Women campaign for peace in Colombia

[Say_What]

<clips>

...The women are touring the Midwest under the sponsorship of Lutheran World Relief, an international humanitarian and relief agency. Their visit was sponsored locally by the La Crosse Area Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

The women said U.S. policies are prolonging the three-decades-old civil war by providing billions for military and police support and far less for economic and social programs.

U.S. aid to Colombia from 1997 to 2004 is expected to total $3.01 billion for military and police support, including weapons and equipment, but less than $1 billion for economic and social purposes, and that money targeted more toward stopping illegal drug activity than helping the civilian population, Salamanca said.

The women said they'd like to see more balanced aid distribution, so civilians in need of jobs, housing, medical care and education can be helped.

The women also spoke of numerous atrocities committed against civilians by both the government and the armed insurgents.

http://www.lacrossetribune.com/articles/2003/10/31/news/z4news.txt

[Zuni]

1. The FARC and ELN have to take reponsibility too

They are extremely violent and brutal insurgents who have been waging a guerilla war/ terrorism campaign/ drug smuggling operation. They are also prolific kidnappers, among the worst in the world. How can Colombia's Government govern properly when elected officials all over the country are assassinated as a matter of course by FARC terrorists?

Colombia's police and military are hardly models for a democratic country. many of the officers are corrupt, callous and brutal. But, fighting against terrorists and guerilla insurgents is among the most demanding and nerve wracking tasks for military and police in the world.

In short, Colombia's government forces need to act less like the FARC and the FARC need to put away their guns and give up, because they are no closer to reaching their goals than they were 20 years ago, unless their goal was to become the world's largest drug traffickers.

[Say_What]

2. Plan Colombia: Three Years Later

An article by SOA Watch:

<clips>

July 13th marked the third anniversary of the US military aid package known as "Plan Colombia" and consequently, the fatal impact it has had on human rights. Three years ago the US Congress voted to send 1.3 billion dollars to Colombia in order to fight the "war on drugs".

An amendment to U.S. law currently prohibits military aid to units linked to human rights abuses. Although violations officially attributed to the Colombian military have decreased, the Human Rights Watch and State Department Reports establish the collusion and collaboration between the military and paramilitary forces.

With military support, the paramilitaries have begun operating as surrogate death squads and thugs. A United Nations report confirmed this trend, stating that "Members of the military participated in massacres, organized paramilitary groups, and spread death threats. The security forces also failed to take action, and this undoubtedly enabled the paramilitary groups to achieve their exterminating objectives."

Many of the Colombian officers cited in the reports graduated from the School of the Americas (SOA) - a US military training institution for Latin American soldiers - and certainly the strategy of using paramilitary groups for the military's dirty work is nothing new for SOA students.

http://www.counterpunch.org/soa07142003.html

[Judi Lynn]

4. We need to find out as much as we can about Colombia

(snip) Many of the Colombian officers cited in the reports graduated from the School of the Americas (SOA) - a US military training institution for Latin American soldiers - and certainly the strategy of using paramilitary groups for the military's dirty work is nothing new for SOA students. (snip)

(snip) The Human Rights Watch Report cited SOA grads Maj. Jesus Maria Clavijo Clavijo and Maj. Alvaro Cortes Morillo for their links to paramilitary groups through cell phone and beeper communications and regular meetings on military bases. In sworn testimony, a former Fourth Brigade solider implicated Clavijo in the paramilitary killings in February 1999 and in "legalizing" corpses delivered by paramilitaries for bounty. The witness told investigators that "everywhere Clavijo went, there were disappearances, murders, and wherever he was there was always a flood of reports of abuses."

A well-informed public would transform this country completely, and our foreign policy would enjoy a far more respectable reputation.

[Say_What]

5. US bringing *democracy* to Colombia

I can't remember where I read it yesterday, but the US sends far more military aid to Latin America (especially Colombia) than they send for economic and social purposes.

From the article:

...The women also spoke of numerous atrocities committed against civilians by both the government and the armed insurgents.

Government troops burst into homes, killing and kidnapping civilians suspected of political involvement, they said. Farmers are forced from their lands by both insurgents and government forces. Women are raped and abused, and children forced into military service. Thousands of civilians have fled Colombia to El Salvador.

Giraldo, who lost her brother and father in the conflict, said she is one of nearly 3 million Colombians displaced by the war. She began sobbing as she described being driven from her home by guerrilla forces and being forced to watch as the intruders cut off the men's heads and used them like soccer balls.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

3. FARC should pull a Sinn Fein (sp?)

"We stop the shooting and become a political party, and you in turn don't prosecute any of us unless some stupid fuck breaks the ceasefire, in which case we'll be happy to hand you said sorry fuck's head on a platter. Deal?"

[Say_What]

6. You may remember...

I read this somewhere a while ago and I think it was Colombia where the rebels agreed to a truce and many or the leaders came down out of the hills only to be ambused by the government--many were killed. I tried finding it on the web but no luck. Maybe you remember...

Peace!!