Over the last couple weeks, from Tempe, Arizona to Duluth, Minnesota, Olympia, Washington to Jackson Heights, New York, people like you have been creating hundreds of portraits of our Colombian sisters and brothers and have been showcasing them in your community centers, churches and city streets. And people are paying attention!
But to make a real impact, we need Washington to get in on the conversation, too.
Please join us in a National Call-in for Colombia this week!
After learning about the role that U.S. policies have played in fueling the displacement crisis in Colombia, we know you must be itching to take action. A great way to make our legislators to pay attention is to get their phones ringing off the hooks. So, today we're going to give Washington a piece of our minds through thousands of phone calls that will tell them about where our policies are going wrong and what specific steps they can take to fix them.
What do we need from you? Call your legislator using the instructions below, then get everyone your know to do it too!
Below we've given you simple instructions for making the call. We've provided a script that you can use to cover our priority issues, but if you want to see a longer list of our talking points, click here.
How to Make an Effective Call
Call the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 and ask to be put through to your member of Congress. If you don't know who your representative is, click here to look it up. Ask the receptionist if you can speak with the Foreign Policy aide. If he/she is not available, leave a message. And to really make your voice heard, click here to follow up with an email.
Call script:
"I am a constituent of Representative ________ calling to urge her/him to increase aid for internally displaced people and refugees in Colombia, and to co-sponsor House Resolution 1224, which supports displaced Afro-Colombian and indigenous people's rights. With over 4.9 million people internally displaced in Colombia, the U.S. needs to help solve rather than contribute to this massive humanitarian crisis. We need to promote a negotiated end to the conflict, not fund the military and sign base agreements that will only result in more violence. We need to create opportunities for small-scale farmers and workers, rather than passing a harmful free trade agreement. We need to face the fact that the aerial spraying program from Plan Colombia has not reduced coca production, has been a cause of displacement for many Colombian families, and needs to be fully ended. Colombians are calling for peace. Please join me in supporting their call by making these changes to U.S. policy today."
(We're focusing on the House of Representatives right now because of H. Res. 1224, but if you want to call your Senators too, just take out the part about the resolution in the script above.)
We hope you agree with us that true power comes from collective action and will help us put maximum power behind our message today!
