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(Washington, DC) -
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact Coz Carson, Communications Dir.
(404) 633-0927 (404) 783-6059 cozcarson@gmail.com
Less than an hour before my amendment to cut funds for Plan Colombia was to come up for consideration in the Committee on Armed Services on May 3rd, I was notified that Senator Piedad Cordoba and members of her staff were paying a visit to my office to discuss an urgent matter. I asked her to come over to the Committee room and she showed me the
graphic photographs of the skeletal remains of Jaime Gomez, her former chief of staff.
She explained that the same paramilitary groups that had captured and tortured her in 1999 had now made good on their threat to murder her chief of staff. Mr. Gomez' remains had been matched to his dental records. Apparently, in an effort of extreme intimidation, the body was drenched in acid to remove all the flesh. When it was my turn to speak in favor of my amendment, I took the
opportunity to announce Senator Cordoba's presence, and pointed out that her life was in danger. Some of the pictures of Mr. Gomez' remains were displayed to the Committee on 8/12" x 11" print-outs.
A woman's life is in danger and by including these images in the record I hope not only to draw attention to the need for her protection, but to the assassination campaign by paramilitary groups with known links to the Colombian military, the same groups presently threatening Senator Cordoba's life and the same military supported by billions of US taxpayer dollars in Plan Colombia.
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