- Various social organizations gathered in the Popular Assembly wrote a letter to the government of Iván Duque. They demand measures to protect social leaders, to stop criminalization of social justice movements and to allocate more resources towards education.
More than 1300 leaders of social organizations gathered in Bogotá expressed their concern about the measures being taken by the government of President Iván Duque. In the letter, the social organizations outline their concern about key issues such as the economic crisis that Colombian students and universities are going through. Likewise, they reject economic policies and taxes for the poorest, and consider these measures regressive. The Popular Assembly also strongly condemned the assassinations of social leaders that have taken place throughout the country.
They demand that the National Government respect popular consultations and prior consultation as the rights of the communities regarding decisions on their territory, maintain the path of the political solution to the armed conflict and resume the mechanisms of dialogue with the movement, and to comply with previous agreements with the National Government through the agrarian strike of 2014.
The Popular Assembly has had more than a thousand representatives of different social organizations from all over the country attend, which have held meetings in the Colombian capital during the last three days, from October 9 to 12 . Delegations from Latin American and European countries have also been present.
Letter from the Legislative, Popular and People’s Assembly to the Colombian President Iván Duque
“After three days of political deliberation in the framework of the People’s and Peoples’ Legislative Assembly, more than 1,300 delegates from different regions of the country representing peasant communities, Afro-descendent communities, indigenous peoples, women’s groups, urban popular organizations , workers’ organizations, political organizations, cultural and communications movements, student organizations, youth organizations, ethnic and peasant spokespersons, and the community movement and with delegations from popular organizations in Latin America and Europe, we decided to send you this letter with the aim of making public our positions as part of the Colombian social movement that day by day builds a country from all latitudes of Colombia”.
In the letter, social organizations express their concern for the statements of several ministers of the current government, which criminalize the social movement and consider that it puts at risk the lives of leaders, and other people who belong to the social movements.
They demand the immediate reactivation of the Single Table of Participation and Agreement between the Agrarian, Peasant, Ethnic and Popular Summit and the National Government, legally constituted by decree 807 of 2014.
“We demand respect for the progress already made with the previous government. The eight points contemplated in the list will be developed and the vocation of dialogue with the organizations will be prioritized by the Government”.
There is still no response from President Iván Duque to the demands made by the People’s and Peoples’ Legislative Assembly.
