<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
</head>
<body text="#000000" bgcolor="#FFFFFF">
<div class="container font-size5 content-width3">
<div class="header reader-header reader-show-element"> <font
size="-2"><a class="domain reader-domain"
href="https://afgj.org/urgent-colombia-minga-betrayed-uribe-defends-possible-massacre-of-protesters?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=97fb6dc2-9ca0-4b11-b092-c887206f06db">https://afgj.org/urgent-colombia-minga-betrayed-uribe-defends-possible-massacre-of-protesters?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=97fb6dc2-9ca0-4b11-b092-c887206f06db</a></font>
<h1 class="reader-title">Urgent-Colombia minga betrayed, Uribe
defends possible massacre of protesters</h1>
<div class="meta-data">
<div class="reader-estimated-time">
<h2 class="entry-meta"><font size="-1">April 10, 2019</font></h2>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<hr>
<div class="content">
<div class="moz-reader-content line-height4 reader-show-element">
<div id="readability-page-1" class="page">
<div>
<p>The Alliance for Global Justice is saddened and enraged
tha<a
href="https://default.salsalabs.org/Tf4a25cd6-ecf7-41c0-b68f-90ffca5e655c/4950c7c6-7af0-48ec-ae58-6309a02bc06a"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"
data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://default.salsalabs.org/Tf4a25cd6-ecf7-41c0-b68f-90ffca5e655c/4950c7c6-7af0-48ec-ae58-6309a02bc06a&source=gmail&ust=1554959342720000&usg=AFQjCNEjqyVrYJ0kSljB5-mzTpxbHJNGIA">t
Colombia’s President Iván Duque, just 200 yards away,
decided to abandon his visit with indigenous and
popular movement leaders in Cauca</a>. 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.</p>
<p>Just two days before, former President, current
Senator, Duque’s mentor, and “Father of Colombia’s Death
Squads”, <a
href="https://default.salsalabs.org/T4f2c3306-32b0-4de0-9064-1b31a6ace9ac/4950c7c6-7af0-48ec-ae58-6309a02bc06a"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"
data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://default.salsalabs.org/T4f2c3306-32b0-4de0-9064-1b31a6ace9ac/4950c7c6-7af0-48ec-ae58-6309a02bc06a&source=gmail&ust=1554959342720000&usg=AFQjCNEwiukVAS4s5IVBZw8i3L8YmBiDTg">Álvaro
Uribe posted a threatening message on twitter</a>: “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.”</p>
<p>We must not allow these outrageous acts against peace
and indigenous and rural communities to stand
unchallenged.</p>
<h3><a
href="https://default.salsalabs.org/T9953a6fe-2443-4af2-8b1a-8905247d25cd/4950c7c6-7af0-48ec-ae58-6309a02bc06a"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"
data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://default.salsalabs.org/T9953a6fe-2443-4af2-8b1a-8905247d25cd/4950c7c6-7af0-48ec-ae58-6309a02bc06a&source=gmail&ust=1554959342720000&usg=AFQjCNHSltvirq_pMkmMeV-eLaG_WSzl-Q"><span>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!</span></a></h3>
<p>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.</p>
<p>Following is a translation of the message that you will
send:</p>
<p><em>If Colombia isn’t safe for the minga, how can it be
safe for me?</em></p>
<p><em>I write not only to President Duque, but also to
Colombia’s Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism:</em></p>
<p><em>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.</em></p>
<p><em>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.</em></p>
<p><em>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.</em></p>
<h3><a
href="https://default.salsalabs.org/Ta116ae00-c838-4119-8405-eecdb75e4b1c/4950c7c6-7af0-48ec-ae58-6309a02bc06a"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"
data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://default.salsalabs.org/Ta116ae00-c838-4119-8405-eecdb75e4b1c/4950c7c6-7af0-48ec-ae58-6309a02bc06a&source=gmail&ust=1554959342720000&usg=AFQjCNEfVsJiz-VXUL1rGdbJaJn1J6fqnw"><span>One
more action you can take for peace in Colombia:
Support AfGJ’s human rights mission to Cauca and
Valle de Cauca</span></a></h3>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div> </div>
</div>
<div class="moz-signature">-- <br>
Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
415 863.9977
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://freedomarchives.org/">https://freedomarchives.org/</a>
</div>
</body>
</html>