Thanks for the comments, all. I agree that this community is very inspiring.

To answer all of the questions at once, essentially, I will say that the Community, as well as many others, count on the protective presence of international orgainzations like Peace Brigades International (www.pbi-colombia.org) and Fellowship of Reconciliation (www.forusa.org) for survival. International bodies like the Inter-American Human Rights Court have also been important for generating attention and pressure on the Colombian government to protect these communities, which also provides a measure of safety for them.

Wanderingpaisahostel, if you are really interested in doing human rights work in Colombia, I would recommend checking out FOR and PBI. I have worked with both organizations and they are fantastic, and are very careful about security precautions.

-Moira