National Office
3628 12th Street NE
1st Floor
Washington, DC
20017
202.547.6112
202.536.4708 fax
Witness for Peace Colombia Program
For decades, Colombia has endured a brutal armed conflict between the nation's army, leftist guerilla movements, and right wing paramilitary groups. Overwhelmingly, the victims of this conflict have been civilians. Into this country wracked by violence, the U.S. has decided to send billions of dollars in mostly military aid and training, but also with substantial funding for aerial eradication of coca crops. Ostensibly to fight the War on Drugs, this aid package has done little more than inflame a complicated conflict that already places civilians in the crossfire, and destroys huge quantities of legitimate subsistence crops. More than 3.6 million people are displaced from their homes due to the violence. Violence kills almost 30,000 Colombians every year. A total of over 300,000 Colombians have died in the violence over the past 15 years. Hundreds of thousands will likely be displaced as a direct result of U.S. policies, unless they are stopped! |
|
|
Responding to calls for solidarity from Colombia, Witness for Peace has committed to sending delegations of U.S. citizens to the country. We know that NOW is the time to stand with the people of Colombia as they work for peace. We know that NOW is the time to educate U.S. citizens about how current U.S. policy will really affect Colombians. We know that NOW is the time to work together to change our government's destructive policy.
A typical delegation to Colombia will:
- Meet with a wide range of experts and activists, including leaders in the business community and the peace movement, to hear their different analyses of U.S. policy in Colombia.
- Learn about the economic roots of Colombia's conflict.
- See first-hand the impact of aerial spraying.
- Hear testimonies
from displaced people and others directly affected by the conflict.
- Travel to areas outside of Bogotá to see first-hand the impact of U.S. military assistance and counter-narcotics practices.
- Talk to union organizers about the violence they face.
- Meet with U.S. Embassy and Colombian government and military officials.
- Develop grassroots legislative and media strategies to bring back and work for change.
Click below to learn more about Colombia, the burgeoning Witness for Peace presence there, and the experiences of our delegates and international team members.
- Delegation Schedule
- Delegation Application
- Go to Travel FAQ...
- Go to Work FAQ...
- Go to Work Application...
Safety of Delegations:
Our program is designed to provide participants with a first-hand look at the devastating effects of current U.S. policies on Colombian society. Given the political and military violence that plagues much of the country, the safety and security of delegates is of utmost concern to WFP. In Colombia, we maintain strict security criteria for all participants. This means more stringent rules for personal mobility and free time.
Additionally, training for Colombia delegations takes places in the United States, allowing delegates to gain a greater understanding of security protocol and logistics before departing for Bogotá. The safety and security of our delegates is our number one priority, and our staff does everything possible to ensure the security group. Since taking our first Colombia delegation in January 2001, hundreds of people have safely traveled with us to this troubled South American country. Nevertheless, all participants must be aware that travel to a war zone has some inherent risks, and all delegates are required to assume full liability for their health and safety on a WFP delegation to Colombia. For more information on safety issues, contact the WFP National Office.
"Colombia: Where U.S. Policy Kills"
Fact Sheet Series
|
|
|
|
|
|
Witness for Peace Colombia Reports
Examples of Failure: COSURCA Coffee Hit Again by
U.S.-Backed Fumigation While Coca Production in
Colombia Remains Steady
May 2007. Despite over $5 billion and approximately two million acres fumigated in
Colombia, the State Department reports increased coca production—the
raw material for cocaine—during Plan Colombia’s seven years. For years Witness for Peace and others have documented that U.S.-backed fumigation has destroyed legitimate crops. In a representative
example of a widespread problem, for the second time in two years a coffee
producers’ cooperative, COSURCA, has been wrongly fumigated. The evidence is clear—the fumigation policy has failed and must be
discontinued. The program has failed to accomplish its stated goal of
reducing coca production and has destroyed the livelihoods of family
farmers. Read a COSURCA report on the 2005 round of fumigations that destroyed numerous crops.
Leer el informe en Español.
Faces of Colombia: Who are the Victims of Free Trade?
2006. As the U.S. and Colombian governments seek a free trade agreement modeled on the failed NAFTA and CAFTA agreements, the people of both countries are working to block the deal. This trade agreement would not protect workers in Colombia--the most dangerous country in the world to be a union activist. The deal would also devastate rural family farmers, driving millions into poverty and others into the drug trade. Download a two page flyer on the U.S.-Colombia free trade agreement.
Putumayo, 2004. An Evaluation of Four Years of Plan Colombia in Putumayo
July 2004. Plan Colombia turns four in July 2004, and Putumayo, Colombia's southern department, has been the primary focus of U.S. military aid to Colombia. This updated report demonstrates that the U.S. aerial fumigations program has been a failure, that human rights violations have increased and that civilian security has decreased in Putumayo.
Plan Colombia: Failing to Follow the Letter of U.S. law
June 2004. This short document references the specific fumigation complaint of Mr. Jimenez, a farmer living in the southern Colombian province of Putumayo, and thereby demonstrates that Plan Colombia's fumigation compensation program is racked with bureaucracy, contradiction and conflict of interest. As an element of our failed policy in the region, the compensation program calls for serious scrutiny and review by U.S. policy makers.
Plan Colombia's First Two Years: An Evaluation of Human Rights in Putumayo
April 2003. An in-depth evaluation of the issues of human rights and civilian security in Putumayo, Colombia's southern department which has been the primary focus of U.S. military aid to Colombia. This document's findings of a worsened human rights situation, ongoing collusion between Colombian military and the paramilitaries, and increased displacement are crucial to the debate on the 2004 Foreign Appropriation requests by the Bush administration.
The Real Cost of Pipeline Protection in Colombia: Corporate Welfare with Deadly Consequences
July 2002. An in-depth analysis of the potential consequences of the proposed $98 million in U.S. aid to protect an oil pipeline in the war-torn state of Arauca. Released to Congress in time for the debate on the 2003 Foreign Appropriations bills, its findings are essential to head off this costly and potentially devastating piece of corporate welfare for the California-based Occidental Petroleum.
The Bojayá Massacre: Escalating Conflict on Colombia's Pacific Coast
May 2002. A joint report released by Witness for Peace and the Colombian human rights organization, Justapaz. Provides on-the-ground information from Chocó, the border region with Panamá and site of the recent Bojayá massacre.
FUMIGATION REPORT
December 2001. The latest round of fumigations in Southern Colombia began in November 2001. Read this important document and see the photographs revealing how legal crops and pact-signers were targeted.
Witness for Peace Inside Colombia Series
During the course of 2008, Witness for Peace, Colombia will be sending out a series of email alerts with on the ground information from provinces significantly impacted by U.S. policy. You can view the archived alerts here.
|
Putumayo |
Buenaventura, Valle
|
