SOLIDARIDAD GLOBAL GREENS CON COLOMBIA

The Green Alliance Party of Colombia, has been working with the Global Greens to build international support and solidarity regarding the critical situation in Colombia

Overview

The Green Alliance Party of Colombia, has been working with the Global Greens to build international support and solidarity regarding the critical situation in Colombia. Specially:

1. Massacres in Colombia: Since the signing of the Havana peace agreements with the former guerrilla group FARC, around 1,000 people have been killed. This number includes social leaders, human rights defenders and environmental activists. The national government party has been openly against the peace process and the delay in implementing the agreements have caused a new wave of violence we thought will never come back to our country. Since the last month the number of massacres have incremented dramatically. We include more details in the statement in the attached document (Spanish and English)

2.  Bogotá’s Massacre: During the 9th and 10th of September this year, protests in Bogotá took place against police Brutality https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2020-09-09/man-dies-in-bogota-following-altercation-with-two-police-officers  . During the protests the police shot with firearms against unarmed civilians. In total 13 people got killed  due to the shooting from the police and 75 people got injured.  The police did not obey the orders of our Mayor Claudia López that ordered explicitly not to use firearms against demonstrators. Bogota Green Mayor Claudia López calls this tragic event   “A MASSACRE of our  young people  in Bogotá”.  We have not lived anything like this in the recent history of our  capital City. (https://www.facebook.com/ClaudiaLopezCL/videos/2181631415316959/

3. The murder of Juana Perea. Perea was a social leader and environmental defender living in Nuquí, Department of Chocó. Her love for nature and dedication to improve communitie’s life was very appreciated by Nuqui’s inhabitants. She had a project of ecotourism in the region and she had actively opposed the construction of a Port in the gulf of Tribugá. Colombia is one of the most dangerous countries for environmental activists. The construction of the port would have had a huge negative impact in such a biodiverse place. The Port’s project started 4 years ago and it had the support of Duque’s government. In the end, the project had a tacit withdrawal because the company in charge of the project did not comply with the requirements of the National Infrastructure Agency of Colombia. The project could reopen in the future though.

Green senators have condemned Juana Perea’s assassination https://www.alianzaverde.org.co/noticias/un-homenaje-a-la-vida-de-juana-perea. The case of Juana Perea and other environmental defenders assassinations makes their call stronger to the Colombian Governement to sign the Escazú’s Agreement. Duque’s government has openly delayed since 2019 the signing of this agreement that provides more protection to environmental defenders as well as acess to information about Environmental Justice. 

The Green Alliance Party of Colombia calls for international solidarity for statements addressed to the Colombian government since they have not recognized the gravity of the situation. Up to now they have rejected a reform to the police so these terrible massacres never happen again. They also want to raise awareness globally as Green Citizens because on September 21st massive demonstrations will  take place in Bogotá. All this is connected to the high pressure of social inequality and the feeling that the peace  is not a real point in the agenda of the Colombian government. And what happened with the police puts in real danger Colombia’s democracy. 

Responses

• Australian Greens Senator Janet Rice responded and wrote a letter to the Australian Foreign Minister (attached)
• Evelyne Huytebroeck, co-chair of European Green Party, calls on the European Union and all countires to do all they can to stop the massacres in Colombia so that the citizens can have peace.