if
I said that wrong, which is a local watch group
that we just mentioned. At least one thousand eight leaders
have been killed since and one alone they recorded at
least a hundred and seventy one deaths, and there's a
(02:41):
few reasons. Many experts are saying it is due to
the increase in violence, UM, including struggle for power, absence
of any type of state authority or assistance, uh the
support to recover stolen land, and other factors like that.
Marginalized communities, such as the indigenous and Afro Colombian communities,
have been a large part of the resistance and leadership
(03:02):
for the activism within Columbia and therefore they are highly targeted,
as in fact, many of the activists, including the one
that we're about to talk about, Um, have been under
constant threat and harassment, to the point that petitions and
international groups have called for the overall protection of these activists.
Right Um, and just so you know, there have been
(03:24):
many stories coming left and right about getting texts and
being getting visits and being told that they will be
uh harmed or their family would be harmed. And, as
one indigenous activists said, that this is not about them
becoming activists, but they were born activists because because it
is them trying to take back their land or get
take back what was theirs to begin with, which has
(03:45):
been stolen. And I think that's a big part of
the conversation that we have to have in these activists
and conversations that are having, because overall, it's for everyone,
but it's something they have to do because it is
their livelihoods. Unfortunately. Uh Yeah, that's exactly what is happening
for our activists today. Uh waculine Romero epayue, that justice,
(04:08):
who is one of the leaders of the Fires Oahu,
an organization of Indigenous Wahi Women in Colombia. UH, they
are one of the largest indigenous groups in Colombia and
the group was established to define the rights of the
community and to defend them for that as well. Romero
and the Wahaiu are from the Colombian region of La Guahira.
(04:30):
Um in. This area has been a place of controversy,
as many of the residents have been displaced or terrorized
by those who are trying to take control of the
resources of the land. So it's pretty rigid. Its resources,
um crops are being taken over and all of that,
and many have been displaced by the mining company of
Santi June, which not only uses violent methods of getting
(04:50):
what they want, but also have caused major health and
environmental crisis throughout the region. Many of the local city
they were suffering from respiratory and skin problems. UH, there's
contamination of water, air and soil and there's even been
death due to this type of contamination. So it's pretty severe.
But of course nobody has really been protecting the community
as they are being polluted and displaced. Uh, and Romero
(05:14):
has been a vocal challenger against those who have been
destroying the land in the community. Romo has been leading
the group which started in two thousand and six and
their aim has been to defend the rights of their community,
their people and their culture from the violations occurring due
to these corporations and even the drug trafficking issues, because
a lot of the crops have been taken out for
cocaine plants. From what I understand, people are scared to
(05:36):
try to change that right and though she has been
recognized for her work and has made an impact, including
uniting the communities against the mining company and even stopping
the company from diverting a large portion of the region's
river to facilitate coal extraction, it's come at a price.
Um since her activism, she has been receiving threats, both
verbally and physically. She has had to travel with two
(05:58):
bodyguards at all times, and many different organizations have been
advocating for the government to put more protections, not only
for the safety of these activists, but also for the
protecting the land and the communities. Um, when talking about
these types of issues that many of the women activists
have to face, ramier stated their lives are constantly threatened.
(06:19):
We see cases in the country where many people are
murdered for saying things that someone doesn't like, companies don't like,
the governments don't like, politicians don't like. As women, we
are more vulnerable because we face different situations than men.
The fear of being raped, for instance, the fear of
having your children murdered. The impact that this has on
women being victims of some kind of threat will always
(06:40):
be different, and I also think that intentions will always
be different by the perpetrator. Um. But even with that
constant threat, she remains positive. She continued, saying, quote, if
people have the need to threaten, it is because we
are doing something right. The message is to look for
more allies, to raise our voices, because that is the
way to protect the life of the organization it's members
(07:00):
in such difficult times. Yeah, Um, and she has been
awarded with the National Human Rights Defense Award in twenty, seventeen, um.
And she had a message for the many women, indigenous
and non indigenous activists, uh, saying doing what we are
doing is worth it, supporting others, being the voice of
those who many times can't have a voice, is worth it. Certainly,
(07:22):
we will not transform the world, but we will make
a contribution that will surely transform somebody's world, the world
of a community, and that gives us hope, Um, which
I thought was really, really powerful. If you are interested
in finding out more about Romero and her work, you
can look up her name. We will also send you
this information, because there are petitions that there are calls
(07:44):
to action to help women like her, the indigenous community
that she is with, uh, to protect them during this
big fight because, again, it's been a long haul and
uh many have died and many continue to die violently
due to their stands trying to protect their loved ones. Yeah, yeah, and,
as always, if there's any listeners, if there are any
(08:06):
listeners in Colombia, uh and you have any information or
resources or other people we should shout out. Um, please, please, please,
let us know. That information is invaluable to us. Um,
you can email as at Stephanie and mom stuff at
IHART MEDIA DOT com. You can find us on twitter
at MOM stof podcast or an instaging that stuff. I
never told you. Thanks. It's always to our super producer, Christina,
(08:28):
who was invaluable to us. Oh, for sure, absolutely, and
thanks to you for listening. Someone are told you the
protection of by heart radio. For more podcast in my
heart radio, you can check out the review APP, apple
podcast or regul listen to your favorite shows.
Hey, this sanny and Samantha and we're going to stuff
I never told your production of IHR radio, and this
week we wanted to talk about the activists in Colombia,
but before we start, we wanted to touch on the
dangers that the activists are facing today and have been facing.
(00:28):
So we're gonna go ahead and let you know this
is not a happy episode, like we are celebrating a
woman who was doing some amazing works and continue to fight,
but we also have to acknowledge the violence that they
are suffering as well, in the danger they are in
for doing this work. Just so you know, we're not
going to go into specific incidents, but there is mentioned
violence and rape and harassment and it's not unusual, unfortunately,
(00:52):
for those in Colombia and many other countries to suffer
this just for being activists. And that's the big conversation
that we're going I have that activism can be dangerous
and we've seen it and we know that that puts
a target on people's backs and when you have a
country that is government cannot or does not supply the
help that people need, especially in rural areas, then it
(01:15):
becomes even more dangerous and that's kind of what's happening
with Columbia and that's what's been happening. I do don't
know that politics have been a little rough and there's
a new president coming in and hopefully they will be
able to make some changes and provide more support and help.
But yeah, that's a long, big story. But, like I said,
we wanted to get into the history of it a
little bit. We're not going too deep, but just so
(01:37):
that you are aware, Um, of what is happening. And
as we were doing research for the amazing people who
continue to fight for the rights and the preservation of
their community. Um, so many reports are coming about the
violence and threats that are happening against the activists around
the world. Um. And Colombia has suffered many losses recently. Um.
But numbers are pretty staggering and I think it's changed.
(01:59):
When we first heard some numbers, I believe in twenty.
There is a watch group on the ground giving us
higher numbers and I can't not believe that. Obviously we
we wouldn't want to discredit that in any way, because
they know they are seeing things that often are are
not mentioned and or hidden. Um, as we know, according
(02:20):
to one report, in at least two hundred and twenty
activists have been murdered. According to that same report, and
it's from the INDA pause, and I'm so sorry if
I said that wrong, which is a local watch group
that we just mentioned. At least one thousand eight leaders
have been killed since and one alone they recorded at
least a hundred and seventy one deaths, and there's a
(02:41):
few reasons. Many experts are saying it is due to
the increase in violence, UM, including struggle for power, absence
of any type of state authority or assistance, uh the
support to recover stolen land, and other factors like that.
Marginalized communities, such as the indigenous and Afro Colombian communities,
have been a large part of the resistance and leadership
(03:02):
for the activism within Columbia and therefore they are highly targeted,
as in fact, many of the activists, including the one
that we're about to talk about, Um, have been under
constant threat and harassment, to the point that petitions and
international groups have called for the overall protection of these activists.
Right Um, and just so you know, there have been
(03:24):
many stories coming left and right about getting texts and
being getting visits and being told that they will be
uh harmed or their family would be harmed. And, as
one indigenous activists said, that this is not about them
becoming activists, but they were born activists because because it
is them trying to take back their land or get
take back what was theirs to begin with, which has
(03:45):
been stolen. And I think that's a big part of
the conversation that we have to have in these activists
and conversations that are having, because overall, it's for everyone,
but it's something they have to do because it is
their livelihoods. Unfortunately. Uh Yeah, that's exactly what is happening
for our activists today. Uh waculine Romero epayue, that justice,
(04:08):
who is one of the leaders of the Fires Oahu,
an organization of Indigenous Wahi Women in Colombia. UH, they
are one of the largest indigenous groups in Colombia and
the group was established to define the rights of the
community and to defend them for that as well. Romero
and the Wahaiu are from the Colombian region of La Guahira.
(04:30):
Um in. This area has been a place of controversy,
as many of the residents have been displaced or terrorized
by those who are trying to take control of the
resources of the land. So it's pretty rigid. Its resources,
um crops are being taken over and all of that,
and many have been displaced by the mining company of
Santi June, which not only uses violent methods of getting
(04:50):
what they want, but also have caused major health and
environmental crisis throughout the region. Many of the local city
they were suffering from respiratory and skin problems. UH, there's
contamination of water, air and soil and there's even been
death due to this type of contamination. So it's pretty severe.
But of course nobody has really been protecting the community
as they are being polluted and displaced. Uh, and Romero
(05:14):
has been a vocal challenger against those who have been
destroying the land in the community. Romo has been leading
the group which started in two thousand and six and
their aim has been to defend the rights of their community,
their people and their culture from the violations occurring due
to these corporations and even the drug trafficking issues, because
a lot of the crops have been taken out for
cocaine plants. From what I understand, people are scared to
(05:36):
try to change that right and though she has been
recognized for her work and has made an impact, including
uniting the communities against the mining company and even stopping
the company from diverting a large portion of the region's
river to facilitate coal extraction, it's come at a price.
Um since her activism, she has been receiving threats, both
verbally and physically. She has had to travel with two
(05:58):
bodyguards at all times, and many different organizations have been
advocating for the government to put more protections, not only
for the safety of these activists, but also for the
protecting the land and the communities. Um, when talking about
these types of issues that many of the women activists
have to face, ramier stated their lives are constantly threatened.
(06:19):
We see cases in the country where many people are
murdered for saying things that someone doesn't like, companies don't like,
the governments don't like, politicians don't like. As women, we
are more vulnerable because we face different situations than men.
The fear of being raped, for instance, the fear of
having your children murdered. The impact that this has on
women being victims of some kind of threat will always
(06:40):
be different, and I also think that intentions will always
be different by the perpetrator. Um. But even with that
constant threat, she remains positive. She continued, saying, quote, if
people have the need to threaten, it is because we
are doing something right. The message is to look for
more allies, to raise our voices, because that is the
way to protect the life of the organization it's members
(07:00):
in such difficult times. Yeah, Um, and she has been
awarded with the National Human Rights Defense Award in twenty, seventeen, um.
And she had a message for the many women, indigenous
and non indigenous activists, uh, saying doing what we are
doing is worth it, supporting others, being the voice of
those who many times can't have a voice, is worth it. Certainly,
(07:22):
we will not transform the world, but we will make
a contribution that will surely transform somebody's world, the world
of a community, and that gives us hope, Um, which
I thought was really, really powerful. If you are interested
in finding out more about Romero and her work, you
can look up her name. We will also send you
this information, because there are petitions that there are calls
(07:44):
to action to help women like her, the indigenous community
that she is with, uh, to protect them during this
big fight because, again, it's been a long haul and
uh many have died and many continue to die violently
due to their stands trying to protect their loved ones. Yeah, yeah, and,
as always, if there's any listeners, if there are any
(08:06):
listeners in Colombia, uh and you have any information or
resources or other people we should shout out. Um, please, please, please,
let us know. That information is invaluable to us. Um,
you can email as at Stephanie and mom stuff at
IHART MEDIA DOT com. You can find us on twitter
at MOM stof podcast or an instaging that stuff. I
never told you. Thanks. It's always to our super producer, Christina,
(08:28):
who was invaluable to us. Oh, for sure, absolutely, and
thanks to you for listening. Someone are told you the
protection of by heart radio. For more podcast in my
heart radio, you can check out the review APP, apple
podcast or regul listen to your favorite shows.
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