According to journalist Diana Duque Gómez, the Colombian Communist Party (Partido Comunista Colombiano, PCC) founded the National Pro-Housing Central (Central Nacional Provivienda, CENAPROV) in 1961 in order to spearhead the establishment of informal settlements under PCC control (21 Oct. 2002). Such settlements were created in the vicinity of several Colombian cities, including Bogotá and Medellín (ibid.). In July 2000, the PCC news agency Notipaco cited a Communist Party spokesperson as saying that the PCC no longer occupies a leadership role within the CENAPROV (19-26 July 2000).

Luis Antonio Palacios, an architect employed by the Administrative District Planning Department of Santa Fe de Bogotá (Departamento Administrativo de Planeación Distrital Santa Fe de Bogotá), characterized the CENAPROV as an organization that "works at the national level and develops incremental housing projects in different regions" (2000). In the 1980s, the organization reportedly had "more than 100,000 members involved in incremental housing projects" countrywide (ibid.).

In 2000, members of the Fund for the Reconstruction of the Coffee-Producing Region (Fondo para la Reconstrucción del Eje Cafetero) accused the CENAPROV of misappropriation of funds (Notipaco 19-26 July 2000). An unidentified leader of the organization responded to this allegation by claiming that it was being subjected to "political persecution" (persecución política) (ibid.). No additional information on this incident could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

No information on the treatment of individuals affiliated with the CENAPROV by guerrillas could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate. However, on 20 December 2002 paramilitary forces reportedly carried out an unspecified action against the CENAPROV's headquarters in Bucaramanga (Equipo Nizkor 31 Jan. 2003).

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

Duque Gómez, Diana. 21 October 2002. "Semillero de milicias." http://www.neoliberalismo.com/semillero.htm [Accessed 13 May 2003]

Equipo Nizkor. 31 January 2003. "Situación de los defensores de derechos humanos en Colombia de Diciembre del 2002 a enero del 2003." http://www.derechos.org/nizkor/colombia/doc/observ2.html [Accessed 12 May 2003]

Notipaco. 19-26 July 2000. "Provivienda y el FOREC." http://www.mail-archive.com/marxism-unmoderated@buo319b.econ.utah.edu/msg00684.html [Accessed 12 May 2003]

Palacios, Luis Antonio. 2000. "Strategies for an Integrated Municipal Housing Policy in Santa Fe de Bogotá." http://www.lchs.lth.se/TRAINING/Postgrad/AD/Papers/2000/4_AD2000.pdf [Accessed 12 May 2003]

Instituto Nacional de Vivienda de Interés Social y Reforma Urbana (INURBE)

IRB databases

Unsuccessful attempts to contact the Central Nacional Provivienda (CENAPROV)

Internet sites, including:

Alternative Press Index

Amnesty International

Centro de medios independientes, Colombia

Colombia Support Network

Colombia Update

Confederación Colombiana de Organizaciones No Gubernamentales

Human Rights Watch

Radio Caracol [Bogotá]

Revista Cambio [Bogotá]

Semana [Bogotá]