From: Colombian Labor Monitor <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: Thu, 27 Sep 2001 10:22:41 -0500 (CDT)
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: LAWG: Urgent Action Needed!
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LATIN AMERICA WORKING GROUP
www.lawg.org
26 September 2001
COLOMBIA UPDATE
Aid Moves to the Senate - Urgent Action Needed
Time to Act on Senate Colombia Vote
Next week, Congress will likely take up the foreign aid appropriations
bill. This bill includes the funding for Colombia and the Andean region,
and action on this bill must be taken now.
Amendments to watch
Senator Wellstone (D-MN) will offer an amendment that will cut aid to the
Colombian military and transfer the funds into drug treatment and
prevention programs. Please contact your senators and ask them to support
this amendment. It is especially important to urge them to voice their
support by speaking on the floor during the debate. Why? The majority of
the Senate has largely brushed aside criticisms of the aid package based
on human rights, environmental, or effectiveness concerns. Therefore, it
is particularly important to urge senators who do have concerns to speak
on the floor.
As we saw during the House debate, having members speak draws important
attention to the issues, and their words regarding the human rights
situation can be of help to vulnerable human rights defenders in Colombia,
even if the end vote is not.
What should they speak on?
Senators can voice their support of the Wellstone amendment, citing
concerns about the Colombian military's links to paramilitary forces,
which commit 70% of the most serious human rights violations in Colombia
today. They can also raise concerns about the impact of aerial fumigation
on small farmers, and the failure of the administration to date to deliver
the social and economic assistance, particularly the alternative
development programs, which were included in last year's aid package.
Finally, they may wish to express their concerns about how this package is
leading to increased involvement by the United States in Colombia's
decades-old civil war.
How do I contact my senators?
Call the congressional switchboard at 202/224-3121 and ask to be connected
to your senator's office. If you do not know who your senators are, you
can look them up at www.senate.gov.
Update on Recent Legislative action:
House vote and Senate Committee Vote. The version of the bill that the
Senate will be debating was drafted and voted on by the Senate
Appropriations Committee on July 26th. Thanks to Senator Leahy and to the
hard work of constituents who contacted senators on the committee to raise
concerns, there were some helpful provisions included in this version of
the bill. The version included:
An aid package of $567 million for Colombia and surrounding countries,
which is a large reduction from Bush's original request.
Human rights conditions as a requisite for aid
Language which emphasized the importance of alternative development
funding
Language which delayed funds for aerial fumigation of coca and poppy
crops until the administration determines that human health is not
affected and a system is in place to compensate farmers whose legal crops
are fumigated.
Nonetheless, the Senate Appropriations Committee did not change the
fundamental problem with the package: it supports a militarized approach
to counternarcotics, including forced aerial fumigation of coca and poppy
fields and large-scale funding of the Colombian military despite its ties
to abusive paramilitary forces.
The House voted on its version of the foreign operations bill, which
included $676 million for the Andean region, on July 25th. Representative
McGovern (D-MA) offered an amendment which would have cut military aid to
Colombia. This amendment ultimately lost, but the debate on the House
floor was an important sign that many members of Congress are rethinking
our current policy toward Colombia. To see how your representative voted,
please see
http://clerkweb.house.gov/cgi-bin/vote.exe?year=2001&rollnumber=263. The
Senate will now vote on their version of the bill, and then the two
versions will be reconciled in the conference committee.
Background on the Andean Aid Package
In late March, the Bush Administration announced its plans to continue a
military counterdrug strategy in the Andes with its proposed "Andean
Regional Initiative"(ARI). This initiative requests military and social
and economic aid for Colombia and its neighbors: Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador,
Venezuela, Brazil, and Panama. Most of the money will come as part of the
foreign operations bill, with additional funds appropriated through the
defense bill. Sold by the administration as a "balanced package," with 50%
of the money going to regional security forces and 50% for social and
economic development, the aid totals about $1 billion for the Andean
region for 2002 (this is on top of the $1.3 billion two-year package
approved last year). However, the request for Colombia is still 71%
military. The package also includes sharp increases in military aid for
all of Colombia's neighbors.
Background on the Latin America Working Group and how to stay updated
The Latin America Working Group is a national coalition of over 65
faith-based, human rights, grassroots, foreign policy and development
organizations. Since 1983, the coalition has worked to promote US policies
that support peace, justice, and sustainable development in Latin America
and the Caribbean. In the interest of promoting active and informed
citizen participation in the formation of US policy toward Colombia and
the Andes, the LAWG runs a grassroots listserve which sends out timely
e-mail alerts on US policy toward the region. To sign up for the
listserve, please send an e-mail request to [EMAIL PROTECTED] or visit our
website, www.lawg.org.
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