Santa Marta in civic strike due to wave of violence; communities of the Sierra Nevada cry out for peace

Through a press release, the civic leaders reported on this paralysis of activities, whose objective is to focus the attention of the national government to end the conflict through dialogue tables that lead to negotiating peace with the armed group that operates in this territory.

In several urban sectors of Santa Marta located on the Caribbean Trunk, as well as in towns and villages, businesses did not open their doors, and the road to the department of La Guajira was blocked by farmers and indigenous people. Meanwhile, a crowd traveling on motorcycles, cars and buses travels through the area.
crying out for peace in their localities.

Lerber Dimas, expert on violence, He stated that this way of putting pressure on the government is not correct. “A civic strike is not the route. Protest is legitimate and protected by law, but coercion and coercion are crimes. The path is not the paralysis of the SNSM because the State does not work under pressure and the Local Government will wash its hands of that,” said Dimas.

The disputes between Conquistadores and Gaitanistas, as well as the attacks to repel Army operations, have already left dead and wounded, in addition to a panorama of terror among the peasants, merchants, indigenous people and tourists who remain in the middle of the crossfire.

(Read: Four injured in the attack by hitmen in the Pumarejo neighborhood of Soledad, Atlántico)

“We are very alarmed. The atmosphere in the Troncal is very tense. And the presence of the Army, although it seeks to give us peace of mind, also worries us because at any moment a confrontation could arise with the Self-Defense Forces and we in the middle,” said one of the leaders who participates in the march and who, for his part,
Security did not want to identify themselves.

Another leader expressed that tourism is also being affected, because as a result of the clashes that have been taking place, tourists do not want to visit this area.

Although the Conquistadores Self-Defense Forces of the Sierra Nevada have insistently called for dialogue tables to reach a peace that would lead to their delivery of weapons and reintegration into society, the national government has made it clear this year, especially since April, that there are no intentions to negotiate with this organization and that its purpose is to dismantle it with forceful operations in the massif, where its leaders hide.

In fact, as a result of these actions and the pressure exerted, important arrests have been made, such as those of aliases ‘Camilo’, ‘Muñeca’, ‘El Menor’ and on Saturday they went for ‘Cholo’, other leaders of this group also recognized as ‘Los Pachenca’. The last Army operation cost the life of one soldier and left another injured.

The Conquistadores Self-Defense Forces of the Sierra Nevada acknowledged being the cause of this death, but said that it was an accidental event resulting from the invasion of public forces into their territory.

They insist that they are a political-military organization made up of peasants, and they blamed the national government for this armed confrontation by refusing to accept their proposal for a peaceful negotiation to achieve a definitive end to the conflict in the mountain massif.

However, even though the desire to achieve a concerted peace is maintained in his speech, the State’s order continues to be to maintain a robust presence in that territory where there is information that the operations of Los Conquistadores de la Sierra are focused and directed. , which affect the departments of Magdalena, La Guajira and César.

Mayor guarantees rights to protesters and accompaniment to those who did not protest
Mayor Carlos Pinedo Cuello installed a PMU made up of the Personería at 6:30 am District, the Ombudsman’s Office and the public force, to articulate, supervise and take actions that guarantee the legitimate right to protest of the peasant communities, community and indigenous leaders, Afro-descendants, tourism unions and businessmen of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. Likewise, he said that the rights of those who did not participate in this demonstration will be guaranteed.

“We are present in the area so that people feel calm and there are no disturbances to public order,” Pinedo said.

The governor of Magdalena, Rafael Martínez, convened an extraordinary security council to evaluate and monitor the public order situation in the Sierra Nevada and the municipalities located in its foothills. According to the departmental leader, “There are intelligence reports and complaints from citizens who warn that in a hidden way it is an armed strike with the façade of a ‘peaceful protest.'”

Due to the imminent risk that exists for populations that do not comply with the call to paralyze activities, the governor stated that it is necessary to adopt a strategy with a humanitarian component with a view to protecting the life and personal integrity of the indigenous and peasant communities that have settlements in the sectors in which conflict is being generated in the Sierra Nevada.