June 2012 Latin America Update
 Giraffes and Dragons
Two animals that accompany my presence in a war zone
By Elisabeth Rohrmoser
It´s not that I don´t like animals. I don’t like to share my personal life with them: my house, my food, my body. Accompanying a rural community in Colombia not only means living in close contact with my beloved neighbors. It has the side effect of living very closely to their beloved animals. As my main activity here is to create space for campesinos in resistance, I have learned how to give space to animals. Read more.
.jpg) Our second popular education booklet is hot off the press. Blown Away takes on another complex issue -- the 40-year-old war on drugs. The drug war is a global enterprise involving politicians and governments, the mafia, drug traffickers and illegal armies, the police forces and militaries of several countries, millions of ordinary civilians and your tax dollars. Through true stories from real people and dynamic graphics in a compact booklet, we look at who the drug war impacts, analyze some of the big interests involved, and offer a few alternatives. Read more or order copies.
 By Susana Pimiento
A Colombian appellate court overturned the acquittal of four Army officers for the 2005 San José de Apartadó massacre and sentenced them to 34 years in prison. Though this ruling could be interpreted as a positive step in the struggle for justice, its limited scope reaffirms what the Peace Community has argued for years: that the Colombian judicial system is not willing to hold higher ranking officials accountable for their role in the massacre, limiting verdicts to lower ranking officers who were in the field when the massacre took place. In response, the Peace Community has officially requested that the International Criminal Court take the case. Read more.
 Gina Spigarelli
We did not just want to have a “celebration” of our great work here since 2002. We didn’t want to present ourselves as protagonists in the struggle for peace in Colombia, but rather highlight the brave Colombians who spend their lives defending human rights in this country. Though ten years have passed since we arrived in country, there is still a long way to go for human rights in Colombia. We decided to throw a political forum in conjunction with seven other international protective accompaniment organizations. Read more.
 By John Lindsay-Poland
On the eve of presidential elections in Mexico this Sunday, victims of the failed drug war, representatives from drug policy reform think tanks, gun violence prevention groups, faith and migrant rights-based organizations and members from peace and justice movements joined forces at two press conferences in Mexico City to announce a Caravan for Peace with Justice and Dignity that will traverse 5600 miles across the United States and visit 27 cities from August 12 to September 12. FOR is actively organizing for this historic journey. Read more.
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