Last week, Colombia’s President Juan Manuel Santos met with President Obama to discuss a bilateral shift from 15 years of Plan Colombia to what the two heads of state are calling “


Peace Colombia


.” For the past decade and a half, Plan Colombia channeled billions of U.S. dollars to shore up Colombia’s military and police resources, more deeply militarizing the Colombian state’s strategy to fight a nominal war on drugs which displaced violence to the countryside and disproportionately affected

campesinos

, Afro-Colombians and Indigenous peoples.

Santos and Obama also discussed the grueling, decades long conflict in Colombia between the government, right-wing paramilitary groups, and leftist rebels which is likely to end in the coming months due to intense negotiations over the past several years through peace talks in Havana, Cuba. The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (also known as FARC) reached an agreement


with the Colombian government


on a peace accord that could end the longest running civil war in the hemisphere. The talks have included the topics of the political participation of the FARC, drug-trafficking, the fundamental issue of the distribution and ownership of land in Colombia, the rights of victims, and the conditions for insurgents to turn in their weapons.

While the peace negotiations have been a crucial part of social movements’ strategy to mitigate the brutal violence (in fact, social movements, many of whom reject electoral politics, actually supported President Santos’ re-election with the goal that he would finalized the negotiations within his second term), Colombian organizers are not under the illusion that the accords nor the new “Peace Colombia” will bring fundamental peace to country, much less to the communities disproportionately affected by the violence (women,

campesinos

, African descendents and Indigenous peoples). We’ve heard over and over again that the peace accords will provide a pathway to peace, but that implementation, inclusion and accountability will be required if peace can ever become a fundamental reality.

Two pathways forward are crucial in this historic moment in Colombia:

First, regarding the implementation of the Peace Accords,

CRLN’s partner organizations in Colombia are pressing the international community to support their demands for (1) the inclusion of African descendant and Indigenous voices in the implementation process of the Peace Accords and (2) accompaniment for rebel groups like the FARC during their reentry into society so as not to reproduce the historic violence wielded against demobilized rebels as happened with the


Unión Patriotica in the 1980s and 1990s


when over 3,500 were assassinated. Stay tuned to CRLN’s website and facebook to stay up-to-date on our work to continue accompanying and supporting marginalized communities in Colombia during a transformational moment in their country’s history. And


sign the petition urging members of the peace negotiations to include Afro-descendant and Indigenous voices in the implementation period of the Peace Process


.

Second, regarding the new version of Plan Colombia now being called “Peace Colombia,”

it is crucial that the U.S. stop using its billions of dollars in aid to continue militarizing a country that is working to implement peace. CRLN partner organization the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), has provided


five sound recommendations


for shifting the policies of Plan Colombia away from militarization and towards the interests of those most directly affected by violence. Meanwhile, the national office of School of the Americas Watch (SOA Watch) is planning an investigatory delegation to the Panamanian border of Colombia where the U.S. is supporting the construction of yet another military base in an isolated and predominantly Indigenous and Afro-Colombian territory. The Illinois chapter of SOA Watch is


hosting a bowl-a-thon


to help fundraise in support of this delegation’s investigation of the ongoing militarization schemes during the ‘new’ era of “Peace Colombia.”


Click here to join a team and support this international organizing right from here in Chicago!

By Ivanna Salgado, CRLN Summer Intern

3 August 2017

On Tuesday, August 1st, a group of leaders from many immigrant rights organizations and faith communities in the Chicagoland area met at the Thompson Center to deliver postcards to Governor Bruce Rauner in support of the Illinois

TRUST Act

. All together 3,600 postcards were delivered. Our partners at Lake Street Church of Evanston, Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation, St. Nicholas Roman Catholic Church, and Old St. Patrick’s Church collected 800 postcards!

We demand that Illinois is a safe and a truly welcoming state that provides robust protections to immigrant communities.

Unfortunately, we were not allowed to talk to Governor Rauner nor allowed to go into his office to discuss the TRUST Act. The postcards were delivered to his staff. However, our hopes is that he will inform Governor Rauner that we will not give up this battle. As constituents of Illinois we deserved to be heard and we deserve an answer.

Thank you to


ICIRR


and


PASO


for leading this action!

As of August 3, 2017, Governor Rauner has agreed to sign the TRUST Act into a law. We are excited to announce that Illinois is on its way to to having the strongest statewide deportation protections in the country!

As ICIRR stated

, “Under the TRUST Act, local police cannot comply with immigration detainers and warrants not issued by a judge. Local police also cannot stop, search, or arrest anyone based on that person’s immigration or citizenship status.”

However, this is just the beginning of the fight to make Illinois a sanctuary for ALL of our siblings, brothers, and sisters.

Seguiremos luchando!

Make three important phone calls today that will make a difference in these ongoing human rights campaigns!

Click here to find your member


of the House of Representatives. Then call Senator Durbin’s office at 202-224-2152 and Senator Kirk at 202-224-2854.

“Hi. My name is ________. I’m a member of the Chicago Religious Leadership Network on Latin America and I’m calling to ask that Representative/Senator ______:

(1) contact the State department and express support for Afro and Indigenous voices in the Colombian Peace Process through an Ethnic Commission and a thorough demobilization of paramilitary groups still active in Colombia.

(2) I would also like Representative/Senator _______ to talk to the State department to demand an investigation into the murder of Berta Caceres led by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. I would also ask that they support an immediate hold on security funding to Honduras and 100% human rights conditioning for 2017.

(3) Lastly, please support an end to the U.S. embargo on Cuba and a lifting of travel restrictions by supporting the following bills:

(Only for Reps in the House)

H.R. 3687, H.R. 3055, H.R. 3238 and HR 664

(Only for Senators)

S. 299 and S. 491

Thank you.”

(Español abajo) As a new national administration will come into office in January, we are entering into what seems to many of us a very dangerous time in the life of this country. However, the reality is that for our undocumented sisters, brothers, and siblings, this is nothing new. For our partners in Latin America, this struggle is familiar. CRLN is committed to continuing this struggle alongside these directly affected leaders against imperialism, against


xenophobic immigration policies


, against


militarism


and deportations, against


neoliberal free trade agreements


that fail to provide options for working people the world over. We will continue to struggle with our partners


for peace


, human rights, economic justice, migrant rights, and environmental rights.

While we may feel overwhelmed by the political changes that are undoubtedly to come, we also honor, lift up, and take direction from the other side of the story. The side where human rights defenders throughout the hemisphere have been bravely and tirelessly fighting back against escalations in state violence and militarization. The side where immigrants have been fighting for their rights, for a better world for their families and for us all. At CRLN, we’ve spent decades building faithful, community-based support and solidarity for immigrants, for human rights defenders internationally, and for each other. We’ll continue building this support, organizing out of love and solidarity so that we have each other’s backs even when the systems around us fail to do so. ¡La lucha sigue!

Mientras esperamos una nueva administración nacional en enero, entramos en un periódo que para muchxs de nosotrxs parece un periódo muy peligroso para este país. Mientras tanto, la realidad es que para nuestrxs hermanxs indocumentadxs, esto no es nada nuevo. Para nuestrxs compañerxs en América Latina, esta lucha es familiar. CRLN se compromete a seguir en esta lucha al lado de lxs líderes y líderezas afectadxs directamente. Vamos a seguir luchando en contra del imperialismo, en contra de la


política migratoria xenofóbica


, en contra del


militarismo


y las deportaciones, en contra de


los tratados de libre comercio neoliberales


que no ofrecen opciones para los trabajadores de todo el mundo. Continuaremos luchando con nuestrxs socixs


por la paz


, los derechos humanos, la justicia económica, los derechos de los migrantes y los derechos ambientales.

Si bien podemos sentirnos abrumadxs por los cambios políticos que sin duda han de venir, también honramos, alzamos y tomamos la dirección del otro lado de la historia.El lado donde los defensores de los derechos humanos en todo el hemisferio han luchando valiente e incansablemente contra las escaladas en la violencia estatal y la militarización. El lado en el cual los inmigrantes han luchado por sus derechos y por un mejor mundo para sus familias y para todxs nostroxs. En CRLN, hemos trabajado durante décadas construyendo un apoyo fiel, basado en la comunidad y solidaridad para los inmigrantes, los defensores de derechos humanos a nivel internacional, y uno para el otro. Continuaremos construyendo este apoyo, organizándonos por amor y solidaridad para que tengamos el respaldo de uno para el otro incluso cuando los sistemas que nos rodean no lo hagan.¡La lucha sigue!

TRUST ACT Victory a Great First Step! Faith Communities Must Continue to Resist Criminalization

The TRUST Act is the strongest bill of its kind in the US. It protects the Fourth Amendment for ALL people. At a time when immigrant communities are under unprecedented attack by aggressive threats of deportation, by an agency that is out of control, by threats to end important protections such as DACA and Temporary Protected Status, the TRUST Act is a great first step, a solid foundation to start addressing the criminalization of immigrants and communities of color in our state. – Mony Ruiz-Velasco, ED of the West Suburban Action Project (PASO)

This week, CRLN joined our partners and conveners of the Welcoming IL Coalition in celebration of the signing of the TRUST Act by Governor Rauner. We are honored to have been a part of this campaign, a truly grassroots effort led by community members and local organizations. For months, directly-affected communities put pressure on the State of IL to take real steps to provide sanctuary protections for all.

This campaign was successful in demanding that local police cannot comply with immigration detainers or warrants not issued by a judge. Under the TRUST Act, local police also cannot stop, search, or arrest anyone based on their immigration or citizenship status.

As people of faith, we are called to uplift and honor the demands of immigrant communities and communities of color. We must continue to act in beloved solidarity to continue to resist the rhetoric and practices that dictate protections for some directly-affected communities and not all.

During the signing of the TRUST Act, Governor Rauner stated that he is a pro-immigration legislator. Our work as faith communities is to remind legislators that the work of being ‘pro-immigration’ also requires a critical analysis of violent ICE and law enforcement practices, both in IL and throughout the U.S. We must publicly denounce the dehumanizing conditions that are a result of the mass criminalization of immigrants and communities of color.

We lift up a vision of sanctuary and immigrant justice that holds government institutions accountable to the dignity and respect that immigrant communities, predominantly of color, deserve. We affirm that the lives of our immigrant brothers, sisters, and siblings are more valuable than how much money they can contribute to the economy or their criminal record.

Join us in continuing the fight for #Sanctuary4All in the state of Illinois. La lucha sigue!

To learn more about our immigrant justice work in the Chicagoland area or to join our



Nov. delegation to the SOA Watch Border Convergence



, please contact our Immigration Organizer at

crodriguez@crln.org

__

Suggested Readings:

ICIRR Press Release: ‘TRUST Act Signed into Law in Illinois’

‘Why You Should Stop Using the Term Dreamer’

by Jorge Rivas

‘What Do I Need to Know if the DACA Program Ends?’

by the Immigrant Legal Resource Center

One of the best stories from the 30th Annual Pedal for Peace Bike-a-thon on September 23, 2017, came from the efforts of Joaquin Vazquez (bottom left of photo), who set himself the goal of raising $250 and succeeded in doubling that amount! Along the way, he educated his principal, his teacher, and his school about why it was so important to fund the projects he was supporting. You can watch a video of one of his presentations

here

.

66 people registered to bike and/or fundraise. Together, we raised $18,354 for projects designed to develop people’s capacity to improve the quality of life in their communities through education, health care, land reclamation, deportation defense and affordable housing!