Afro-Colombian Human Rights Activist Visits Kentucky

Daira and her translator at Old Louisville Coffee Shop

Afro-Colombian human rights activist Daira Elsa Quinones visited Kentucky in October to speak out about the impacts of foreign corporations seeking natural resources in her home country. The tour was sponsored by Witness For Peace.

Daira was brutally removed from her home village by private militia hired by extractive-industry companies. She has endured multiple death threats against her and her family for her work fighting for human rights. During her visit to Kentucky, Daira told crowds about how the brutality, threats and murders inflicted on her people by multi-national and American corporations seeking Colombian natural resources inspires her to work even harder against the oppression.

"Everyday I feel stronger, I feel a great responsibility to do something about these problems - and it is not just Colombia. These problems exist in countries across the world."

She called on all of us to join the effort, saying "We all have a responsibility to work for a world that is more just. We are all human beings - the only way to go forward is to unite and work for a more just world. This is the only way this world will change. These politics are affecting all of us."

To bolster the exchange, KFTC member Cari Moore of Knott County, spoke with Daira at several events. Cari visited villages near where Daira used to live on Witness For Peace's recent tour to Colombia in July 2010, entitled "The People Behind the Coal in Appalachia and Colombia." (To learn more about the Kentucky-Colombia exchange, click here).

Daira and Cari Moore

In her presentations, Cari discussed the cultural connections and the legacy of destruction by outsiders that is shared between her home of Appalachia and Daira's Colombia. After hearing Cari speak so eloquently about her home, Daira recognized their shared love of land and sense of place.

As a result of her connection with Cari, Daira chose to spend the only days she had open on her schedule in Kentucky - her "rest" days - traveling to Appalachia learning about the human rights struggles, the struggle for clean water and health, faced by Cari and others. After touring with several KFTC members and staying with Randy Wilson, Daira, just like Cari, found herself in love with Appalachia and yet torn by its destruction.

KFTC co-sponsored a few events during Daira's tour through Lexington, Bowling Green and Appalachian Kentucky as a part of our ongoing exchange with Colombia. Please learn more about the Kentucky and Colombia connection here. You can join the delegation to Colombia next year!