VENEZUELAN TROOPS OCCUPY THEIR LANDS, CLAIM COLOMBIAN PEASANTS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP08C01297R000700050022-8
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 28, 2012
• Sequence Number: 22
• Publication Date: March 5, 1973
• Content Type: CABLE

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A-47
with Unclassified Encloauxe
TO : Department of State
NO.
INFO: CARACAS, USCINCSO (POLAD & J-2), CAL I, MEDELLIN
FROM : Amembassy BOGOTA
E.0.11652: N/A
TAGS: PBOR, CO VE
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SUBJECT: Venezuelan Troops Occupypeialltal, Claim
Colombian Peasants
Ii 5, 1973
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REFERENCE: Bogota's 6513
C....0 m
iise reporting officer addressed a national meeting of ' -1
leaders of the Federation of Agrarian Workers of Colombilt
(FESTRACOL-CTC) on March 1. During the informal exchange
which followed, a campesino leader from the Guajira --2
,
,-
expressed his grave concern over occupation of his
people's lands by the Venezuelan military.
According to the campesino leader, Juan Aguirre,
Venezuelan troops have occupied lands which the campesinos
have cultivated since moving their from Santander in 1949.
The area in question is east of Fonseca, Guajira, between
the towns of Conejo, San Pedro, and La Cara and the
Venezuelan border. The approximate coordinates are
10050' N by 72?40' W. Aguirre claimed that some 80
Venezuelan troops remain in a church and a school built
by the campesinos. From these improvised barracks the
troops have foraged for meat and have destroyed crops
to clear land for helipads.
Enclosed is a free translation of a letter which FESTRACOL
recently sent to President Pastrana and other competent
IColombian authorities.
Comment: Aguirre impressed the reporting officer
as a rational individual and one unlikely to have confused
or fabricated his account. Colombian authorities could
Date:
FORM
Initials: 10-64 DS -323
- - ? -
Drafted by: VP
POL:REOlson:flw
Clearances:
147.
DA0:Col1. Vail (substance)
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Drafting Bate:
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Phone No.:
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E21 In El Out
Contents and Classification Approved by:
POL - Thomas F. Killora
* M S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1966 0 - 202-219 (2510
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/09/28: CIA-RDPO8001297R000700050022-8
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/09/28: CIA-RDPO8001297R000700050022-8
LIMITED OFFICIAL USE Page 2 of A-47 from
Bogota
check this alleged invasion as there is a Colombian
cavalry unit just a few kilometers north of Fonseca.
However, a visit to the Fonseca area by Colombian
congressmen checking similar reports in September 1972
(see reftel) led ?to a brief flurry in the press but to
no change in the situation. It may well be that authori-
ties are willing to accept the status quo for the time
being.
SACCIO
Enclosure
Translation o letter from
FESTRACOL to President Pastrana
LIMITED OFFICIAL USE
I Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/09/28 : CIA-RDP08001297R000700050022-8
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/09/28: CIA-RDPO8001297R000700050022-8
UNCLASSIFIED
Enclosure to Bogota's A-47
UNOFFICIAL TRANSLATION
Union of Agricultural Workers of Fonseca, Guajira
(in process of formation)
Fonseca, Guajira
February 24, 1973
Dr. Misael Pastrana Borrero
President of the Republic
Bolivar House
Mr. President:
Please accept from our campesino organization our warmest
greetings and our desires for success in your office. This
letter is to present to you the following denunciation:
Campesinos organized along the Colombian-Venezuelan border
direct themselves to you with the sole objective of asking
your valuable assistance in a conflict with our brother
country, Venezuela, along the border between the forest and
the mountain and along the line over the Guasare River.
In 1949, the first settlers entered that area to clear the
mountains to help build the nation and become useful to
society, lending a social and economic service to the peoples
of the Department of the Guajira and contributing financially
to the Government of Colombia.
In spite of our intentions to serve, today we find ourselves
in the.dilemma of the border conflict provoked by the present
administration of the Republic of Venezuela-and this after
800 Colombian campesinos have been in the area So many years,
working peacefully on plots now in full production with such
crops as platanos sugar cane, cacao, coffee and various
varieties of ..fruit trees. During our stay .in these' mountains,
separated completely from civilization because of distance
and the lack:of access roads, we have, through our own efforts
and self- imposed privations, built'al_ocal,school through
which have passed More than 1,000 children of campesinos'.
UNCLASSIFIED
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Page 2 of EnclOsureto Bogota's A-47
Now this school has been converted into a barracks of the
Venezuelan Army and from it there comes machine gun fire,
some at random and some aimed at our pigs, thus to take
our animals for their use. Similarly, they have taken
domestic fowls and seized foodstuffs purchased by
campesinos in the clbsest Colombian towns. Likewise,
they have destroyed our crops to construct landing
fields for helicopters. We have not received indemni-
zation for these damages in spite of a visit by Colombian
Congressmen and some officials of the Government of
Venezuela.
These campesinos continue to be victims of mistreatment,
physical persecution and panic sowed by these troops
with firearms which they shoot almost daily with the evil
intention of driving the campesinos off the land. The
only patrimony of these people is the work they have
invested over many years in order to exist in the midst
of the many social and economic difficulties suffered by
humble families without resources as a consequence of
this state of affairs.
There being no other matter we remain yours truly,
For the Executive Committee
Marceliano Ramos Victor Saurit Felipe Fugueroa
Provisional President Provisional Fiscal Provisional
Secretary General
Juan Aguirre Rivera
Union Advisor
cc: FESTRACOL, press, radio, Ministries of Foreign Relations,
Labor and Agriculture and federations of FESTRACOL
UNCLASSIFIED
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