Houston, TX – Over 50 people gathered at Solidarity Houston, a left-wing book store, Nov. 19, to discuss Simon Trinidad and the Colombian peace process. The event was organized by the Houston Anti-War Coalition and included three panelists who spoke about the history of the Colombian left, the Colombian rebel group FARC-EP and the U.S. imperialist war on Colombia.

Simon Trinidad, a leader of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia (FARC) was kidnapped, brought to the U.S. and is currently being held in the Florence, Colorado supermax prison. The FARC wants him released so that he can join the peace negotiations with the Colombian government.

After the presentation, the panelists discussed the Colombian peace process and showed why progressive-minded people in the U.S. should demand the immediate release of Simon Trinidad. There was a diverse crowd, largely student based, and they were upset with the misinformation that they have received about Colombia from the capitalist media. During the discussion, many of them were interested in ways that they could get involved in the campaign to free Simon Trinidad, in order to end U.S. intervention in Latin America and Colombia.

The panelist discussed the national call-in day, in which people will be encouraged to call President Obama and demand the release of Simon Trinidad. There was interest in having future actions and educational events related to Simon Trinidad and the ongoing peace process. The meeting ended with a revolutionary Colombian song:

For justice and truth together with the people On the first dawn came up this little song Which was born in our guerrilla voices of struggle and future With Bolívar, Galán is riding horse again No more crying, no more pain for our nation We are people who go after freedom Constructing the path of peace

#HoustonTX #FARCEP #Colombia #SimónTrinidad #HoustonAntiWarCoalition #SolidarityHouston #Americas