Stand by Colombia's Victims of Violence

They don't get it... yet.

Although we now have new leadership in Washington, they still don't understand what they need to do to stand up for human rights. They think that by saying more about the importance of human rights and democracy than the Bush Administration did, they are making progress. But we know that until they actually change U.S. policies to support victims of violence in places like Mexico and Colombia, they will continue to be a part of the problem, not the solution.

Now, if we can get them to hear what we hear from people in Mexico and Colombia and know what we know, they might change their tune.

So, this month we are launching a "Human Rights NOW" campaign, which will use innovative tactics to get them to make human rights come first in U.S. policy.

Actions speak louder than words.

This seems like a simple concept. But lately, the Obama Administration and the State Department seem to have forgotten it when dealing with Latin America. Despite serious human rights abuses by Colombian and Mexican security forces alike, the State Department just went ahead and declared that both countries were meeting the human rights requirements needed in order to receive more U.S. military aid.

Click here to send a fax to Secretary of State Clinton asking her to stand up for human rights!

Today, LAWGEF joined labor, environmental, human rights, development and faith-based organizations in submitting written comments to the United States Trade Representative (USTR) in response to a formal request to the public for opinions on the pending trade agreement. In their comments, these groups outlined the specific human rights and labor problems in Colombia, and urged the Obama Administration to insist upon seeing fundamental improvements on these issues before going forward with a free trade agreement.  Violence against trade unionists and other obstacles to worker rights were outlined by the AFL-CIO and US Labor Education in the Americas Project.  Some groups also outlined the potential impact of the trade agreement on the rural poor, including Afro-Colombian and indigenous communities.

Last week, a group of intrepid activists came together to raise awareness about the serious human rights issues that the Colombian government is seeking to hide with their recent campaign “Discover Colombia through its Heart.” Here are some great pictures shot of actions during the week by Brandon Wu from Public Citizen.

Just as the Bush Administration did countless times before, the Obama Administration certified on September 8th that Colombia meets the human rights conditions in law. The conditions, which refer to gross violations of human rights by Colombia’s security forces and collaboration between those forces and paramilitary or other illegal armed groups, are attached to thirty percent of Colombia’s military aid.

$800,000 on hearts.

You heard that right. With a massive humanitarian crisis on their hands, the Colombian government is spending $800,000 on an installation of more than forty, 8-13 ft tall heart sculptures in DC and New York this fall. This campaign, called "Colombia Is Passion," was supposedly designed to educate Americans about the "real" Colombia, a fun and beautiful country in which violence and human rights abuses are a thing of the distant past.

At this point, you might be asking, "Why this? Why now?"

Why is the United States expanding its military bases in Colombia?
What does this mean for U.S.-Colombia relations?
What does this mean for the region?

These are the questions on the lips of many Latin American leaders and activists as they react to the deal under works between Colombia and United States that would grant the U.S. military access to at least five additional Colombian military bases. This deal with Colombia comes quickly after Ecuador decided to end its agreement with the U.S. that allowed the U.S. military access to the Manta airbase on Ecuador’s Pacific coast.