The following alert is based on information from the Latin America Working Group http://www.lawg.org/, phone: 202-546-7010.

July 13 is the three-year anniversary of the passage of Plan Colombia. Since 2000, the U.S. Senate has signed the check for almost $2.5 billion in aid to Colombia -- but they’ve only debated the policy once, and that was two years ago. They will begin looking at the 2004 Colombia aid package -- almost $700 million in mostly-military aid -- later this month, but plan on passing it with no public debate. With so much at stake, we need to tell the Senate to debate and change this policy.

Unexpectedly, the House has scheduled the debate on the 2004 foreign aid bill — which contains $600 million in mostly-military aid for Colombia — for next week, the week of July 21. We’re not sure exactly when the vote will take place, but we do know that an amendment will probably be offered to cut or reduce military aid to Colombia. The last vote in the House to cut Colombia military aid lost by only seven votes — we are very close! Without your help, though, this amendment could lose.

ACTION: Call or write your senators this week (by Friday July 18) in commemoration of the three-year anniversary of Plan Colombia. Tell them about the impact of our military aid, and then ask them to debate and change the policy when the 2004 foreign aid bill -- the bill containing the Colombia aid -- comes to the Senate floor (this will likely be in September). Call or write your representative and ask him or her to support any amendment to the 2004 foreign aid bill that would cut or limit military aid to Colombia. Please contact your representative before July 22. We will update you again when we know the specifics of the amendment and have a better sense of the timing of the vote -- but please start on these actions right away!

• For a sample letter to the Senate on Colombia, see http://www.lawg.org/coljuly7ltr.htm.
  
• For a sample letter to your representative, see http://www.lawg.org/colletter703.htm.
  
• For talking points for your letters and phone calls on Colombia, see http://www.lawg.org/coljuly7tp.htm
  
• For tips on making a phone call on this vote, please see http://www.lawg.org/colphone703.htm.
  
• For a timeline of Colombia-related events in Congress and suggested actions for the next few months, see http://www.lawg.org/coljuly7timeline.htm

  Thank you for all of your hard work!

  To reach your senators or representative by phone, call the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121. To find your senators and representative’s fax number or address, see http://www.senate.gov/ and http://www.house.gov/

  And don’t forget—your feedback is very important! Let LAWG know what you’re doing this week so they can update allies in Congress. You can also request more information—LAWG is happy to provide voting records, talking points, or other tools. Please e-mail Elanor Starmer at estarmer@lawg.org with any feedback or questions.

  Background: Colombia has received almost $2.5 billion in U.S. aid since 2000, and more is on the way. Colombia is now the third largest recipient of U.S. military aid after Israel and Egypt. The goals that Congress set out in 2000 when they passed the first Colombia bill have not been met -- in fact, in many cases, things have gotten worse.

  Our taxpayer dollars — over $600 million this year, and more next year if the policy continues -- go to fund counterinsurgency and counter-drug operations and to protect an oil pipeline in Colombia. These efforts have had a devastating effect on Colombian civilians, the armed conflict, and the environment, and have not curbed drug abuse in the U.S. or violence in Colombia: it is a failed policy.

  The 2004 House foreign aid bill contains almost $600 million in aid to Colombia, the vast majority of which is military aid. Starting last year, military aid to Colombia can be used for both counter-drug efforts -- mostly the aerial fumigation of drug crops -- and counterinsurgency. Because the foreign aid bill must be debated and passed each year, there have been a number of amendments to the bill since 2000 that would have cut a portion of the military aid to Colombia -- and the votes have gotten closer each year. The most recent vote on Colombia was offered this April, when President Bush included $105 million in additional military aid for Colombia in the Iraq war supplemental bill. That amendment, which would have cut out most of the Colombia aid, lost by only seven votes. To see how your representative voted on the amendment, see http://www.clerkweb.house.gov/cgi-bin/vote.exe?year=2003&rollnumber;=106. If they are in the “aye” category, they supported cutting military aid to Colombia. If they voted well, remind them of that when you call!

  Thanks in part to the late Sen. Paul Wellstone, the U.S. Senate debated the Colombia aid package in 2000 and 2001. However, the Senate has not talked about Colombia policy for the last two years. On the week of July 14 -- the three-year anniversary of the signing of Plan Colombia -- please ask the Senate why such a controversial policy has not been debated. Then, ask them to debate and change the policy.

  Thank you for your help!

  Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns:

  Peace, Social Justice & Integrity of Creation
  P.O. Box 29132 Washington, D.C. 20017
  phone: (202)832-1780 fax: (202)832-5195
  ogc@maryknoll.org
  http://www.maryknoll.org/GLOBAL/global.htm