DRUG WAR REFUGEE SEEKS HELP TO END VIOLENCE

Local Activist Advocates Postcard Campaign For Peaceful Policy Change

It's postcard-writing time, Marjorie Masterson insists. The retired teacher
already has sent several cards of protest to President Bush over the
prospect of war with Iraq.

But Tuesday night, Masterson and about 40 like-minded anti-war souls
gathered at Holy Spirit Catholic Church to hear about the drug war.

Marino Cordoba, president of the Association of Displaced Afro-Colombians,
said the drug war is killing his country. He's spent the past weeks
crisscrossing the South to tell horror stories about the drug war. His
stops here, which included Alabama A&M University, were sponsored by the
Witness for Peace organization.

In the last five years, more than 2 million people have been displaced by
violent clashes between anti-drug soldiers, drug traffickers and guerrilla
soldiers, Cordoba said. Colombians of African descent have been
particularly devastated by the violence, he said. Although they make up
just a quarter of the country's population, they are 70 percent of the
displaced.

Those who speak against the drug war endanger their lives and their
families' lives, he said. He's survived five attempts on his life, he told
the group, pointing to two scars in his lower left leg.

He now lives in exile in the United States. "I had to leave," he said in an
interview. Cordoba said too much of the money targeted for the drug war has
instead fomented violence.

Witness for Peace is sponsoring a national protest Nov. 15-17 against U.S.
support for the Colombian drug war. It will be held at Fort Benning, Ga.

Masterson wants Tennessee Valley supporters to join the effort, especially
the postcard campaign.

For more information, check the organization's Web site: www.soaw.org.