[Peace] US Military Aid to Colombia Passed Behind Closed Doors

[Meridith Kruse]

Hi all,
Please read and take action as you can, In peace, Meridith
-------------------------------------------------

Colombia Update: February 19, 2003
Colombia Military Aid Passed for 2003 Behind Closed Doors; Bush Issues
Larger Request for 2004; Time to Gear Up for Next Debate!

In this update: Congress approves 2003 Colombia aid with no debate;
Bush's budget request for 2004; Action Needed Now (timeline and action
ideas); New resources for grassroots activists available soon.

1. 2003 budget bill approved.  On Feb. 13, the House and Senate approved
the federal budget for 2003.  Usually, the budget is broken up into 13
different bills (the foreign aid bill, defense bill, treasury/postal
bill, etc).  However, because of delays last year, Congress wasn't able
to pass the bills individually before they had to adjourn for the
winter.  To pass the bills quickly this year, the new Congress lumped
them all together into what is called an 'omnibus' bill, and passed them
all at once.  This bill-- which totals more than $397 billion-- was so
massive that they limited the debate and amendments that could be offered
to it.  In fact, much of the bill was determined by Republican leadership
behind closed doors.  No amendments on the Colombia aid included in the
bill were allowed, and there was no debate on the Colombia issue.

*To make up for the lack of debate on this bill, we need to gear up for
the debate on 2004 funding, where we will see amendments offered to
change US policy towards Colombia.  This debate will happen over the
summer.  See below for details.*

The omnibus bill that was just passed contains $773 million in aid for
the Andean region for 2003, an increase of more than $100 million over
last year.  The aid-- which is overwhelmingly military-- can be used for
both fumigation and Colombia's war.  The Bush Administration has signaled
that it plans to increase the amount of land fumigated this year to
300,000 acres, and will start large-scale spraying of opium poppy this
year in addition to coca.  The poppy spraying may have a drastic impact
on the environment and legal food crops, since poppy is grown on steep
valley hillsides, often near rivers (increasing the risk of water
contamination by the herbicides) and is often inter-cropped with food
staples such as corn and yuca.

$88 million in military aid will be used to train the Colombian military
to guard an oil pipeline owned in part by Los Angeles-based Occidental
Petroleum.

2. Bush Issues Request for 2004 Budget.  Earlier this month, the Bush
Administration released its request for the 2004 budget.  Included in the
request for foreign aid was $731 million for the Andean region-- most of
which is for the Colombian armed forces and police-- plus an additional
$110 million for the pipeline protection program.  A small portion of the
$731 million (about $150 million) would fund alternative development
programs, justice sector support, and aid for the displaced.  This
represents a considerable increase in military aid over 2003 funding, and
a decrease in alternative development aid.

3. Next Steps.  Our voices-- and the democratic process-- were stifled
when debate was restricted on the 2003 omnibus bill.  We need to ensure
that this will not happen again.  Congress will debate Colombia aid for
2004 starting in May or June.  Especially because this is a new Congress
(many of the new members have not yet made up their minds on the Colombia
package), we need to start early and build momentum leading up to this
summer's votes.  Here are some ideas for how you and others in your
community can help change policy:

 Organize a group to meet with your member of Congress or an aide
 when they are back in their districts for congressional recesses.  You
 can begin by calling your district or state office to set up a meeting
 for the April recess (April 14-25; meetings should be scheduled a few
 weeks to a month ahead).  Gather a group and go in for a meeting in
 April.  For tips on how to make lobby phone calls or do visits, please
 see <http://www.lawg.org/lobbytips.htm>www.lawg.org/lobbytips.htm.  To
 find out who your senators or representative are, or to get the phone
 number for your members' district or state offices, please see
 <http://www.house.gov>www.house.gov or
<http://www.senate.gov>www.senate.gov.
    * Participate in the Colombia Mobilization events on March
 23-28.  Events are taking place in Los Angeles CA, St. Louis MO,
 Stratford CT, and Atlanta GA.  Lobby packets will be on-hand at
 events.  See
<http://www.colombiamobilization.org>www.colombiamobilization.org for
 more information.
    * Participate in the Colombia Mobilization's National Call-In Day on
 Colombia on Tuesday, March 25.  More info at
 <http://www.colombiamobilization.org>www.colombiamobilization.org.
  * Host a Colombian speaker to your community.  After the talk is
  over, have materials on hand so that attendees can write letters to
 their members of Congress.  For House and Senate addresses, please see
 http://www.house.gov>www.house.gov and
 http://www.senate.gov>www.senate.gov.  Contact Elanor Starmer at
 mailto:estarmer at lawg.org>estarmer at lawg.org if you are interested in
 hosting a speaker to your community.
    * Organize a letter-writing event to Congress in your place of
 worship, community group, or university; have your place of worship
 draft a resolution on Colombia and send it to your members of Congress;
 or have prominent community leaders send a joint letter to your members
 of Congress on Colombia.  Sample letters to new and returning members of
 Congress will be available at
 <http://www.lawg.org/colombia>www.lawg.org/colombia starting February 24.

4. New resources for grassroots activists.  The Latin America Working
Group is in the process of updating its tools for grassroots activists
working on Colombia.  Starting the week of Feb. 24, our website,
<http://www.lawg.org/colombia>www.lawg.org/colombia, will have sample
letters to the editor, letters to new and returning members of Congress,
and other helpful resources.  Please check our site then for help
organizing local events.  We also have a concise list of lobby tips now
available at <http://www.lawg.org/lobbytips.htm>www.lawg.org/lobbytips.htm.
This
information, compiled by the Chicago Religious Leadership Network, will
help you plan effective phone calls and visits with your members of
Congress.

Thank you for all of your hard work!