March 27-April 6, 2009
Youth Arts and Action Delegation

Builds on the dynamic experience of the first youth arts and action delegation in 2008 and work with groups of conscientious objectors in Medellín and Bogotá. This delegation will be the focus of a documentary film produced by two participants. $1000 from Bogotá; some scholarships available. For information and an application, contact Liza Smith, liza@igc.org

August 15-29, 2009
Delegation to San José Peace Community, Medellín and Eastern Antioquia

Who replaces General Montoya?

4 November 2008

Colombian Army commander Mario Montoya resigned today, in the wake of a scandal over army killings of civilians that a United Nations official on Saturday called “widespread and systematic.” A protégé of the United States, Montoya was an architect of the “body count” counterinsurgency strategy that many analysts believe led to the systematic civilian killings. His record is full of reports of collaboration with paramilitary units, from the 1970s into the 2000s.

“[Invincible is] One of the most talented emcees I've ever heard black or white, male or female..."

-Talib Kweli

Speaking, Workshop and Hip Hop tour, November 2008
Check out our ITINERARY.

The Tour: Who, What, and Why?
Fellowship of Reconciliation’s (FOR) Nonviolent Youth Collective (NVYC) and Colombia program, in collaboration with the Not Your Soldier Project and are putting on a Hip-Hop tour with Colombian and U.S. conscientious objectors (COs) to the military.

29 October 2008

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe announced the dismissal today of 27 military officers, including three generals and 11 colonels and lieutenant colonels, for human rights abuses. The abuses include involvement in the killings of dozens of youths who were recruited in Bogotá slums and shortly after were reported as killed in combat by the army, hundreds of miles away.

The dismissal is a positive action, which we applaud. Officers responsible for killing civilians must face consequences, or the killing will continue.

On Sunday October 19 at 8 a.m. Adriana Usuga, currently a resident of San Francisco and originally from Medellin, Colombia swam the 4th annual Treasure Island to YMCA Bay Bridge open water swim. She raised $1,000 to support the Peace Community of San Jose de Apartado and the Fellowship of Reconciliation's Colombia Program. She completed her swim in one hour and 15 minutes - yea Adriana!

Thanks so much to Adriana, to her sponsors, and to Salesforce.com, who matched the pledges of individual sponsors for $500.

Unanimous City Council Resolution to Put Military Money into Drug Treatment

By Liza Smith
After hours of waiting in the hot Santa Cruz, California city council room, listening to the impassioned arguments in favor and against off-leash dog use at a nearby beach; and seeing a lengthy power point presentation on the plans for a new building in downtown Santa Cruz, we were losing our steam.

It seemed likely that our resolution, requesting that all US military aid to Colombia be re-directed to domestic drug prevention and rehabilitation programs, wouldn’t be considered until after 7pm when the council members returned from their evening recess. Fortunately Santa Cruz Mayor Ryan Coonerty noticed that we had been patiently waiting all afternoon (thankfully we had all brought work with us: the UC Santa Cruz Colombia research cluster grad students were grading papers while others worked on their laptops) and pushed our agenda item to the top of the list before the break. At 6pm, life-long activist Bert Muhly from 3 Americas took the floor.

Tens of thousands of Colombians marched on March 6 in Bogota and many other cities to stand with the victims of right-wing paramilitary violence and to protest violence by all armed groups. Solidarity events occurred in New York, Washington, and San Francisco.

Now, in the wake of accusations by a presidential advisor that the activists in Colombia who helped organize these peaceful marches are guerrillas, they are being targeted with paramilitary threats, kidnappings, and even killings.

Lethal attacks on Colombian labor activists also continue. On March 4 in Washington, President Bush called on Congress to approve the Free Trade Agreement with Colombia, although Colombia is the most dangerous nation in the world to be a trade unionist. As if in response, in the four days following his statement, four labor leaders in Colombia were murdered.