Work with congressional candidates before the upcoming elections to support peace, justice and human rights in Colombia!

Congressional elections will take place on November 7, 2006. All seats in the House of Representatives are up for election, as are a third of Senate seats. There is bound to be at least some turnover in Congress, which could lead to a change in the direction of U.S. policy in Colombia – one that would include greater respect for peace, justice and human rights. But this won’t happen automatically. Candidates need to know where their constituents stand!

One of the best times to address specific issues with a member of Congress is before s/he is elected. This is particularly true for congressional candidates that are challenging incumbents. Challengers are still determining their positions on many issues and they will be heavily influenced by what their constituents think. Just before elections is the perfect time to call on candidates to listen to your concerns about U.S. policy in Colombia, and to ask him/her to represent your views once elected.

What if I want to influence an incumbent?

Influencing Candidates

Here are some ideas of what you can do to make sure that Colombia policy takes a new direction in the new Congress:

• Send information on Colombia to the candidate by requesting LAWG’s candidate packet! Accompany the information with a letter on why you care about seeing a change in U.S. policy in Colombia.
  
  Click here to request a candidate packet and to view a sample letter.
  
  You can send the letter and candidate packet as an individual or work with people in your community to send as a collective voice. Be the spokesperson of your local organization, university, congregation or labor union. Speaking as a group will have even more impact with the candidate.

• Attend town meetings with the candidate and use the opportunity to present your views and to ask for his/her pledge to work for a new U.S.-Colombia policy.

• Meet with the candidate. Candidates are usually very receptive to meeting with constituents from their districts to hear what they have to say. This is the most effective way of both giving information to the candidate and expressing your interest in Colombia to the candidate. Ask the candidate to define his/her position on U.S. policy in Colombia and make clear that you would like to see him/her work vigorously for peace and social justice in Colombia when in office. If your candidate is elected to Congress you will have already established a relationship with him/her that you can then build upon; this is the key to effective grassroots advocacy!
  
  You can arrange a meeting with a candidate for yourself or, preferably, form a delegation of diverse constituencies that care about peace and social justice in Colombia, including faith communities, labor, supporters of justice, health care professionals, farmers, educators and students, women's groups, Latin American refugees and immigrants, etc. A serious and successful campaign demands the unity of the broadest spectrum of advocates. Organize a meeting with the candidate to speak about your shared concerns for the humanitarian crisis in Colombia, threats and violence against trade unionists and human rights defenders, and the desperate situation of displaced persons – including Afro-Colombian and indigenous peoples.

• For more ideas on how to influence congressional candidates, visit LAWG's webpage on influencing candidates: www.lawg.org/tools/influencing/candidates-intro.htm. Here you will find other strategies and actions for influencing candidates as well as links to up-to-date information on candidates, primaries and elections.

Influencing Incumbents

If you are are interested in influencing an congressional incumbent, this is still a great time to remind him/her that you believe U.S.-Colombia policy should work for peace and justice. If your member of Congress has worked while in office to support these efforts you should thank him/her, and ask that s/he take a more proactive role in the next session of Congress on this issue. If the incumbent has wavered in the past on supporting a just and peaceful U.S. policy in Colombia, it is all the more important that you express to him/her what you think! Members of Congress are particularly attentive to their constituents in the face of elections.

If you’d like to know what position your member of Congress has taken on U.S.-Colombia policy in the past, send an email to at LAWG to find out.

What you can do to influence incumbents on Colombia policy:

• Send your representative or senator information from LAWG’s candidate packet.
  
• Meet with your member of Congress while s/he is in the district before elections. You can arrange a meeting for yourself or, preferably, organize the meeting for a group of constituents that care about social justice and peace in Colombia. Use this as a first step to building a relationship with the member of Congress and with his/her staff.
  • Preparing a meeting with a member of Congress
  • Holding an effective meeting with a member of Congress
    
• See LAWG’s webpage on convincing Congress for more information: http://www.lawg.org/tools/contacting_congress.htm.

To read more about the issue, visit LAWG's Colombia webpage.