Miami, FL- Around 30 people, largely from the small but well-organized group Progressive Colombians Miami, gathered at the Torch of Friendship in Miami to take part in an international day of action called for by Colombia Humana. The August 7 Day of Action denounced the ongoing right-wing violence in Colombia that is being committed against former guerillas, progressives, human-rights activists, unionists, and farmers by government-supported paramilitaries. Hundreds have died since the supposed peace-deal was signed by now former-president Santos two years ago.

The Miami event was one of over 83 that took place in 17 countries across the globe. For their part, the Miami activists decided to use the opportunity to inform the public of the atrocities being committed against progressives in Colombia by acting out an original play entitled, El Juicio del Desjuiciado, or The Trial of the Demented.

The play was a mock trial of former-president-and-senator Alvaro Uribe. The activists represented various groups that have been victimized by the government and paramilitaries in Colombia, acting out their suffering and exposing Uribe’s guilt in the current situation. “Uncle Sam” also testified and admitted his guilt in the violence, even putting red paint on his hands to represent the blood of innocents. At the end of the 30-minute long street theater, the man playing Uribe was found “guilty of all counts” and was dragged away in a bright orange prison uniform, as the crowd yelled, “Culpable!”

The mock-trial was an original and engaging way to explain the history of Colombia, the reasons behind the ongoing violence there, and why a real peace must be achieved for the people of Colombia and the world.

#MiamiFL #AntiwarMovement #Colombia #Americas #AlvaroUribe #ProgressiveColombiansMiami #ColombiaHumana

Behind closed doors, Uribe spoke about how he brought prosperity and peace to the Colombian people by combating violent militias. The opposite is in fact true. Uribe supported right-wing militia groups connected to the Colombian military and which were also partially funded by U.S. corporations like Drummond Coal, Chiquita Banana and Coca-Cola. The so-called AUC (Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia) terrorize the countryside, carrying out gruesome attacks against poor farmers and driving them off their land. Colombia now has the largest displaced population in the world, more than even Iraq, where the U.S. occupation is wreaking havoc. Over 4 million rural Colombians are crowding into towns and cities with no work and few prospects. Many Colombian farmers are fleeing over the borders into neighboring countries like Venezuela.

In addition, Uribe left office on the heels of the ‘false positives, scandal, where dozens of Colombian military officers were caught kidnapping low-income young men from the cities, executing them in the countryside and claiming they were members of the powerful Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebel group killed in combat. The current President Santos was Uribe’s Minister of Defense overseeing the military officers who carried out the systematic murders of close to 3000 civilians.

Outside Zion Bank’s conference, student protester Emily Lacock explained, “Uribe deserves to know that people recognize his crimes and will not silence their outrage.” While passing out flyers detailing Uribe's criminal record, the protesters chanted, “Plan Colombia is a scam! Death squads sent by Uncle Sam!”

“I think it’s atrocious that the U.S. can masquerade Uribe as a 'hero',” said protester Kristen Lambert. Kristen continued, “During Uribe’s presidency, Colombia’s human rights record was the worst in our hemisphere and people suffered more overwhelming poverty while he supposedly improved the economy.”

The sharp divisions in the U.S. were felt on the street that day. As bankers rushed into the Marriott Hotel to hear Uribe's lies, many of the hotel's staff took an interest in the activities on the outside. There were local construction workers and carpenters’ union members who stopped to chat about the situation in Colombia. The union workers were upset to hear how their Colombian counterparts were being murdered at a rate of one a week.

The Revolutionary Students Union (RSU), affiliated with the Students for a Democratic Society, organized the protest as part of the movement against U.S. intervention and war in Colombia. A RSU leader said, “Even in Utah, Uribe will be held accountable for waging a dirty war against the poor farmers and working people of Colombia. We oppose the U.S.-led counter-insurgency war and say no to the Colombia Free Trade Agreement. By speaking out against America's lackeys like Uribe, we cut through the deafening silence that holds so many captive while expressing the solidarity with those who are facing the brunt force of the U.S. empire.”

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Meredith Aby of the Colombia Action Network said, “It’s outrageous that days after the FARC released unilaterally hostages for the second time that the blood thirsty Colombian government responded by attacking the FARC and killing one of their top leaders. The U.S. is arming and directing a government that truly has no interest in peace.”

Tom Burke, who helps lead the effort to free Ricardo Palmera, the kidnapped FARC leader who is on trial in Washington D.C., stated, “The National Committee to Free Ricardo Palmera extends its sympathy to the family, friends and comrades of Colombian martyr Raul Reyes. Raul Reyes sacrificed his life in the revolutionary service of the Colombian people. The leadership of Raul Reyes brought the peoples of Latin America closer to fulfilling the dream of Simon Bolivar – a unified, independent and peaceful future.”

Burke added, “The National Committee condemns the killing of Raul Reyes by the Bush administration, the Pentagon and the U.S. puppet president in Colombia, Alvaro Uribe. The U.S. is conducting a dirty war in Colombia, spending $5 billion to support the most anti-democratic and reactionary regime in the history of Colombia. The drug-soaked and criminal administration of Alvaro Uribe – a death-squad government that assassinates trade unionists, community organizers, peasant leaders and anyone opposed to tyranny and oppression in Colombia. The U.S. is trying but failing to quench the growing revolution lead by the FARC in Colombia.”

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