To get in touch with your senators or representative, you can call the congressional switchboard at 202-224-3121 and ask the operator to connect you to the office. It is fine to leave a message after business hours; just remember to speak slowly and start the message by telling them that you are a constituent. If you don't know the name of your representative or senators, you can look them up at http://www.senate.gov or http://www.house.gov/writerep

Talking Points

• I believe that peace is possible in Colombia, but not through more military aid and fumigation.
• Plan Colombia was passed by Congress in 2000 as a five-year policy with the goals of reducing drug availability on U.S. streets and reducing violence in Colombia. It has failed miserably. Why?
  • 2004 saw the largest aerial spray campaign ever in Colombia. Despite the record effort, the amount of coca in Colombia did not budge an inch-- it actually went up slightly! After five years and billions of dollars, the number of hectares planted in coca in Colombia and the price and availability of cocaine on our streets remains almost the same. Fumigation has wreaked havoc on rural Colombian communities, destroying farm families' food crops, usually without providing alternatives. The policy has made NO progress. We need a new approach.
• WE WANT a policy that combines social assistance in Colombia with drug treatment and prevention programs at home- not more of the same failed policy.
• I'm extremely concerned about violence against innocent civilians in Colombia by all armed actors. The United Nations has found that direct human rights violations by the Colombian military have increased in recent years; I don't believe that the United States should give more money to a military with a poor human rights record. Colombia is no closer to peace with brutal armed groups like the FARC than it was when Plan Colombia began.
• WE WANT a policy that supports the justice sector; protects human rights defenders, peace workers, and labor leaders; values the perspectives of religious, peace, and indigenous communities; and helps rural communities develop sustainable livelihoods free from violence.
• A proposal for a new U.S.-Colombia policy, "Blueprint for a New Colombia Policy," is available at the website of the Latin America Working Group, http://www.lawg.org/docs/Blueprint.pdf. Over thirty human rights, church, union and grassroots groups contributed to the Blueprint. It's our way of saying to Congress, "there is an alternative!".
• In February, 8 civilians, including three children, were massacred in two incidents in the peace community of San José de Apartadó. The community holds the Colombian military responsible. A serious investigation is needed.
• WE WANT: Our government to have a stronger stance on human rights. I ask that you instruct the State Department not to certify that Colombia has met the human rights conditions necessary to receive U.S. aid. A full and transparent investigation should be conducted to ensure that the perpetrators of the San José massacre, and other massacres, are brought to justice, and the Colombian military must break its links with abusive paramilitary forces.