Susana Muhamad, Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development, attended an event in the municipality of California, department of Santander, to discuss the Páramo de Santurbán. Inhabitants of several surrounding territories spoke directly to the national government official for her management of the mining situation in the area.
According to Paramunos, an organization for the protection of paramos in Colombia, Muhamad announced that a temporary natural resource reserve area would be declared throughout the province, but this was not well received.
After the minister’s announcement, the leaders of the miners and residents of the area spoke directly to Muhamad, telling him that he does not think about them, since he is attentive to the problems of Palestine.
“We are not disrespectful. We defend our rights, our roots. (…) The difference between us is that their roots are foreign, their roots are foreign. They are from Palestine. We are from Chicano roots. “She defends the rights of Palestine, we defend ours,” said one woman at the event.
And he added: “That’s the difference between her and us. That’s why they call us rude. We defend rights. While she is concerned about Palestine, here in Colombia, in our territory, she is committing illegality to us.”
He also added that, while they have “fought” against all governments, this has been the most complex for the people of Santander.
“We have never seen a Government as arrogant as this one. A Government that all it does is point at us,” said the activist.
He also expressed that they end up supporting public policy: “Some anti-miners making mining laws.”
Several mining leaders spoke out about the decision, which they warn could be detrimental to them.
“We are not going to allow a temporary reserve zone to be imposed on us in Soto Norte without consulting with the community, and only so that the minister fulfills a political agreement with the environmental groups of Bucaramanga that do not represent us. “This measure ignores the reality of our territory, it is done without the participation and endorsement of the Attorney General’s Office or the Government of Santander, and it is condemning us to illegality,” said Fabio Maldonado, director of the Council for the Development of Soto Norte (Consotonorte).
Ivonne González, president of the Vetas Miners Association, said: “The national government’s resolution buries our economy and condemns more than 9,000 people who live in Vetas, California, Suratá and Matanza to misery. Not only are we now subject to the apathy of the State that has prevented us from formalizing ourselves, but they also want to violate our right to citizen participation, the right to minimum living and work, the right to equality and the right to the cultural identity of traditional miners. “In one fell swoop they put an end to 400 years of traditional mining.”
“In this Government they talk about the Escazú Agreement, but it violates our participation and makes evident their contempt for the consultation processes,” he opined.
