Speaker: Jutta Meier-Wiedenbach on Colombia

Jutta Meier-Wiedenbach - Tue., May 18, 7:30 pm, will speak after the film "Plan Colombia: Cashing in On the Drug War Failure". Jutta has been coordinating the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR) Task Force on Latin America and the Caribbean Colombia Program since January 2002. Jutta has been to Colombia 5 times, visiting Bogota, Medellin and the Uraba region in Northern Colombia where FOR accompanies the Peace Community of San Jose de Apartado and most recently visited the region for two weeks in January of this year. She speaks on Colombia and Colombian grassroots peace initiatives before different audiences, translates for speakers from Colombia on tours through the US and gives media interviews on the subject. Jutta has many years of experience working for peace and justice, including more than four years in Chiapas, Mexico, where she coordinated civilian peace camps, and worked on media, outreach and analysis for the Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas Human Rights Center. She published two collections of photographs from Mexico, and went on an extensive speaking tour through Europe talking about the human rights situation of the indigenous communities in Chiapas. In 2001 she coordinated the Peace Brigades International Mexico Project.