In 2016 a peace agreement was signed between the FARC insurgency and the Colombian Government. In transition towards building a future for communities, former FARC guerrilla members have opened a number of worker cooperatives producing coffee, clothes, beer, among many other products. A bottleneck for most of them is to bring their products to the market and sell them for a fair price.

De Mano en Mano , a cooperative composed of former guerrilla members aims to commercialise their products and those from the surrounding rural communities. We want to start a pilot project in the Southwest of Colombia and sell products in the city of Cali, with a marketing strategy based on fair prices, building relationships between consumers and producers, and eco-friendly packages.

The project faces huge challenges, In remote areas of Colombia inequality is an extremely serious and complex problem. Infrastructure is poor and transport is essential.

To build a viable network of Co-ops we need access to decent transport, we are calling on friends across the world to help us, we need your solidarity to help build peace and co-operativism. Help us buy a Truck! By donating you are helping build a more just and fairer Colombia.

The decision to support the Trucks for Peace fundraiser came out of a Justice for Colombia (JFC) delegation of trade unionists and politicians that visited Colombia in May 2022. Trademark took part in the delegation and met with members of the De Mano en Mano cooperative who, along with more than 13,600 other former FARC guerrillas, were working to implement the peace process in the face of enormous challenges. There was a lack of funding and technical assistance under the then- government, while chronic insecurity saw more than 340 former FARC guerrillas killed in the first six years from the signing of the peace agreement. Initiatives such as De Mano en Mano provide long- term sustainable livelihoods for those in the peace process to contribute to a stable and lasting peace in Colombia.

JFC is officially supporting the Trucks for Peace fundraising initiative as part of its campaign work to support full implementation of the 2016 peace agreement. JFC is the official campaign of the British and Irish trade union movements to support worker rights, human rights and peace with social justice in Colombia. JFC promotes links of solidarity between British and Irish trade unions and organisations in Colombia and gives a political voice internationally to Colombian civil society through its work in the British, Irish and EU Parliaments. JFC was directly involved in supporting the 2012-16 peace negotiations between the Colombian government and the FARC.