|
Issues and Advocacy – Colombia
Colombia has been consumed by conflict and violence perpetrated by government
security forces, right-wing paramilitary groups and left-wing guerrillas since
the 1940’s. The struggle has intensified in the late 1990's and has reached to
such a level that civilians are fleeing in record numbers as they have been the
principal victims. For example, in one recent year, it was reported that while
1,250 people died in combat, another 2, 183 noncombatants were killed for
political reasons, many times accused of sympathizing with one side or the other
in the conflict. Internal displacement is second only to Sudan in Africa and
numbers more than 3 million people.
Plan
Colombia is an effort to reduce coca production and thereby reduce the drug
trade. Many believe that this plan has resulted in death and other violence
against the the agricultural sector, many of whom are not involved in drug
production.
For Action Alerts from the ELCA Washington Office, see
link at:
http://www.elca.org/advocacy/issues/latinamerica
For education resources on Colombia produced by Lutheran World Relief, see:
http://www.lwr.org/colombia/resources/#Columbia
To join the Lutheran World Relief Colombia Advocacy Network, see:
http://www.lwr.org/colombia/network/
To promote peace in Colombia, see:
http://www.lwr.org/advocacy/resources.asp
US -COLOMBIA FREE TRADE AGREEMENT
In an effort to conclude free trade agreements with all countries in the
Americas, the United States negotiated a free trade agreement with Colombia. The
United States Congress has not approved the agreement.
For more information, see:
http://mingas.info/
http://www.globalexchange.org/campaigns/afta
For information on North American church’s views on trade agreements, see the
Declaration made by members of Church World Service at:
http://www.churchworldservice.org/pdf_files/trade/Declaration-JustTradeAgreements.pdf
A resource pages from Church World Service
http://www.churchworldservice.org/pdf_files/E&A/ColombiaResource1.pdf
http://www.churchworldservice.org/pdf_files/E&A/ColombiaResource2.pdf
http://www.churchworldservice.org/pdf_files/E&A/ColombiaResource3.pdf
For the latest news on Colombia and grassroots actions, see:
http://www.lawg.org/countries/colombia/intro.htm
http://www.wola.org/Colombia/colombia.htm
For Witness for Peace advocacy tools, see:
http://witnessforpeace.org/tools/militarizationtools.html
For information regarding the drug war in Colombia and the US fumigation
policy:
http://www.wola.org/Colombia/colombia.htm
For information on contacting congress, sign up for e-advocacy at: http://www.elca.org/advocacy
Advocacy tools at:
http://www.lawg.org/tools/contacting_congress.htm
|
