CPTNet
4 May 2011
COLOMBIA: Jesus
is Buried
[The following
article comes from Christian Peacemaker Teams’ national Colombian delegation,
April 16-23, 2011.]
Jesus’ life
brought the good news and a message of life, justice, equality, respect,
liberty, love for others, and peace through nonviolence and dignity.
Jesus is killed
and buried, and along with him his message of life which invited everyone to
focus on the excluded, the sick, the marginalized and victims of violence. As
Jesus was buried then, today people and communities are being buried and
silenced. The heavy stones which try to bury Jesus’ message of life include violence,
the unjust economy, mono-cropping, land-grabbing by multinationals, weapons, displacement,
intimidation and death. Today, we see Jesus reflected in the disappeared and
murdered, especially in the Las Pavas community, in south Bolivar, Colombia. These are the stones that
intend to keep people and communities silent. Just as in the time of Jesus, the
stone of the sepulcher was meant to keep his life, work, and project silent.
Las Pavas is a
community of 123 rural families (more than 500 persons), who have been displaced
several times since the 1950’s by the major economic powers such as live-stock
farmers, drug-traffickers, and the oil palm industry – often with the help of
legal and illegal armed groups. These powers are trying to bury Las Pavas, but
Jesus enables the community to move beyond the grave, beyond the stones that
try to prevent the triumph of good over evil, justice over injustice, truth over
lies, and life over death.
Stations of the
Cross on Good Friday
The following are
the lyrics of a song that commemorates the attempts to bury the Las Pavas
community:
Martín Valiente
and his sugarcane
Martín Valiente
is a brave farmer,
Who faced the
mountains of Las Pavas.
He did not care
if the tiger stalked him
And in his
sugarcane, Martín took refuge.
Martín Valiente
is now very sad,
Because on the
14th of July the palm displaced him;
Now his soul is
torn
Because Martín´s
sugarcane was lost.
Martín Valiente
was very happy
Because President
Uribe was his legislator;
but when he
realized that he had displaced him,
Martín Valiente
renounced Uribe
I have told
everything but not the saddest part,
What happened
next to Martín Valiente,
One of his
daughters got sick,
And since he had
no money, the girl died.
Martín Valiente
is now very sad,
Because on the
14th of July the palm displaced him;
Now his soul is
torn
Because his
beautiful girl left him all alone. (1)
With Jesus, we
realize and remember that the way of life doesn’t end with the grave and can’t
be buried. The empty grave is a sign of hope and victory. Today the message stays
alive among people and communities and invites us to commit ourselves en theirjourney.
__________
1 Edwin Torres
(“Monchi Pavero”). 2011
More pictures of CPT’s Holy week delegation are are
available at: https://www.cpt.org/index.php?q=gallery&g2_itemId=22823
For more background on Las Pavas see https://www.cpt.org/content/communities-we-accompany
