Which Democratic candidate will call for an end to Plan Colombia?

[IndianaGreen]

Plan Colombia is a stealth counter-insurgency program which has resulted in the spraying of crops with known carcinogens, resulting in birth defects and disease among the peasantry, and it has encouraged mass human rights abuses by the Colombian government.

Plan Colombia was one of the worse ideas that came out of the Clinton Administration.

Which of the Democratic candidates will be the first to call for terminating Plan Colombia?

[Tinoire]

1. I can only think of one & he's been fighting Monsanto tooth and nail for y

On edit: Title: I can only think of one & he's been fighting Monsanto tooth and nail for years
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I am only posting this here to show that Kucinich is one of the few, minus Wellstone and Feingold, who have had the audacity, the courage to go after Monsanto. Plan Columbia is a purely Monsanto operation. I don't expect any of the other candidates (save Sharpton and Braun) to utter a peep against the Monsanto Monster- they're too ingrained in the administrations and the FDA. Bush Sr, Clinton, Bush Jr- it doesn't matter. Monsanto has been there the entire time dictating our policy in Columbia. We need DRASTIC change. Peace

Lawsuit and legislation
January 17, 2000 -- Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) has suggested that he will introduce legislation to protect farmers against "anticompetitive practices" like those Monsanto was accused of in mid-December 1999.

That's when a group of farmers represented by several high-profile law firms filed a class action lawsuit against Monsanto, alleging that the company, together with other companies, rushed GM crops into production.

The National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) has urged its members to pay close attention to the development of the lawsuit and Kucinich's legislation. If severe penalties are levied against Monsanto, or if the legislation passes, new limits may be placed on all GM crops, including transgenic wheat, and large agribusiness companies may retreat from support of such products.

The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia and is being supported by antibiotech activist Jeremy Rifkin. The suit alleges that Monsanto acted conspiratorially with other companies to fix prices and monopolize the GM corn and soybean markets. Plaintiffs are asking for treble damages, which allows for three times the final damage calculation. The suit alleges severe economic damage to farmers because consumers, particularly in Europe, have rejected GM crops.

Kucinich is a well-known opponent of GM crops and has introduced legislation that would require labeling of all GM crops, poultry and livestock.
http://www.agjournal.com/story.cfm?story_id=657

Kucinich in the finest Wellstone tradition

[mike_c]

2. agreed..., Dean's anti-drug position is unlikely to lead him to yield...

...much on this one, although I can see him simply letting it die a quiet death by neglect. Plan Columbia is part of the ongoing U.S. cultural war against poor people in Central America. There are MANY reasons to oppose this outside of the drug trade issues, but the "war on drugs" card will always be played to prevent a rational hemispheric foreign policy. It's the modern replacement for the "war on Communism." Why don't we just call it what it is: "war on poor brown people?"

[Tinoire]

5. You brought up another good point. - Feminist 4 Kucinich & the Poor

Scarletwoman posted this politics and campaigns but damn, it came in my e-mail too! Still she reformatted it so must give her credit lol.

Read the parts in bold. They spell out what DK thinks about the 'war on Brown people". Dennis impressed the hell out of me when he marched with the activists against GMOs during the Seattle WTO. And he's been kicking ever since.
******************************************************************

The Kucinich for President Campaign takes a big step forward today with the announcement of "Feminists for Kucinich." Eight diverse feminist writers and organizers have initiated a statement in support of Kucinich, which will be widely circulated to attract new supporters.

The original signers are:

BARBARA EHRENREICH, political essayist and author ("Nickel and Dimed");

ANGELA GILLIAM, professor and expert on Black feminist anthropology;

YNESTRA KING, writer and activist on environmental, feminist, and disability issues;

GAIL LERNER, organizer in the global women's movement and with U.N. agencies;

GRACE PALEY, peace activist and author ("Enormous Changes at the Last Minute");

ROSALIND PETCHESKY, international feminist activist and political science professor;

DIGNA SANCHEZ, Latina community activist in New York;

MEREDITH TAX, novelist, essayist and international organizer of feminist writers.

Although the statement has just started to circulate, it has already attracted signatures from such prominent feminists as Blanche Weisen Cook, biographer of Eleanor Roosevelt; Marilyn French, author of "The Women's Room"; actress and singer Ronnie Gilbert; Jewish activist and poet Irena Klepfisz; and political scientist Zillah Eisenstein.

Here's a summary of the statement. For the full statement, and to sign on: http://www.ipetitions.com/campaigns/feminists_4_kucinich/

FEMINISTS FOR KUCINICH
Rather than waiting to hear what all the Democratic candidates have to say, then jumping on the bandwagon of the least offensive, we decided to make our own list of priorities and see who agrees with us.

1) We want a candidate who will stop the war on the poor.

2) We want a candidate who stands for peace, respects international treaties and institutions such as the U.N. and the International Criminal Court, and tries to resolve problems through negotiation.

3) We want a candidate who will defend the separation of church and state, and the individual rights guaranteed us by the Constitution.

4) We want a candidate who opposes discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, and who stands for women's reproductive rights and recognizes that these rights depend on universal health insurance.

5) We want a candidate who will address questions of global economic imbalance and stand up for the rights of immigrants.

6) We want a candidate who will challenge racism domestically and internationally.

Dennis Kucinich is the only candidate who not only agrees with all these points but has developed policies to support them: starting a cabinet-level Department of Peace; supporting unions and the right to organize; cutting the bloated military budget; restoring environmental regulations and launching a "Global Green Deal" to benefit developing countries; withdrawing from NAFTA and the WTO and challenging IMF/World Bank policies; repealing the "Patriot Act"; upholding Roe v. Wade; working for universal health insurance; and abolishing the racially and economically biased death penalty.

Because we feel that he comes closest to representing our priorities, we have decided to support Dennis Kucinich for President.
--
JULY 4 WITH WILLIE: A special thank you to Willie and Annie Nelson for their gracious hospitality at the July 4th "picnic" for tens of thousands of gleeful concertgoers in Texas. Willie introduced Dennis to the crowd -- and Willie and Annie met privately with Dennis to discuss how they can support the campaign and raise the Kucinich profile among voters. (Dennis flew to Texas after marching in July 4th parades with constituents in Ohio, and before flying on to California for various meetings, including with ILWU dockworkers and with California residents from India.)

CAN KUCINICH BEAT BUSH?: You bet he can. Go to
http://kucinich.us/electable.htm and circulate.

PLEASE DONATE: Our campaign draws the biggest crowds and biggest audience response, but we are not YET the top campaign in funding. Please contribute. If you're maxed out, please get your friends, fellow activists or rich relations to donate. Help us show that our fundraising surge at the end of June was no fluke.
https://www.kucinich.us/contribute.php

[IndianaGreen]

6. Dean is a moderate

Dean will be more cautious.

The way I tell it is like this, using Iraq as an example:

Kucinich, Sharpton, and Mosley Braun will support an immediate withdrawal of US troops from Iraq.

Dean will favor a phased withdrawal.

All of them will favor a role for the UN in Iraq!

The prowar candidates, without exception, will favor escalating the number of troops in Iraq for a variety of reasons: protect the troops, save face, honor, etc. This is the same failed approach that Nixon used to pull out of Vietnam, which ended up costing more lives in the long term.

[IndianaGreen]

3. Thanks for the info, Tinoire

Let's not forget the shameful role by CONOCO and their bloody pipeline!

Thanks for the info!:loveya:

[Tinoire]

7. Anytime my friend!

Globalization, GMOs and I/P are my most important causes. Liar, animal rights too. Liar, the rights of the poor too. Sigh, my list, like yours, is never-ending. There are verses in the Tanakh for this... When, right?

Love you to pieces!

Conoco and pipelines, sigh. We may need nothing short of a revolution to fix our country.

[Terwilliger]

4. Kucinich

[MaverickX]

8. hopefully none...

Although it should be reformed to foster democracy over authoritarianism.

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

9. Plan Colombia targets Union Organizers

I believe that more union organizers are killed in Colombia than anywhere around the world. Corporations like Coke have evidentally been collaborating with death squads to make sure these factories don't get a union.

The "Drug War" is just to make sure there is no competition to the paramilitaries who control the drugs. The oil pipeline is also a major factor.