I've been a little puzzled at this particular campaign. Look I understand groups have to stay focused, eyes on the prize and all that, but you have a bill that will buy helicopters and planes to murder women and children and provide training to torture women and children -- mainly in Mexico, Peru and Colombia with most of the money going to Columbia. So what do you do? Do you oppose the entire bill to get as broad support as possible? No, instead of joining the Washington Office on Latin America campaign which opposes the entire bill, somebody starts a campaign to *ELIMINATE COLOMBIA* from the bill? Wouldn't fighting the whole bill would make more political sense. For what little my site can give, I've posted WOLA petition (which opposes the entire bill) rather than yours -- because your alert said very clearly you sere concerned only with the section dealing with Colombia. Colombian Labor Monitor wrote: > > Hi folks:-) > > Our Section 201 campaign in the U.S. House of Representatives, and Rep. > Maxine Waters' amendment, may have been defeated on Wednesday BUT it has > gotten people in high places worried that it might fare much better in the > U.S. Senate. Such is the concern that Colombian President Andres Pastrana > has announced an unscheduled visit to Washington, D.C. for September > 23rd. > > Colombian National Police Chief General Rosso-Serrano and Armed Forces > chief General Tapias are already making the rounds looking to get Senate > support for Section 201 of the Western Hemisphere Drug Elimination Act > which will provide Colombia with nearly $200 million in military aid to > fight the so-called "War on Drugs." > > It is important for all of us to contact our senators and ask them to > strike out Section 201 from the Senate's version of bill S. 2341. > > See below for instructions. > > Visit our webpage at http://www.prairienet.org/csncu > > Solidarity, > Dennis Grammenos > Colombian Labor Monitor > http://www.prairienet.org/clm > > _______________________________________________________________________ > COLOMBIA SUPPORT NETWORK > (Champaign-Urbana chapter in central Illinois) > http://www.prairienet.org/csncu > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > *********************************************************************** > * * > * ACTION ALERT -- THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE DRUG ELIMINATION ACT * > * * > *********************************************************************** > > Dear friends: > > The Western Hemisphere Drug Elimination Act is a bill making its way > through the U.S. Congress. The WHDE Act is intented to provide countries, > primarily in Latin America, with assistance to ostensibly help curb the > flow of narcotics into the United States. > > In the House of Representatives, this bill is known as H.R.4300 > [introduced by Rep. Bill McCollum (R) of Florida]. In the Senate, the > same bill is known as S.2341 [introduced by Senator Mike DeWine (R) of > Ohio]. The House bill has 46 co-sponsors, indicating a broad base of > support. The vote in the Senate will follow the vote in the House. > > We are concerned with Section 201 of the WHDE Act, which deals specif- > ically with Colombia. We are not asking for the wholesale discarding > of the Western Hemisphere Drug Elimination Act. We are only asking > for Section 201 to be striken from the final version. > > Compare the aid provided to Peru under this Act with that for Colombia. > 86% ($150 million) of the aid to Peru is targeted to enhance USAID > alternative development programs. In contrast, only 7% ($15 million) > of the aid to Colombia is targeted for an alternative development > program. The balance of the Colombian aid, roughly $200 million, is > in the form of helicopters and other military gear. > > If the United States government truly wishes to eliminate drugs in > the western hemisphere, a more concerted effort should be made to > provide Colombian peasants with alternatives to growing coca and > opium. Alternative development programs are not a panacea, but they > are a more constructive approach than the increased militarization > of Colombia. By arming the Colombian security forces, the United > States is becoming entangled in a "dirty war" that is slaughtering > thousands of civilians and has displaced 1.2 million people over the > past few years. > > U.S. support for the so-called "War on Drugs" in Colombia does not > strengthen democracy or respect human rights, nor does it stem the > flow of drugs to the United States. Our support of the Colombian > security forces, and their paramilitary allies, is a tragic mistake. > Please join us in this letter writing campaign to ask our represen- > tatives to strike Section 201 from this bill. > > You can find out more about the Western Hemisphere Drug Elimination > Act, and our letter writing campaign, by visiting our webpage at: > > http://www.prairienet.org/csncu > > Solidarity, > > Dennis Grammenos > Colombia Support Network > Champaign-Urbana chapter > in central Illinois > > *********************************************************************** > * COLOMBIA SUPPORT NETWORK: To subscribe to CSN-L send request to * > * [EMAIL PROTECTED] SUB CSN-L Firstname Lastname * > * (Direct questions or comments about CSN-L to [EMAIL PROTECTED]) * > * Visit the website of CSN's Champaign-Urbana (Illinois) chapter at * > * http://www.prairienet.org/csncu Subscribe to the COLOMBIA BULLETIN * > * For free copy and info contact CSN, P.O. Box 1505, Madison WI 53701 * > * or call (608) 257-8753 fax: (608) 255-6621 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * > * Visit the COLOMBIA SUPPORT NETWORK at http://www.igc.org/csn * > * Visit the COLOMBIAN LABOR MONITOR at http://www.prairienet.org/clm * > *********************************************************************** -- Gar W. Lipow 815 Dundee RD NW Olympia, WA 98502 http://www.freetrain.org/
