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