[News] Pre-Election Raids in Colombia, Detainees in Cali declare hunger strike - Take Action!
Anti-Imperialist News
news at freedomarchives.org
Thu Jun 16 14:49:07 EDT 2022
Pre-Election Raids in Colombia, Detainees in Cali declare hunger
strike-TAKE
ACTION!
*Pre-Election Raids in Colombia, Detainees in Cali declare hunger
strike-TAKE ACTION!*
/Young activists are being detained just days before elections as part
of the Ministry of Defense’ “Plan Democracy.” Many are saying that the
plan is really an attempted “preemptive coup” to prevent a Center-Left
victory, and to crush popular movements who might take to the streets in
the event of massive fraud. Nine young people detained in Cali have
declared a hunger strike until they are freed./
*Please click here to demand freedom for young activists arrested in
pre-election raids in Colombia
<https://default.salsalabs.org/T0c32cb58-4031-4e52-8707-caf6a220bc3f/424acc16-08a3-4cae-bdf5-0ee8fd652d2e>*
*Are We Witnessing a Preventive Coup in Colombia?*
By James Patrick Jordan
/Click HERE to read on website/
<https://default.salsalabs.org/T4dbbdb5b-fe9b-408c-b9f6-2a9958abce14/424acc16-08a3-4cae-bdf5-0ee8fd652d2e>/and
to see Spanish version/
Activists from Colombia’s major cities are being rounded up and detained
as part of “Plan Democracy”, a strategy described by Jorge Luís Vargas
Valencia, General Director of the Colombian National Police, at a June
14, 2022 press conference. Vargas said that police were being put in a
“maximum state of alert,” because of numerous threats of violence on
Sunday’s national presidential elections. Without producing any evidence
for this claim, Vargas announced that police would be arresting front
line (primera línea) activists on charges stemming from last year’s
National Strike. The next day, police arrested at least 26 young people
<https://default.salsalabs.org/T10e4e78a-d82f-47a4-8c8c-a431fcf3bdeb/424acc16-08a3-4cae-bdf5-0ee8fd652d2e>,
including twelve in Bucaramanga, nine in Cali, and five in Bogotá.
Vargas also mentioned the cities of Medellín, Popayan, and Pereira
<https://default.salsalabs.org/T2ff5153d-a035-4259-8565-f5ae7eb7d5c2/424acc16-08a3-4cae-bdf5-0ee8fd652d2e>
as places similar raids would take place. This morning, June 16, the
nine detainees in Cali declared a hunger strike until they are set free.
In Colombia, the police are under the direction of the Ministry of
Defense, and, thus, an extension of the Colombian Armed Forces. Minister
of Defense, Diego Molano Aponte said that 320,000 members of the armed
forces would be deployed throughout the nation as part of Plan
Democracy. Of these, 80,000 will be located in “strategic points” of
particular concern. According to Molano,
“The Plan Democracy in this third phase has deployed 320,000 men in two
weeks to guarantee the elections, so that the Colombians can vote
freely, without fear and without threats. The second proposal is to
maintain the security of the 12 thousand polling places, before, during,
and after the elections.”
However, the vast majority of threats and acts of violence are coming
not from young front line activists from the National Strike, but from
paramilitaries and persons associated with Colombia’s right wing. This
electoral season has been the most violent in 12 years. It has also been
marked by a plethora of irregularities and acts of fraud, so much so
that the March congressional elections had to be revised after, among
other things, many polling places registered zero votes for the
Center-Left Pacto Histórico (Historic Pact), a statistical
impossibility. Colombian Army General Eduardo Zapateiro, in violation of
the constitution, made a public declaration against the Pacto Historico
presidential candidate, Gustavo Petro, yet still has not been
disciplined. There have been multiple claims of fraud
<https://default.salsalabs.org/Tf2e2f253-569b-4b80-a4bc-aee7ab974391/424acc16-08a3-4cae-bdf5-0ee8fd652d2e>
both in the March elections and the first round of presidential
elections on May 29. Allegations of fraud and irregularities against the
Petro campaign and the Pacto Histórico have been made without evidence
to back them. More evident are the irregularities that are being alleged
to the Colombian Right wing.
Rubiel Vargas (no relation to Police Director General Vargas), of the
Permanent Committee for Human Rights (CPDH, by its Spanish initials),
suggested that we may be witnessing a “preventive coup” happening in
plain sight against the possibility of a Center-Left victory. When asked
about this, and about the detentions of young activists, he pointed out,
“All this is against the movement backing the Pacto Histórico. The
detentions are all of young people who participated in social protests,
what are called the Primera Linea (Front Line). This so-called Plan
Democracy is a plan to pressure and intimidate. The majority supporting
Petro are young people. These are the targets of the plan. As for the
armed persons who assaulted participants in the National Strike, none of
them have been detained, because these are the ones called the “gente de
bien” (“the good people”). The “gente de bién” are people who in some
way or another share the thinking of paramilitaries, even
narco-traffickers. Side by side with the public forces, there are
videos, photos of them firing on protesters. These come from many
protests, and these attacks left many people dead. The ones who
committed these homicides are not arrested. On the other hand, the young
people, protesting against neoliberal economics, against the entire
system—these are the only ones who are detained. They are also mostly
Petro supporters. Plan Democracy is a plan to promote fear in the sense
that if Petro does not win, and people protest, there will be violent
acts against Petro supporters and protestors. And they will blame the
young people instead of those who are really assaulting the people.”
Be sure and watch AFGJ's livestream coverage as results come in
from the June 19, 2022 Election Day in Colombia, starting at
4:30pm Eastern Time (3:30pm Colombia and Central Time) until 7 or
8pm when results have all been counted. Click here to register.
<https://default.salsalabs.org/T3725fbd2-c33c-4294-8a13-27c0df0fe7a2/424acc16-08a3-4cae-bdf5-0ee8fd652d2e>
OR...Watch on Facebook
<https://default.salsalabs.org/T5e6bd1de-2df5-498e-8557-9af92907ea89/424acc16-08a3-4cae-bdf5-0ee8fd652d2e>
*NOTICE!!! SPECIAL UPDATES THROUGHOUT THE DAY BEFORE AND AFTER THE
LIVESTREAM, AND AS BREAKING NEWS DEVELOPS, ON BOTH THE FACEBOOK PAGE AND
YOUTUBE CHANNEL STARTING AT 1PM ON SUNDAY, JUNE 19, 2022*
OR...Watch on Youtube (Click here to subscribe to AFGJ's channel)
<https://default.salsalabs.org/T39bb01fd-393a-4f67-9e21-d769728ab6d9/424acc16-08a3-4cae-bdf5-0ee8fd652d2e>
*Share this*
<https://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fafgj.salsalabs.org%2Factivistsroundedupincolombiabeforeelectionsdetaineesin>
<https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Fafgj.salsalabs.org%2Factivistsroundedupincolombiabeforeelectionsdetaineesin> <mailto:?&body=https%3A%2F%2Fafgj.salsalabs.org%2Factivistsroundedupincolombiabeforeelectionsdetaineesin>
<https://default.salsalabs.org/T9b82baa4-539d-4e58-80c8-232dee1c96d4/424acc16-08a3-4cae-bdf5-0ee8fd652d2e>
Alliance for Global Justice
225 E 26th St Ste 1
Tucson, Arizona 85713
202-540-8336
afgj at afgj.org
<https://www.facebook.com/Alliance4GlobalJustice>
<https://twitter.com/intent/follow?screen_name=All4GlobalJust>
<https://www.instagram.com/all4globaljust/>
<https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPNQIn9JbFNFUAZqc99fsyw?sub_confirmation=1>
/Having trouble viewing this email? View it in your web browser
<https://afgj.salsalabs.org/activistsroundedupincolombiabeforeelectionsdetaineesin?wvpId=424acc16-08a3-4cae-bdf5-0ee8fd652d2e>/
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20220616/536ee5b0/attachment.htm>
More information about the News
mailing list