Yesterday, the lifting of the civic strike by the peasant, indigenous and Afro-descendant communities settled in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta became effective.
The mobilization maintained blockades on the Caribbean Trunk, and was subject to the presence of the National Government to listen to the pleas for an end to the armed conflict, by the populations that are being left under the crossfire.
Although, doubts had spread about the legitimacy of the mobilization that called for peace talks, since even the governor of Magdalena, Rafael Martínez, assured that it was an “armed strike”; The Seguimiento.co journalistic team spoke with the delegate of the National Government, who arrived in the Sierra Nevada and, together with the District Mayor’s Office and the Public Ministry, signed agreements to end the protest.
The director of Human Rights of the Ministry of the Interior, Franklin Castañeda, spoke with Seguimiento.co, who clearly explained the scope of the agreed agreements.
“On June 11, they notified us of the mobilization that would take place, and at that time we sent communication of the opening of the dialogues for June 22, dialogues between community leaders and the National Government to address their needs,” said Castañeda. .
Likewise, he explained that he was able to confirm upon his arrival in the Sierra that it was a citizen mobilization and from there, the development of a frank dialogue with the communities.
“The agreement was signed after several hours of negotiation with the communities, because this Government recognizes the legitimacy of the Community Action Boards and of every citizen who wants to make use of their legitimate right to social protest, what we always did was a called not to take the de facto routes. For this reason, their concern and needs were reflected in the minutes,” said the Senior Official, who also represents the Vice Ministry of Social Dialogue.
He was also emphatic in explaining that these agreements agreed with the communities have nothing to do with the calls of the Conquistadoras of the Sierra Self-Defense Forces for the National Government to reactivate peace negotiations within the framework of the ‘Total Peace’ project.
“We understand that a community affected by the armed conflict wants to be heard by the High Commissioner for Peace. That’s why I spoke with Dr. Otty Patiño and he authorized me to organize a meeting where the community can be heard. They will be heard in his proposal and that will be in the next three weeks. It is a social dialogue meeting that has no relation to peace negotiations, where the problems of roads, access to water, energy, economic issues, social investment and labor formalization in the area will be discussed,” emphasized Franklin Castañeda, reiterating that the unfreezing of the negotiation table is the exclusive decision of the High Commissioner, and is subject to the will for peace demonstrated by the ACSN, which until now, continues with its violent actions.
