For 2 years, members of the Ohio Working Group on Latin America have requested a meeting with Senator DeWine to discuss US military aid to Colombia. DeWine was one of the authors of the 1.3 billion dollar military aid fund for Colombia passed in January 2000. Despite our frequent requests, the senator has continuously refused to meet with us. On April 30, a group of Ohio residents from around the state, including 6 Oberlin College students (two from the Boston area, visited DeWines office in Columbus, Ohio to try yet again to arrange a meeting at any time or place. At 5pm, after an hour of speaking with the Senator's aid, the police were called, and we were arrested. We speat 30 hours in jail for simply trying to arrange a meeting with our senator. Tomorrow, Tuesday the 9th, 8 of us will go to court in Columbus Ohio. One of the defendents will have just returned from a delegation to Colombia to witness first hand the effects of Senator DeWines policies. We believe we have the right to speak with our elected officials and are outraged that military aid continues to be sent to Colombia without the input of the people our senators and representatives are supposed to represent. For more information on the case, or the outcome of the trial please contact John Durkalski (Lakewood, Ohio resident and defendant) at jdurkals (at) oberlin.edu.