Sisters and Brothers,

Washington, D.C. – The National Committee to Free Ricardo Palmera, along with students and other activists from around the country protested here Dec. 3 against the sentencing of Colombian revolutionary Ricardo Palmera. Ricardo Palmera was convinced of ‘conspiracy to kidnap’ in July. The other false charges the government attempted to pin on him met with a hung jury.

Due to the great interest in the release of several detainees by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), Colombia’s largest rebel group, Fight Back! is circulating the following FARC statement.

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the National Committee to Free Ricardo Palmera. We urge all our readers to support this campaign.

Washington D.C. – Professor Palmera appeared calm and confident as he entered the courtroom in an orange prison jumpsuit, Jan. 28. He listened with interest as U.S. prosecutor Ken Kohl repeatedly called him a ‘terrorist’ as he argued that Palmera should receive a life sentence.

President Bush and the U.S. government slapped the Colombian people in the face by imposing a 60-year prison term upon Colombian revolutionary Ricardo Palmera. Ricardo Palmera is a hero of the Colombian people. He has dedicated his entire life to the struggle of peasants and workers. He is responsible for negotiating peace processes and humanitarian prisoner exchanges on behalf of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People’s Army (FARC) and was seized in Ecuador on such a mission.

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the National Committee to Free Ricardo Palmera.

Raul Reyes, a leading member of the FARC – the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – was killed by the U.S. backed Colombian government March 1. Fight Back! asked Jess Sundin, who traveled to Colombia and met with Raul Reyes, to give her impressions of him and to speak about the significance of his slaying. Sundin is a member of Freedom Road Socialist Organization and an important leader in Minnesota’s peace and justice movement.

His spirit and work will live forever

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from Freedom Road Socialist Organization on the murder of Raul Reyes.

'A message to the people of the United States'

The following is a video interview of Raul Reyes, given in July, 2000. It was filmed by Jess Sundin, a Colombia solidarity activist and a member of Freedom Road Socialist Organization. The following is a English translation of a few excerpts from Raul Reyes statement, which is in Spanish.

Several leaders of the U.S. movement in solidarity with the Colombian people condemned the March 1 killing of Raul Reyes, the main spokesperson for the FARC, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. Reyes was murdered in Ecuador by Colombian troops with U.S. assistance.

Chicago, IL – Gathering in front of the Colombian Consulate here, 60 protesters took on the job of getting out the truth about the situation in Colombia, March 6. One of speakers from Colombia spoke about the death of five innocent family members by paramilitaries who all went unpunished for their crimes. One of the Ecuadorian speakers talked about meeting many Colombians that had to leave their homes due to paramilitary violence.

Washington D.C. – Colombian revolutionary Ricardo Palmera will testify in his own defense here in Federal Court the second week of April. Members of the National Committee to Free Ricardo Palmera will be attending the trial April 8 and urge other supporters to join them.

Meredith Aby, a leader of the Colombia Action Network slammed the Bush administration’s Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Colombia stating, “We should oppose the Free Trade Agreement with Colombia because it is an attempt by Bush to promote corporate interests at the expense of the working people of Colombia. Colombia is already the most dangerous place in the world to be a trade unionist. The U.S. has spent billions of dollars supporting the repressive Colombian government which sponsors death squads. These death squads kill and attack trade union organizers and anyone else who questions Colombian President Uribe’s right-wing agenda. This free trade deal would be like adding fuel to a fire.”

Hear Podcast of Kati Ketz on today’s testimony

Washington D.C. – Fight Back! interviews Kati Ketz, who attended the trial of Ricardo Palmera here, April 8. Ketz is a member of Students for a Democratic Society in Asheville, North Carolina. The National Committee to Free Ricardo Palmera urges all progressive people to attend the trial.

Washington, D.C. – In stunning defeat for the Bush administration, the attempt to frame Colombian rebel Ricardo Palmera on drug trafficking charges ended with a hung jury in Federal Court here, April 21. With the jurors unable to agree, Judge Royce Lambert declared a mistrial.

Following a State Department request, the U.S. prosecutor asked that all drug charges against Colombian revolutionary Ricardo Palmera be dropped. This follows two mistrials where American juries failed to convict Colombian rebel, Palmera. The Bush Administration spent millions of taxpayer dollars on two lengthy trials where the deck was stacked against Palmera. Professor Palmera is an important negotiator for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

We are saddened by the death of Manuel Marulanda, commander in chief of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People's Army (FARC-EP). At the same time, we are inspired by the powerful example of his life and work. Marulanda embodied the struggle of the Colombian people for national liberation and socialism. He was both a Colombian patriot and an internationalist – a persistent advocate for a united Latin America free from domination by U.S. imperialism. Marulanda was a Great Liberator, in the tradition of the Simon Bolivar.

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the Colombia Action Network.

The Bush Pentagon and State Department are crowing after a raid in which 15 prisoners of war, including three American mercenaries, were freed. What they are not telling you is that the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) were preparing to unilaterally release the prisoners in early July 2008.