Remembering Orlando

11.05.06

He had just completed 20 days in the area. On February 16th, Orlando Santos Chapeta, 18 years old, decided to swallow any fears he had and leave his hometown of Toledo (department of Norte de Santander). No, it wasn’t that he wanted to leave home: in all his young years he had not once left the side of his parents and six brothers and sisters. But, as in all parts of Colombia, money was scarce, and especially for a humble campesino family. The only other brother of age (22 years old) was in the army, trying to get his military ID in the hopes of one day getting a better job. A friend had told Orlando that in Saravena, the day’s wage was better, and the thoughts of helping out his family motivated him to summon his courage and go out on his own. He was going to be a responsible adult. Still a baby, but becoming a man. In the outskirts of Saravena, on a farm in the hamlet of La Pava, he found a decent job. He was earning about $6.50 a day, with all three meals included, and he was having fun herding the cows. He even sent a photo to his mother. All his money, he used to say, would go to help out his family. His patrón was a caring man, the former mayor of Fortul (Arauca) who, as mayor, had been shot by the guerrilla and was recuperating on the farm and in the hospital. No complaints: Orlando was timid and quiet, but worked hard and was responsible.
That day – March 6th – Orlando was precisely going to the small San Ricardo Pampuri hospital in the Saravena town center, charged with a small chicken that his patrón had asked to be given to his attending nurses. It was around 11am when the thin, black-haired, round-faced, young Orlando returned to the farm. He was wearing black pants and a dark shirt. Back to the farm to finish the day’s work. He wouldn’t be seen alive again. *** Once he had commented to a friend about his fear of the army, and he told him a story. On February 26th, on the dirt road from La Pava to Saravena (a 20 minute motorbike ride), he had been stopped by the soldiers and held for three hours. They called him a guerrilla member and roughed him up and insulted him. He hadn’t told anyone because he was scared and confused. Guerrilla? He was a worker, everyone knew that. He was clean. Perhaps he thought that would be his salvation. Returning from the hospital, around midday on March 6th, he was stopped by the army. They belonged to the Reveis Pizarro Battalion of 5th Mobile Brigade (a feared name among campesinos in Arauca). They were frustrated. Rumor had it that the Defense Minister was planning a visit to Saravena, and the national “Democratic Security” plan that they had pledged to uphold was not showing many results in Arauca. In fact, it was worse – the guerrilla was on an offensive, and the better-equipped army was on the defensive. They also happened to be in charge of protecting the famous Caño Limón–Coveñas oil pipeline. Occidental Petroleum had lobbied the US government hard in order for it to send close to $100 million to train the Colombian army in Arauca to protect the pipeline from guerrilla attacks. Something to do with a “Plan Colombia.” Oil was worth a lot, a lot more than the blood that soaks Arauca’s piedmont and plains. They knew only one equation: results, numbers, body bags equaled vacation and bonuses. And an idea occurred to them. They detained Orlando Santos Chapeta, timid and hard working. At 7pm that night, they simulated a firefight. On the radio and in the press, it was said that members of the Battalion Reveis Pizarro had taken out of combat a FARC “terrorist” in the area between the hamlets of La Pava and Miramar, Saravena. In his possession, “three grams of pentolite (a mix of PETN and TNT) y 8 meters of detonating cable, in order to blow up the oil pipeline” and “two cellphones, with which he planned to set off the explosive charge.” The “terrorist” went by the nickname “Chapeta” and was around 18 years old.
*** Urgent phone calls. The next day, upon being informed by a friend that his farm was alone, the patrón called Major Castillo at the base, located just outside of Saravena, home not only to the Reveis Pizarro Battalion, but also to gringo “advisers”, training the Colombian army on how to protect the oil pipeline and in “counterinsurgency” tactics. “I have a worker, a good boy, in the area of La Pava, do you know where he is?” A curt, nervous response: “that’s serious, because last night there was combats in that area. I have to go.” Click. *** The Attorney General’s office is carrying out an investigation, and the NGO lawyer’s collective Humanidad Vigente is fighting to keep the case from going to the military courts. Cases of army soldiers planting weapons on civilians, dressing them in camouflage, and killing them are becoming more and more recurrent as the government’s push for results meets the contradiction of it’s inability to capture or kill guerrilla leaders or fighters . Orlando Santos Chapeta’s body was sent back home to Toledo, to his family. In the Colombian countryside, these stories are far too normal. It may just be that Orlando Santos Chapeta will be forgotten, as just another victim of the war. Another number or another result of the “Democratic Security.” But perhaps if we remember his story, we can fight to make sure it never happens again .

Nico Udu-gama, IPO

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