Candidate Packet for Changing U.S.-Colombia Policy

One of the easiest things you can do for changing Plan Colombia is to give LAWG’s Candidate Packet to candidates running for House and Senate seats in your district or state. You can hand deliver the information to them during meetings (how to organize a meeting with a candidate), or you can simply put the packet in the mail. We suggest that in either case you include a letter explaining why you are sending the packet and why this issue is of importance to you. We’ve included a sample letter here.

Order a packet (free) from LAWG today! Send an email to with your mailing address and the number of packets you would like. Or download items from this page to print out and send to the candidate.

LAWG’s Candidate Packet includes:

• Blueprint for a New Colombia Policy
  This report written by LAWGEF, the Center for International Policy (CIP), the US Office on Colombia (USOC) and the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA).
  Members of Congress are constantly asking, "But what's the alternative?" This is our unequivocal answer. Help turn the tide in favor of a new policy based on the principles of peace, justice, and human rights- not guns and chemicals.
  You can download and read the report here (pdf) o en español aqui (pdf).

• Careful Monitoring of the Paramilitary Demobilization should be a priority for the U.S. Congress
  This memo by the USOC, WOLA, LAWGEF and CIP details concerns about Colombia’s demobilization of paramilitaries. While the reintegration of ex-combatants is a noble goal in theory, Colombia’s demobilization process does little to ensure justice and many armed groups are reforming despite having supposedly put down their weapons.
  Read and download this memo (pdf)

• Alternative Development Strategies in Colombia: The Need to Move Beyond Illicit Drug Crop Spraying
  This report by the Asociación Interamericana para la Defensa del Ambiente/Interamerican Association for Environmental Defense (AIDA), of which the executive summary is provided here, some of the participatory sustainable, alternative development programs that have proven more effective than the aerial spraying.
  Read and download the executive summary of this report (pdf)

• Personalized Letter
  We suggest that you send a letter to candidates along with the packet of information to introduce the issue and explain why you care about Colombia. You can adapt LAWG's sample letter for your own use.

To order LAWG's Candidate Packet for Changing U.S.-Colombia Policy by mail, send an email to . Send your mailing address with the number of packets you would like.

Go back to the Influencing Candidates on Colombia Policy page