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"Good Intentions, Failed Results"
Ask
Your Member of Congress to Change Our Policy Towards Colombia by:
Ending all military
aid to Colombia:
The
past seven years are proof that investing $6 billion of U.S. military aid to
fight a war on drugs will not eliminate the trafficking and production of cocaine,
the growth of coca, or bring stability to Colombia. The United States would
do well to take the advice that the conservative RAND Corporation doled out
seven years ago, when Plan Colombia began; namely, that it is 23 times more
efficient to deal with consumption of drugs rather than supply through drug
prevention and education programs as well as medical services for those who
are addicted here at home. In addition, the U.S. should support a negotiated
solution to the conflict which will increase the human security of those who
are most affected by the violence in Colombia.
Voting NO to the U.S.-Colombia free trade agreement:
The FTA is part of the United States government’s “one-size-fits-all”
approach with trade agreements. It contains the same objectionable provisions
as previous trade agreements, such as: extreme monopoly drug patent extensions;
extrajudicial challenges of environmental, health and land-use policies by foreign
investors; and zeroing out of staple food tariffs in trade partner countries.
The U.S. Colombia FTA will undermine human rights and fuel the fires of conflict.
Colombia is still a country at war. Its record on human rights is dismal. Attacks
on civil society, union leaders, Afro-Colombians and Indigenous people continue
with impunity. The FTA will deepen the economic disparity, which is a root cause
of the conflict, and diminish human rights. The structural and systemic flaws
in the current framework have generated growing inequities, the destruction
of livelihoods, increasing deterioration in the health and well-being of people
living in poverty, and environmental devastation both in the United States and
abroad. It is time for a new direction in U.S. trade policy that will foster
peoples’ wellbeing abroad and in the U.S. Such agreements must go beyond
narrow commercial interests currently governing our trade policy and create
a new framework with values that are built on democratic principles and support
the well-being of people and the environment.
Co-sponsoring H. Res. 618 on the plight of Afro-Colombians:
House Resolution 618 recognizes the plight of Afro-Colombians and calls
on the Colombian government to do their part to end attacks against this population
and to consult them on the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement (FTA). Afro-Colombians
disproportionately suffer from racial discrimination, poverty, and the ongoing
violence in Colombia. Plan Colombia, the U.S. military aid program, underwrites
much of Colombia's military budget and this military aid is a key factor in
fueling the conflict and exacerbating the humanitarian crisis. The FTA will
intensify the situation. Afro-Colombians constitute over 25% of Colombia's total
population, however an estimated 80% of Afro-Colombians live in conditions of
extreme poverty. Afro-Colombians are often the most affected victims of the
armed conflict constituting an estimated 40% of the 3.8 million internally displaced
peoples in Colombia. This resolution will help bring attention to dire situation
facing Afro-Colombians and set the stage for more balanced and informed policy
towards Colombia.