IV

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. RES. 502

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives congratulating the

people of Colombia for completing free and democratic elections on June

21, 1998, congratulating the President-elect on his victory, and calling

on the new government and all other parties to the current conflict

in Colombia to renew their efforts to end the guerrilla and paramilitary

violence which continues to pose a serious threat to democracy as well

as economic and social stability in Colombia.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JULY 15, 1998

Mr. GALLEGLY (for himself and Mr. ACKERMAN) submitted the following

resolution; which was referred to the Committee on International Relations

RESOLUTION

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives congratulating the people of Colombia for completing free

and democratic elections on June 21, 1998, congratulating the President-elect on his victory, and calling on

the new government and all other parties to the current

conflict in Colombia to renew their efforts to end the

guerrilla and paramilitary violence which continues to

pose a serious threat to democracy as well as economic

and social stability in Colombia.

Whereas on June 21, 1998, close to eleven million Colombians went to the polls in a clear affirmation of the
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democratic process and cast their vote for a new President to lead that nation into the next century;

Whereas the citizens of Colombia, in voting in near record

numbers, not only cast their vote for political, economic,

and social reform, they voted for a mandate for peace,

expressing their discontent with the guerrilla war and

paramilitary violence and for the need for the government

to try to resolve the conflict;

Whereas an estimated 70,000 people have died as a direct result of the internal fighting over the last decade which

has resulted in the deaths associated with the guerrilla

and paramilitary violence as being the leading cause of

death in Colombia;

Whereas the recent surge of guerrilla and paramilitary violence has created more than 300,000 refugees over the

last three years and an estimated total of over 1,000,000

Colombians displaced by the violence over the past decade;

Whereas in the past eight months, paramilitary death squads

have massacred close to 100 civilians in the towns of

Mapiripan, Miraflores and elsewhere;

Whereas the operations of the Revolutionary Armed Forces

of Colombia (FARC), the National Liberation Army

(ELN) and the various paramilitary units have become

increasingly dependent on and interconnected with the

narcotics trade;

Whereas the FARC, the last known group to be holding three

United States missionaries hostage, refuses to release

these innocent individuals or account for their whereabouts; and
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Whereas the continued campaign of the guerrillas and the

paramilitaries ultimately poses a major threat to the very

democracy of Colombia and stability of the region: Now,

therefore, be it

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives—

2 (1) congratulates the people of Colombia for

3 their recent demonstration of support for the demo4 cratic process as well as for political, economic and

5 social change in that nation;

6 (2) congratulates President-elect Andres

7 Pastrana for his election victory and for his commit8 ment to seek an end to the guerrilla and para9 military violence in Colombia;

10 (3) urges the guerrilla leaders of the FARC and

11 the ELN to end the violence, sever their relationship

12 with narcotics traffickers, and negotiate a peace ac13 cord with the new Government of Colombia and take

14 their agenda into the political arena for debate;

15 (4) urges the incoming government of Presi16 dent-elect Pastrana to take greater action against

17 paramilitary units that commit gross human rights

18 violations;

19 (5) calls on the leadership of the FARC and the

20 ELN to release any and all hostages currently being

21 held, including the three American missionaries, or

22 to account for their whereabouts;
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1 (6) calls upon the international community to

2 play a more proactive role in trying to resolve the in3 ternal conflict by encouraging all sides to return to

4 the negotiating table; and

5 (7) urges the current United States Adminis6 tration to reevaluate United States policies toward

7 Colombia, to commit to assist the new President8 elect to find a peaceful resolution to the internal

9 conflict, and to review the need for United States as10 sistance to help strengthen political stability and fos11 ter economic growth.

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