[News] Urgent-Colombia minga betrayed, Uribe defends possible massacre of protesters

[Anti-Imperialist News]

https://afgj.org/urgent-colombia-minga-betrayed-uribe-defends-possible-massacre-of-protesters?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=97fb6dc2-9ca0-4b11-b092-c887206f06db 



  Urgent-Colombia minga betrayed, Uribe defends possible massacre of
  protesters


    April 10, 2019

------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Alliance for Global Justice is saddened and enraged that Colombia’s 
President Iván Duque, just 200 yards away, decided to abandon his visit 
with indigenous and popular movement leaders in Cauca 
<https://default.salsalabs.org/Tf4a25cd6-ecf7-41c0-b68f-90ffca5e655c/4950c7c6-7af0-48ec-ae58-6309a02bc06a>. 
After weeks of protests for land rights and against political violence, 
the government had reached preliminary accords to address the concerns. 
President Duque was supposed to finalize the accords on Tuesday, April 9 
2016.

Just two days before, former President, current Senator, Duque’s mentor, 
and “Father of Colombia’s Death Squads”, Álvaro Uribe posted a 
threatening message on twitter 
<https://default.salsalabs.org/T4f2c3306-32b0-4de0-9064-1b31a6ace9ac/4950c7c6-7af0-48ec-ae58-6309a02bc06a>: 
“If the authorities, serene, firm and with social criteria are involved 
in a massacre it is because there is violence and terror from the other 
side more than protest.”

We must not allow these outrageous acts against peace and indigenous and 
rural communities to stand unchallenged.


      Click here to send an email to President Duque and the Colombian
      Ministry of Tourism. We demand that Duque finalize accords with
      the minga. Let the authorities know that if Colombia is not safe
      for peace, then it is not safe for tourism!
      <https://default.salsalabs.org/T9953a6fe-2443-4af2-8b1a-8905247d25cd/4950c7c6-7af0-48ec-ae58-6309a02bc06a>

Duque’s decision to abandon the agreements with the “minga” indigenous 
and popular movement protests is not just a betrayal of the people. He 
is not just responding to pressure from his patron, Álvaro Uribe. He’s 
also taking his lead from Washington, DC. The Trump administration is 
waging its own assault on Colombia’s peace process and funding the very 
armed forces that have been attacking the minga.

Following is a translation of the message that you will send:

/If Colombia isn’t safe for the minga, how can it be safe for me?/

/I write not only to President Duque, but also to Colombia’s Ministry of 
Commerce, Industry and Tourism:/

/1. To President Duque, I say that the world is watching, and as an 
internationalist, I join my voice to that of the indigenous and rural 
protests (minga) to demand your presence to approve and finalize the 
accords already reached between the government of Colombia and the minga 
popular movement./

/2. To the  Office of Commerce, Industry and Tourism, I ask, If Colombia 
is not a safe place for peace and popular and indigenous movements, how 
can it be a safe and sound place for a visit by my family and me? What 
is happening in Colombia affects me and affects my considerations about 
tourist security. I hope that the Office of Tourism will communicate to 
the president that a reputation for political violence can potentially 
inhibit tourism to your beautiful country./

/I am completely in shock by the decision of President Iván Duque to 
break the negotiations with the minga in Cauca. The president was almost 
at the meeting with indigenous leaders when he changed his mind and 
decided not to attend. More terrible than anything is that this 
development occurred two days after the Senator and Father of the 
Paramilitaries, Álvaro Uribe emitted a tweet that justified the 
possibility of a massacre against the protesters. Expressing his 
displeasure with agreements reached between the minga and the 
government, Uribe wrote, “If the authorities, serene, firm and with 
social criteria are involved in a massacre, it is because there is 
violence and terror from the other side more than protest.” The cruel 
and inhumane cynicism in this message is unfathomable. Minga 
participants have suffered all manner of property destruction, assaults 
by the Armed Forces, injuries, and even deaths. The minga’s demands for 
land rights and an end to the violence against their communities are just./


      One more action you can take for peace in Colombia: Support AfGJ’s
      human rights mission to Cauca and Valle de Cauca
      <https://default.salsalabs.org/Ta116ae00-c838-4119-8405-eecdb75e4b1c/4950c7c6-7af0-48ec-ae58-6309a02bc06a>

The Alliance for Global Justice has been asked to accompany members of 
Colombia’s Permanent Committee for Human Rights (CPDH, Comité Permanente 
de Derechos Humanos) as they travel in Cauca and Valle de Cauca 
assessing the situation and meeting with popular movements.

We are also being asked to observe the opening days of the national 
strike. AfGJ will go to Corinto and Miranda and other parts of northern 
Cauca, where political violence has been especially bad. We are 
collecting funds to cover associated costs, and to raise money for 
medicines and food for the strikers and minga participants.

-- 
Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 
863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20190410/bb2f8575/attachment.htm>