Movement for Peace in Colombia Gains Momentum
by Meredith Aby, Anti-War Committee and WAMM
People from more than 20 countries of the Americas and Europe met in El Salvador, July 20-22, for the First International Gathering of Solidarity and for Peace in Colombia and Latin America. The conference was organized by El Salvador's leftist party, Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN), for internationals who work in solidarity with Colombia.
Conference speakers--including revolutionary leaders, union activists, indigenous activists, academics, and leftist politicians--all focused on building an international response to a U.S. military-aid program called Plan Colombia. Five members of the Twin Cities Anti-War Committee (AWC) attended the conference as delegates for the Colombia Action Network.
"This conference was especially important for North Americans because of the long history of U.S. military aid and intervention in Colombia, and throughout Latin America," said Anh Pham, AWC member.
Conference participants heard firsthand accounts of the rising human-rights abuses by paramilitary groups, and of the growing environmental crisis, both of which have expanded at an alarming rate due to an increase in U.S. military aid.
U.S. involvement in Colombia is on the rise since Congress adopted Plan Colombia last year. The plan sends $2 million a day in military aid, advisers, and chemicals to Colombia. The Anti-War Committee is part of a growing movement to end U.S. intervention.
"People's stories were powerful. I'm more sure than ever that we have to stop U.S. aid to Colombia," said Jennie Eisert, University of Minnesota student and AWC member. In July, the House approved a new $676 million package of military aid to Colombia. Eisert continued, "Everyone should call or write their senators, and tell them to vote against the money for war in Colombia."
While U.S. officials say Plan Colombia is part of the "War on Drugs," conference panelists in El Salvador argued that U.S. warfare in Colombia serves a different purpose. James Petras, a professor at State University New York–Binghamton, said, "Plan Colombia is essentially described by its critics as a U.S.-authored and -promoted policy directed toward militarily eliminating the guerrilla forces in Colombia and repressing the rural peasant communities which support them." According to Petras, the U.S. government is concerned that its political and economic interests in the region are threatened by Colombia's largest guerrilla group, the FARC-EP (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-Army of the People).
AWC member Rick Jacobs described Colombia's civil war: "It's the courageous people of Colombia fighting for freedom, democracy and their lives against the allied forces of the Colombian oligarchy: the drug mafia and its paramilitary armies; international oil and mineral interests; international finance, including the International Monetary Fund and World Bank; and the U.S. government. Colombians are fighting against this alliance in different ways, in the countryside and in the cities. Some are organizing in the streets and others are fighting underground."
"It was clear that all of Latin America knows what's going on in Colombia, who are the good guys and who are the bad guys. If the U.S. wanted to go after big drug traffickers, they could ask any Colombian where they live, and catch them just like that. Instead, the government has formed an alliance with Colombia's worst elements," Jacobs said.
For decades, the FMLN, El Salvador's second largest political party and a former guerrilla army, has understood the power of international solidarity. During El Salvador's civil war in the 1980s, U.S. solidarity activists worked to stop U.S. intervention and supported the Salvadoran struggle for social and economic justice. The stakes are just as high in Colombia today; by hosting the international conference, in the face of U.S. pressure, the people of El Salvador have taken the lead in building solidarity with Colombia.
AWC activist Jennifer Molina said, "The conference gave excellent information on the relationship between the FTAA (Free Trade Agreement for the Americas) and Plan Colombia. Seeing the FTAA as the economic arm and Plan Colombia as the military arm of U.S. imperialism united us in our understanding and energized us to come up with concrete strategies to stop U.S. intervention and build social justice across borders."
Some of these concrete strategies include an international day of protest against Plan Colombia and the FTAA. The Colombia Action Network is working with other Latin America solidarity groups to organize a national demonstration in Washington, D.C., on Saturday, September 29, 2001. The protest will kick off a week of protests against World Bank and International Monetary Fund meetings happening in Washington, D.C. Tens of thousands will converge upon the U.S. Capitol that week, including at least one bus from Minnesota. Call the Anti-War Committee at 612-872-0944 to purchase a bus ticket for the D.C. rally.
Meredith Aby is a member of the Anti-War Committee and an attendee of the First International Gathering of Solidarity and for Peace.