Newswire

Ricardo PalmeraDear Colombia Action Network supporters,

Many members of the Colombia Action Network have been part of a solidarity campaign in support of Ricardo Palmera, a Colombian revolutionary on trial in the U.S. under "terrorism" laws. We protested and picketed outside the courtroom many times, and sat in on the proceedings, showing our support for Palmera.

Yesterday Ricardo Palmera was sentenced to serve 60 years in jail in a U.S. maximum security prison under "special administrative measures". Palmera's trial is a political one, part of the broader Bush strategy of criminalizing any and all national liberation movements. Social revolution equals terrorism; while self defense against the terror of the Colombian oligarchy becomes a crime.

A director of Colombian military intelligence and another officer implicated in a series of false attacks and a bombing that killed a civilian and injured 19 soldiers in Bogotá in 2006, attended the US Army School of the Americas, an examination of records shows.

As U.S. lawmakers are busy focusing on domestic politics and the U.S. presidential elections in November, major multinationals like DHL and business groups like the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) are anxious to see Congress move on free trade agreements with Colombia and Panama.

Six months ago, when news of the deal struck by the Chiquita executives with the US Dept of Justice hit the press, the Colombian public was justifiably outraged that none of the managers of the North American company would personally pay any penalty. The Colombian media - notably, Caracol, RCN, and Caracol - generously granted me air time to call for the extradition of the Chiquita executives. Although this point of view was quite popular in Colombia, the concept of extraditing North Americans to Colombia met with a great deal of skepticism. Nobody thought it was possible. After all, no gringo has ever been extradited to Colombia before. But now it's a real possibility.

The National Committee to Free Ricardo Palmera, along with students and other activists from around the country protested here Dec. 3 against the sentencing of Colombian revolutionary Ricardo Palmera. Ricardo Palmera was convinced of 'conspiracy to kidnap' in July. The other false charges the government attempted to pin on him met with a hung jury.