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Eyewitness from Sintraemcali Occupation #1
Martha the Cook they call Thatcher

SINTRAEMCALI OCCUPATION:  EYEWITNESS UPDATE NUMBER ONE 

From outside the CAM Tower, Cali, Colombia 
14th January 2002

Getting on a plane from Britain, and within hours finding myself face to
face with heavily armed Colombian riot police, shoulder to shoulder with
workers and students locked in a struggle to keep public services in the
public domain is, to say the least, a little bit disorientating. 

Its hard to describe the feeling of being here with the people, in the
middle of a heroic struggle, but I will do my best to paint a picture of
the beauty of the merging of the individual into the collective mass of
the class: flags waving, banners flying and hearts full of the
conviction that to change our social reality we have to begin to think
of others as ourselves, and to fight for common dreams. 

Eighteen days into the occupation of CAM, the central administration
Tower of EMCALI , in Cali (Colombia's second city), and the surrounding
areas have been transformed into a beehive of collective action aimed at
feeding the body and the soul of the 800 workers inside, and presenting
a message to the community at large that yes we have dignity, yes we can
fight back, and yes we have an alternative that doesn't necessitate that
for my plate to be full, yours has to be empty. 

Apart from the riot police surrounding the tower itself, the square
surrounding CAM is in the hands of the people who patrol the perimeter
24 hours a day in workers teams, making sure that those who would seek
to eliminate the dream of social justice, are at least for the moment,
kept at a distance.  On the right-hand side of the building is a huge
make-shift kitchen feeding the hundreds of occupying workers inside with
breakfast, lunch and dinner. A military style operation which moves
from control, to production, to consumption, each with an importance
that has been drastically changed due to the nature of the conflict. 

The perimeter of the kitchen is fenced off to prevent any unauthorized
person from entering: Martha the cook has been renamed during the
occupation and now is called Thatcher - for the steely nature in which
she organizes the troops, and prepares the food. "If somebody slipped in
and poisoned the food the occupation would be over, and then where would
we be?" But more then the security, she works with a passionate belief
in the struggle. "I haven't been home for 18 days, I work, live and
sleep in this place. Last time when SINTRAEMCAL took the tower, the
workers inside got fed up with beans and rice. I change the menu every
day, and make sure it is keeping them happy". Today's lunch was a
mixed rice with beef, sausages and ham, a salad, and a milk pudding
dessert. "I do it all with lots of love, even if they think I am a
dictator they know that this job is important."

Once the food is prepared it has to pass through a committee comprised
of police, government authorities, and union representatives. The
police check it all with a spoon making sure nothing but food enters,
the union ensures that the police don't poison it, and the government
authorities attempt to make sure that neither side breaks the rules of
the humanitarian agreement that was signed between the conflicting
parties three days into the dispute and covers the entry of food and
medicine into the building. 

As the food moves on in its journey into the tower, Martha and the rest
of her team take a break, tell some jokes, and she starts thinking about
the next meal. After about an hour she calls the President of the
Union, inside the occupation, to check that there was enough food, and
that they enjoyed it. He normally tells her that it was terrible, and
she knows by these comments that it was good. I feel proud to be with
her.  

Across the road from Martha's  kitchen is a makeshift stage where
community leaders, activists, and sympathizers with the struggle, make
their speeches, trying to keep up the spirits of those outside and
inside the occupation, and explain the changing situation. On some
days, there have been 20,000 supporters outside the tower, and every few
days there is a big meeting with several thousand people. One was even
beamed via video link to British trade unionists and Colombian exiles at
the headquarters of the British TUC.  "Our struggle needs to be
international, because these policies of privatization are not just
destroying our lives" said Ariel, the regional Human Rights
representative of the Central Workers union, the Colombian equivalent of
the TUC.  

Next to the stage, and all around the square, the walls are adorned with
colorful union and social organization banners with slogans such as
"SINTRAEMCALI is the union of the people, and the people will defend
it",  " Better to die for something then live for nothing", and a whole
range of other messages of support and solidarity." 

Directly in front of the building, lined up against the metal barriers
put up by the police, families and friends gather and shout messages of
support and news from home to those inside.  I do the same, and wave to
my comrades inside.  The struggle is personal as well as political, and
in a movement where fear of the death squads permeates everyday life,
trust and friendship are everything.  

I look around and try to think of ways to describe all this.  The whole
square has such a feeling of creativity to it, and of hope: that this
time the downtrodden can win.  As I link my arms up with others to block
the roads, and shout messages of support to those inside, I too become
locked again into the dream that we can do it, and resign myself to the
fact that even if we can't, that dream is worth fighting for. 

Mario Novelli


Mario Novelli will be speaking immediately on his return from Colombia at

4pm Saturday 2nd February, CORAS Centre, 161 Lambeth Walk, London SE11. 

(nearest tubes Vauxhall or North Lambeth), the monthly meeting of the
Colombia Solidarity Campaign.

Eyewitness from Sintraemcali Occupation | Noticias sobre Colombia | Plan Colombia | AGP