WASHINGTON – “The Bush administration claims we are fighting a war against terror,” said Mike Connerly, of Colombia Mobilization. “They are practicing state sponsored terrorism in Colombia.”
Connerly and others were marching here April 20 to bring attention to the 1.3 billion in military aid given to the Colombian government annually. More trade unionists and union organizers have been murdered in Colombia than in any other country in the world. Connerly also mentioned the School of the Americas (SOA), in Fort Benning, Ga.
The SOA, since its inception in 1948, has been responsible for training thousands of soldiers, mostly from Latin America, in torture techniques, psychological warfare and counter-insurgency. “The SOA is a institution of terror,” said Connerly.
Many protesters were also concerned about the domestic consequences of Bush’s “war on terrorism.”
On April 22, 3,000 protesters marching from the Washington Monument to the Capitol to call for a new, non-military U.S. policy toward Colombia. “The current program of massive military aid to this war-torn country is like pouring gasoline on a fire,” said Carol Richardson of Witness for Peace.
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