The Indigenous Organization of Antioquia (OIA) announced this Wednesday, June 19, that members of several communities and reservations in the department will carry out a minga starting on July 22 next in protest in the face of non-compliance by the national and departmental governments to agreements that have been signed in the past.
The demonstration, which they called Indigenous Minga for Life, Peace and Good Livingit is planned to begin with a concentration that July 22 in Medellín, and then leave for Bogotá, where they plan to be on July 24, so that President Gustavo Petro listens to their requests and takes actions to make them a reality.
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“This minga, of a departmental and national nature, will be carried out in response to the historical failure to comply with the agreements agreed with the National Government and the Departmental Government of Antioquia. We denounce the lack of implementation of agreed public policies, which are fundamental for the well-being and development of our communities.. The commitments made by the government have not materialized, leaving our communities in a situation of vulnerability and lack of protection,” the OIA indicated in a public statement.
William Pertuz Baltazar, legal representative of the OIAstressed that This manifestation occurs both departmentally and nationally and is based on the fact that there have been years of successive governments in which the agreement has not been fulfilled in the different mingas that have been carried out, which has led to their ancestral rights continuing to be violated.
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Among the most unfavorable conditions that indigenous people reiterate that they live in their communities are malnutritionthe lack of decent housing or access to drinking water, as well as the enjoyment of the territorydue to different factors such as the armed conflict.
“Peace remains an unfulfilled promise. Our communities continue to suffer the consequences of the armed conflict, facing violence, displacement and threats. We demand the effective implementation of the peace agreements and concrete measures to protect our people,” they noted in the letter.
They also made reference to access to health with a differential ethnic approach and actions to counter situations such as femicides, abandonment and poverty that continue to occur in communities.
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For now, in the OIA statement they also indicated that The commitment is to carry out a peaceful minga with which they will ask for better conditions and guarantees in access to health, education, housing, food security and the free enjoyment of the territories.
“We reiterate our open willingness to dialogue with the Governor of Antioquia, Andrés Julián Rendón, and the President of the Republic, Gustavo Petro. We hope that this dialogue will be an opportunity to advance in the construction of real and effective solutions that benefit our communities,” they stated in the letter.
