Christopher Knestrick & Eloy García

The Other War: The US war in Colombia: While the United States is spending one trillion dollars on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, they continue to wage war in Colombia.  The United States has spent 6.5 billion dollars funding the war in Colombia and recently signed an agreement to place 7 U.S. military bases in Colombia.  As the US economy continues to suffer, why does the US continue to spend so much on war?   Why does the country with the worst human rights record in the western hemisphere continue to receive US Support?

Two members of the Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) Colombia Project, Chris Knestrick and Eloy García will be on a tour of education, organization, and mobilization from September 29th – October 13, 2010. They will travel the east coast region of the United States doing informative presentations, organizing, and mobilizing actions in solidarity with our local partners in the areas of which CPT works.

Since 2001, CPT Colombia has been supporting grassroots initiatives for justice and peace in the Magdalena Medio region of Colombia.  These communities ask CPT to listen to their stories and take their message back to the US in order to work to bring about change in US foreign policies. We must remember that the current themes of immigration, global economic/ environmental crisis, and war/militarization are all interconnected themes that affect us all.

Christopher Knestrick has lived in Barrancabermeja, Colombia for the last 2 years and works with the Christian Peacemaker Teams – Colombia Project.  He is from Cleveland, Ohio and graduated from Mercyhurst College in 2004. Before moving to Colombia, he lived and worked in The Cleveland Catholic Worker House and with the InterReligious on Central America and Colombia (IRTF).  He has also worked on projects with Witness Against Torture and War Resisters League.   He believes that the Peace and Justice movements in the North need to begin looking to the South for guidance and inspiration.

Eloy García is a member of the Colombian Christian Peacemaker Teams- Colombia project. He is a Chicano activist Attorney, US Army Veteran, Catholic Lay missionary, and SOA 86 prisoner of Conscience from New Mexico. He believes that in order to create the real “change we can believe in” the people of conscious of the United States must educate, mobilize, and create that change.

We are hoping that you will be able to join with us, and help us spread the word about the need for real change in the world.