Date: Fri, 24 Mar 2000 16:24:01 -0800 From: Ron Rowe <•••@••.•••> Organization: Rowe Communication Services Subject: Update: Colombia "aid" (corporate-military welfare) package Below is an updated action alert on the Colombia "aid" package now making its way through Congress. Not only will this $1.7 billion package pay for the purchase of over 60 military helicopters to -- in the words of drug czar Barry McCaffrey -- "safeguard U.S. vital interests at stake in Colombia", but, as posted last week, several U.S. "military specialty companies" (with CIA ties) have already positioned themselves in Colombia in expectation of "outsourced" U.S. military contracts. Some of these companies were also involved in Kosovo and other scenes of U.S. intervention, including Military Professional Resources, Inc., which, according to the Dallas Morning News, "should be well-placed for a contract, since it also helped the Colombian government devise the official, three-phase 'action plan' that was presented to Congress last month outlining how the $1.6 billion would be allocated." -- SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE VOTE could now come as early as THURSDAY MARCH 23 (*** Folks in the following states, you have a Senator on the Appropriations Committee: AK, AL, AZ, CA, CO, HI, IA, ID, IL, KY, MD, MO, MS, MT, ND, NH, NJ, NM, NV, PA, SC, TX, UT, VT, WA, WI, WV -- see alert below.) -- FINAL HOUSE VOTE could now come as early as TUESDAY MARCH 28th -- Final Senate vote to follow. So if you think we could find better things to spend $1.7 billion on than this corporate-military welfare bill, please take this opportunity to give your Senators and Representative a call and express your opposition to this "aid" package. Thank you, Ron Rowe Citizens' Alliance of Santa Barbara (Santa Barbara Alliance for Democracy) Rowe Communication Services -- personal/business/non-profit communications co-op P.O. Box 2170 Simi Valley, CA 93062 (805) 581-3250 Fax: (805) 579-3825 E-mail: •••@••.••• +++ Subject: Colombia: updated action alert From: U.S./Colombia Coordinating Office Date: Tue, 21 Mar 2000 19:01:41 -0500 COLOMBIA INFOinBRIEF ALERT - UPDATED MARCH 20, 2000 Please Distribute and Post FROM THE PEOPLE WHO BROUGHT YOU EL SALVADOR AND VIETNAM... U.S. EYES REMAIN WIDE SHUT AS CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE VOTES YES FOR U.S. AID PACKAGE TO ABUSIVE ARMY ACT NOW MARCH 20 - MARCH 31, 2000 FINAL HOUSE VOTE ON PACKAGE: As early as TUESDAY MARCH 28th SENATE COMMITTEE VOTE: As early as THURSDAY MARCH 23 __________________________________________________________________ The vote on the supplemental aid package, which includes the $1.7 billion for Colombia has been delayed in the House of Representatives. The vote may come as early as TUESDAY MARCH 28th at the earliest, giving grassroots groups more time to ACT. The Senate could vote on the supplemental aid package for the first time on THURSDAY MARCH 23 in the Appropriations Committee. On Thursday, March 9, the Appropriations Committee of the House of Representatives passed the emergency supplemental aid package. This supplemental package includes $1.7 billion in aid for Colombia, most of which is destined for the Colombian military (widely recognized as THE most abusive army in the Western Hemisphere). The package includes $400 million more for Colombia than originally anticipated and confirms U.S. policymakers' commitment to a disastrous approach to stemming the drug trade and ending the South American nation's brutal armed conflict. If approved by the entire House, this aid could make the United States a major actor in Colombia's counterinsurgency war. This aid for Colombia's military was approved by the House Appropriations Committee without any significant human rights conditionality or adequate aid for the 1.8 million people in Colombia who have been displaced by the violence. There is still time to make a difference in the House and Senate. ________________________________________________________ T I M E T O A C T ________________________________________________________ The supplemental package is moving quickly through Congress. However, grassroots efforts and recent reports linking Colombian military and paramilitary forces have initiated debate in Congress over sending military aid to Colombia. Now is the time for grassroots groups working on Colombia to affect the supplemental package. The supplemental could go to the floor of the House for a vote as early as MARCH 28. The supplemental could go to the Senate Appropriations Committee as early as MARCH 23. _______________________________________________________ A C T I O N A C T I O N A C T I O N _______________________________________________________ CALL YOUR MEMBERS OF CONGRESS (HOUSE AND SENATE) AND ASK THEM TO: 1) Oppose the portion of the supplemental aid package that provides military aid to Colombia 2) Support positive amendments to the supplemental package in both the House and the Senate that cut, shift or condition military assistance to Colombia. Amendments are likely to be offered that: A. cut or shift funding from military assistance to positive social investments in Colombia B. add or shift funds for military assistance to demand reduction, education and treatment programs in the United States C. put strong human rights conditions on military assistance. 3) SPEAK-OUT! The more members of Congress that speak out during the debates in the House or the Senate, the better. Please ask your representative and senators to share their concerns over human rights in Colombia with the Congress during the vote. ***In the Senate, it is especially urgent to speak to your senator if he/she is on the Senate Appropriations Committee: Stevens (AK), Cochran (MS), Specter (PA), Domenici (NM), Bond (MO), Gorton (WA), McConnell (KY), Burns (MT), Shelby (AL), Gregg (NH), Bennett (UT), Campbell (CO), Craig (ID), Hutchison (TX), Kyl (AZ), Byrd (WV), Inouye (HI), Hollings (SC), Leahy (VT), Lautenberg (NJ), Harkin (IA), Mikulski, (MD), Reid (NV), Kohl (WI), Murray (WA), Dorgan (ND), Feinstein (CA), Durbin (IL).*** IN ADDITION: **Thank the following representatives for doing the right thing - either voting no on the package, speaking out against it, or offering positive amendments -- during the House Appropriations Committee vote on March 9. Please note this is not a complete list. David R. Obey, Wisconsin Nancy Pelosi, California Sam Farr, California José E. Serrano, New York John Edward Porter, Illinois Randy "Duke" Cunningham, California Jesse L. Jackson, Jr., Illinois John W. Olver, Massachusetts **Put pressure on the following representatives who were particularly obstructive of positive amendments during the House Appropriations Committee vote on March 9. James P. Moran, Virginia Sonny Callahan, Alabama Jerry Lewis, California C.W. Bill Young, Florida, Chairman __________________________________________________ H O W T O C O N T A C T Y O U R MEMBERS OF CONGRESS __________________________________________________ U.S. Capitol switchboard: 202-224-3121 Web address for email addresses and phone #'s: http://www.house.gov http://www.senate.gov __________________________________________________ TALKING POINTS __________________________________________________ + This aid package will not only pour hundreds of millions of dollars into the most abusive military in the Western Hemisphere, but it will almost certainly destabilize fragile peace negotiations and undermine support of a negotiated settlement. +To avoid getting the United States more deeply involved with Colombia's infamous armed forces, I ask you to oppose aid to the Colombian army due to human rights concerns, especially army links at a regional and local level to brutal paramilitary forces. +Instead, I urge you to support a substantial positive aid package for Colombia, including: humanitarian relief for people displaced by violence; crop substitution programs for small farmers to switch from coca to legal crops; economic assistance; programs to strengthen Colombian government investigations into human rights violations and drug trafficking; aid for civil society efforts for human rights and peace. +Finally, because the United States "War on Drugs" is one that must be fought at home, I ask you to increase funding for drug treatment and prevention programs here in our own country. Alison Giffen Director U.S./Colombia Coordinating Office Phone: 202-232-8090 Fax: 202-232-8092 Suite 200 1630 Connecticut Ave. NW Washington D.C. 20009 http://www.igc.org/colhrnet/ __________________________________________ NetZero - Defenders of the Free World Get your FREE Internet Access and Email at http://www.netzero.net/download/index.html
