The indigenous communities of Chocó have blocked the roads that connect with Antioquia and Risaralda since yesterday, May 7, in protest against the alleged non-payment of educational resources for indigenous operators. This blockade affects about 35 thousand students.
According to the indigenous authorities, they called a meeting with delegates from the Chocó Government to find a solution to the problem; However, these were not present.
Given this situation, indigenous leader Esteve Vitucay announced that the blockade will continue indefinitely until a concrete response is obtained from the departmental administration.
“It was not possible to establish a dialogue. Yesterday, the representatives of the government did not attend the scheduled dialogue table. Consequently, at 6:00 pm yesterday, the decision was made to close the roads,” added Vitucay.
The disagreement focuses on non-compliance with the payments stipulated in the indigenous educational service contract for the year 2023. The deadline to begin disbursements of the 30,000 billion pesos was set for April 30.
For her part, the Governor of Chocó, Nubia Carolina Córdoba Curí, spoke about the situation and expressed the importance of control entities, such as the Attorney General’s Office and the Comptroller’s Office, investigating the case.
“I believe that I have acted correctly and have exhausted all my resources to comply with an obligation that did not arise this year, but dates back to 2023. I have done everything possible to comply with this obligation. Currently, there is a technical matter with the Ministry of Treasury, so the Departmental Education Secretariat is in Bogotá meeting with National Planning,” Córdoba pointed out.
The Governor also pointed out that indigenous operators must have all documentation up to date in order to receive payments.
“They have not yet completed all their pending obligations. In fact, we are about to publish the study schedule so that they can correct the errors they present,” concluded Córdoba.
The indefinite closure occurs in the following sectors:
- Sector known as 18, on the Quibdó – Medellín road.
- El Tabor Sector, on the Quibdó – Pereira road.
