Fight Back! is circulating the following call for a Twitter storm in solidarity with Colombian revolutionary Simon Trinidad, a political prisoner held by the U.S. government in the Florence, Colorado supermax prison. The National Committee to Free Simon Trinidad

Please join our “Twitter Storm” on July, 30, 2023, from 9am to 9pm Eastern time. We are celebrating the 73rd birthday of Colombian revolutionary Simon Trinidad and demanding the U.S. government commute his sentence so he is free to return to Colombia.

The Committee is calling for a Twitter Storm with the following instructions:

1) On Twitter, start a new tweet:

Upload the Simon Trinidad flyer (the image above) and the information

2) In the text box, write “FreeSimonTrinidad” and tag U.S. President Biden “@POTUS” and Colombian President Petro “@petrogustavo”. Please also tag the Colombian court asking for Trinidad’s return “@JEP_Colombia”

3) Repeat as many times as you can to push the #FreeSimonTrinidad into trending

Who is Simon Trinidad?

Simón Trinidad is a Colombian revolutionary and political prisoner of the U.S. empire. He will pass his 73rd birthday in solitary confinement in a federal supermax prison in Florence, Colorado. Simón Trinidad, born Ricardo Palmera, is imprisoned following a bogus extradition to the United States in 2004. Trinidad was convicted on trumped-up charges, and sentenced to 60 years in a Washington D.C. courtroom because he was fighting in Colombia for the freedom of his own country. This year he is being requested by the Special Peace Jurisdiction Court (JEP) in Colombia to help move his country towards peace with justice. With the incoming Petro-Marquez administration and strong mass movements, the conditions have changed in favor toward Trinidad’s release and role as a peace negotiator. Now is the best and probably only chance he will have to be set free and contribute.

On his 73rd birthday, revolutionary and progressive forces are calling for a Twitter Storm, in Spanish a Twitazo, that will tag President Biden to do the right thing and set him free.

“Now is the best and probably only chance Simon Trinidad will have to be set free. He can make great contributions to peace with justice in Colombia. His voice is an important one for the future of all Colombians. We need action now!” said Tom Burke with the Committee to Free Simon Trinidad in Michigan.

#UnitedStates #PoliticalPrisoners #SimónTrinidad

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the National Committee to Free Simón Trinidad.

Simón Trinidad, a Colombian revolutionary and political prisoner of the U.S. empire, will have his 72nd birthday in solitary confinement in a federal supermax prison in Florence, Colorado. Simón Trinidad, born Ricardo Palmera, is languishing in prison after a bogus extradition to the United States in 2004, convicted on trumped-up charges, and sentenced to 60 years. He has been requested by the Special Peace Jurisdiction Court (JEP) in Colombia to help rebuild his country toward a peace with justice. With the incoming Petro-Marquez administration and strong mass movements, the conditions have changed in favor toward Trinidad’s release and role as a peace negotiator.

On his 72nd birthday, revolutionary and progressive forces are calling for a Twitterstorm, in Spanish a Twitazo, that will tag President Biden in the following Tweet format:

#FreeSimonTrinidad @POTUS @SimonTrinidadLi

Free Simon Trinidad!

U.S. out of Colombia!

#UnitedStates #Colombia #PoliticalPrisoners #RicardoPalmera #SimónTrinidad

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the National Committee to Free Simon Trinidad. Simon Trinidad is a Colombian revolutionary illegally captured and extradited to the U.S. on bogus charges that required four separate trials to lock him up in solitary confinement in the Florence, Colorado supermax prison. The Special Court guaranteed in the 2016 Peace Accords is requesting his presence in order to move the country toward a peace with justice.

On January 24, 2022, Simón Trinidad filed a complaint in Federal District Court in Denver, Colorado against U.S. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland and the Bureau of Prisons. The complaint (22-cr-00193) asserted that the denial of access to a Colombian attorney violated his right to freedom of speech and freedom of association guaranteed by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.

He further asserted that his access to an attorney was critical, as he has numerous cases in the Jurisdicción Especial para la Paz (JEP), or Special Peace Jurisdiction, a specialized court in Colombia created to resolve issues related to Colombia’s 50-year armed conflict between the Colombian government and the FARC.

In 2017 Simón Trinidad requested access to a Colombian lawyer and his request was denied. Mr. Trinidad made numerous subsequent requests for access to a Colombian lawyer which the Bureau of Prisons ignored.

On June 9, the United States attorney general modified Simón Trinidad’s “Special Administrative Measures” (SAMS) to allow contact with a Colombian attorney and the lawsuit is now resolved. Trinidad’s Colombian attorney will now be traveling to the U.S. and will confer with his client.

This agreement to amend the SAMS reflects the importance of Simón Trinidad to the Colombian peace process.

Colombian political prisoner Simón Trinidad, known in the Bureau of Prisons as Juvenal Ovidio Ricardo Palmera Pineda, was a peace negotiator for the FARC.

He has been held in extreme isolation under Special Administrative Measures imposed by the attorney general of the United States since January of 2005.

Trinidad has been jailed at United States Prison ADMAX (a supermax prison) in Florence, Colorado since 2008. Simón Trinidad’s SAMS order states that he be segregated and isolated from society, including other prisoners, with very few exceptions. He can receive no mail or visitors.

#WashingtonDC #RicardoPalmera #PeoplesStruggles #PoliticalPrisoners #SimónTrinidad

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! interviews Mark Burton, attorney for Colombian revolutionary Simon Trinidad who is a political prisoner held by the U.S. government. Simon Trinidad, also known as Ricardo Palmera, is a good man who has done nothing wrong. His only crime is to fight for the freedom and independence of his own country, taking the side of Colombian workers and peasants. Due to U.S. government repression, we are unable to interview Simon Trinidad directly. Check out the campaign to Free Simon Trinidad at http://freesimontrinidad.org.

Fight Back!: Who Is Simon Trinidad?

Mark Burton, Esq.: Simon Trinidad is a historical figure who rose to be an important spokesman for peace for the FARC-EP in Colombia. Simon began his career as a banker and an economics professor in his home Department of Cesar, Colombia. In the 1970s and 1980s he became very interested in the struggle for peace in Colombia and joined the political group Causa Común and then joined the Patriotic Union (Unión Patriótica). A campaign of genocide against the Patriotic Union began in 1986 and Simon was threatened with death. After some colleagues were assassinated, Simon fled his home and joined the FARC-EP. In the FARC he became one of their principal spokespersons for peace.

Fight Back!: Why is he imprisoned in the Florence Supermax prison in Colorado?

Mark Burton, Esq.: Prisoners who are considered enemies of the state are often sent to the penitentiary Florence ADX, popularly known as Supermax, as the prisoner’s ability to communicate with the outside world is tightly controlled. In general, prisoners are cut off from contacts outside the prison. Simon was sent there after his conviction in Washington D.C., where it took the government four trials to convict him of one count of conspiracy. The rightist forces were unable to silence Simon through assassination, but the Colombian and American governments have been able to silence him by imprisonment in Supermax.

Fight Back!: A British judge recently ruled to not extradite Julian Assange of WikiLeaks, because he might be imprisoned in the Supermax prison in Florence. What are conditions like there?

Mark Burton, Esq.: For the prisoners who are under a SAM, the Special Administrative Measure, like Simon, they generally pass 23 hours a day in a 3.5 by 2-meter cell. Normally the prisoners are allowed a television, but, apart from approved family members and lawyers, they have no contact with the outside world. They are generally allowed three phone calls a month to the approved persons on the government approved list of contacts. Simon is under a SAM but is now in the step-down program that allows him access to three other prisoners for two hours a day He is still unable to communicate with the world at large. Even for prisoners who are not under a SAM in Supermax, communication is tightly controlled.

Fight Back!: What efforts are being made to free Simon Trinidad?

Mark Burton, Esq.: Simon was never an item on the agenda of the peace talks in Havana, Cuba but there were efforts, both diplomatically and informally, to free him. Some members of the FARC-EP, particularly Iván Márquez, who was the leader of the FARC-EP’s peace delegation, made diplomatic efforts to free Simon with the Colombian and U.S. governments. Iván Márquez met with John Kerry in Havana, Cuba in 2016 and thought he had some sort of commitment to free Simon, but was later disappointed when Simon was not freed.

Since that time, there have been numerous calls for Simon’s freedom from popular movements in the United States and internationally. Simon will ask the new Biden administration for executive clemency and this will give the new administration an opportunity to right this historic wrong.

Fight Back!: Will having President Biden in office offer new possibilities?

Mark Burton, Esq.: There is certainly hope that the Biden administration will have a different approach to Colombia than the outgoing Trump administration. However, this hope should be approached with some caution. Joe Biden was one of the promoters of the notorious Plan Colombia which led to an intensified war in that country. It should also be noted that his foreign policy team is largely made up of persons who served in the Obama administration. Obama had the perfect opportunity, during the peace talks, to free Simon Trinidad and failed to do so.

On the other hand, there are reports that the Biden team is very unhappy with the current Colombian president Ivan Duque, who openly supported Donald Trump and whose ambassador to the United States, Francisco “Pacho” Santos, actually campaigned for Trump among the Latino community in Florida, interfering in the internal affairs of the United States. There are reports that Duque has called Biden five times and each time Biden has refused to talk to him. Many in Colombia hope that this unhappiness with Duque may turn into more U.S. support for the implementation of the peace agreement, which has languished under Duque, and there could possibly be some benefit for Simon.

#UnitedStates #InJusticeSystem #Colombia #Americas #PeoplesStruggles #PoliticalPrisoners #SimónTrinidad #FuerzasArmadasRevolucionariasDeColombiaFARC

Chicago, IL – Prominent Argentinian Nobel Peace Prize laureate Adolfo Perez Esquivel and 43 other human rights activists from 18 countries have written to President Donald Trump asking him to free Colombian revolutionary Simon Trinidad.

Perez Esquivel, a writer and painter, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1980 for his opposition to the Argentinian military dictatorship (1976-83), which tortured him and held him without trial for 14 months.

Simon Trinidad, a Colombian citizen and a peace negotiator for the FARC, has served 17 years at the supermax prison in Florence, Colorado where he is unable to receive visitors or mail. He celebrated his 70th birthday this past July.

The letter asks President Trump to pardon or commute Trinidad’s 60-year sentence, stating that it took U.S. prosecutors four trials and three hung juries to convict him. The letter goes on to say, “Freeing Trinidad and allowing him to return to Colombia, would advance the peace process.”

The letter finishes by saying that releasing Trinidad “would be a real gesture of peace” which “most all the people of Latin America would applaud.”

The National Committee to Free Simon Trinidad has posted the full text of the letter on its website here and here on Facebook.

The committee is asking everyone to telephone the Pardon Attorney’s Office at the Justice Department at 202-616-6070 ext. 4 on Thursday January 14, saying, “Free Simon Trinidad.”

Contact for more info: SimonTrinidadLibre@gmail.com or www.freesimontrinidad.org

#ChicagoIL #Colombia #PeoplesStruggles #RicardoPalmera #SimónTrinidad #PoliticalRepression #Americas

Chicago, IL – El destacado Argentino Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, Premio Nobel de la Paz, y otros 43 activistas de los derechos humanos de 18 países, han escrito al Presidente Donald Trump pidiéndole que libere a Simón Trinidad, 7 de enero, 2021.

Pérez Esquivel, escritor y pintor, ganó el Premio Nobel de la Paz en 1980 por su oposición a la dictadura militar Argentina (1976-83) que lo torturó y lo mantuvo detenido sin juicio durante catorce meses.

Simón Trinidad, colombiano y negociador de paz de las FARC, ha sido encarcelado durante 17 años en la prisión Super Max enColorado, donde no puede recibir visitas ni correo. Celebró su 70 cumpleaños el ano pasado

La carta pide a Trump que perdone o conmute la sentencia de 60 años de Trinidad diciendo que se necesitaron cuatro juicios y tres jurados en la horca para condenarlo. La carta continúa diciendo “Liberar a Trinidad y permitirle regresar a Colombia, haría avanzar el proceso de paz” y que liberar a Trinidad “...sería un verdadero gesto de paz...” que “La mayoría de los pueblos de América Latina aplaudirían...”

El Comité Nacional para la Liberación de Simón Trinidad ha publicado el texto completo de la carta aqui y en Facebook.

El Comité está pidiendo a todos que llamen a la Oficina del Abogado del Perdón (202) 616-6070 ext.4 en el jueves 14 de enero y que insten a la liberación de Trinidad.

Contacto: SimonTrinidadLibre@gmail.com o freesimontrinidad.org

#UnitedStates #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 response to the call for birthday greetings for political prisoner Simon Trinidad, The National Committee to Free Ricardo Palmera received a video message from freed Puerto Rican political prisoner, Oscar Lopez Rivera. Lopez Rivera unjustly spent 35 years in U.S. prison for fighting for the independence of his homeland. Below is the transcription of the video message:

“I want to take this moment to wish a Happy Birthday to comrade Simón Trinidad. He is one of the heroes of our countries. He is one of the heroes who is imprisoned because he wants to fight for the independence and sovereignty of Colombia and for a better, more just world. I know that he is imprisoned in very difficult conditions because I was imprisoned there as well. I know it all too well. But, I know that he will endure all those difficulties in a place like that. I also know that he will not allow and has not allowed the U.S. government to break his spirit.

“I believe this moment is the time to say: this comrade, a revolutionary, a man who has dedicated the majority of his life to fight for a better, more just world – that he must be free, completely free. With his freedom, Colombia can continue fighting for their country and a better world. That is something that all of us must do, and if we want it, we have to stop the interference of the U.S. government in our countries.”

Simón Trinidad is languishing in the Florence, Colorado Supermax prison after a bogus extradition to the United States in 2004, convicted on trumped-up charges, and sentenced to 60 years. The Colombian revolutionary and political prisoner of the U.S. empire will have his 70th birthday in solitary confinement in a federal Supermax prison.

Organizers are asking people to email their birthday greetings for Simón to simontrinidadlibre@gmail.com before his birthday on July 30. On his birthday, the group is calling for a Twitterstorm, in Spanish a Twitazo, that will then post the greetings on their Twitter account @SimonTrinidadLi and ask people to use this Tweet format:

#FreeSimonTrinidad @realDonaldTrump

#UnitedStates #RicardoPalmera #PeoplesStruggles #PoliticalPrisoners #PuertoRicanPrisoners #SimónTrinidad #OscarLopezRivera