From April 15-18 I attended the Witness for Peace Mid-Atlantic2005 Retreat in Washington, D.C. We were about 30 participants who focused on 3 issues:

- The impact of US policy in Colombia
- The Central American Free Trade Agreement(CAFTA) and NAFTA in Mexico as its precursor
- The fall of democracy in Haiti

The guest speakers were:

- On Colombia, Marino Cordoba, a displaced Afro-Colombian from the Pacific coast Choco Department now living in the US as a political refugee and Paul Hylert, leader of the Organization of Displaced Afro-Colombians,

- On NAFTA, Adrian Perez Contreras, director of a peasant organization in Tlaxcala, Mexico,

- On Haiti, Michelle Karshan, press liason for the previous Aristide administration in Haiti.

On Sunday and Monday morning, those of us who could stay for the Congressional lobby day participated in training and briefing on the 3 lobbying issues. We had 3 lobby groups by state: Maryland, Pennsylvania and New York.

The New York group was made up of 4 New York City residents and myself. We visited aides of Senators Clinton and Schumer and Rep.Rangel from upper Manhattan. I went alone to visit Alan Snyder, aid to Louise Slaughter. He was familiar with the Peace Center positions on these issues as we had recently visited Slaughter's aid, Sister Beth in Buffalo. LASC is in the process of setting up a conference call and simultaneous viewing of the Plan Colombia video between the Washington and Buffalo offices. Snyder said that Slaughter would definitely vote against CAFTA.

The other 3 visits were well-received. The aides welcomed our written information on CAFTA and Plan Colombia and the PlanColombia video. Schumer's aid said that the senator was leaning against CAFTA.   He thought that Schumer was against Plan Colombia and suggested seeking support from 6 Republican senators who are strong on human rights. Rangel's aid was the most open about his boss's position on the issues and is in agreement with ours. Rangel and other Congressional Black Caucus members had tried to form a congressional delegation to Haiti the week before, but couldn't gain approval because no Republicans were willing to join the delegation. Clinton's aid was adamant about not sharing the senator's views on the issues, which was frustrating, but he listened intently, took notes, and gave us the time we needed to put forth our views.

The lobbying is very important and has potential for great impact on congressional votes. So do letters and phone calls. I have heard from different sources that there is nothing more effective that a hand-written, short letter. Thanks to all of you who signed the letter to the State Department about the San Jose Apartado massacre in Colombia at the LASC dinner. I also used it as a lobbying tool on the Congressional visit.

Carol Sundberg