Two trade unionist leaders from Colombia recently shared updates at a videoconference of international trade unionists on the situation in Colombia and the stakes of the presidential elections. Marlon Puentes, a member of the Central Unitaria de Trabajadores (CUT), talked about how Colombia has been dominated by decades of a radical right-wing government. It is only with the 2022 election of Gustavo Petro that “working-class Colombians have had access to government but not power.”

El 31 de mayo, la primera vuelta de elecciones presidenciales en Colombia terminó entre acusaciones de intervención de EE.UU. Porque ningún candidato obtuvo el 50% de la votación, el proceso va a pasar a una segunda vuelta el 21 de junio entre el senador izquierdista Iván Cepeda y el abogado de la derecha extrema Abelardo de la Espriella.

On May 31, the first round of the Colombian presidential elections concluded amid allegations of U.S. interference. Since no candidate won 50%, the process will be a second round runoff on June 21 between leftist Senator Iván Cepeda and far-right lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella.

Dozens of peasant organizations, unions and community organizations representing tens of thousands united for a national strike on May 20 to demand agrarian reform. Marches and street blockades in the countryside and major cities like Bogotá, Valledupar, Cartagena, Popayán, Montería and Sincelejo have shut down transportation and some services.

Chicago, IL – On December 20, over 175 people gathered in the Chicago Teachers Union Hall to stand in solidarity with Gustavo Petro and the people of Colombia as their country faces an intensification of U.S. aggression.

Petro has had his visa revoked by the Trump administration, and the country is seeing attacks in the form of sanctions, tariffs and military threats. These attacks have been because of his un-fearful stance against U.S. imperialism, from calling out the U.S./Israel’s genocide in Gaza to defending the sovereignty of Latin American nations. Petro is a popular and progressive internationalist.

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the National Committee to Free Simón Trinidad. His birthday is July 30.

Colombian revolutionary Simón Trinidad has lived 75 years on this earth and his last 21 have been spent as a prisoner of the U.S. Empire. Once a valuable thinker and peace negotiator for the FARC-EP, four sham trials based on bogus charges saw a U.S. federal court eventually sentence Trinidad to 60 years in the Federal Supermax prison in Florence, CO. The terms of his imprisonment included the psychologically challenging isolation of Special Administrative Measures (SAMs) and the restrictive access to legal support. His U.S. lawyer battled and helped win him access to his Colombian lawyer working on his cases in the U.S.-support Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) handling peace, justice, and reconciliation.

Fight Back! is circulating this timely statement from the Committee to Free Simon Trinidad.

Call President Biden at 202-456-1111 and ask him to “Free Simon Trinidad!” Call between 11am-3pm Eastern, from Tuesday, December 10 to Thursday, December12.

Leave your message to “Free Simon Trinidad!” on the White House comment line. Now is the time to call before President Biden leaves the White House in January 2024.

“Frecuentemente se escuchan de horribles abusos de los derechos humanos en todo el mundo, pero a sólo dos horas de distancia se encuentra una de las violaciones más graves de los derechos humanos, que se encuentra en la prisión federal de máxima seguridad de Florence”, afirmó Mark Burton al inicio de su presentación sobre su cliente, el revolucionario colombiano Simón Trinidad.

Denver, CO – “You often hear of horrific human rights abuses around the world but just two hours down the road is one of the grossest violations of human rights, located at the federal supermax prison in Florence,” stated Mark Burton to open his presentation about his client, Colombian revolutionary Simon Trinidad.

Burton went on to describe to the attentive student crowd the inhumane conditions of the prolonged solitary confinement suffered by those who “are attempted to be thrown away and forgotten.” Although most of the world views prolonged solitary confinement as psychological torture, the U.S. does not.

With the death of Senator Piedad Cordoba, Colombia lost a great leader and friend of the people. For Simon Trinidad, Colombian revolutionary and prisoner of the U.S. empire, it was the sad loss of a valuable advocate.

Piedad Cordoba was found dead at her home by bodyguards on January 20, likely due to a heart attack. This was after a long life of struggle for the freedom of the Colombian people.

On January 2, 2004, under the orders of the U.S. government and the CIA, Ecuadorian and Colombian forces kidnapped and arrested Colombian revolutionary Simon Trinidad. 20 years detained and imprisoned is 20 too many. That needs to change immediately, and conditions are better than ever for activists in the U.S. and Colombia to push for his freedom.

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the National Committee to Free Simón Trinidad.

On June 19, Gustavo Petro won the second round of the Colombian presidential election with over 50% of the vote. This is a historic victory because Colombia, unlike many other South American countries, including neighboring Venezuela, doesn’t have a history of leftists winning office.

Tucson, AZ – Despite massive amounts of corporate media propaganda, police crackdowns and right-wing violence, Colombians elected leftist Gustavo Petro as president in a runoff election on June 19. The new vice president is Francia Marquez Mina, an Afro-Colombian woman. This is the first time Colombia elected a president who is not from either the mainstream liberal or conservative parties.

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from revolutionary and anti – imperialist organizations and parties in support of the people’s movement in Colombia. Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) is among the signers.

On May 17, a U.S.-backed Colombian commando unit, acting like bounty hunters, illegally crossed into the Venezuelan state of Zulia to murder Colombian rebel leader Jesus Santrich. Like the criminal gangsters they are, the commandos cut off his left finger to verify his identity to claim the $1 million bounty cosponsored by the U.S. State Department and the Colombian President Ivan Duque.

Milwaukee, WI – On the sunny afternoon of May 10, members of the Milwaukee’s Colombian community, activists and supporters gathered at Walker’s Square Park on the Southside to demonstrate solidarity with the people of Colombia in the wake of the violent repression. Nearly 40 people joined the protest, including members of the Red Condor Collective, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, The People’s Revolution, and Our Wisconsin Revolution.

Fight Back! is circulating the following statement from the Committee to Free Simon Trinidad. Simon Trinidad is a prisoner of the U.S. empire who has done nothing wrong, only struggled to free his country.

Fight Back! interviews Mark Burton, attorney for Colombian revolutionary Simon Trinidad who is a political prisoner held by the U.S. government. Simon Trinidad, also known as Ricardo Palmera, is a good man who has done nothing wrong. His only crime is to fight for the freedom and independence of his own country, taking the side of Colombian workers and peasants. Due to U.S. government repression, we are unable to interview Simon Trinidad directly. Check out the campaign to Free Simon Trinidad at http://freesimontrinidad.org.

Chicago, IL – Prominent Argentinian Nobel Peace Prize laureate Adolfo Perez Esquivel and 43 other human rights activists from 18 countries have written to President Donald Trump asking him to free Colombian revolutionary Simon Trinidad.