World in View

by Gerry Emmett

Free Angye Gaona!

I collect the rootlets of thought.
I carry them on my eroded back
next to the wild oblivion falling from me.
—Angye Gaona

The U.S.-allied Colombian government has falsely charged Surrealist poet and activist Angye Gaona with “drug trafficking” and “rebellion.” She is being held under house arrest, her trial scheduled to begin Jan. 23.

Gaona is an accomplished poet, and her voice is taken seriously by a wide public. The state wishes to silence her for her eloquent support of the rights of Indigenous people and workers. She has charged that Colombia has an essentially genocidal policy toward the Indigenous, who are commonly driven off their land through violence so corporations can exploit the mineral or agricultural resources.

This phony prosecution is in itself an act of terrorism. The Colombian government held Gaona for six months last year without formal charges. She was released then due to international pressure.

The absurdity of the drugs charge shows the desperation of the authorities. Thousands of political prisoners are currently held in Colombia, trade unionists continue to be killed on a regular basis, and violence continues toward Indigenous people and Afro-Colombians.

Protests can be sent to:

Al Sr. Juez de Conocimiento,
Centro de Servicios Juzgado Único Penal
del Circuito Especializado De Cartagena Adjunto
Centro Barrio San Diego,
Calle De La Cruz No 9-42,
Antiguo Colegio Panamericano 2º Piso,
Cartagena de Indias,
Colombia, South America