Speech by Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Connecticut), March 18, 2002

Speech by Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Connecticut), March 18, 2002
Mr. DODD. Mr. President, just an hour or so ago, I made a call to Colombia, South America, and spoke with the husband of Ingrid Betancourt, who, as many may know, is the woman candidate for President of Colombia who was recently kidnaped.

I expressed to Ingrid Betancourt's husband the sincere hopes of all of us here that his wife be returned to safety soon, that she be allowed to continue in her efforts as a candidate in that country in the upcoming presidential election, and I told Mrs. Betancourt's family that the hopes and prayers of all of us in the United States are with them in these very difficult hours.

Colombia is a nation under tremendous stress and pressure, and the level of violence there has tremendously escalated since the collapse of the Pastrana-FARC peace talks. President Pastrana has tried his entire Presidency to come up with a peaceful resolution of the 40-year-old conflict in that country, and he deserves great credit for the efforts he has made from the very first days of his Presidency up until just a few days ago, when those talks finally broke down completely.

Currently, rebel forces are doing everything in their power to compromise the fragile democracy of that country. Guerrillas have bombed electrical towers, bridges, and waterworks while mining highways and increasing the number of roadblocks on Colombia's streets. As a result, more than 110 towns, representing 10 percent of Colombia's urban centers, have been left in darkness, and 76 municipalities in 6 provinces have had their phone service cut out completely.

Colombian citizens are living each day in fear while enduring tremendous domestic hardship. President Pastrana has warned his people more attacks are likely, and the citizens of Colombia are frightened, to put it mildly.

Even worse, FARC rebels have undertaken a violent offensive against public figures, stepping up the frequency of political attacks that were already too common in the months before the collapse of the peace talks on February 20. For years, the FARC--the organization I described--and other rebel forces in Colombia, have financed their violent siege of terror by kidnaping Colombian citizens and demanding ransom. When the ransom is not paid, the hostages are killed, and new hostages are taken. It is a vicious cycle that repeats over and over again, taking a toll on the spirit of this beleaguered nation. Indeed, at this point close to 4,000 people have died in Colombia since the beginning of hostilities; kidnappings are about 3,000 a year. At the same time, rebel groups have executed several political figures, including mayors, judges, members of the legislature, and candidates. As elected officials ourselves, this is a development that we should be particularly enraged by, and one that should draw the attention and concern of all people in democratic countries around the globe.

On March 3, Martha Catalina Daniels, a Colombian Senator, was tortured and killed near Bogota by guerrilla fighters while attempting to negotiate the release of hostages kidnaped by leftist rebels. After her torture, she was shot at close range with two bullets to the head, and then dumped in a ravine off a country road. A staffer and a friend of Senator Daniels were also killed in this vicious attack against decency and democracy, not to mention the value of human life.

Senator Daniels was the fourth member of the Colombian Congress to be killed since the middle of last year while working in her elected capacity as a representative of the Colombian people. Could you imagine similar events happening in our Capitol? There would be tremendous public outcry, and the Government would respond swiftly and decisively. Just because this crime happened in conflict-torn Colombia does not mean that we should allow this execution to pass by without public comment or outcry in this, the greatest Congress on the planet. We must stand with our democracy-loving colleagues around the world in condemning these attacks. This crime was a vicious and merciless murder of a dedicated and courageous public servant and her staff who were simply doing their jobs--jobs that we and our staffs do everyday. In recognition of this commitment, Senator Daniels' sacrifice will not be forgotten by the Colombian people or her friends in America. Her death will not be in vain.

Yet the assault on democracy in Colombia is not only targeted at those who hold office. Rebels also have targeted national candidates for public office as Colombia prepares for an upcoming presidential election. On February 23, Colombia presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, and her chief of staff, Clara Rojas, were seized while driving toward the southern war zone of San Vicente del Caguan. Mrs. Betancourt's driver and two journalists accompanying her were held and released, but Mrs. Betancourt and Ms. Rojas were kept in custody--a clear sign that this kidnaping was intended to send a signal to the political class in Colombia. The FARC, who are believed to have perpetrated this crime, currently hold five other politicians hostage and are attempting to cripple democracy in this Nation by force. However, the Colombian Government rightly refuses to negotiate with these terrorists for fear that concessions would encourage even more kidnapings in the future, and the situation is presently at a standoff.

Mrs. Betancourt has been allowed to fax her family to assure them of her well-being, and she has expressed her concern for her family, friends, and country. Even now, as a prisoner, she stands by her democratic principles. As she suffers, she seeks to bring international attention to the problem of violence in Colombia through her plight. Mrs. Betancourt's daughter has stated that her mother has indicated her desire that people be conscious of what is happening in Colombia and recognize that a war is going on in that country every day. She seeks to use her own situation as a rallying point for the international community against violence in Colombia.

I spoke to Mrs. Betancourt's husband this afternoon, and expressed my sympathy to him and his family, and my admiration for his courageous wife, and expressed as well those same sentiments on behalf of all of us in this Chamber. I pray for her safe and quick return.

Attention in America is rightly focused on Afghanistan and the war against terrorism. However, we cannot allow the brave sacrifices of people like Ingrid Betancourt to go unnoticed. We have to reserve some of our attention to expend on the festering problems of Colombia. If we turn our backs on this corner of the world, I fear that we may see another situation arise like that

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which we saw when we ignored Afghanistan after the Soviet occupation. We cannot and should not allow this to happen.
And so, I ask my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to be deeply aware of the sacrifices of people such as Martha Daniels, Ingrid Betancourt, and their staffs. They have paid the ultimate price for their commitment to democracy and have shown great courage by serving as politicians in such a volatile and strife-torn country. Their service is a testament to the democratic commitment of the vast majority of Colombian people, a commitment that was reconfirmed on March 11, when huge numbers of Colombians went to the polls even though they had been threatened with violence as they sought to execute their constitutionally given right to vote.

Colombia is a troubled country in desperate need of our assistance and the assistance of other democratic nations around the globe. But the spirit of democracy lives on in the dedicated public servants and citizens of our friend and neighbor to the South.

I want the Colombian Government, and more importantly the people of Colombia, to know their courage and sacrifice has been noted by the American people and by this individual in this body speaking, I am very confident, on behalf of all of us in this Chamber in urging the FARC and other organizations to cease in the abduction of political figures, to cease in the abduction of innocent civilians, in that country and to go back to the bargaining table and try to figure out a way to resolve this four-decade old conflict. The deaths and the abductions shredding this country deserve the attention of this Congress, the American people, and freedom-loving people everywhere.

I ask my colleagues to take an active interest in this problem and act as friends of Colombia. The Colombian people, people like Ingrid Betancourt and Martha Daniels, deserve no less.

As of March 27, 2002, this document was also available online at http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/B?r107:@FIELD(FLD003+s)+@FIELD(DDATE+20020318)