Current Actions

• Tell Colombian Authorities: Release Colombian Union Leader Guillermo Cano

  Send a letter to Colombian authorities demanding the release of Guillermo Cano and seven fellow members of the FENSUAGRO union of agricultural workers.  The letter you send will be in Spanish (provided below).  Here is an English translation: 

  I am contacting you to demand the immediate release of Guillermo Cano, who was arrested along with seven associates on May 9, 2013. Mr. Cano is the Human Rights Coordinator for the Association of Peasant Farm Workers of Tolima (ASTRACATOL) and a member of the Executive Committee of the National Federation of Agricultural Workers Unions (FENSUAGRO). He and his associates are charged with the crime of “rebellion”, a vague accusation that everyone recognizes as a tactic to intimidate, silence and jail unionists and anyone else who thinks differently from the state. Already there are more than 10,000 political prisoners in Colombia. What Don Guillermo and the seven other prisoners deserve is not repression but freedom, including freedom of speech and the freedom to be able to speak and organize openly and safely.

  I am furthermore concerned about the safety of all the members and especially the leaders of FENSUAGRO. Maribel Oviedo was illegally detained and threatened with execution by members of the Armed Forces on March 2, 2013. On March 24, 2013, Alonso Lozano, a leader of the FENSUAGRO affiliate in Cauca, was assassinated. The following day, Gustavo Adolfo Pizo Garcia, the President of this same union, was also assassinated. The detention of Don Guillermo and his colleagues is one more example of the historic and notorious repression against FENSUAGRO and the labor movement in Colombia. Thus, in addition to the freedom of Don Guillermo, I also demand a definitive end to all abuses against FENSUAGRO.

• Break up Bank of America!

  Bank of America is bad for America! Since the 2008 Great Recession was orchestrated by the 'too big to fail' Wall Street banks, citizens have stepped forward as the true shareholders who reject the too big to fail premise. Too big to fail is too big to exist. Break up Bank of America!
  

• Tell Congress: Recognize Venezuela's President!

  The US Congress is being called to immediately recognize the election of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. The present US policy towards Latin America is detrimental to our economy and self interest. Venezuela is a country with an upstanding democracy, highly regarded in the international community and paid attention to in the US amongst large portions of society.

• US Government: Act to Save the Life of Maribel Oviedo, Colombian Unionist

  Maribel Oviedo was unlawfully detained on Sunday, March 3, 2013 and threatened with execution by members of the Colombian Army's Sixth Infantry Batallion.  She is currently being held against her will and without warrant or judicial process.  Your action is urgently needed to protect Maribel's life, liberty and safety.  Maribel is a leader of the Peasant Farmers Association of Tolima (ASTRACATOL), an affiliate of Fensuagro, the country's largest union of peasant farmers and agricultural workers.  We are asking you to send this letter to the White House, State Department and the US Ambassador in Colombia, asking that they use their positions to advocate for Maribel's life, liberty and safety.
  

• Colombian Unionist's Life in Danger--Maribel Oviedo Needs Your Help

  Agricultural workers union leader Maribel Oviedo was unlawfully detained on March 3, 2013 and threatened with execution by members of the Colombian Army's Sixth Infantry Batallion.  She is still being held, and your action on her behalf is urgently needed.

  PLEASE NOTE--WHEN COLOMBIAN AUTHORITIES START TO RECEIVE A CRITICAL MASS OF SUCH EMAILS, SOME OFFICES WILL START REJECTING THEM. THAT IS ITSELF A SIGN OF THIS CAMPAIGN'S EFFECTIVENESS! 

  Also note that the letter you are sending is in Spanish.  Following is an English translation for your reference:

  I am contacting you in order to demand the liberty and the right to life, health and safety of the Colombian unionist Maribel Oviedo.  Oviedo was detained by members of the 6th Infantry Batallion of the Colombian army Sunday, March 3rd, 2013, while she presented a workshop to the farmers and farm workers of the village of Esmeralda, municipality of Rovira, department of Tolima.  She is presently detained in the Cebastacol farm located in Esmeralda.  The members of the infantry threatened her with execution, falsely claiming that she was an insurgent combatant.  Were this to happen, she would become another of the “false positives”, one of the more than 3,000 civilians already assassinated by members of the Colombian Armed Forces and dishonestly claimed as insurgents fallen in battle.  What Maribel is, truthfully, is a unionist and mother of a four month old baby.  She does not deserve to be made a target of state repression.  The attack against Maribel is an attack against the labor movement, the peasant communities and the process for peace and justice in Colombia.
  

• Provide Norberto Gonazalez with Medical Attention and Humane Treatment

  Norberto Gonzalez is a Puerto Rican political prisoner of the United States Government for his activities for the liberation of his nation from US colonization.  He is being denied medical attention for cancer and an orthopedic condition.  Please take a moment to send a letter on his behalf to the Washington DC and the South Central offices of the US Bureau of Prisons.

• End Border Militarization-We Want Just Immigration Reform

  While we applaud any move toward just immigration reform, we demand that it not include increased border militarization and that the militarization that is now in place be ended.

• No New Border Militarization!

  While we applaud any move toward just immigration reform, we demand that it not include increased border militarization and that the militarization that is now in place be ended.

• End Border Militarization Now!

  Sign this petition against border militarization.  Signatures will be collected and forwarded to the White House and both houses of Congress.

• Free Colombian Political Prisoner David Ravelo!

  Sign on to the North American Committee to Free David Ravelo's open letter to demand freedom and justice for political prisoner David Ravelo. Ravelo is a member of Colombia's Regional Human Rights Corporation and was honored by the Catholic Diocese of Barrancabermeja for his defense of human rights. He was recently convicted to 18 years in prison for what is widely regarded as a sham trial by national and international human rights organizations.

• I Demand US Support for Peace in Colombia!

  Take a moment to contact the US State Department to express your support for Colombia's peace process, and to ask that the US end its calls for extraditions that interfere with negotiations.  Especially, join is in calling for Ricardo Palmera to be allowed to fulfill his role as a negotiator in the talks.

• Justice For José Antonio Elena Rodríguez

  It is time to say “no more” to US law enforcement initiated border killings. This must stop with the death of Jose Antonio. No more can we allow these deaths to be swept under the rug without serious investigation and without holding the killers accountable for their actions. It is a serious international incident for a country’s uniformed officers to fire into another country. It is even more serious when that violation of international law results in the death of citizens of that country. We have to demand that our public officials conduct a full, independent and transparent investigation of Rodriguez’ killing and a top-to-bottom review of Border Patrol policies regarding use of deadly force.

  AfGJ (http://AFGJ.org) asks you to send this short article and the pictures to your elected representatives and to Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano.

• Venezuela Solidarity Pledge: No US Sponsored Coups or Destabilization!

  Sign this pledge to take action in solidarity with Venezuela!

• I Demand Respect for Venezuelan Sovereignty-No US Interference

   Send a letter today to the White House to demand that the US government not intervene in or try to manipulate Venezuela's October 7 elections.

• President Obama: Four Steps for Peace in Colombia

  The Obama Administration can take four important steps for peace in Colombia by ending extraditions of Colombian prisoners that impede negotiations, truth-telling and reconciliation efforts, and by allowing the participation in negotiations of Ricardo Palmera, who is being held under inhumane conditions at the Florence, Colorado Supermax Federal Penitentiary.