Sep 092009
- Today, 178 non-governmental organizations in 23 countries (CIP included) are launching a Campaign for the Right to Defend Human Rights in Colombia. “The aim of the campaign is to bring sustained and coordinated pressure on the Colombian government in order to achieve a positive lasting and significant change for the country’s human rights defenders,” because for Colombia’s non-governmental human rights workers, “things are getting worse.” See www.colombiadefenders.org.
- The Colombia Support Network is asking U.S. citizens to contact their members of Congress to request that they sign a letter to President Obama [PDF]. The letter expresses strong concerns about the nearly signed deal to allow U.S. military personnel to use Colombian military bases.
- A group of U.S. activists has responded to the Colombian government’s U.S.-based public relations effort – especially the installation of dozens of heart sculptures around Washington – with a parody website of their own, www.colombiavisit.org. (”We’d be more than happy to arrange to have your conversations wiretapped and transcribed on your visit. Don’t worry about fees, we already get $500 million from the US government every year, and we’re expecting even more in 2010.”) It’s part of a counter-campaign called “No More Broken Hearts” – www.nomorebrokenhearts.net.
September 10th, 2009 at 9:39 pm
Parody? More like self-serving idiocy.
As long as they can bring Uribe down and pretend that’s the best thing in the world no matter the cost, they care not about what happens to the rest of the country.
Because obviously, Colombia as a whole deserves nothing but hatred and anger.
I wonder if they will make a parody campaign about Chavez’s Venezuela and Oliver Stone’s PR movie.
Oh wait, they will not.
Regards,
Marcos
September 11th, 2009 at 12:40 pm
“Because obviously, Colombia as a whole deserves nothing but hatred and anger. ” says Marcos,
Maybe you should tell that to your boss and probably he would understand and stop the genocide.
Regards,
Jaime
September 12th, 2009 at 12:15 pm
Human rights workers who are affiliated with FARC? Hey lump ‘em in with all the others and give ‘em all a pass!
September 12th, 2009 at 12:24 pm
That Colombia Support Network is quite a piece of work. Its chieftain, one John Laun, is on record as condemning Colombia for making the raid into the FARC camp, utterly outraged about it and never mind that its information freed lefty icon Ingrid.
No, if Colombia had wanted those hostages back, it should have asked FARC for them, not conducted some illegal raid. Asked nicely! And given FARC all the power it wanted. But definitely asked, filled out an application in triplicate. Oh that lawless Colombia! Raiding a FARC camp instead of asking FARC nicely to release Ingrid.
I’d think twice before I’d put my name on any petition associated with this group. But that’s just me.
September 12th, 2009 at 12:25 pm
http://www.colombiasupport.net/news/editorials/2008/06/putting-hold-on-hope.html