Fight Back! is circulating the following statement from the Committee to Free Simon Trinidad. Simon Trinidad is a prisoner of the U.S. empire who has done nothing wrong, only struggled to free his country.

The Committee to Free Simón Trinidad condemns police murders and violent repression of protesters by the Colombian government. In the last ten days, Colombian police and military forces killed at least twenty-six protesters in the streets protesting higher taxes and government cutbacks. Backed by the U.S. government and President Biden, nobody will be prosecuted for these police killings and political repression.

On April 28, 2021, Colombian social movements, students and labor unions began marching in the streets to protest the Duque government’s attempt to impose a regressive value added tax (VAT). VAT targets basic goods and service and penalizes workers, peasants, students and small business owners who are suffering from sky high unemployment due to economic crisis and the COVID pandemic.

Peaceful protests took place in cities all across Colombia, but rather than listen to the people and engage in dialogue, the Colombian government of President Ivan Duque sent paramilitary police and the army against protesters. These forces attacked protesters in Cali, Bogotá, Barranquilla, Bucaramanga, and other cities all across the country.

Colombia is the most dangerous country in the world to be a trade unionist. The U.S. government spends billions on war and repression and operates seven military bases.

The Duque regime withdrew the regressive tax, but the protesters are pushing forward determined with broader demands. One demand is that President Duque comply with the Peace Agreement of 2016 that was negotiated with the FARC. Duque’s government is failing to abide by the peace accords and has undermined the special peace court (JEP), failed to implement agricultural reforms, and failed to re-incorporate a large number of political prisoners. The Colombian government has also failed to protect participants in the peace process. Two hundred and forty-six former FARC combatants have been assassinated by death squads.

The Colombian government has made no effort to reincorporate the Colombian champion of peace and former FARC peace negotiator Simón Trinidad. Trinidad is a political prisoner held by the United States government. Simón Trinidad should be freed as his presence in Colombia would reinvigorate the peace process. We call on all friends of peace and justice to work for Simon Trinidad’s repatriation.

Victory to the Colombian National Strike! FREE SIMON TRINIDAD!

#UnitedStates #FARCEP #Colombia #RicardoPalmera #PeoplesStruggles #SimónTrinidad #PoliticalPrisoners

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following declaration demanding the release of Ricardo Palmera (Simon Trinidad). Freedom Road Socialist Organization is one of the signers.

The Communist Parties and Workers signed by this declaration, we demand from the Government of the United States of America the immediate repatriation and release of political prisoner Ricardo Palmera Pineda, better known as Simon Trinidad in his militancy in the insurgent organization FARC-EP.

Simón Trinidad was captured in January 2004 in Quito, Ecuador, while advancing contacts for future peace talks. It was immediately handed over to the Colombian government who mined him to the US government as a war trophy of “Plan Colombia”.

Simon Trinidad, sentenced to 60 years in prison on the false and manipulated charge of “terrorist conspiracy,” remains held in USP's federal high-security prison Florence ADMAX, better known as Supermax, in strict solitary confinement.

The Communist and Workers' Parties and revolutionary organizations, signatories, declare that:

1. Simon Trinidad is a political and war prisoner. After the signing of the Havana Peace Agreement, between the Colombian Government and the FARC-EP insurgency, he should have been released and repatriated.
2. Due to its interference and intervention in Colombia's internal affairs and its military and intelligence activity in Colombian territory, which uses it as an aircraft carrier in the region, the US Government is the main part of Colombia's social, political and armed conflict.
3. Simon Trinidad, who has just turned 70 years old and more than 15 years imprisoned in solitary confinement, must be released immediately, for his firm commitment to peace.
4. We are committed to supporting, participating and promoting solidary actions with Simon Trinidad until we achieve the just goal of his release from the prison that keeps him truly abducted.

We recognize in Simon Trinidad an entire communist, who despite the harsh conditions to which the American imperialists subject him, stands firm in his convictions. Simon Trinidad is one of thousands of communists and revolutionaries imprisoned around the world, so our commitment and revolutionary ethics is for their liberation.

Freedom for Simon Trinidad!

August 9, 2020

PROMOTED BY COMMUNIST PARTY BRASILEIRO (PCB) COMMUNIST PARTY OF THE PEOPLES OF SPAIN (PCPE) COMMUNIST PARTY OF VENEZUELA (PCV)

Solidnet Parties signing the joint statement

1. Communist Party of Albania
2. Communist Party of Australia
3. Communist Party of Belgium
4. Brazilian Communist Party
5. New Communist Party of Britain
6. Socialist Worker's Party of Croatia
7. Communist Party In Denmark
8. German Communist Party
9. Communist Party of Greece
10. Palestinian People's Party
11. Paraguayan Communist Party
12. Philippine Communist Party (PKP-1930)
13. Communists of Serbia
14. New Communist Party of Yugoslavia
15. Communist Party of the Peoples of Spain
16. Communist Party of Turkey
17. Communist Party of Venezuela

Other Parties signing the joint statement

1. Partido de la Liberación (Caba) (Argentina)
2. Partido Comunista de Gran Bretaña (Marxista-Leninista)
3. Partido Comunista de Chile (Acción Proletaria)
4. Communist Party of the Donetsk People's Republic
5. Iniciativa Comunista (España)
6. Unión Proletaria (España)
7. Partido Comunista Obrero Español
8. Pôle de Renaissance Communiste en France
9. Agora Galiza – Up
10. Freedom Road Socialist Organization (USA)

#UnitedStates #FARCEP #Colombia #RicardoPalmera #PeoplesStruggles #SimónTrinidad #PoliticalPrisoners

In a video released on August 29, 2019, Iván Márquez, former lead peace negotiator for the FARC-EP in the peace talks in Havana, Cuba, announced that a sector of the FARC party (name of the successor party to the FARC-EP that was founded after the signing of the peace agreement in 2016) were returning to the armed struggle under the banner of the revolutionary guerrilla organization the FARC-EP (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia- Ejército del Pueblo). Iván Márquez read the FARC-EP’s new manifesto dressed in military fatigues surrounded by armed companions, including the famous FARC-EP commanders El Paisa and Jesús Santrich. The manifesto was read by Márquez with large, colorful FARC-EP banners in the background, and was filmed in the Inírida forest that is in a remote area of Colombia that borders both Brazil and Venezuela.

Márquez referred to the renewed armed struggle as “the march of the humble, ignored and unappreciated Colombia, towards the sparkling hills of the future.” In the manifesto Márquez made it clear that the return to the armed struggle was sparked by the “treason of the state” and its undermining of the Peace Agreement. The manifesto related the fact that over 500 social leaders and 150 ex-FARC-EP combatants had been assassinated since the signing of the peace agreement. Márquez spoke of a litany of actions and inactions that the Colombian government had committed that undermined the Havana Peace agreement, including the fact that Colombian government had failed in its promise to protect its citizens and to dismantle paramilitary death squads. According to Márquez, the treasonous behavior of the Colombian government forced the revolutionaries to “return to the mountains.”

In the manifesto, the FARC-EP stated that once again they would be the protectors of the environment, LGBTI people, workers and peasants. Márquez made it clear that he would seek to coordinate military activities with the ELN (Ejército de Liberación Nacional), a guerrilla group that entered into peace negotiations with the Colombian government but never reached an agreement, and the so-called FARC-EP dissidents, who are members of the FARC-EP that never demobilized nor disarmed after the signing of the peace agreement.

Márquez looked forward to a government of a “grand coalition of forces for life, social justice and democracy, that will bring about a coalition for a new peace dialogue.” This leader envisioned “peace for the Colombian people, peace for neighboring countries, peace on the military bases that will not aim its cannons against [Colombian] communities.”

The reaction from the Colombian government was swift. Ivan Duque, the ultra-right president of Colombia, ordered his attorney general to seek arrest warrants for Márquez and his companions in the video. The FARC party called Márquez’ call to arms a “delirious mistake” and vowed to keep working towards the fulfillment of the peace agreement.

Other revolutionary organizations, however, praised the FARC-EP’s call to arms. Rafael Uzcategui, the general secretary of the Patria Para Todos party of Venezuela, welcomed the “sovereign and dignified decision to return to arms” in the face of the “criminal” Duque government that has disowned the peace process. Comandante Uriel of the ELN, in a short video clip addressing Jesús Santrich, stated that the call to arms was “better late than never – we swear to achieve victory!”

In the backdrop of the FARC-EP video there appeared several pictures of heroes of the Colombian guerrilla movements, including Simón Trinidad. Simón Trinidad has been languishing in the Florence, Colorado Supermax prison after having been extradited to the United States in 2004, convicted on trumped-up charges, and sentenced to 60 years. Many believe that if the Colombian government really wanted to show their commitment to the peace process, that it should begin efforts to achieve the repatriation of the Colombian hero Simón Trinidad. This action would engender enormous confidence in the flailing peace process.

#WashingtonDC #OppressedNationalities #FARCEP #Colombia #Americas #PeoplesStruggles #ChicanoLatino

Jesús Santrich, ex-negociador por la paz de las FARC-EP, poeta, pintor, músico, y una voz popular para la paz ha sido re-encarcelado con el uso de un cargo por drogas inventado que proviene de la corte del Distrito Sur de Nueva York. Los cargos son ampliamente percibidos como un intento por el gobierno de los Estados Unidos, en colaboración con sectores de la oligarquía colombiana, para descarrilar el acuerdo de paz entre las FARC-EP y el gobierno colombiano.

La Jurisdicción Especial para la Paz (JEP – una corte que fue instituida por el acuerdo de la paz colombiano) falló que Santrich no puede ser extraditado a los Estados Unidos debido a todas la irregularidades en el caso, incluyendo el carecer de pruebas suficientes, y ordenó su inmediata excarcelación. Santrich estaba apunto de ser liberado de la cárcel llamada La Picota cuando el fiscal general colombiano mandó a que fuera arrestado de nuevo basado en “nueva” evidencia provista por los Estados Unidos a la Fiscalía General de Colombia. Santrich fue drogado por oficiales, según se informa el trató de cometer suicidio cortándose las venas de sus muñecas cuando escucho de que iba ser extraditado y fue llevado en helicóptero a la cárcel de la fiscalía general conocido como el “bunker.” Santrich sufrió un paro cardiaco y pulmonar y se encuentra en un estado delicado en un hospital.

Este arresto vienen en un tiempo cuando el acuerdo de paz, después de casi 500 líderes sociales y 130 ex-guerrilleros hayan sido asesinados por paramilitares de la ultra-derecha, esta apunto de colapsar. Además de los asesinatos, el gobierno ha fracasado en cumplir sus obligaciones bajo el acuerdo de paz de invertir en los sectores sociales, proteger a los líderes políticos y sociales, y excarcelar a los prisioneros políticos, entre otras cuestiones. La orden de liberar a Santrich, por la JEP, dio una apariencia momentánea de que el tratado de paz tenía un poco de vida, pero esta ilusión colapsó con el re-arresto de Santrich.

Iván Márquez, ex-jefe negociador de las FARC-EP en los Diálogos de paz de la Habana, mandó un mensaje al pueblo de Colombia. “El mundo fue testigo de la indignante burla de la liberación y recaptura inmediata de Santrich por la Fiscalía. Con su sucia actitud la Fiscalía, el uribismo [las políticas del ex-presidente Álvaro Uribe] y la embajada gringa le han extendido la más triste carta de defunción a la Paz.”

Lo Organización Socialista Camino de la Libertad demanda la excarcelación inmediata de Jesús Santrich y demanda que las autoridades colombianas tomen todas las medidas necesarias para proteger su vida y bienestar. La Organización Socialista Camino de la Libertad a la vez demanda que el gobierno colombiano cumpla sus obligaciones bajo los acuerdos de paz y que el gobierno de los Estados Unidos cese su injerencia en los asuntos internos de Colombia.

¡Santrich libre!

#UnitedStates #Colombia #FARCEP #Americas #PeoplesStruggles #JesúsSantrich

Jesus Santrich, former peace negotiator for the FARC-EP, poet, painter, musician and a popular voice for peace, has been re-arrested on a trumped-up drug charge out of the Southern District of New York. The charges are largely seen as an attempt by the United States, in league with sectors of the Colombian oligarchy, to derail the peace accord between the FARC-EP and the Colombian government.

The Special Peace Jurisdiction (JEP – a court that was instituted by the Colombian Peace Agreement) ruled that Santrich could not be extradited to the United States due to many irregularities in the case, including insufficient proof, and ordered his immediate release. Santrich was about to be released from La Picota prison when the Colombian Attorney General had him re- arrested based on ‘new’ evidence provided by the United States to the Colombian Attorney’s General’s Office. Santrich was drugged by officials, reportedly tried to commit suicide by slitting his wrists when he heard that he was going to be extradited and was flown off in a helicopter to the attorney general’s jail called the “Bunker.” Santrich suffered a cardiac and pulmonary arrest and is in a delicate state in a hospital.

This arrest comes at a time when the peace agreement, after nearly 500 social leaders and 130 ex-guerrillas have been assassinated by right-wing paramilitary forces, has been near collapse. As well as the assassination, the government has failed to carry out its obligations under the peace accord to invest in social sectors, protect political and social leaders, and to release political prisoners, among other issues. With the order from the JEP releasing Santrich, it momentarily appeared that the peace agreement had some life, but this illusion came crashing down with the re-arrest of Santrich.

Ivan Marquez, former lead negotiator for the FARC-EP at the Havana Peace Dialogues, sent a message to the people of Colombia. “The world is a witness to the indignant insult of the liberation and the recapture of Santrich by the Attorney General. With this dirty attitude the Prosecution, Uribism [the politics of former fascist president Uribe], and the embassy of the gringos have handed out the saddest death certificate for Peace.”

Freedom Road Socialist Organization demands the immediate release of Jesus Santrich and demands that the Colombian authorities take all necessary measures to protect his life and well-being. Freedom Road Socialist Organization further demands that the Colombian government fulfill its obligations under the peace accords and that the United States government cease its interference into the internal affairs of Colombia.

Santrich libre!

#UnitedStates #FARCEP #Colombia #PeoplesStruggles #JesúsSantrich #Americas

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement by the National Committee to Free Ricardo Palmera (Simon Trinidad).

The National Committee to Free Ricard Palmera (Simon Trinidad) wishes happy birthday to Colombian revolutionary Simon Trinidad!

On July 30, 1950, Ricardo Palmera (Simon Trinidad) was born into a wealthy family and as a student became active in the people’s movements. Then in 1989, at the age of 39, he joined the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) after seeing dozens of his friends and Patriotic Union political candidates murdered by Colombian government death squads.

Palmera joined the FARC to fight for social justice, to seek democratic social and economic change, to organize the poor to overthrow the rich and become the rulers of society. The FARC opposed the U.S. empire – where U.S. corporations steal the oil, coal, minerals, gems and agricultural products that belong to the Colombian people.

Then in 1999, Clinton and Gore, along with Senator Joe Biden launched ‘Plan Colombia.’ The U.S. spent over $8 billion and directed a war that brings only poverty, misery and death to Colombia. Unable to defeat the FARC on the battlefield, U.S. intelligence captured Ricardo Palmera in Ecuador while he was on a UN peace mission. The U.S. extradited Ricardo Palmera (Simon Trinidad) to Washington D.C. and put him on trial four times.

Palmera is currently serving a 60-year sentence in the federal supermax prison in Florence, Colorado under ‘Special Administrative Measures’ that violate human rights.

President Obama needs to free Ricardo Palmera (Simon Trinidad) to guarantee the Colombian peace process. The National Committee to Free Ricardo Palmera (Simon Trinidad) wants President Obama to act now to push the Colombian peace forward.

On his 66th birthday, we offer Simon Trinidad warm hugs and wish him a long life in struggle! We salute your sacrifice and look forward to your freedom!

Peace for Colombia! Free Simon Trinidad!

#UnitedStates #AntiwarMovement #FARCEP #Colombia #PoliticalPrisoners #RicardoPalmera #PeoplesStruggles #SimónTrinidad #PoliticalRepression

Minneapolis, MN – El 21 de julio, la colombiana-americana Jennie Eisert, presentó un conmovido reporte sobre su participación en la delegación enviada por Alliance for Global Justice, para el proceso de paz en Colombia. Eisert estuvo en Colombia en mayo, semanas antes de que el gobierno colombiano y las Fuerzas Revolucionarias de Colombia-Ejercito Popular (FARC-EP) declararan oficialmente, el 23 de junio, el fin a la guerra de medio siglo.

Eisert inicio el informe con un enfoque en el proceso de paz actual, diciendo “Me reuní con representantes de los movimientos campesinos, indígenas, afro-colombianos, sindicatos, desplazados, y prisioneros políticos absueltos de las FARC. Las personas con las que me reuní, tienen la esperanza de que este acuerdo de paz sea realmente exitoso. Este proceso de paz en Colombia tiene dos aspectos muy importantes. El primero es la creación de un amplio frente electoral, y el segundo es una nueva constitución. Estos dos puntos están relacionados con lo ocurrido con el Frente Patriótico en 1985”. En ese entonces, el movimiento de izquierda Unión Patriótica tuvo una sorprendente victoria en las elecciones nacionales, con líderes de movimientos sociales y antiguos guerrilleros como candidatos. Sin embargo, miles de candidatos y simpatizantes fueron asesinados, acontecimientos que los colombianos denominan como el genocidio de la Unión Patriótica. También explicó que, debido a esta historia, “ellos demandan la aplicación de estos mecanismos para hacerle frente a una posible violencia paramilitar y estatal, y así evitar otro genocidio”.

Como parte de la delegación, Eisert tuvo la oportunidad de entrevistar a líderes sindicales y activistas, representantes de diversos sectores de la sociedad colombiana, quienes se han aliado con el movimiento denominado Marcha Patriótica; formado en el 2012 y compuesto por alrededor de dos mil organizaciones. La Marcha Patriótica describe estar “comprometida profundamente con la defensa de la causa popular y estar inspirada por el legado histórico de la lucha del pueblo colombiano por una verdadera y definitiva independencia, a favor de la paz con justicia social, democracia, soberanía, y el proceso de unidad latinoamericano. Han creado una visión anti-imperialista y son el producto de la resistencia organizada, compuesta por organizaciones rurales, intelectuales, estudiantiles, movimientos sociales de izquierda y algunos sindicatos”. Eisert utilizo la presentación como una oportunidad para a la vez compartir anécdotas de resistencia contra la explotación que lleva a cabo el gobierno colombiano y los paramilitares.

Parte de la presentación tuvo que ver con el papel que juega los EE.UU. en Colombia. Eisert criticó al gobierno de los EE.UU. por la asistencia militar que le provee al gobierno derechista de Colombia; su conocimiento de la asistencia, entrenamiento y financiamiento que dicho gobierno le provee a los paramilitares escuadrones de la muerte; su deseo de promover tratados de libre comercio a costa de los derechos laborales colombianos; al igual que el rechazo de liberar al negociador de paz de las FARC, Ricardo Palmera (conocido en Colombia como Simon Trinidad), de la prisión de máxima seguridad en Colorado, EE.UU.

Al final de la exposición, se animo a los participantes a firmar las petición del Anti-War Committee, no solo para la liberación del prisionero político, vicepresidente de FENSUAGRO, Hubert Ballestros, quien se encuentra encarcelado en Colombia, sino que también para presionar al presidente Obama a que libere a Ricardo Palmera, para que este pueda contribuir al proceso de paz. De igual forma, se les convocó a los participantes compartir toda esta información sobre la lucha por la paz y justica del pueblo colombiano.

Durante este periodo tan crítico, el Minnesota Anti-War Committee tiene planeado organizar a todos los simpatizantes para presionar al gobierno colombiano a que mantengan las promesas acordadas en el proceso de paz.

#MinneapolisMN #AntiwarMovement #Colombia #FARCEP #PeoplesStruggles #Minnesota #Americas

Minneapolis, MN – On July 21, Jennie Eisert, a Colombian-American activist with the Minnesota Anti-War Committee, gave a moving report back to a packed room concerning her participation in the Alliance for Global Justice’s Colombian peace process delegation. Eisert was in Colombia in May, only weeks before the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People’s Army (FARC-EP) officially declared an end to half a century of war on June 23.

Eisert’s talk began with a focus on the current peace process. “I met with people representing campesinos, the Indigenous, Afro Colombians, unions, the displaced, and pardoned FARC political prisoners. The people I met with have hope that this peace process will be successful. The Colombian peace process has two important points. The first is to create a broad front for elections and the second is to create a new constitution. These two points have a lot to do with what happened to the Patriotic Union in 1985.” The leftist Patriotic Union (UP) did surprisingly well in national elections, with movement leaders and former guerillas running as candidates, but thousands of candidates and supporters were murdered in what Colombians refer to as the genocide of the Patriotic Union. Eisert explained that because of this history, “They have demanded these mechanisms be put into place to address possible future paramilitary and state violence so that they will not experience another genocide.”

On the delegation, Eisert had the opportunity to interview union leaders and activists who represented many different sectors of Colombian society who have all aligned themselves with the newly formed Marcha Patriotica. It was founded in 2012 and is made up of roughly 2000 organizations. They describe themselves as being “deeply committed to the defense of the popular cause and inspired by the historical legacy of the struggle of the Colombian people for a true and definitive independence, for peace with social justice, democracy, sovereignty and Latin American Unity processes. They have created an anti-imperialist vision and are a product of organized resistance, from a combination of rural organizations, intellectuals, students, social leaders of the Left, and some unions.” Eisert used the report-back as an opportunity to share some of their stories of exploitation by the Colombian government and paramilitaries and of their resistance.

A theme of Eisert’s talk was the role of the U.S. in Colombia. She called out the U.S. government for its use of military aid to support the right-wing government of Colombia, its knowledge that aid and training was funneled to government-sponsored paramilitary death squads, its desire to promote free trade policies at the expense of worker rights, and its refusal to release FARC peace negotiator Ricardo Palmera (known in Colombia as Simon Trinidad) from a U.S. supermax prison in Colorado.

Eisert encouraged supporters to sign the Anti-War Committee’s petition to free Colombian political prisoner Hubert Ballestros, the FENSUAGRO vice president who is imprisoned in Colombia; to pressure President Obama to free Ricardo Palmera so that he can help implement the peace process, and to share the stories they heard from her about the Colombian people’s struggle for justice.

The Minnesota Anti-War Committee plans on organizing its supporters to pressure for the Colombian government to keep its promises in the peace process in this critical period.

#MinneapolisMN #MInneapolisMN #AntiwarMovement #Colombia #FARCEP #PeoplesStruggles #Minnesota #Americas

Minneapolis, MN: Around 30 people gathered here, Jan. 28, at May Day Bookstore to hear from Anti-War Committee activists about the Colombian peace negotiations in Havana, Cuba. Afterwards they discussed whether the Colombian civil war is coming to a close and what the significance of an end to the more than 50 year war would mean for the social movements in Colombia.

In October, 2012 the Colombian government and the largest rebel army, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People’s Army (FARC-EP), began negotiations for an end to the war in Oslo, Norway. The negotiations then moved to Havana, Cuba the next month and have continued. Last September, they set out March 23 of this year as the deadline for peace agreement. While a conclusion on that date is not certain, both sides seem confident an agreement could be reached before mid-year.

The event began with Jennie Eisert, a Colombian-American anti-war activist, explaining the key background needed for the audience to understand the current peace process underway, “In the early 1980s, following peace talks with the former President Belisario Betancur, a ceasefire was declared in 1984, this was the first and last time the FARC laid down their weapons, and this gave way to a political party. They acknowledged that agreements signed with the government represented an opening that had not existed before. The FARC joined other leftist groups to form the Patriotic Union (UP), a radical left political party that performed surprisingly well in the elections that followed. However, paramilitary groups and extremist elements within the military and drug cartels began one of the bloodiest extermination campaigns, assassinating thousands of UP leaders and sympathizers.” Eisert noted that the history of this previous peace process makes the social movement in Colombia both excited and nervous for an end to the war.

Meredith Aby-Keirstead spoke about the current peace process and stressed the importance of the case of Simon Trinidad.

One of the main demands from the FARC has been for their lead diplomat Ricardo Palmera, who is also known as Simon Trinidad, to be released from U.S. custody. After four trials in the U.S., he was sentenced to 60 years of prison. Trinidad’s imprisonment in solitary confinement in a Colorado Supermax is seen by many as a barrier to peace.

The Associated Press reported on Jan. 30, “With peace talks expected to wrap up as early as March and President Juan Manuel Santos heading to Washington on Tuesday to cement U.S. support for an accord with the FARC, there is a renewed push to win the 65-year-old's release. Last week, Colombian Sen. Ivan Cepeda, a trusted conduit of both the FARC and Santos, quietly met with Palmera at the United States' highest security prison to discuss how he can contribute to peace, according to officials in Colombia and the U.S. familiar with the meeting. Cepeda was accompanied by Colombian diplomats and the conversation monitored by U.S. law enforcement, said four officials, who insisted on not being named because they weren't authorized to discuss the issue publicly. The officials wouldn't reveal specifics about was said in the meeting, but the visit was unusual.”

Aby-Keirstead motivated the audience to take up this cause, “We, the anti-war movement, need to participate in the upcoming national call in days to demand that Obama release Trinidad. This week President Obama publicly thanked the Cuban government for hosting the peace talks between the Colombian government and the FARC. He said the U.S. ‘supports the implementation of the Colombian accord on the victims of the conflict, justice and restitution of the lands.’ We need to hold him to his words. If the U.S. wants talk about peace in Colombia then it cannot keep being a barrier to the negotiations. Please join with us in demanding the release of Ricardo Palmera.”

Robert Trousdale and Jess Sundin, also members of the Anti-War Committee also spoke. Trousdale explained the role of the School of the Americas (SOA) at Fort Benning, Georgia which trains Latin American military in counterinsurgency warfare under the guise of ‘democracy promotion.’ He went to the annual SOA protest in November of 2015 and spoke about his experience. Sundin was in Colombia during the last peace process in 2000 and spoke about her observations in rebel controlled territory.

The Minnesota Anti-War Committee plans to participate in national call-in days to demand the release of Simon Trinidad and other Colombian political prisoners. At the end of the event people wrote letters to President Obama demanding his release and to Simon Trinidad in prison.

#MinneapolisMN #AntiwarMovement #FARCEP #Colombia #RicardoPalmera #Americas #AntiWarCommittee #colombianPeaceProcess

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

Florence, CO – In the mountains of Colorado, 35 spirited protesters marched down Highway 67 to the guardhouse of the U.S. federal supermax prison in Florence on Sept. 21. In the lead were two Colombian American women, with banners reading, “Free Simon Trinidad! Peace for Colombia!” and “Libertad para Simon Trinidad! Paz por Colombia!”

“I’m here to support the Colombian peace process. I’m here to protest the U.S. prison system that is holding Simon Trinidad, and to denounce his being tortured in solitary confinement,” said Lilli Ana Castrillon.

Currently there are peace negotiations taking place in Havana between the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the Colombian government. With the peace process moving forward, the FARC is asking for Simon Trinidad to be released to help finish the negotiations.

“We are here to inform President Obama that Simon Trinidad is the key to the peace process in Colombia. Simon Trinidad has been in solitary confinement for 11 years now here in the U.S. He is needed at the peace table to finish the negotiations,” said Mark Burton, the lawyer representing Trinidad in the U.S.

Upon arriving at the Florence supermax guardhouse, the protesters crossed the highway to face the prison. With prison guards watching through binoculars and armed men a few hundred yards further up the highway towards the five visible supermax prison towers, the activists held up hand made signs saying, “President Obama, release Simon Trinidad.”

RCN, the main television network of Colombia, reported and interviewed a few of the people. Protesters chanted loudly so prisoners could hear inside the maximum-security prisons, “Free, free Simon! Peace for Colombia!” and “Libertad, libertad para Simon Trinidad”

“We are here from nine cities to demand President Obama free political prisoner Simon Trinidad from this underground supermax dungeon. Nobody deserves the torture of solitary confinement. It is a violation of their human rights,” said Tom Burke of the National Committee to Free Ricardo Palmera (Simon Trinidad) as he spoke to the crowd.

Burke continued, “The U.S. war in Colombia is a failure and we need to support the Colombian people as they seek peace. Let’s take this bold action outside the ‘Guantanamo of the Rockies’ back home and spread the word, ‘Free, free Simon! Peace for Colombia!’”

The protesters then marched back up the highway chanting, “Brick by brick, wall by wall, free Simon, free them all!” They also sang The Internationale before arriving back in the town of Florence.

Burke said, “This was a tremendous set of events for the anti-war and Colombia solidarity movements. We had a packed house last night in Denver, hosted by Al Frente de Lucha, then a spirited action today! Our next step will likely take us to the White House to demand freedom for Simon Trinidad.”

Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), El Frente de Lucha of Denver, the Utah Anti-War Committee, Alliance for Global Justice from Tucson, and other groups built for the protest with the National Committee to Free Ricardo Palmera (Simon Trinidad).

#FlorenceCO #InJusticeSystem #FARCEP #Colombia #PoliticalPrisoners #SimónTrinidad #SupermaxPrison #PoliticalRepression #Americas

Trinidad, a well-known revolutionary leader in Colombia, is being held in solitary confinement by the U.S. government. He is a member of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) a guerilla insurgency that has been fighting the government of Colombia for over 50 years.

U.S intelligence agents kidnapped Trinidad while he was traveling through Ecuador to meet with a UN official. According to Wikileaks, the U.S. government then rushed to arrange criminal charges with the Colombian government so they could extradite him to Washington. There was nothing ordinary about Trinidad’s four trials in Washington D.C. At the start of the second trial, Federal Judge Hogan had to step down, or recuse himself, when he was caught cheating with U.S. prosecutor Cole.

Tom Burke, with the National Committee to Free Ricardo Palmera, says, “We protested the political trials in D.C. and now we are going to stand outside the ‘Guantanamo of the Rockies’ in Colorado to demand Trinidad be set free. Trinidad is a political prisoner. He is a good man who fights for the Colombian people to benefit from the natural resources and labor of their own country. He wants to stop Wall Street from robbing and stealing what belongs to the people.”

Peace negotiations, begun in 2012 in Havana, Cuba, are making significant progress towards a final peace agreement according to both the Colombian government and the FARC.

Trinidad, a former university professor, was a FARC peace negotiator in other peace talks between FARC and the Colombian government, including peace negotiations in San Vicente del Caguan, Colombia, from 1998 to 2002.

When the current round of talks began in 2012, the FARC named Trinidad as one of their top five negotiators. The FARC says it cannot conclude an agreement without Trinidad's presence at the talks in Havana.

Spokespersons for the Colombian government, on different occasions, have said that their government has no problem with the release of Simon Trinidad in order to facilitate the ongoing peace negotiations.

The demonstration on Sept. 21 outside the prison will call for President Obama to release Trinidad so that he can take his place at the ongoing negotiations in Havana.

On September 20, at 6:00 p.m., a public informational meeting on Simon Trinidad and the Colombian peace process will take place at the Posner Center, 1031 33rd St, Denver, CO 80205.

#DenverCO #Colombia #FARCEP #RicardoPalmera #PeoplesStruggles #PoliticalPrisoners #SimónTrinidad #PoliticalRepression

Jim Byrne of Tucson, who helped organize the calls, said, “The U.S. government freeing Simon Trinidad will add to the process of achieving a lasting peace with justice in Colombia. It is time for the president to act.”

The National Committee to Free Ricardo Palmera said in their statement, “Ricardo Palmera, popularly known as Simon Trinidad in Colombia, is a political prisoner of the U.S. government. Simon Trinidad is being tortured in solitary confinement in the Florence, Colorado supermax prison.”

Negotiations between the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People’s Army (FARC-EP) and the Colombian government are making slow but steady progress. The U.S. recently sent a special envoy to work with the Colombian government as they talk with FARC. Now Simon Trinidad is needed to add momentum to the process. Trinidad participated in past peace negotiations and is an important leader to many of the poor, farmers, and working-class Colombians.

“I just sent this announcement out to the Latin American Solidarity Committee (LASC) list in Milwaukee so hopefully we can generate some more calls. The LASC has always worked for peace and social justice,” posted Babette Grunow after making her call to President Obama at the White House.

For more information, https://www.facebook.com/SupportTheColombiaPeaceProcess or www.freericardopalmera.org

#DenverCO #AntiwarMovement #FARCEP #Colombia #RicardoPalmera #NationalCommitteeToFreeRicardoPalmera #SimónTrinidad #Americas

It was not in our plans to suspend the unilateral and indefinite cease-fire proclaimed on December 20, 2014 as a humanitarian gesture of de-escalation of the conflict, but the inconsistency of the Santos government has done so, after five months of attacks on the ground and in the air against our structures throughout the country.

We deplore the joint attack of the Air Force, the army and the police carried out at dawn on Thursday against a camp of the 29 Front of the FARC in Guapi (Cauca), during which, according to official sources, 26 guerrilla combatants were killed.

For us, the deaths of guerrilla combatants and soldiers are equally painful; they are children of the same nation and from poor families. We must stop this bleeding.

Against our will, we have to continue the talks in the midst of the confrontation. Although Santos announces that he will keep the offensive, we insist on the need to agree, as soon as possible, to the health of the peace process and to prevent further victimization, on a bilateral ceasefire, insistently requested by national majorities.

We appreciate the work of monitoring and verification of the unilateral ceasefire that was carried out by the Broad Front for Peace and the social and political movements of Colombia during these five months.

Secretariat of the Central High Command of the FARC-EP Colombian jungle, May 22, 2015

#Colombia #FARCEP #Americas

Tucson, AZ – 20 anti-war protesters confronted the arrival of Colombian Air Force and Special Forces troops at a U.S- led military exercise near Tucson, May 4. The anti-war activists chanted, “Stop the U.S.-funded war in Colombia!” and “50 years of war is enough!”

The Colombian military came to practice under U.S. and NATO forces at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. Outside the base, on a busy street corner, speakers denounced U.S. military intervention, the more than $8 billion spent by the U.S. government in repressing democracy and human rights, and the significance of the ongoing peace process between the revolutionary FARC and the Colombian government. In recent years Colombian officers, trained at Fort Benning in Georgia, were caught murdering civilian day laborers and claiming they were revolutionary fighters of the FARC. At least 1800 young men died this way.

Tucson anti-war activist Jim Byrne shared, “We are here to denounce the collaboration of the NATO militaries during their training – for maintaining war and violence. We oppose the disgusting trend of the militarization of state and local police, who more and more look like professional armies. These police-armies are used against Chicano, African-American, and other oppressed people here, so that Arizona feels like the Terrordome!”

Ana Maria Vasquez from Colombia explained, “I am 48 years old and I've never known peace in my country. We are all here today in solidarity to ensure the end of the war so that Colombians can live without war, murder, repression and fear.”

Protesters vowed to continue their international solidarity with the Colombian people. Jim Byrne said, “We in the U.S. must develop alliances with all those seeking peace and justice for the people of Colombia. Labor unions like the United Steel Workers, faith organizations and social justice groups must demand the U.S. government stop financing, arming and supporting the militarization of Latin America and the repression of its peoples.”

Video of the protest is being shared with unions, human rights organizations and the Colombian democratic movement Marcha Patriotica. The Alliance for Global Justice organized the protest to build solidarity between the U.S. and Colombian working people in struggling for peace and democracy. Tucson Students for a Democratic Society, Occupy Tucson and local churches endorsed the rally.

#TucsonAZ #AntiwarMovement #Colombia #FARCEP #USImperialism

On December 21, 2013, the Washington Post published a report about the latest covert action by the CIA, the NSA and the Pentagon, that is, of the United States of America, in Colombia's internal armed conflict. This involves decisions and authorizations by at least the last three governments of that country.

Interesting revelation, that shows many incredulous people that the interest of the US government is one of the main triggers of the long war Colombians are going through. More ambitious studies could easily show that the same thing has happened since the days of Operation Marquetalia in 1964, which was publicly recognized in Colombia. However, whenever the nature of the conflict is being studied, this fact is silenced with astonishing irresponsibility.

According to the report, the covert action program has helped the Colombian Army to kill at least two dozen rebel leaders, according to interviews with more than 30 serving or retired officers in the United States and Colombia. At the same time, the National Security Agency was carrying out electronic eavesdropping and wiretaps. All these operations were financed with a secret budget of billions of dollars, additionally to the nine billion dollars aid from Plan Colombia.

President Santos, according to the same report, tried to downplay the issue when he was interviewed by that North American newspaper. Minister Pinzón (Defense), on the contrary, had no qualms about openly recognizing it in the media and abate it as part of the traditional military agreements between the two countries. It is clear that neither of them feel the slightest appreciation for Colombian sovereignty, since gringo impositions on drugs and terrorism are more important to them than any consideration of national interest. Not to speak about Colombian General and Admirals; their knees are calloused.

It is not that we didn't know or didn't have any idea about it, but some things do become clearer with the report of the US newspaper. For example, that the columnist Oscar Collazos is completely right when he suggests that the greatest contradiction that generates debate between former Colombian presidents, is about showing which of them is responsible for the major part of killings of their citizens. This debate is also reproduced with clear interest by the Colombian media, which are always so prone to publish and enhance the crimes of the guerrilla, as they are called by such nefarious individuals. We could now parody Senator Piedad Córdoba, when she said that Colombia was a huge mass grave. saying that with the consent of recent governments, Colombia is a victim of the most blatant and unpunished wiretapping on behalf of the intelligence services of a foreign power.

Similarly, the cited report includes disclosures that give the shivers. The article states that according to President Santos “part of the experience and the efficiency of our operations and our special operations were the product of better training and knowledge we have acquired from many countries, including the United States”. This endorses what the report states about the transfer of the American experience in Afghanistan and the struggle against Al Qaeda to the Colombian conflict, ie intelligence procedures including bribery, illegal arrests, disappearances, torture and illegal pressure on people who are expected to give information.

This makes clear that the ongoing degradation of the methods used by Colombian military, police and security forces originates in the instruction and advice given by the Americans. The government of Juan Manuel Santos is aware of the kidnappings, blackmail, death threats and attacks employed by the Colombian intelligence service to obtain, through the families of the guerrilla commanders and fighters, the location of these in order to kill them. Methods that have even been employed against the families of the FARC-EP members of the Peace Delegation in Havana. He also knows perfectly well, because of his time as defense minister under Álvaro Uribe, the true story of the military intelligence that led to the gruesome murder and mutilation of Comrade Iván Ríos.

The analysis of the report also mentions the opportunistic and unilateral interpretations of international law by successive U.S. governments, submissively accepted by Colombian leaders. Mr. Reagan authorized military intervention on behalf of his country in any nation under the pretext of combating drug trafficking; Mr. Clinton authorized the interventions to secure his country's control of strategic resources located anywhere in the world; Mr. Bush acted the same way, under the pretext of preventing what his government qualified as the terrorist threat. All this was