DAYS OF PRAYER & ACTION FOR COLOMBIA
MAY 20-21, 2007

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe visited Washington on May 2 to lobby policy makers for a Free
Trade Agreement (FTA) and more military aid for Colombia. These requests are particularly
concerning right now for a number of reasons:
    
1. The war rages on in Colombia. Plan Colombia was initially intended to support the rule of law in
Colombia, improve the human rights record of the Colombian military, and reduce coca production.
But after 7 years and more than $5.4 billion of U.S. taxpayer dollars spent, we see just the opposite! At
the end of May, the foreign operations appropriations subcommittee in the House of Representatives
will consider Bush and Uribe's proposal for "Plan Colombia 2," and it's time that we call for a major
shift in U.S. priorities in Colombia.

2. The U.S.-Colombia FTA will increase drug production and violence against labor union leaders.
Colombia is the most dangerous country in the world to organize labor unions. Furthermore, the
flooding of the market caused by an FTA will put many small farmers out of business, likely causing
many to turn to more lucrative drug production. Presidents Bush and Uribe have already signed
the FTA, and the ball is now in Congress' court.

3. Numerous members of Pres. Uribe's party have been implicated in an unfolding scandal in Colombia
in recent months. The "para-politics" scandal has revealed that some government officials - and military
officials as well - have had close ties to the right-wing paramilitary group the AUC, which is on the
U.S. State Department list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations.

Thousands of people of faith in North America and Colombia are committed to pray for an end to the
violence and suffering in Colombia, and to act for an end to unjust U.S. policies in Colombia. On
Sunday, May 20, congregations across the country will stand in solidarity with our Colombian brothers
and sisters who have endured so much suffering, remembering the victims of Colombia's brutal conflict
and praying for a peaceful future in Colombia. Then on Monday, May 21 they will take collective
action to ask that US policy promote peace and justice in Colombia rather than military involvement
and violence.

ACTIONS
DAY OF PRAYER, SUNDAY, MAY 20
Ask your pastor to set aside Sunday, May 20 as a special day of prayer for Colombia. Send us an
email if your congregation will be participating. Email: info@peaceincolombia.org. For more info on the
Day of Prayer visit http://www.peaceincolombia.org/prayerday07.htm

DAY OF ACTION, MONDAY, MAY 21
On Monday, May 21, write / call your member representative and senators to ask them to shift aid to
Colombia to humanitarian concerns and to renegotiate the Colombian Free Trade Agreement. (See
talking points below.) To find contact info for your Representative / Senators, enter your address at
http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/

TALKING POINTS
1. Shift the balance of aid to Colombia. The United States should help alleviate the humanitarian crisis in
Colombia instead of fueling the country’s decades-long civil war. The U.S. should provide greater
assistance to help Colombia’s over 3 million internally displaced persons and other victims of violence,
to strengthen the justice system, and to provide real economic alternatives to poor farmers to address
the causes of violence and illegal drug production.

2. Renegotiate the Colombian Free Trade Agreement (FTA). More labor union leaders are killed in
Colombia each year than the rest of the world combined -- any country that cannot adequately protect
the basic rights of labor unionists does not merit a free trade agreement. Additionally, the flooding of the
market caused by an FTA will put many small farmers out of business, likely causing many to turn to
more lucrative drug production.