New York City, New York – Some 75 protestors held a spirited demonstration in Manhattan, May 11, demanding Senator Chuck Schumer vote against the $1.7 billion Colombia military aid bill. Schumer, a Democrat, had indicated his support for the Clinton Administration's military aid package, which would dramatically increase the U.S. role in the Colombian civil war. Protesters chanted, “Schumer, don't be a death squad democrat!”

After months of delays and debates, on Thursday, June 22, the Senate voted 95-4 to send another $1.3 billion in military aid to Colombia. Activists around the country responded with an outcry of protest.

Minneapolis, MN – The Anti-War Committee and the Iraq Peace Action Coalition (IPAC) co-sponsored a May forum entitled, “It's the Oil Stupid: U.S. Intervention in Iraq and Colombia.”

Minneapolis, MN – Over 70 protesters held banners and signs while chanting, “Hands off Colombia, stop the aid now!” on Saturday, March 11. People driving by greeted the protest with horns honking and fists raised in support, at the busy intersection of the uptown shopping area.

New York, NY – Over the month of February, the newly formed Colombian Action Network organized its first national speaking tour, featuring Amparo Torres, a human rights activist and labor leader from Colombia. Events took place in Minneapolis, Chicago, and New York City.

Minneapolis, MN – In February, Colombian human rights activist, Maria Hernandez will visit several cities across the U.S., to give a first-hand account of the true story behind the U.S. drug war in Colombia. Her speaking tour comes on the heels of several national, grassroots initiatives to block President Clinton's proposal for $1.3 billion in new military aid to Colombia.

This is the second part of an interview Fight Back! conducted with Marco Leon Calarca, a spokesperson for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Click here to see the first part of the interview, which appeared in our Fall 1999 issue.

Fight Back! conducted the following interview with Marco Leon Calarca, a spokesperson for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), to give our readers a better understanding of the war that is unfolding in Colombia.  This is part 1 of a 2-part interview.  Click here to see part 2, which appeared in the Winter 2000 edition of Fight Back!

Minneapolis, MN – On August 19, some 60 people gathered at Todos Los Santos Church for “Women on the Frontlines: the First Causalities of War,” an Anti-War Committee forum on the human impact of U.S. policies towards Iraq, Colombia, and Yugoslavia.

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

a Fight Back! exclusive interview with Agustin Jimenez

Bogotá, Colombia – Tom Burke, a reporter for Fight Back! conducted the following interview with Agustin Jimenez Cuello, the president of the Committee in Solidarity with Political Prisoners, on Dec. 7. Agustin Jimenez is the lawyer who represents the Colombia Three – three Irish political activists imprisoned in Colombia on politically motivated, false charges. The three are awaiting the continuation of their trial.

New York, NY – Caitriona Ruane, the national chairperson of the Bring Them Home Campaign in Ireland, was here Sept. 5 to highlight the situation facing the Colombia Three. The Colombia Three, Jim Monaghan, Niall Connelly and Martin McCauley, all from Ireland, have spent over two years in prison in Colombia awaiting trail and sentencing. They are charged with training members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in guerrilla warfare.

The Colombia Three, Jim Monaghan, Niall Connelly and Martin McCauley, all from Ireland, were recently acquitted after having spent almost three years in prison in Colombia. The three men were found innocent of charges that they were in Colombia to train the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC-EP) in guerrilla warfare tactics aimed at overthrowing the Colombian government. They were arrested in August 2001 after visiting the demilitarized zone (established as part of a failed peace process) and have been held in some of Colombia’s most notorious and dangerous prisons since then.

The Colombia Action Network is organizing events in six cities to honor and remember those killed by the U.S.-backed war in Colombia. March 1 is significant because one year ago the U.S. government directed an attack inside Ecuador that killed Raul Reyes and 25 others. Raul Reyes was a commander of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People's Army (FARC-EP). Angela Denio who will be speaking in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, said, “We will remember the brave Colombian rebels, Ecuadorian supporters and Mexican students who died at the hands of the U.S.-sponsored attack in Ecuador, especially FARC leader Raul Reyes who gave his life for the freedom of the Colombian people.”

La Organización Socialista Camino de la Libertad (FRSO) está de luto por la muerte del revolucionario colombiano Raul Reyes. El ataque que mató al Cdte. Raul Reyes y a 17 otros de sus camaradas cuando dormían en un campamento temporal dentro del territorio de Ecuador. Sucedió el 1o. de marzo y fue llevado a cabo por los militares colombianos y dirigido por el gobierno de Estados Unidos (EE.UU ). Esto fue un asesinato a sangre fría.

Miembro de las FARC sentenciada a 17 años en USA

Washington DC.– Anayibe Rojas Valderrama (Sonia), una mujer colombiana miembra de las FARC fue sentenciada aquí, (Julio 2, 2007) por el juez James Robertson a pasar casi 17 años en las cárceles federales por cargos de enviar cocaína a los Estados Unidos (EE.UU.).

Servicio de noticias de Fight Back / Lucha y Resiste, está circulando esta declaración del Comité Nacional para la Libertad de Ricardo Palmera (Simón Trinidad).

Washington DC – El revolucionario colombiano, Ricardo Palmera está siendo enjuiciado por segunda vez bajo las ordenes de la Administracion Bush. El Comité Nacional por la Libertad de Ricardo Palmera está haciendo un llamando a participar en una protesta para exigir su inmediata libertad. Esta protesta se llevará a cabo el día 18 de juinio, frente a la Corte Federal del Distrito de Columbia, en Washington DC. Luego, los simpatizantes del Professor Palmera llenarán el recinto en donde se lleva a cabo el juicio.

Washington D.C. – Sonia, una revolucionaria colombiana y prisionera política del gobierno norteamericano, fue condenada aquí el 20 de febrero en un Tribunal Federal de los EE.UU. El juicio de Sonia es parte del plan de la administración Bush a criminalizar a los revolucionarios colombianos.

Washington, D.C. – En un comienzo fuerte al segundo juicio del revolucionario colombiano Ricardo Palmera, el juez nombrado al caso, Thomas F. Hogan, tuvo que renunciar su posición el 26 de marzo y terminar su participación en el caso de Palmera. Participantes en el Día Internacional de Acción para Liberar a Ricardo Palmera estuvieron presentes en el tribunal y celebraron esta verdadera victoria.