From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: "International" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Fri, 2 Feb 2001 14:07:42 -0500 To: "International" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Colombia update & alert from the IAC/U.S. Out of Colombia Committee COLOMBIA ALERT 2/1/01 >From the IAC's U.S. Out of Colombia Committee Contained in this email: 1. Hundreds across U.S. demand: �Dialog zone yes, Plan Colombia no!� 2. Join the IAC at Fort Bragg 3. Call for day-after demonstrations: Hands off the dialog zone! 1. HUNDREDS DEMAND: �DIALOG ZONE YES, PLAN COLOMBIA NO!� Hundreds of people in cities across the United States took to the streets on Jan. 30 to demand that the Colombian government continue the dialog zone in central Colombia and an end to U.S. intervention in Colombia. In New York, 150 people picketed the Colombian Mission to the United Nations. Several anti-war and solidarity organizations joined the U.S. Out of Colombia Committee of the International Action Center in chants of �No herbicide, no genocide, U.S. out of Colombia!� and �Dialog zone yes, Plan Colombia no!� Speakers linked opposition to intervention in Colombia with the fight against the phony �war on drugs� that targets Black and Latin youth in the U.S., as well as with the solidarity movement with the Palestinian struggle. Demonstrations also took place in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington DC, Seattle, New Orleans, Providence and Helena. �Our actions today show that there is a growing national movement to challenge the Pentagon�s drive to war in Colombia,� said the IAC�s U.S. Out of Colombia Committee chair Teresa Gutierrez. �The U.S.-sponsored Plan Colombia is the greatest obstacle to peace in Colombia.� The Colombian government withdrew its military and police forces from five municipalities in January 1999 as a condition for talks with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People�s Army (FARC-EP). Little progress has been made toward addressing the social causes of the war in Colombia due to the government�s refusal to dismantle paramilitary death squads linked to the army. The zone is the only territory in Colombia free of death squad violence. 2. JOIN THE IAC IN FORT BRAGG IN FAYETTEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA ON FEB. 10 On Saturday, February 10, Peace Plan Colombia, an anti-war organization in North Carolina, will hold an important demonstration against Plan Colombia at the Ft. Bragg Museum. The International Action Center has endorsed this event and is organizing a delegation to attend the demonstration from the New York office. The IAC is calling on its friends and supporters to join the IAC/U.S. Out of Colombia Committee Contingent in Fayetteville, North Carolina, to help send a resounding message to President Bush that the anti-war movement opposes any and all U.S. intervention in Colombia. Peace Plan Colombia has organized a broad array of speakers at the rally, which includes a former Special Forces official who served in Colombia. People from around the country are expected to mobilize for the demonstration, which will march to the U.S. Army�s new Airborne and Special Operations Museum. There demonstrators will highlight the role of Ft. Bragg Special Forces troops in Colombia. The demonstration and rally begins at 1 pm on Saturday, Feb. 10 at the Cumberland County Public Library, 300 Maiden Lane in Fayetteville. At 3 pm, demonstrators will march to Ft. Bragg Museum. Look for the IAC�s U.S. Out of Colombia Committee signs and banners or contact us at the IAC @ 212.633.6646. You can also check out information about the event at http://www.peaceplancolombia.org. 3. STAY ALERT: HANDS OFF THE DIALOG ZONE! DEMONSTRATE IF THE U.S.-BACKED COLOMBIAN INVADES The IAC�s U.S. Out of Colombia Committee urges all activists to be on high alert in case the Colombian government attempts to invade the dialog zone in central Colombia. IAC chapters around the country will hold demonstrations the day after any such invasion to demand an end to the U.S. intervention there. �Colombian President Andres Pastrana�s Jan. 31 announcement that the zone would be extended for only four days is a dangerous sign of a possible escalation of the U.S. backed war in Colombia,� said the IAC's U.S. Out of Colombia Committee chair Teresa Gutierrez. �Pastrana should extend the zone indefinitely and dismantle the death squads so that serious talks can take place.� �The only way that Pastrana could engage in this dangerous brinkmanship is with the tacit support of the U.S. Pentagon,� she continued. �The $1.3 billion U.S. military aid package called Plan Colombia only strengthens the elements of Colombia�s elite that want to destroy any people�s opposition in Colombia instead of addressing the poverty and exploitation that is at the root of Colombia�s conflict.� Watch the IAC web site or call us to find out plans in your city or campus. If your organization is planning a day-after demonstration and would like to be listed as part of the national movement, send the information with a contact phone number or email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] International Action Center 39 West 14th Street, Room 206 New York, NY 10011 email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] web: http://www.iacenter.org CHECK OUT SITE http://www.mumia2000.org phone: 212 633-6646 fax: 212 633-2889 *To make a tax-deductible donation, go to http://www.peoplesrightsfund.org _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __________________________________________________
