Alice Winters, Presbyterian mission co-worker in
Colombia, has sent this note, with a copy of an update from the
Presbyterian Washington Office
Dear friends:
Please take a few minutes to make some phone calls
that could make a big difference to the future of Colombia. Thanks for
your concern and prayers. Blessings on you ... Alice Winters
Washington Office
3-18-02
URGENT ACTION!
BUSH PROPOSAL TO BE INTRODUCED NEXT WEEK BROADENS
MILITARY AID TO COLOMBIA, ELIMINATES HUMAN RIGHTS LANGUAGE.
McGOVERN TO CIRCULATE CONGRESSIONAL LETTER.
EMERGENCY NATIONAL CALL-IN DAYS WEDNESDAY &
THURSDAY!
IN THIS ALERT:
1) New proposal to be introduced next week expanding
military aid;
2) Action on the McGovern dear colleague letter in the
House;
3) Action on the new
proposal;
4) Talking points for your congressional calls;
5) Background on the new
legislation.
Military aid to Colombia may be massively expanded if
we don't act fast! The Bush administration plans to propose a bill
sometime next week (March 18) to remove all restrictions on U.S.
military aid to Colombia. That includes the language that limits US
assistance to counter-drug efforts, imposes human rights standards on
the Colombian military, and limits the number of U.S. military personnel
allowed in the country. See today's Washington Post article for
more information--
The bill will be a large counter-terrorism
supplemental that asks for more money for global and domestic
counter-terrorism efforts. But it will include this language expanding
Colombia military aid.
The administration is offering this bill now because
they think they have support in the Congress for a change in Colombia
policy. Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) will be circulating a letter to the
President for members of Congress to sign saying that they DO NOT WANT
an expansion of military aid to Colombia. This letter will be circulated
next week. We need to get a lot of signatures in this letter in order to
show the administration that they do not have a green light from
Congress to expand military aid and turn a blind eye to human rights
violations.
ACTION ON MCGOVERN LETTER:
There will be emergency national call-in days on
Colombia on WEDNESDAY MARCH 20 and THURSDAY MARCH 21. Please call your
representative and ask him or her to sign on to the letter on Colombian
military aid circulated by Rep. McGovern's office. The congressional
switchboard number is 202/255-3231. If you do not know who your
representatives are, please see www.house.gov/writerep
ACTION ON THE BILL:
We also need broad work on the bill. The bill that
Bush is proposing will go first to the appropriations committees in the
House and Senate and then to the full House and Senate. The debate on
this bill is our chance to have a say on whether or not the US broadens
military aid to Colombia. Members DO LISTEN to what their constituents
think. Call both senators and your representative. If you do not know
who your senators are, please see http://www.senate.gov/senators/senator_by_state.cfm
TALKING POINTS FOR YOUR CALL: INCREASED MILITARY AID
IS NOT THE SOLUTION
Broadening military aid in Colombia could have a
drastic effect on the country's already dire humanitarian situation. The
40-year armed conflict in Colombia has left almost 400,000 civilians
dead. Many members of Congress have good intentions, and want to support
an end to violence in Colombia. But adding more military aid is not the
way to do it.
1. The Colombian military still maintains close ties
with paramilitary groups, who are on the US terrorist list and who
commit upwards of 70% of civilian killings in Colombia. Human Rights
Watch, Amnesty International and WOLA put out a report in February that
shows that the military continues to aid and abet paramilitary groups,
providing them with intelligence information and equipment and refusing
to protect civilians from paramilitary massacres. Given the high level
of cooperation between the military and the paras, it is likely that US
assistance could go to officers and units who work with the
paramilitaries. And as the paramilitaries' strength increases, attacks
on civilians will also increase. Sending more military aid to Colombia
is not going to help protect civilians.
2. Furthermore, it could pull the US into the quagmire
of a 40-year civil war. Colombia is the size of 53 El Salvadors, and the
amount of money necessary to defeat the FARC militarily will be
tremendous. There are other ways that the US can help protect civilians
from violence that do not involve getting pulled into this quagmire.
3. US support for a negotiated peace process with the
FARC and the ELN, and real pressure on the Colombian government to break
ties with the paramilitaries, will go much further at protecting
civilians than increased military aid will. Violent actions on the part
of the FARC have a tremendous human cost, but supporting a military that
collaborates with the paramilitaries has a huge human cost as well. We
can address both sides of the issue by supporting peace negotiations,
judicial reform, and real development assistance for Colombia's farmers,
which will help them switch from illegal to legal crop production and
will reduce the drug revenue available to the FARC and the
paramilitaries.
But we're going to have to work hard to convince our
members of Congress. Please call your member of Congress immediately and
express your concern over the proposal for more military aid, an
expansion of aid to counterinsurgency, and an elimination of the human
rights restrictions on aid. They need to hear from you!
BACKGROUND ON THE NEW LEGISLATION
Since the collapse of the peace talks between the FARC
and the government on February 20, there have been calls in Congress and
the Bush Administration for an increase in military assistance for
Colombia's war against the FARC. In his March 6 congressional testimony,
Secretary of State Colin Powell said that the "new situation"
in Colombia meant that the Bush Administration would have to
"readjust" its policies to help the Andean nation defeat
"terrorists and narco-traffickers." Currently US military aid
is limited to counter-drug operations, but an end to this restriction
would allow the US money, training, and equipment to be used directly
against the three armed groups on the US terrorist list -- the FARC, the
ELN and the AUC paramilitaries. The Colombian military often works in
collaboration with paramilitary forces and is in negotiations with the
ELN, so the strong likelihood is that U.S. assistance would be used most
often against the FARC.
