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Governor Floro Tunubalá: I think I ended my governorship on a good note. During my term, we have created an alternative politics that includes civil society and includes the indigenous people and the Afro-Colombians, the sectors that have always been at the margins of society and have not been represented. We have also moved toward securing our human rights. We implemented the "laboratories of peace," where we try to build participation and peaceful resolution of conflicts, in two municipalities in southern Cauca, along with two more in northern Narino, thanks to financing from the European Union. These are strengthening the social fabric.

But we live in the middle of war and economic crisis, and it is important that we see a profound change. There is no money from the government for investing in the social area, so we have to turn to outsiders. And we have achieved improvements in education and in services for Indians and blacks. We have managed to get first-rate hospitals now in many of our cities. With help from the Dutch, we are trying to implement a policy of environmental recuperation. There are also some special programs with Afro-Colombian women, helping them to grow squash for the market, and there is now a wood mill so the indigenous can take advantage of the resources of the forest. Also, several of our northern cities have teamed up in a sister cities program with Hanover, Germany, and its mayor. In October, several cities got help from Hanover in the form of technological and personnel and planning support. With that help, we can crystallize other tools for direct help to our cities.

Chronicle: Are the government and the US still fumigating in your state? And what has been the impact on people there?

Tunubalá: The policy of aerial fumigation is continuing. They have sprayed large parts of our state where the coca bush or the poppy plant are planted. One of the reasons we are in Washington is to look for a different eradication policy. We need a policy that does not destroy the roots of indigenous society, that does not lead to the displacement of people and crops, as this spraying does, and does not lead to such hunger and misery. The lives of the people who have been sprayed are very difficult. They need something to sustain them. The central government doesn't bring us aid, it just sprays us with herbicides.

Chronicle: What sort of coca cultivation is occurring in Cauca?

Tunubalá: Coca is grown for traditional purposes by the people here, and also for its industrial uses. But these are not coca plantations, these are small farms, with some squash and yucca, too. There is a subsistence market, and then there is the drug traffic. But coca is not the problem. The problem is poverty. There is no policy for dealing with the poverty and misery, there is no international support for the struggle against poverty and its associated social problems. We need change, we need something different.

Chronicle: What are popular attitudes about the war, the government, and the FARC?

Tunubalá: The people here don't agree with Plan Colombia or the FARC or the paramilitaries. We are creating our own alternatives. Various social organizations have emerged, very strong indigenous ones, strong peasant groups and workers' unions, as well as human rights organizations, and the black communities are organizing to defend their human rights as well. We don't want war. What we want is to make the central government and the international community to hear our demand for economic development with our participation -- development that allows for the dignity of the community and allows the building of an economic life that protects the environment, not destroys it.

Our people reject the war and the traditional parties that govern not for the people but only for themselves. We reject those policies of war and fumigation that don't work but only bring more problems.

Chronicle: What is the human rights situation in Cauca?

Tunubalá: As in all of Colombia, the human rights situation is worrisome, but when you speak of human rights it is more than the killings and the massacres. You have to think about the real state of the country and the people. We have 60,000 displaced people in Cauca alone, and this government has no policy for returning these people to their homes. They have no plan to reconstruct the economy or provide social services, much less defend the lives of the people. How can this government talk about human rights? There is no policy by the government to combat poverty or those who violate our human rights and our economic rights.

Chronicle: What kind of role would you like to see the US play?

Tunubalá: We very much need a different vision in Washington. We in the indigenous movement are looking for a policy of development for all the people, the Indians, the blacks, the peasants. We need support for this from the more industrialized countries, but Plan Colombia gives us only a military component and a crop eradication component. We wish there were a social investment component because what we want is a real chance to construct peace with dignity in Colombia.