WHAT: DEMONSTRATION WITH VISUALS
WHEN: TUESDAY APRIL 11, AT NOON
WHERE: COLOMBIAN AMBASSADOR’S RESIDENCE, Q & 20th Streets
Demanding that peace in Colombia take precedence over US corporate interests, activists from a broad coalition will rally tomorrow at noon in front of the Colombian Ambassador’s residence. Colombian President Andres Pastrana arrives in Washington on Tuesday evening to lobby for passage of the proposed military aid package to Colombia. The demonstration is part of the week-long Mobilization for Global Justice that culminates on April 16th.
On Capitol Hill, the $1.7 billion aid package is being supported by a group of US corporations that stand to profit greatly with its passage. Occidental Petroleum (Oxy), which is locked in a stand off with the U’wa tribe over drilling rights in the Samoré oil field – estimated 1.5 billion barrels of oil, has been particularly active in Washington over the last month. A Colombian court placed an injunction on further construction by Oxy last week, noting that drilling would violate the “fundamental rights” of the indigenous U’wa people.
“Oxy hopes this military aid package will protect their investment – it has nothing to do with promoting peace or human rights in Colombia. Their continued lobbying for the military aid package is highly ironic given the clear correlation between oil and violence in Colombia, and the fact that Oxy has admitted that they pay a “war tax” to guerrilla groups,” said Stephen Kretzmann of Amazon Watch.
An April 3, 2000 Newsweek article reported that United Technologies, whose Sikorsky division produces Blackhawk helicopters, donated $125,000 last year to Democratic congressional committees. The majority of this money was reportedly given in late December, right before the Clinton Administration introduced the aid package earmarking $452 million for 30 Blackhawk and 15 Huey helicopters. The same article reported that both Textron who makes Bell Huey Helicopters and United Technologies have made $1.25 million in donations to Democrats and Republicans between 1997 and 1999.
“We want President Pastrana to know that US citizens see the emphasis on helicopters for military activity and fumigation as only escalating a war in which civilians are the main victims, while doing absolutely nothing to deal with the drug problem either here or in Colombia. Instead of fanning the flames of war, we should be addressing the gross social inequities and injustices underlying the conflict,” Charlie Roberts of the Colombia Human Rights Committee.
Although millions of Colombians have demonstrated for peace, the majority of this package is assistance to the Colombian army, widely-recognized as the most abusive military in the Western hemisphere. The military aid package will make the United States a major actor in Colombia’s three decade old counterinsurgency war.
