Bogotá, Colombia – U.S. anti-war activists traveled to Colombia in July on a human rights delegation organized by the Colombia Action Network. The delegation met with trade unions, peasant farmer associations and student organizations. FENSUAGRO (Federación Nacional Sindical Unitaria Agropecuaria, or the National Federation of Agricultural Farming Unions), Colombia’s national federation of peasants, hosted the U.S. activists. The delegation visited rural regions and documented the living conditions of Colombian peasants.
El lunes, 1 de agosto, 500 personas manifestaron en Plaza Venezuela, en Caracas, para protestar los ataques de Israel contra Líbano y Gaza, y para protestar el apoyo estadounidense frente la agresión israelí. Oradores, poetas y cantantes denunciaron el imperialismo estadounidense y el sionismo que están manejando este conflicto.
El mismo día que George W. Bush declaró, “He ganado capital político en la campaña electoral, y voy a gastarlo,” oficiales de alto rango dijeron que en el segundo mandato de su presidencia Bush reenfoquaría su energía en América Latina. En el primer año de su segundo mandato, Bush quiere aprobar el Tratado de Libre Comercio con los países centroamericanos y la República Dominicana (TLC – conocido como “CAFTA” en inglés), como primer paso para lograr el Área de Libre Comercio de las Américas (ALCA) para toda Latinoamérica en 2006.
Madison, WI – La Red de Acción Sobre Colombia (Colombia Action Network en ingles) se reunió en esta ciudad en marzo 8, para desarrollar la campana de defensa de los trabajadores sindicalizados de la Coca Cola a través del boicot a esta bebida. Luis Adolfo Cardona, el compañero sindicalista que escapo del intento de secuestro, tortura y asesinato por parte de los escuadrones de la muerte al servicio de la Coca Cola, dio una charla sobre la grave situación de Derechos Humanos que sufren los compañeros trabajadores en Colombia.
Washington, D.C. – Advocates for the families of 173 people murdered in the banana-growing regions of Colombia filed suit, June 7, against Chiquita Brands International, in Federal District Court in Washington, D.C. The families allege that Chiquita paid millions of dollars and tried to ship thousands of machine guns to the Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia, or AUC. The AUC is a violent, right-wing paramilitary organization supported by the Colombian army. Its units are often described as ‘death squads.’
Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) Negotiating Panel on the passing of former President Corazon Aquino.
Washington, D.C. – Anayibe Rojas Valderama, a member of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia (FARC) also know as ‘Sonia’, was sentenced here, July 2 by Judge James Robertson to nearly 17 years in federal prison on charges of shipping cocaine to the United States.
Birmingham, AL – On July 26, Drummond Co., a Birmingham-based coal company, was found ‘not liable’ in the deaths Colombian trade unionists Valmore Locarno and Victor Orcasita – the head of a union local and his deputy – as well as the next union president Gustavo Soler. The three leaders of the Sintamienergética miners union worked at the Drummond’s La Loma mine in northern Colombia. They were tortured and murdered in 2001.
Due to the great interest in the release of several detainees by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), Colombia’s largest rebel group, Fight Back! is circulating the following FARC statement.
Raul Reyes, a leading member of the FARC – the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – was killed by the U.S. backed Colombian government March 1. Fight Back! asked Jess Sundin, who traveled to Colombia and met with Raul Reyes, to give her impressions of him and to speak about the significance of his slaying. Sundin is a member of Freedom Road Socialist Organization and an important leader in Minnesota’s peace and justice movement.
The following is a video interview of Raul Reyes, given in July, 2000. It was filmed by Jess Sundin, a Colombia solidarity activist and a member of Freedom Road Socialist Organization. The following is a English translation of a few excerpts from Raul Reyes statement, which is in Spanish.
Several leaders of the U.S. movement in solidarity with the Colombian people condemned the March 1 killing of Raul Reyes, the main spokesperson for the FARC, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. Reyes was murdered in Ecuador by Colombian troops with U.S. assistance.
Meredith Aby, a leader of the Colombia Action Network slammed the Bush administration’s Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Colombia stating, “We should oppose the Free Trade Agreement with Colombia because it is an attempt by Bush to promote corporate interests at the expense of the working people of Colombia. Colombia is already the most dangerous place in the world to be a trade unionist. The U.S. has spent billions of dollars supporting the repressive Colombian government which sponsors death squads. These death squads kill and attack trade union organizers and anyone else who questions Colombian President Uribe’s right-wing agenda. This free trade deal would be like adding fuel to a fire.”
San Francisco, CA – El próximo 10 de marzo en el Onceno Circuito de la Corte de Apelaciones tendrá lugar en la ciudad de Miami la audiencia pública en el caso de los cinco cubanos acusados de conspiración para cometer espionaje. Los abogados defensores de Ramon Labanino, Gerardo Hernández, Fernando González, Antonio Guerrero y René González contarán solamente con tres minutos por cada acusado, para responder a las 24 aspectos de la apelación que será escuchada por un panel de tres jueces.
The Bush Pentagon and State Department are crowing after a raid in which 15 prisoners of war, including three American mercenaries, were freed. What they are not telling you is that the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) were preparing to unilaterally release the prisoners in early July 2008.
Columbus, GA - Diez mil personas llegaron a Columbus, Georgia el 18 y 19 de noviembre para cerrar la escuela de las americas, o mejor dicho, la escuela de asesinos (SOA por sus siglos en inglés). La SOA ha entrenado mas que 60,000 soldados latinoamericanos en la estrategia de contrainsurgencia, para prepararles a regresar a sus países y reprimir su propia gente.
El pueblo colombiano está luchando por la liberación en contra de un gobierno, que solo sirve los intereses de los ricos. El país sudamericano ha estado involucrado en esta guerra civil por décadas, pero hasta los tiempos recientes, el público norteamericano no le prestaba atención. En el verano del 2000, el Congreso de los EEUU aprobó 1.3 billones de dólares, parte del “Plan Colombia” del Presidente colombiano Andrés Pastrana. Su objetivo es combatir la guerra civil bajo la bandera del combate a las drogas. Esta ayuda enviará tanto armas y equipaje militares, tanto como personales del Ejercito de los EU para entrenar a los soldados colombianos.
Minneapolis, MN – Más de 70 personas cargaban letreros y gritaban “No meterse en Colombia, ya pare el ayuda militar!” el sábado, 11 de Marzo. Conductores saludaron la protesta con pitos y manos en alto demostrando su apoyo, en la intersección ocupada de la área de hacer compras en Uptown.
