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D.C. POLICE WANTS TO SILENCE DEMONSTRATORS

D.C. POLICE WANTS TO SILENCE DEMONSTRATORS
PROTEST LEADERS TO FILE LAWSUIT MONDAY AUGUST 20TH

Date: August 19, 2001
EMBARGOED UNTIL AUGUST 20th
Contact: Ramon Acevedo, 202 544 9355
D.C. POLICE WANTS TO SILENCE DEMONSTRATORS
PROTEST LEADERS TO FILE LAWSUIT MONDAY AUGUST 20TH

Date: August 19, 2001
EMBARGOED UNTIL AUGUST 20th
Contact: Ramon Acevedo, 202 544 9355

Several groups, including the Latin America Solidarity Conference (LASC) and the International Action Center (IAC), have applied for permits to rally and march in downtown Washington on September 29th. D.C. Police Chief Ramsey informed press on Saturday that most of the areas demonstrators have applied for permits for will be fenced in and off limit for demonstrators. On Monday August 20th, the LASC and the IAC are filing a lawsuit to challenge these limitations. The suit will be announced at the National Press Club at 9:30am.

"The plans of the metropolitan police are in direct violation of our first amendment rights to freedom of speech and freedom of assembly" comments Cherrene Horazuk, Executive Director of the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES) and one of the organizers of a LASC Saturday September 29th march against Plan Colombia and the FTAA. "Using the excuse of violence and the need for security, the police are planning to completely negate our first amendment rights. We are filing a lawsuit to defend our right to speak up for a world with true participatory democracy."

The Latin America Solidarity Conference is a coalition of more than 40 national and local Latin America and Caribbean Solidarity organizations, many of whom have more than a 20 year history of working closely with grassroots movements for social justice in Latin America and the Caribbean. The LASC is organizing an International Day of Action Against US Military and Economic Intervention in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Under the Clinton Administration $1.6 billion was appropriated in military assistance for the so-called "Plan Colombia". This summer, the House has approved another $676 million worth of military aid for the Andean region. However, independent reports show that U.S. military aid to Latin America over the last decade has led to increased human rights abuses, including torture and inhumane treatment of civilians.

"Our taxes pay for violence in Latin America," says Marianne Mollmann, Executive Director of the Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala (NISGUA), also an organizer of the September 29th LASC march. "And now, with the proposed $38 million police budget for the weekend in September, it seems that our taxes will be used to silence us on the topic. We will not let it happen. We will fight this out in court."

The LASC mobilization is an International Day of Action. Demonstrations have been planned in the U.S., El Salvador, Costa Rica, Colombia, Brazil, Chile, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Spain, and Germany.

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