Interview in Weslaco Town Crier

Violence-reduction in Crisis Situations: Interview with Elizabeth Garcia


by Nick Braune

She is a small woman physically, but she has a ton of energy, playing a role in several peace and social justice issues here in the Valley. Elizabeth Garcia, an activist Catholic living in Brownsville, was a key speaker last year in Weslaco at the Peace and Justice Gathering. She called for just treatment of immigrants and she condemned the militarization of the border.

I have wanted to interview her for some time, but not focusing on her local work. Something else. Listen in, you will enjoy this interview.

Author: Elizabeth, I’m familiar with your work here in the Valley, but I understand that you have traveled to other countries with a daring group. Could you tell my readers about your travels and the organization?

Garcia: I work with the Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) that arose from a call in 1984 for Christians to devote the same discipline and self-sacrifice to nonviolent peacemaking that armies devote to war.

Author: That’s a challenge.

Garcia: Calling on the whole church world to be an organized, nonviolent alternative to war, CPT sends violence-reduction teams into crisis situations and militarized areas around the world. We respond to the invitation of local peace and human rights workers. At the present we have permanent projects in Colombia, Palestine, Iraq and in Arizona. I personally have gone to Colombia, Palestine, and Arizona. Recently I was part of an exploratory delegation to the Philippines.

Author: Can’t this be dangerous, going unarmed into conflict situations? And isn’t your group the one that had members kidnapped in Iraq last year?

Garcia: Yes, it is the same group. One of our members, Tom Fox, was killed and the other three were released later. And just last month we went through the same ordeal again: three CPTers were kidnapped for a week -- they are home safe now. But CPT continues to embrace the vision of unarmed intervention. CPT members know there is a risk of injury and death due to our bold attempts to transform lethal conflict through nonviolent power, the power of God's truth and love.

Author: I just read an article in the USA Today (Feb. 14) about the Philippines. Several things in the article were interesting. For one thing, it said that the constitution of the Philippines forbids foreign military bases, and yet we have bases there. I strongly suspect that the US presence in the Philippines is overbearing? What did you find?
Garcia: Well, they have the Visiting Forces Agreement. In the early 90s the Philippine Government allowed US Forces to return, to provide training to the Filipino Army and also to help the Filipino Army fight against the terrorist group in the South Region of Mindanao. But despite protests from the Catholic Church and from anti-U.S. elements in the Philippines, the US presence is increasing the cycle of violence, in many ways. For example, prostitution of young girls is on the rise, because there is a market for it. People in the Philippines are very rich, or very poor, and this is one way they can make money,

Author: Please comment on this quote from USA Today: "Critics say military and aid projects aren't enough. The Muslims in southern Philippines -- a minority in a majority Christian country -- have long-standing grievances. They are among the poorest people in the Philippines. They have long been ignored by the Christian political elite in Manila. Promised money rarely arrives."

Garcia: We visited the Mindanao Area, where most Muslims in the Philippines live, and we were allowed inside the compound of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), and we even met Ghazali Jaafar, the Vice chair of political affairs. We were surrounded by many armed guards. Although it was an intense experience, Jaafar was very nice to us. He explained that the root problem in the Mindanao area is not poverty but the illegal and immoral annexation of the Bagsamoro (the aboriginal people of Mindanao) as part of the Philippines in 1946.

He said the Bagsamoro need to determine their own destiny, controlling their land and its resources. The problem is that 80% of Mindanao is occupied by non-Muslims.

Author: I hate to see Christian-Moslem conflict. Is there any hope?

Garcia: In 1998, MILF started negotiations with the Philippines’ administration, finding some agreement, but they have not finalized negotiations. And although there is an existing ceasefire, the MILF machinery is active; weapons are always ready. Jaafar believes there is no way to reduce violence in that area until the self-determination problem is solved, a solution acceptable to the Bagsamoro.

Author: Elizabeth, I really admire your work and spirit. Thank you.