Colombia Project

November 25th, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, marks the anniversary of the brutal assassination in 1960, of the three Mirabal sisters, political activists in the Dominican Republic, ordered by Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo.

In Colombia, violence against women continues to be not just an issue of domestic or sexual violence, but of women bearing the greatest burden of the armed conflict. To that end, a coalition of women’s organizations from all over Colombia gathered in Bogota today to call for a negotiated end to country’s the six-decade war.

By William R. Northrup

This is the tenth day of my immersion into the Colombian society as part of the FOR two-week delegation. I’m sure you would find the work of those here for this organization, advocating for peace and justice, impressive. Colombia, while exceptionally impressive in many ways, is a complex, difficult society with a multi-faceted, tragic configuration to its struggles that takes time to understand, to appreciate, and to love.  Clearly the staff here and the volunteers have arrived at this valuable place and are effecting modest, peaceful changes. Many people are thankful for the FOR presence and depend on the FOR staff to accompany them when they feel threatened by the military, which continually harasses, threatens, apprehends, and worse in a seemingly willy-nilly fashion.

by Ivan Kasimoff

A few members of the August ´09 Delegation came to Colombia before the official arrival date and have seen a wonderful, lush country, from the rich colonial cities of the Caribbean coast such as Cartagena, to the exciting city of Cali, to several historical towns such as Mompoz on the Magdalena River, and to Barichara frozen in its 17th century construction in the Andean highlands. And some of us have walked through the Centro Histórico of Bogotá where the large cathedral stands before the wide Plaza Bolívar named after the great liberator of Latin America from Spanish Imperial control.

Colombia monthly e-newsletter

• Action Alert: Colombia Military Bases, or South American Peace?
  
• Religious and Grassroots Leaders Urge Suspension of Base Talks
  
• Obama's Choice: Documents Show U.S Seeks Colombian Bases for Training & Operations
  
• Letter from the Field: "Yanquis Fuera!"
  
• British MPs Urge End to U.K. Military Aid
  
• Protests in Colombia Increase Despite Oppression of Dissent
• News Briefs: Anti-Mili; Witness Paid to Testify Against Peace Community
• World Summit for Peace: Bogotá, Colombia -- October 1-4, 2009
  

• Delegation to Colombia: Apply Today!
  
• Letter from the Field: A Stranger in Our Midst
• U.S.-Aided Intelligence Unit Accuses Human Rights Groups
  
• The Dark Side of Plan Colombia
  
• Pentagon Plans Intervention Ability from Military Base
  
• News Briefs: Reasons to Celebrate; Called to Trial; A C.O. Speaks
  

Delegation to Colombia: Apply Today!

August 15-29, 2009: Delegation to San Jose Peace Community, Medellin and Eastern Antioquia

Witness the incredible commitment and experience of the Peace Community of San José and other Colombian grassroots initiatives.

Program Highlights:

• Travel to the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó
• Meet
  with people whose family members have been killed by the U.S.-funded
  Colombian army and are nonviolently working for justice for these
  crimes.
• Meet grassroots activists who courageously and creatively advocate for truth, justice and integral reparations.
• Experience
  unparalleled access and a rich part of Colombian life to understand
  both the war's impacts on peasant communities and advances to justice.
• Convey your experience as a group to U.S. officials

Four decades of armed conflict in Colombia have led to indigenous
people, women, union activists, youth, journalists, and human rights
workers being subject to killing, displacement, and kidnapping. Now,
victims have united in a national movement to demand that the
perpetrators of these crimes be held responsible.

This coming Sunday and Monday, the annual Colombia Days of Prayer & Action will be held across North America. FOR is one of a dozen national organizations cosponsoring this year's events.

As momentum builds toward this important international solidarity effort, drawing both faith and secular U.S. communities into deeper relationship with our sisters and brothers in Colombia, staff members of FOR's Latin America program are being interviewed on the challenges facing Colombia by numerous media sources.

Earlier today, FOR Colombia campaign organizer Liza Smith was interviewed on KAOS radio (Portland OR) by Kim Dobbs. We are hopeful that an MP3 audio file of the interview will be posted in the next couple days on the station's website -- if and when it is, you'll be able to access it here.