Another wave of threats has once again swept across Colombia, this time warning of an imminent “social cleansing” of “undesirable” individuals from Colombian society. Colombian churches and others are reporting that the violence unleashed by these alleged paramilitary threats has already left three young people and seven fishermen dead in Chocó.
We need you to help roll back this latest wave of threats and violence by sending this email message to Ambassador Brownfield right away.* While helping to protect those who are being targeted is our first priority, this email also rightly calls on the ambassador to ensure the Colombian government is taking real steps to fully dismantle paramilitary groups and their supporting structures.
Tragic events like this remind us that we’re going to have to work extra hard to make sure the new Obama Administration gets the full picture of what’s going on in Colombia. Most importantly, we have to make sure President Obama himself understands that we need a new policy—and we’ll need your help to pierce the bubble and get our message through. Luckily, the perfect opportunity is just around the corner!
Join LAWG and tens of thousands of people across the United States in participating in Days of Prayer and Action on April 19th and 20th. There are lots of ways you and your community can get involved (see our last alert for a full list of ideas), but if you have only a few minutes, please encourage President Obama to support “Change Colombia Can Believe In.” Your message of hope and peace for Colombia is only a few clicks away from the President’s desk, so don’t wait to send it!
*Thanks to our partners at the US Office on Colombia and Washington Office on Latin America for organizing the email campaign to Ambassador Brownfield.
