International Days of ​ACTION​ For Peace in Colombia
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San Francisco
Colombian Consulate
595 Market Street (Montgomery Bart)
San Francisco, CA
MONDAY AUGUST 6, 12:00 NOON

TASK FORCE ON THE AMERICAS: FACT SHEET – COLOMBIA, AUGUST 2018

COLOMBIA IN CRISIS AFTER THE PEACE ACCORD

The Peace accord was signed in 2016 and FARC-EP guerillas, in good faith, disarmed to reintegrate into the society as a left politically legal force recognized by the state.

● Lands stolen from the peasants were to be returned, political prisoners were to be freed, assassinations, disappearances and Intimidation would stop.

● Victims and their families would receive retribution.

● There would be complete freedom of political participation of the rural as well as urban communities.

● None of the above has happened.

INSTEAD:

• The US continues to back the landed, wealthy right-wing of the Colombian society through intensive undercover intelligence and military programs and support Ivan Duque, the winner of the June 2018 elections.
• Duque promises to support US aggression toward Venezuela as well as other US intelligence gathering in Colombia and other parts of Latin America and the Caribbean
• It is in the interest of US corporations to stop popular social movements in Colombia because they oppose the foreign pillaging of national land and resources.
• Colombia has been and will continue to be the main stage of US. military and intelligence gathering in Latin America so an elected right-wing is important.

WHAT IS HAPPENING NOW:

● Violence toward community leaders, human rights defenders and communities that resist has climbed to its highest rate in 10 years.

● Paramilitary groups have dominated the communities that were previously areas of FARC influence.

● People are dragged from their houses weekly and either disappeared or publically put to death.

● The state denies the existence of the paramilitary who are the armies of the right wing sectors.

● Political prisoners have not been released.

● The US is trying to extradite FARC leaders to the US on false drug charges.

● Sectors of resistance are denied, by threats, their right to participate in elections.

● Over 7,000 guerillas who gave up their arms for peace have not received the security, economic, and political guarantees promised by the government .

● Poverty, hunger, and violence continue to increase, since the Peace Accord, in the cities as well as the countryside.

● July 30, 8 killed by paramilitary in a shooting en El Tarra, Catatumbo, northern Colombia

WHAT CAN WE DO?

● Join the international resistance to US Policy in Colombia and Latin America.

● Denounce the crimes of the large corporations and banks.

● Support the popular social movements in Colombia.

● Do not be blindsided by what looks like a popular movement and isn’t: Nicaragua, Venezuela.

● Support migrants and refugees and know the reasons behind these mass mobilizations to the north.

● Stop US militarization, intelligence gathering and influence in Colombia.

● Counter the false news of the US media and its Colombian affiliates with people’s news.

● Denounce NGO’s, evangelical churches and other foreign organizations that interfere in the political process of Colombia. Support Self-determination!

We are a grassroots human rights and anti-imperialist organization dedicated to supporting the social justice movements in Latin America and the Caribbean, along with educating North Americans about the realities of the Americas and the role the US plays there. Founded in 1985, we are also known as the Marin Interfaith Task Force on the Americas (MITF).

www.taskforceamericas.org