Washington Office issues urgent Action Alert on U.S.
Policy Toward Latin America
[Posted here on 9-12-01]
This is an urgent Action Alert distributed to the Latin America
issue network by the Washington Office, Presbyterian Church (USA),
written by Lisa Haugaard and Elanor Starmer of the Latin America Working
Group.
Sent: Wednesday, September 05, 2001
ACT NOW TO CHANGE U.S. POLICY TOWARD COLOMBIA
ISSUE: COLOMBIA.
[Check for earlier background
report on Colombia]
In mid- to late September, the U.S. Senate will take up the
foreign aid appropriations bill, the annual budget bill which includes
funding for Colombia and the Andean region (see below for background on
the Andean aid package). The U.S. House of Representatives has already
debated and voted on their version of the bill, and have passed a bill
which contains additional funding for the Colombian military and money
to continue aerial fumigation of coca crops in the region.
Although the aid package passed the House, the debate showed a
growing unrest within the Congress over U.S. drug policy in the Andes.
In their speeches on a number of amendments, representatives addressed
issues such as ties between the Colombian armed forces and illegal
paramilitary groups, the impact of fumigation on farming communities,
legal crops, and the environment, and lack of accountability and
supervision in the use of private military contractors. However, with
the exception of a few senators, the Senate has largely brushed aside
criticisms of the Colombia package based on human rights, environmental
or effectiveness issues. Nonetheless, it is likely that during the
Senate debate, amendments may be offered to the bill which would cut aid
to the Colombian military, add more specific human rights conditions,
halt or place a moratorium on fumigation, or prevent an expansion of
U.S. support from counternarcotics to counterinsurgency.
It is particularly important to speak with senators and urge
them to support these amendments and to speak out in the Senate debate.
The Senate appropriations committee met in late July to debate
and vote on the preliminary version of the foreign aid appropriations
bill. The draft which passed the committee did include some helpful
provisions on Colombia and the Andes: they reduced the amount of money
provided to the region by $146 million below the Bush Administration's
request; included human rights conditions in the bill; emphasized the
importance of alternative development funding; and encouraged a
mechanism for compensation for farmers whose legal crops are fumigated
or who suffer health damages due to US-sponsored aerial fumigation
efforts. However, 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.
ACTION: Urge
your Senators to support provisions which would cut military aid to
Colombia, and which would halt or put a moratorium on fumigation. Also
urge them to vote against any amendments to add more money or equipment
to the package. Ask your senators to speak out during the Senate debate
regarding their concerns about the Colombian military's links to
paramilitary forces, which commit 70% of the most serious human rights
violations in Colombia today. Also ask them to 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 U.S. in Colombia's civil war.
You can reach your Senators or their foreign policy staff by
calling the Congressional Switchboard at (202) 224-3121.
BACKGROUND ON THE AID REQUEST: In late March,
the Bush Administration announced its plans to continue a military
counter-drug 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 this aid will come
through the regular foreign aid appropriations bill, but additional aid
will come through the defense appropriations bill.
Together, the aid totals about $1 billion in military and
police assistance and economic and social aid to the Andean region for
2002 (this is on top of the $1.3 billion two-year package approved last
year). The administration proposed to send a massive $363.04 million in
training, spare parts and equipment for Colombia's military and police
forces. Because the amounts in the administration's proposal have been
trimmed by the House and Senate, the final total will be somewhat less.
GENERAL ASSEMBLY: The 213th
General Assembly (2001) of the Presbyterian Church (USA): "Calls
for the demilitarization of U.S. anti-drug policies in foreign
countries, in particular Colombia." It "[U]rges that money
spent on anti-drug efforts in Colombia should be part of a long-term
effort to eliminate the reasons why Colombians turn to the cultivation
of illegal crops in the first place. These include a state neglect of
rural areas, a nonexistent rule of law, and a lack of economic
infrastructure and opportunity. It also, "[D]ecries the record of
widespread abuse of human rights by the Colombian military and their
documented ties with violent paramilitary groups; and declares it
morally repugnant for the U.S. and its allies to grant large amounts of
aid to a military with Colombia's grievous human rights record while
waiving the obligation of the Colombian government to meet acceptable
standards of human rights, as a condition of continued aid."
SOFTEN TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS TO CUBA
ISSUE: CUBA. In the face of
a difficult political environment and an Administration strongly opposed
to a change in U.S. policy toward Cuba, members of the House voted for a
new way to relate to Cuba on July 25th. In their debate on the
Treasury/Postal appropriations bill, the House| passed the Flake
amendment, which softens the enforcement of restrictions on travel to
Cuba. An amendment prohibiting Treasury funds from being used to enforce
any terms of the embargo was defeated by a narrow margin, signaling
potential for broader policy change in the future. The Senate will take
up the issue after the August recess.
ACTION: During or after the
recess, please visit or call your two Senators to urge their support for
lifting financing restrictions on the sale of food and medicine to Cuba
and for totally removing restrictions preventing US citizens from
traveling to Cuba. If you would like "talking points" on the
upcoming legislation in the Senate, please e-mail lawg@lawg.org.
GENERAL ASSEMBLY:
Church & Society (July/August 1997) notes on
Cuba: "Whereas, United States efforts to bring about political
change in Cuba through punitive economic sanctions have largely failed
and resulted in both hardship for the Cuban people and resentment among
numerous friendly governments around the world..." The 209th
General Assembly (1997), "renews the call on the United States
government to end the economic sanctions that it has imposed on Cuba and
to respect the opinion of the world community in this matter." And,
"calls upon the United States to encourage economic investment in
Cuba for assisting the Cuban people's efforts to build a just society,
and to do so in ways that respect the dignity of the Cuban people and
their right to self-government."
