_Statement by National Committee to Free Ricardo Palmera (Simon Trinidad) _

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following February 12 statement from the National Committee to Free Ricardo Palmera (Simon Trinidad). We encourage readers to call President Obama today. Love not War! Peace for Colombia! Free Simon Trinidad!

Havana, Cuba – Nov. 24 was the second day of the fourth International Seminar for Peace and Abolition of Foreign Military Bases, held in Guantanamo Province. There were several presentations made by select delegates as well as group discussion.

_Demands freedom for Colombian revolutionary Simon Trinidad _

Columbus, GA – Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and anti-war activists from college campuses in Tampa, Gainesville and Tallahassee, Florida traveled to Columbus to protest the School of the Americas (SOA) on Nov. 20.

Columbus, GA – A large group of anti-war and international solidarity activists passed out hundreds of flyers at the annual School of the Americas (SOA) protest at Fort Benning, Georgia on Nov. 21. The flyer calls to support the peace process in Colombia, freedom for Simon Trinidad and to close the SOA, where Latin American death squads and dictators are trained. The Colombian military trains regularly at the SOA and has the worst human rights record in the hemisphere.

Houston, TX – Over 50 people gathered at Solidarity Houston, a left-wing book store, Nov. 19, to discuss Simon Trinidad and the Colombian peace process. The event was organized by the Houston Anti-War Coalition and included three panelists who spoke about the history of the Colombian left, the Colombian rebel group FARC-EP and the U.S. imperialist war on Colombia.

Tampa, FL – Anti-war activists and students from Florida are mobilizing to protest the School of the Americas (SOA), Nov. 20-22. The SOA was renamed the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC) a few years ago, but it is still widely known as the SOA meaning “School of Assassins.” It is based at Fort Benning, near Columbus, Georgia.

Florence, CO – El lunes 21 de septiembre, en las afueras de la Penitenciaria Federal de máxima seguridad, localizada en el pequeño pueblo de Florence, Colorado, se realizó una manifestación de suma importancia para la paz y la justicia en América Latina. El Comité Nacional para la liberación de Simón Trinidad, en solidaridad con el proceso de paz que se está llevando a cabo entre las Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC) y el gobierno Colombiano, organizó una movilización para exigir la liberación inmediata de Simón Trinidad, prisionero político encarcelado en dicha prisión.

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!”

Tucson, AZ – Members of the Tucson Anti-War Committee are preparing for an historic action in Colorado to demand the release of Colombian revolutionary Simon Trinidad. Trinidad, a member of the FARC, is in solitary confinement at a federal Supermax prison infamously known as the “Guantanamo of the Rockies.”

Denver, CO – Friends and supporters of U.S. political prisoner Simon Trinidad will demand “Free Simon Trinidad, Peace for Colombia” at a demonstration outside the Florence, Colorado supermax prison on Sept. 21, at 11:00 a.m. Trinidad is also known in Colombia by his given name, Ricardo Palmera.