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Year after year, U.S. aid to Colombia has heavily supported
Colombia’s military and designated few resources for economic and
humanitarian assistance to the South American nation. Come together
to demand that U.S. policy in Colombia support justice, human
rights, and positive alternatives for Colombians caught in the
crossfire of this deadly conflict.
Congress will soon consider whether to renew aid to Colombia. The
Bush Administration proposes sending $740 million to Colombia for
2007, on top of the nearly five billion dollars in U.S. assistance
sent through Plan Colombia since 2000. Eighty percent of the aid
destined for Colombia each year goes directly to police and the
military, with little to support alternative development for small
farmers or relief for the country’s 3 million internal refugees.
Take action now!
Call and e-mail your House member and urge support for expected
amendments to the foreign aid bill that will transfer funds
earmarked for the Colombia military to humanitarian purposes.
-- Call the Capitol switchboard directly at 202-224-3121
where you can ask to be connected to your representative's office. Call your
representative today and ask to speak with the foreign policy aide
in your representative’s office.
-- Contact your representative by e-mail as soon as possible in the
next several weeks with the same message. Visit our online
Legislative Action Center to
send an immediate e-mail to your elected policymakers.
Message
- As a member of UUSC and voter in [name of your hometown and
state], I urge you to vote in favor of amendments to the foreign aid
bill that transfer funds from Colombian military aid to economic and
social aid.
- The war in Colombia has led to massive internal displacement,
human rights abuses by all armed groups and the worst humanitarian
crisis in our hemisphere. The 3 million internally displaced people
in Colombia are exceeded in number only by Sudan.
- U.S. support for Colombia's military is only exacerbating the
detrimental effect of the war on the civilian population. Evidence
of infiltration by terrorists into the Colombian government and
recent statistics on coca growth make a mockery of U.S. efforts in
the War on Drugs in the Andes.
- Congress should cut military aid to Colombia and provide social
investment that deals with the root causes of the conflict while
supporting drug treatment in the United States.
- Congress should approve measures to increase rural alternative
development programs and help the humanitarian crisis in Colombia.
- Resources for internally displaced persons and alternative
development programs are being cut in order to fund a process for
demobilizing – but not dismantling – paramilitary groups.
- Assistance to victims of the conflict - including internally displaced persons
and Afro-Colombian and indigenous communities – should be increased,
not cut back.
Background
For over 40 years a war has been raging in Colombia that claims
thousands of civilian lives annually. These victims are church
leaders, human rights defenders, Afro-Colombians and indigenous
activists, as well as ordinary citizens caught between warring
factions. Many courageous Colombians have given their lives for
peace in Colombia, a peace that has not yet materialized.
Colombia is the largest recipient of U.S. military aid in the
hemisphere. Since 2000 the U.S. government has maintained the
misguided notion that Colombia’s war and drug production can be
curbed through unprecedented levels of military aid. Six years and
almost $5 billion later, Colombia’s war rages on and the regional
drug production is growing, according to the White House Office of
Drug Control Policy. It is time to tell Congress they are on the
WRONG track.
For more information, visit our colleague organization
Peace in
Colombia. |
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