Across the Americas

April 17, 2009

Dear friends:

The Canadian Parliament is about to consider ratification of a “free trade” agreement with Colombia. The text of the agreement is nearly identical to the US-Colombia trade agreement and would have the same kinds of disastrous consequences for millions of Colombians.

During her confirmation hearing last week before the Senate, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the following about Colombia when questioned by Republican Senator Richard Lugar.

January 21, 2009

Please provide your views regarding President’s Álvaro Uribe’s desire to continue in power for a third consecutive term

Hillary Clinton: As you are aware, the Colombian Congress is in the process of addressing the question of re-election. I do not believe it is proper for the United States to attempt to dictate the result of any internal democratic process in the region.

By Chris Kraul
January 11, 2009

Rebels, drug traffickers, and soldiers may battle around them and encroach on their lands, but tribes hold on to their peaceful ways to resolve conflicts.

By Constanza Vieira

BOGOTA, Jan 12 (IPS) - Declassified U.S. documents show that the CIA and former U.S. ambassadors were fully aware, as far back as 1990, that the military in Colombia -- the third largest recipient of U.S. aid after Israel and Egypt -- were committing extrajudicial killings as part of "death squad tactics."

An Open Letter from the Association of Indigenous Councils of Northern Cauca, ACIN, to U.S. President-Elect Barack Obama

Cauca, Colombia

Dear Mr. President-Elect,

First, please accept our sincerest congratulations. We congratulate you for having won because of the noblest aspirations of your people. We believe your election expresses the deep desire for change felt by the majority of the American people: change in the economy and society, change in international relations, and from there, we hope, a change in the relation between the United States of America and the indigenous peoples of the world.