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June 1999 NewsCSN Home |
The Colombia Support Network urges you to write to U.S. officials, such as Madeleine Albright and your repective Congresspeople regarding the misuse of U.S. military aid to Colombia. Below is a sample letter drafted by the CSN office to be used as a reference in your active response. Included below this letter are the addresses of the U.S. Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense and President Clinton.
We thank you for your efforts in working toward a just Colombia.
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We, the undersigned, object to the continued providing of military aid by the U.S. government to Colombia, which this year ranks third among all military aid recipients of this country. This aid, supposedly granted to fight the so-called War on Drugs, is increasingly used to support military and police forces in Colombia who collaborate with paramilitary leaders, such as Carlos Castano, who themselves are participants in the drug trade. As an example of what is happening in Colombia, last week General Victor Alvarez, commander of a Colombian army division in the north of the country, called in army troops to fight against FARC guerrillas, who appeared to be winning a battle against Castano's paramilitary forces. Alvarez's Colombian army thus helped save Castano's ruthless paramilitaries from a defeat at the hands of the guerrillas, even though Castano's forces have been classified by the Colombian government as illegal and an arrest warrant is out on Castano himself. We demand an end to U.S. military aid to Colombia. No more aid nor support to drug lords and paramilitary cutthroats under the guise of a "War on Drugs". |