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Campaign for Peace in Colombia

Despite pouring over four billion dollars into Colombia's military since Congress passed Plan Colombia in 2000, the U.S. has failed to reduce the availability of illegal drugs on U.S. streets and help Colombia move toward an end to its embittered 40-year-old conflict. Plan Colombia, or the Andean Counterdrug Initiative, is set to expire in 2005. Yet the Administration renewed its request to continue with the same levels of funding to renew failed strategies. Over 80% of Plan Colombia funding is military and police aid in the form of cash, armament, combat helicopters, fumigation equipment and chemicals, U.S. military personnel and training of Colombian forces.

In response to Plan Colombia, referred to by some Colombians as a “Plan for War” or a “Plan for Death,” diverse groups of unarmed civilians are putting forth positive “Plans for Life.” These localized alternative solutions address real needs and build peace from the ground up.

Create space for peace and life. Join Colombians crying, “No more military aid!”
 

Last updated: November 4, 2005

November 4, 2005 -- URGENT ACTION for Life and Human Rights in Cauca, Colombia, Crisis in the defense of human rights in Cauca province

October 19, 2005 -- Important new report by COSURCA on aerial fumigation in Cauca. (pdf format) Download a free copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader if you cannot read the pdf file

September 29, 2005 -- Stop the Cycles of Military and Economic Violence: Peace is Possible in Colombia. In 2006, Witness for Peace will launch its national campaign, Stop the Cycles of Military and Economic Violence: Peace is Possible in Colombia!  Witness for Peace’s commitment to nonviolence and our solidarity with partners in Latin America for more than 20 years has led us to identify the cycles of military and economic violence in the region.

September 20, 2005 -- Calls to Foreign Operations Subcommittee members and WFP events and opportunities at the SOA Convergence. Greetings to all our WFP friends and Colombia advocates!  We’re back from our summer vacations (and a wedding and Colombia honeymoon for some of us), and there are again opportunities for advocacy. And following this alert, see a note about the WFP Colombia Teach-In and Open House in conjunction with the November SOA Convergence.

September 2, 2005 -- Join us for Colombia's Week of Peace!

  • September 12-18 - Colombia’s Week for Peace, Semana por la Paz

  • September 15 - Day of Action

"Behind Peace...is your voice; and with your voice...the defense of life and dignity.  If you want peace, work for justice."

Due to staff travel, look to www.peaceincolombia.org and the Latin America Working Group's website for updates on this year’s Colombia “Week of Peace.”

August 3, 2005 -- State Department certifies Colombia's human rights record. On August 3 the State Department announced that it is certifying Colombia on human rights. This decision releases about $70 million in military aid from fiscal years 2004 and 2005. It was, in effect a "double certification." Not only is State releasing the second portion of the 2004 that has been stalled all year, but also the first half (12.5%) of the funding contingent on certification for FY 2005.

July 1, 2005

June 22, 2005 -- Ricardo Esquivia and Peter Stucky, Colombian peace church leaders, appeal to the House of Representatives to cut military aid to Colombia. (view the pdf file) Download a free copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader if you cannot read the pdf file

June 22, 2005 -- A new WFP policy paper outlines why Congress should rethink the failed Plan Colombia fumigation strategy. (view the pdf file) Download a free copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader if you cannot read the pdf file

June 15, 2005 -- With a Colombia vote the week of June 27, I’m hard pressed to communicate the urgency and importance of legislative pressure at this time... [click to read full text]

June 15, 2005 -- Letter from Colombian Peace Church Leaders, Ricardo Esquivia and Peter Stucky

June 12, 2005 -- New campaign tool for summer advocacy! New flyer outlining specific ways that you can take action to promote peace in Colombia right now. Colombia Summer Advocacy Flyer (pdf format) Download a free copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader if you cannot read the pdf file

June 10, 2005 -- As early as June 27th, Congress will be asked to vote on an appropriation of $742 million for the next phase of Plan Colombia. The five-year U.S./Colombia policy expires this year, and new money won't rescue a failed plan. Until there is a plan that can bring hope for Colombia, we reject additional funding for futile military strategies.

Visit www.peaceincolombia.org to learn specifically how you can make an important contribution to reversing this disastrous and failed policy.

WFP is providing leadership to the national campaign to end US military funding to Colombia. Visit us at www.peaceincolombia.org for updates, tools for local organizing, important dates, and contacts. (Most regular updates will be made to the Peace In Colombia site and not to this WFP page.)

March 15, 2005 -- In February members of the Peace Community in San Jose de Apartadó were killed. Learn more about this massacre and what you can do. (pdf format) Download a free copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader if you cannot read the pdf file

February 15, 2005 -- Learn about President Bush's 2006 Colombia budget request and what you can do to show that you want a change. (pdf format) Download a free copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader if you cannot read the pdf file

More resources on Colombia

Colombia Action Archive

Putumayo, 2004. An Evaluation of Four Years of Plan Colombia in Putumayo
July 2004. Plan Colombia turns four in July 2004, and Putumayo, Colombia's southern department, has been the primary focus of U.S. military aid to Colombia. This updated report demonstrates that the U.S. aerial fumigations program has been a failure, that human rights violations have increased and that civilian security has decreased in Putumayo.

Plan Colombia: Failing to Follow the Letter of U.S. law
June 2004. This short document references the specific fumigation complaint of Mr. Jimenez, a farmer living in the southern Colombian province of Putumayo, and thereby demonstrates that Plan Colombia's fumigation compensation program is racked with bureaucracy, contradiction and conflict of interest. As an element of our failed policy in the region, the compensation program calls for serious scrutiny and review by U.S. policy makers.

Plan Colombia's First Two Years: An Evaluation of Human Rights in Putumayo
April 2003. An in-depth evaluation of the issues of human rights and civilian security in Putumayo, Colombia's southern department which has been the primary focus of U.S. military aid to Colombia. This document's findings of a worsened human rights situation, ongoing collusion between Colombian military and the paramilitaries, and increased displacement are crucial to the debate on the 2004 Foreign Appropriation requests by the Bush administration.

Colombia: Country in the Crossfire
January 2003. This report outlines the findings of a delegation of 35 US citizens who visited Bogotá, Medellín, and Putumayo.

The Real Cost of Pipeline Protection in Colombia: Corporate Welfare with Deadly Consequences
July 2002. An in-depth analysis of the potential consequences of the proposed $98 million in U.S. aid to protect an oil pipeline in the war-torn state of Arauca. Released to Congress in time for the debate on the 2003 Foreign Appropriations bills, its findings are essential to head off this costly and potentially devastating piece of corporate welfare for the California-based Occidental Petroleum.

The Bojayá Massacre: Escalating Conflict on Colombia's Pacific Coast
May 2002. A joint report released by Witness for Peace and the Colombian human rights organization, Justapaz. Provides on-the-ground information from Chocó, the border region with Panamá and site of the recent Bojayá massacre.

FROM THE "RMZ"...
April 2002. The first independent eyewitness report to emerge from the "Re-Militarized Zone" in Colombia. The report finds that the military campaign has not met any of its stated goals. These findings are essential for Congress and the public as Bush pushes a counter-insurgency plan that is doomed to fail.

What the Latin American Establishment Thinks of US Involvement
July 2002. The largest circulation newspaper in Colombia, El Tiempo, published a scathing criticism of US foreign policy just two weeks before Alvaro Uribe--considered to be favorable to US interests in the region--assumes power.

OP-ED on Mission Creep
All signs point to the Bush Administration increasing and expanding the US military role in Colombia. This important op-ed explains why this is the wrong thing to do. PLEASE SUBMIT THIS TO YOUR LOCAL PAPER!!!

Human Rights Certification Fact Sheet
Recently, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and the Washington Office on Latin America released a report assessing the extent to which the Colombian government has satisfied the strict human rights conditions required by the Andean Regional Initiative in order to receive military aid. The Witness for Peace Colombia Team has written this one-page fact sheet summarizing the HRW/AI/WOLA report.
Printable Version

FUMIGATION REPORT
December 2001. The latest round of fumigations in Southern Colombia began in November 2001. Read this important document and see the photographs revealing how legal crops and pact-signers were targeted.

National Mobilization on Colombia
The weekend of April 19th through April 22nd was a historic event. Despite the often-torrential rainfall, thousands came for the weekend's events that included rallies, lobbying, teach-ins, and skill trainings.
Link straight to the Colombia Mobilization website

Fact Sheet on Colombia
This is a great, easy-to-understand resource about the complex issues of US military aid to Colombia. It tells you where Witness for Peace stands on the issue and why!
Printable version Download a free copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader if you cannot read the pdf file

Update on WFP at the School of the Americas /WHISC Convergence in Georgia

Colombia: The Next Vietnam? A web-journal of the March 2001 delegation to Colombia, by Tom Driver and Anne Barstow

For information on delegations to Colombia, please visit the Colombia travel page.