Resources
US-Colombia Colombia: Days of Prayer & Action Latin America Resources
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Colombia - Resources
Colombia - Public Policy ActionUS-Colombia Free Trade AgreementThe U.S.-Colombia FTA was signed by U.S. President George W. Bush and Colombia President Alvaro Uribe in 2006. It has not yet been ratified by the U.S. Congress because of continuing human rights violations and corruption in Colombia. The Obama administration is still evaluating their position on the U.S.-Colombia FTA. For more details, see Witness for Peace Action Alerts at www.witnessforpeace.org or Mennonite Central Committee (Washington Office) Action Alerts at www.mcc.org/us/washington/. You may contact your elected members of Congress -- Representatives and Senators -- through the Capitol Switchboard (202-224-3121), or visit democracyinaction.org to send an email. (org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5436/t/2467/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=521). Colombia: Other Resources
The "War on Drugs" in ColombiaU.S.-funded drug enforcement practices in Colombia have been inefficient at best, and typically work to increase the supply of illicit drugs. For example, a 1994 study by the RAND Corporation commissioned by the U.S. Army and U.S. Drug Czar found that providing treatment for cocaine users is ten times more cost effective than interdiction and 23 times more effective than trying to eradicate coca at its source. A more recent study (The National Drug Control Strategy: Effectiveness of Eradication in Colombia, 2002-2003) notes that Colombia's coca cultivation increased by two and a half times between 1992 and 1998, even though more than a third Colombia's coca fields were eradicated at a cost of about $4.7 million per hectare.
Other resources:
Organizations that work for peace in Colombia and other Latin American countries.
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