Open doors to education and empowerment. At this dynamic time for Latin America and the United States, travel with Witness for Peace in 2009. Your "witness" - the true stories about the people you meet on a Witness for Peace delegation - will have the power to touch others and transform policy.

Read about the following exciting upcoming delegations. These are just a sampling of our 2009 travel opportunities. Join us!

COLOMBIA

July 13 - 23, 2009 — Colombia: Meet Colombian Communities Resisting Repression

August 10 - 20, 2009 — Colombia: Bilateral Free Trade Agreement, Human Rights and Military Repression

CUBA

Be part of WFP's successful return to Cuba.

June 28, 2009 - July 07, 2009 — Cuba: Research Delegation-Professional Organizers

July 18, 2009 - July 28, 2009 — Cuba: Research Delegation-Professional Educators

MEXICO

May 20, 2009 - May 31, 2009 — Mexico: Migrant Trail Walk

NICARAGUA

June 27-July 7, 2009 — The Children: Casualties of the War Against the Poor

July 13, 2009 - July 27, 2009 — Inter-Cultural Teen Delegation to Nicaragua

For more details on these and other travel opportunities >>

Witness for Peace can customize delegations for groups of 10 or more. Contact Ken Crowley (202-547-6112) for more information.

IFCO/Pastors for Peace Action Alert
Saturday, June 30, 2007
[7-3-07]


Homeland Security officials have "detained" medical supplies destined for Cuba at Maine/Québec border, despite earlier successful crossings today with five tons of medical aid collected by Canadians for Cuba.

The aid collected in Québec by the Caravane d'amitié Québec-Cuba and destined for maternity clinics and nursing homes in Cuba, included a breast pump for nursing mothers, stethoscopes, used eyeglasses, a Physicians Desk Reference (PDR) and surgical gowns.

Pastors for Peace spent six hours in a standoff with Homeland Security attempting to negotiate passage of the medical aid before the shipment was detained for thirty days to investigate it's security threat to the U.S.

According to Greg Pease, (207- 297-2554) the Homeland Security officer in charge, he received instructions not to permit anything in transit to Cuba into the U.S.

"This detention by Homeland Security is outrageous." said Rev. Lucius Walker, executive director of IFCO/Pastors for Peace. "While Cuba is offering full scholarships to U.S. students to study medicine in Cuba, the U.S. government is denying transit of such basic items as breast pumps and surgical gowns. Why does the Maine border patrol have and ax to grind over breast pumps and surgical gowns? The contradictions are incredibly mean-spirited."

"Actions like these illustrate even further the issues raised by Michael Moore's film SiCKO."

"This precious cargo, bound for Cuba was collected by Canadians who will link up with U.S. routes of the 18th Pastors for Peace Friendshipment Caravan. We intend to deliver these supplies to Cuba." added Rev. Walker.

This holiday weekend is the launch of the Friendshipment Caravan. Earlier crossings today into the U.S. from Vancouver into Blaine, WA and Winnipeg into Pembina ND occurred without incident.

Fourteen routes will stop in 125 U.S. cities, collecting aid and speaking out against the 45 year blockade of Cuba by the U.S. Over the course of two weeks, the Caravan expects to collect 100 tons of medical aid for Cuba.

On July 17, the Caravan intends to cross the U.S. border into Reynosa, Mexico. In past years, U.S. officials have attempted to seize the humanitarian aid it carried. According to Rev. Walker, anything is possible this year, given the continued antagonism by the Bush administration towards Cuba.

More information about the Pastors for Peace Caravan can be found at: www.pastorsforpeace.org or contact Lucia Bruno at 347-423-4330 or 212 926-5757.

[Posted here on 9-12-01]

This is an urgent Action Alert distributed to the Latin America issue network by the Washington Office, Presbyterian Church (USA), written by Lisa Haugaard and Elanor Starmer of the Latin America Working Group.

Sent: Wednesday, September 05, 2001

ACT NOW TO CHANGE U.S. POLICY TOWARD COLOMBIA

ISSUE: COLOMBIA.  

[Check for earlier background report on Colombia]

In mid- to late September, the U.S. Senate will take up the foreign aid appropriations bill, the annual budget bill which includes funding for Colombia and the Andean region (see below for background on the Andean aid package). The U.S. House of Representatives has already debated and voted on their version of the bill, and have passed a bill which contains additional funding for the Colombian military and money to continue aerial fumigation of coca crops in the region.

Although the aid package passed the House, the debate showed a growing unrest within the Congress over U.S. drug policy in the Andes. In their speeches on a number of amendments, representatives addressed issues such as ties between the Colombian armed forces and illegal paramilitary groups, the impact of fumigation on farming communities, legal crops, and the environment, and lack of accountability and supervision in the use of private military contractors. However, with the exception of a few senators, the Senate has largely brushed aside criticisms of the Colombia package based on human rights, environmental or effectiveness issues. Nonetheless, it is likely that during the Senate debate, amendments may be offered to the bill which would cut aid to the Colombian military, add more specific human rights conditions, halt or place a moratorium on fumigation, or prevent an expansion of U.S. support from counternarcotics to counterinsurgency. 

It is particularly important to speak with senators and urge them to support these amendments and to speak out in the Senate debate.

The Senate appropriations committee met in late July to debate and vote on the preliminary version of the foreign aid appropriations bill. The draft which passed the committee did include some helpful provisions on Colombia and the Andes: they reduced the amount of money provided to the region by $146 million below the Bush Administration's request; included human rights conditions in the bill; emphasized the importance of alternative development funding; and encouraged a mechanism for compensation for farmers whose legal crops are fumigated or who suffer health damages due to US-sponsored aerial fumigation efforts. However, the Senate appropriations committee did not change the fundamental problem with the package: it supports a militarized approach to counternarcotics, including forced aerial fumigation of coca and poppy fields and large-scale funding of the Colombian military despite its ties to abusive paramilitary forces.

ACTION: Urge your Senators to support provisions which would cut military aid to Colombia, and which would halt or put a moratorium on fumigation. Also urge them to vote against any amendments to add more money or equipment to the package. Ask your senators to speak out during the Senate debate regarding their concerns about the Colombian military's links to paramilitary forces, which commit 70% of the most serious human rights violations in Colombia today. Also ask them to raise concerns about the impact of aerial fumigation on small farmers, and the failure of the administration to date to deliver the social and economic assistance, particularly the alternative development programs, which were included in last year's aid package. Finally, they may wish to express their concerns about how this package is leading to increased involvement by the U.S. in Colombia's civil war.

You can reach your Senators or their foreign policy staff by calling the Congressional Switchboard at (202) 224-3121.

BACKGROUND ON THE AID REQUEST: In late March, the Bush Administration announced its plans to continue a military counter-drug strategy in the Andes with its proposed "Andean Regional Initiative"(ARI). This initiative requests military and social and economic aid for Colombia and its neighbors: Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Brazil, and Panama. Most of this aid will come through the regular foreign aid appropriations bill, but additional aid will come through the defense appropriations bill.

Together, the aid totals about $1 billion in military and police assistance and economic and social aid to the Andean region for 2002 (this is on top of the $1.3 billion two-year package approved last year). The administration proposed to send a massive $363.04 million in training, spare parts and equipment for Colombia's military and police forces. Because the amounts in the administration's proposal have been trimmed by the House and Senate, the final total will be somewhat less.

GENERAL ASSEMBLY: The 213th General Assembly (2001) of the Presbyterian Church (USA): "Calls for the demilitarization of U.S. anti-drug policies in foreign countries, in particular Colombia." It "[U]rges that money spent on anti-drug efforts in Colombia should be part of a long-term effort to eliminate the reasons why Colombians turn to the cultivation of illegal crops in the first place. These include a state neglect of rural areas, a nonexistent rule of law, and a lack of economic infrastructure and opportunity. It also, "[D]ecries the record of widespread abuse of human rights by the Colombian military and their documented ties with violent paramilitary groups; and declares it morally repugnant for the U.S. and its allies to grant large amounts of aid to a military with Colombia's grievous human rights record while waiving the obligation of the Colombian government to meet acceptable standards of human rights, as a condition of continued aid."

ISSUE: CUBA. In the face of a difficult political environment and an Administration strongly opposed to a change in U.S. policy toward Cuba, members of the House voted for a new way to relate to Cuba on July 25th. In their debate on the Treasury/Postal appropriations bill, the House| passed the Flake amendment, which softens the enforcement of restrictions on travel to Cuba. An amendment prohibiting Treasury funds from being used to enforce any terms of the embargo was defeated by a narrow margin, signaling potential for broader policy change in the future. The Senate will take up the issue after the August recess.

ACTION: During or after the recess, please visit or call your two Senators to urge their support for lifting financing restrictions on the sale of food and medicine to Cuba and for totally removing restrictions preventing US citizens from traveling to Cuba. If you would like "talking points" on the upcoming legislation in the Senate, please e-mail lawg@lawg.org.

GENERAL ASSEMBLY: Church & Society (July/August 1997) notes on Cuba: "Whereas, United States efforts to bring about political change in Cuba through punitive economic sanctions have largely failed and resulted in both hardship for the Cuban people and resentment among numerous friendly governments around the world..." The 209th General Assembly (1997), "renews the call on the United States government to end the economic sanctions that it has imposed on Cuba and to respect the opinion of the world community in this matter." And, "calls upon the United States to encourage economic investment in Cuba for assisting the Cuban people's efforts to build a just society, and to do so in ways that respect the dignity of the Cuban people and their right to self-government."

If you like what you find here,
we hope you'll help us keep Voices for Justice going ... and growing!

Please consider making a special contribution -- large or small -- to help us continue and improve this service.

Click here to send a gift online, using your credit card, through PayPal.

Or send your check, made out to "Presbyterian Voices for Justice" and marked "web site," to our PVJ Treasurer:

PVJ's Facebook page

Mitch Trigger, PVJ's Secretary/Communicator, has created a Facebook page where Witherspoon members and others can gather to exchange news and views. Mitch and a few others have posted bits of news, both personal and organizational. But there’s room for more!

Voices of Sophia blog

Heather Reichgott, who has created this new blog for Voices of Sophia, introduces it:

John Harris’ Summit to Shore blogspot

John Shuck’s Shuck and Jive

Got more blogs to recommend?