Seated in a circle with their arms locked,
singing "We shall not be moved,'' 10 people opposed to U.S.
foreign policy in Colombia were arrested and removed from Sen.
Mike DeWine's office in Huntington Plaza yesterday.
They refused to leave when they couldn't get an appointment
to see the Ohio Republican, who was in Washington yesterday.
"We asked them to leave, and they won't leave,'' said
Mike Dawson, spokesman for DeWine. "Our staff people had
several meetings with these folks.''
Dawson said DeWine has agreed to meet with members of the
Ohio Working Group on Latin America once he returns to Columbus,
"but they insisted on a date and a time.''
The protest came as a federal grand jury indicted a Colombian
rebel group and six of its members.
The indictment, returned by a grand jury in U.S. District
Court in Washington, accuses the Revolutionary Armed Forces of
Colombia, or FARC, and the individuals of murder, conspiracy to
commit murder, using a firearm during a crime of violence and
aiding and abetting.
The protest also came as the U.S. Senate debated additional
aid to Latin America. DeWine, who has visited Colombia three
times, is playing a key role in helping the Bush administration
formulate its plan for boosting U.S. involvement in Colombia.
In 2000, Congress approved $1.3 billion worth of aid to
Colombia, including funding for aerial fumigation of coca crops.
"Plan Colombia'' provides U.S. military helicopters and
other equipment to battle drug trafficking.
Opponents say that the operation has resulted in increased
violence and that the spraying of herbicides on coca is harming
produce and children.
Carol Richardson of Columbus, national grass-roots
coordinator for Witness for Peace, called it "perplexing''
that DeWine has refused to meet with them.
"We would not, and I'm sure Sen. DeWine would not, stand
for planes swooping in and spraying fields in Ohio. This is not
how we want our taxpayer money spent,'' she said.
About 50 pickets cheered as police led the 10 arrested out of
the building. At least six were charged with criminal trespass
and resisting arrest.
Those arrested were a Dayton couple, six Oberlin College
students, Cheryl Sanchez of Groveport and Vince Ramos, a student
at Trinity Lutheran Seminary in Bexley.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this
story.
