This was a great event. The artwork and puppets were inspiring.
As we marched to Occidental Petroleum, a group of men in an unmarked black car followed us. One man in the backseat was videotaping protesters. It was a bit eerie. At Oxy, there was another guy taping protesters.
A woman from "All Things Considered" was reporting on the march and interviewing people. She said the story 'might' air this afternoon. I took that to mean, it might air tomorrow, 3/25.
(The reporter interviewed me, and I cited a story about how U.S. teams are taking off from Occidental Petroleum in Colombia. I told her I got the information from the BBC or Guardian website. Oops. It was the LA Times.
"Videotape Shows Americans' Role in Village Bombing."
Two U.S. men flying a surveillance plane helped direct an attack on guerrillas in a 1998 Colombian incident that killed 18 civilians.
The Los Angeles Times; Mar 16, 2003; T. Christian Miller.)
After the march, I returned to the Westwood Federal Building and ran into two guys protesting against the war on Iraq. They asked me about the Colombia protest, and I replied that the U.S. is providing military aid and training to Colombia's military and protecting Oxy's oil interests.
I think it's important that we widen the debate about oil wars to include Colombia and Venezuela (and other regions), and question supply-side drug wars. The U.S. throws military solutions at world problems like many doctors push pharmaceuticals. What about non-invasive prevention? Solutions that respect human life?
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For more information on Colombia, you might try searching these websites:
NACLA: Report on the Americas
http://www.nacla.org/ Z Magazine's Colombia Watch Site
http://www.zmag.org/CrisesCurEvts/Colombia/colombiatop.htm Global Exchange
http://globalexchange.org/colombia/ National Mobilization on Colombia
http://www.colombiamobilization.org/ http://www.OfficeOfTheAmericas.org/ Peace Brigades International Colombia Project
http://www.peacebrigades.org/colombia.html