The war next door: The War Next Door: US Role in Colombia’s Civil War
Since 2000, the United States has spent more than $6 billion on ‘Plan Colombia,’ as part of the ‘drug war’ and ‘war on terrorism’ — 80% on military aid. Colombia received more U.S. military aid during this period than any other country outside the Middle East. Extensively documented by human rights groups, the Colombian military works with right-wing paramilitary death squads who murder trade unionists, human rights workers, and social justice activists.
Guatemala only recently surpassed Colombia as the deadliest country in the world for union activists. In the last 20 years, 4,000 Colombian trade unionists have been murdered. Each year, more union activists are killed in Colombia than in the rest of the world combined. Human rights groups have documented that the paramilitary death squads killing trade unionists receive substantial U.S. aid.
The Colombian government and the FARC (the largest rebel army) have been holding peace negotiations in Cuba. What will it take to win peace with justice in Colombia?
Speakers Jess Sundin, Eden Yosief, Meredith Aby-Keirstead and Jennie Eisert talked about the war less covered by the U.S. media: the Colombian civil war, how Colombians are fighting to keep the right to organize unions, and what you can what we can do to stop the US obstruction of genuine peace.