Resolution Opposing "Plan Colombia" 

Resolution against the military involvement and toxic contamination aspects of "Plan Colombia"

WHEREAS, the US Congress passed a bill in the year 2000 authorizing the expenditure of $1.3 billion in "aid" for the country of Colombia, ostensibly to combat all coca production in the region, primarily through military means; and

WHEREAS, the Colombian military is receiving most of the aid package; and

WHEREAS, the focus of operations is in the south-east area of the country, in territories claimed by the U'wa Indians and other native inhabitants who do not acknowledge the authority of the Bogota-based Government; and

WHEREAS, there is no apparent attempt to impede the coca production in the north-east section of the country, an area claimed by a rebel group most often recognized as right-wing paramilitary, who are on public record admitting to growing coca to help fund their operations; and

WHEREAS, a fundamental element of Plan Colombia is the application of thousands of pounds of toxic herbicides to target coca fields, with little concern for over-spray onto non-coca, subsistence farms; and

WHEREAS, Occidental Petroleum stands to profit substantially through oil exploration in the south-east territories; and

WHEREAS, the native U'wa have promised to commit mass suicide if the Bogota Government allows Occidental to proceed with plans to drill in those areas the U'wa have declared as sacred lands;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Green Party of Santa Cruz County California condemns the decision by the US Congress to allow any of the $1.3 billion aid package to be used for military hardware or training; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Green Party recognizes that the U'wa have a sovereign right to protect the land they depend upon for their physical and cultural existance; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that Green Party acknowledges that all of the indigenous people have a moral and ethical right to live on their lands without experiencing the violence of their crops, their livestock or their persons being sprayed by toxic chemicals; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Green Party believes that Occidental Petroleum has a moral obligation to stop oil exploration and drilling operations in areas claimed by the indigenous people of Colombia; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Green Party recognizes that many clinical and sociological studies have proven that the effectiveness of funds spent on drug-abuse treatment programs and drug prevention programs are many times more effective than money spent attempting to stop the production of illicit drugs; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Green Party of Santa Cruz County California emphatically encourages our representatives in the State and Federal Governments to work hard toward ensuring that US tax dollars are not spent in ways that are likely to result in the infliction of pain, suffering and/or death upon any persons in Colombia, and in particular, the U'wa Indians.