FOR on Colombia program on Pacifica Radio (Friday 7/11/08)

Tomorrow morning (Friday, July 11, 2008) John Lindsay-Poland of the Fellowship of Reconciliation will appear on the  Pacifica Radio program "Wake Up Call." Lindsay-Poland is co-director of FOR's national Task Force on Latin America and the Caribbean, which has been engaged in human rights accompaniment work in Colombia for the past six years. In conversation with the program's Friday morning host, Mario Murillo, Lindsay-Poland will discuss this past week's dramatic release of several high-profile hostages from the FARC guerillas, and what it might mean for those who to build a lasting and just peace in the country.

The program will air at 8 a.m. in the New York City area on WBAI (99.5 FM) -- the show can also be accessed online through WBAI.org, and is syndicated to some other Pacifica Radio affiliates (check your local independent station). The program follows on the heels of an article published today by Amy Goodman, the nationally-renowned host of Pacifica Radio's "Democracy Now!," which was titled "Colombia: celebrate the release, not the regime."

Earlier this week, Lindsay-Poland and his co-director of TFLAC, Susana Pimiento Chamorro, both spoke out on the issue of the Colombian hostages. "These 15 hostages suffered greatly and the world could identify with their suffering," said Lindsay-Poland. "But what about the communities threatened by growing paramilitaries, by army killings, by guerrillas, or the more than three million others who are internal refugees from the war? Will the international community lose interest in their suffering, and in resolving the conflict, now that Ingrid is free?"

He added, "The rescue of high-profile kidnapees greatly reduces the FARC's negotiating power, but not its fighting power, which relies much more on income from coca cultivation. That cultivation is rising dramatically because of the failed fumigation policy."

Writing from Bogota, Colombia, Pimiento concurred: "It is excellent that the 15 hostages have been rescued. However, this military action does not resolve the underlying armed conflict, which requires a negotiated solution. The emphasis in militarism offers a false idea that the armed conflict is over, while paramilitary activity is on the rise."

We encourage everyone to listen tomorrow, live or on-demand, to a timely program on this headline news story.