Mistrial victory for FARC negotiator

Bulletin: On May 6, the Associated Press reported that lawyers for the prosecution in this case filed a brief dropping charges of drug trafficking against Trinidad, a definite setback for the U.S. government and its ally, Colombian President Álvaro Uribe, and another moral victory for Simón Trinidad and the FARC-EP.

Another U.S. attempt to criminalize the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia—People’s Army (FARC-EP) failed on April 21. Ricardo Palmera, former FARC-EP peace negotiator, received a mistrial in a federal case of drug trafficking.

Palmera, who was tried under his nom de guerre Simón Trinidad, was kidnapped from Ecuador and illegally extradited to the U.S. from Colombia, where he was imprisoned in 2004. Since his kidnapping he has faced charges in both Colombia and the U.S.

The U.S. has attempted to try Trinidad for “acts of terrorism” and drug trafficking in the past but has been unsuccessful. Trinidad has received two mistrials in the U.S., both due to a hung jury.

The kidnapping and string of trials against Trinidad were the latest in the U.S. attacks on the FARC-EP and the sovereignty of Colombia, in an attempt to damage the Colombian rebel movement and falsely portray the FARC-EP as a gang of drug traffickers, kidnappers and murderers. They are political maneuvers on the part of the U.S. government to strengthen its political and economic hold on Colombia by attempting to rid Colombia of resistance to U.S. imperialism.

This new mistrial is a political victory for Trinidad and the FARC-EP, further proving his innocence and disproving the U.S. accusations against the FARC-EP.

Angela Denio, of the National Committee to Free Ricardo Palmera and Students for a Democratic Society, responded to the mistrial by stating: “Once again professor Palmera has beaten the Bush regime in its attempts to criminalize a hero. This is the second time the U.S. government has tried to tie Palmera to drug charges and the jury refused to find him guilty. Professor Palmera’s innocence is so obvious that the government’s paid witnesses and informants can’t even lie enough for anyone to believe them.”

Trinidad is currently serving a 60-year sentence in the U.S., handed down in January after he was tried for supposed involvement in the FARC’s retention of three U.S. Pentagon contractors after their plane crashed in a Colombian jungle. He is being held under inhumane conditions of solitary confinement.

In that trial, Trinidad had testified on his behalf after several witnesses for the defense were not allowed by the judge to testify. He spoke about his organization, the reasons that made him join the insurgent group—after the Colombian government had massacred hundreds of members of the Patriotic Union in the 1980s—and his recent role as peace negotiator.

The terror states of the U.S. and Colombian regimes have waged a war on the FARC-EP, including kidnappings and illegal extraditions, slander campaigns and violent attacks including murder. The U.S. government has a history of funding Colombian state terrorism.

On March 1 the Colombian military and police crossed into Ecuador, in a violation of the neighboring country’s sovereignty, and bombed a FARC-EP camp. The attack killed FARC-EP second-in-command Raúl Reyes, as well as other revolutionaries and Mexican students. U.S. President Bush came out in support of Colombia’s actions.

The struggle to free Trinidad continues and is part of the overall struggle for the self-determination of the Colombian people.

For more information visit www.freericardopalmera.org.