Commander Sonia, a leader of the FARC (the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) was extradited to the United States on March 9. In many press reports the women rebel commander is also referred to as Omaira Rojas.

In a statement issued Feb. 27, Colombia’s largest rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), said that extradition of an important guerilla leader to the United States was a roadblock to organizing an exchange of prisoners of war in Colombia. Ricardo Palmera, also known as Simon Trinidad, is being held in a prison near Washington, D.C.

Chicago, IL – “It's a crime that the U.S. government has jailed a man who has dedicated his entire life to fighting for the liberation of the Colombian people,” said Tom Burke of the newly formed National Committee to Free Ricardo Palmera. Palmera, a leader of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), is being held in a prison near Washington D.C. The FARC is a rebel army that has fought for 40-plus years to rid Colombia of exploitation, oppression and foreign domination. The FARC now controls more than 40% of the countryside.

Demand Freedom for Ricardo Palmera!

Ricardo Palmera, a key leader Colombia’s largest rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, (FARC), was handed over to U.S. custody Dec. 31. He is now sitting in a U.S. jail awaiting trial in federal court. Everyone who values justice should raise their voices and demand his immediate release.

Columbus, GA - Ten thousand people descended on Fort Benning, Georgia, Nov. 18-19 to shut down the School of the Americas (S.O.A.). Also known as the School of Assassins, the S.O.A. has trained over 60,000 Latin American soldiers in counter-insurgency so they can repress the people in their homelands.

Part Two of an Interview with Miguel Cifuente

Members of the Colombia Action Network, Thistle Parker-Hartog and Meredith Aby, interviewed Colombian peasant leader Miguel Cifuente, the executive secretary of the Cimitarra River Valley Peasant Association. For reasons of space we broke the interview into two parts. The first part can be found in here.

“Boycott Killer Coke, No Blood for Oil!”

The Colombia Action Network has called for national days of action, Nov. 1 through Nov. 6, to support Colombian trade unionists and to stop Plan Colombia. Plan Colombia is the U.S. military aid package given to Colombia’s death squad government.

Part 1 of 2

Members of the Colombia Action Network, Thistle Parker-Hartog and Meredith Aby , interviewed Colombian peasant leader Miguel Cifuente, the executive secretary of the Cimitarra River Valley Peasant Association.

Colombia is the most dangerous place in the world to be a trade unionist. On average, right-wing paramilitary death squads or the military murder three Colombian trade unionists a week. Many more are threatened each day. At the same time the U.S. has given more than $3 billion in military aid, which funds both the military and paramilitary war on Colombian trade unionists, human rights workers and campesinos (peasants).

For two weeks in July, a solidarity delegation of the Colombia Action Network (CAN) traveled in Colombia, meeting with leading trade unionists, peasant leaders and other participants in that country’s powerful movement for justice and liberation. The CAN delegation was made up of anti-war and student activists from Illinois, Minnesota and Connecticut. The delegation investigated the impact of U.S. military aid through Plan Colombia and extended solidarity to the struggle of the Colombian people against U.S. imperialism.