Indigenous people continue to fight in the course of the strike in Colombia – Prensa Latina

The Association of Indigenous Councils of Antioquia thanked Luis Fernando Suarez, Governor of Delimitation, and Daniel Quintero Calle, Mayor of Medellin, for inviting them to social dialogue.

The association says: “For us, it is important that the Medellin mayor’s office and the Antiochia Governor’s office be ready to listen to the voices and demands of the city and department’s social sectors, because consensus is the pillar that builds democracy,” in a statement.

He adds that, nevertheless, as he understood that the indigenous peoples’ agenda was responsive to historical and complex demands, he believed that they required a different space and treatment.

He adds, “That is why we want to inform you that the indigenous people of the department will move in Minga de Resistencia with Sue Pia (the good heart) to live well.”

It will start today, stay for an indefinite period, and will be populated from different regions of the county and surrounding cities.

In this term, an independent agenda is required to address the issues plaguing the ancestral societies of Antioquia which are largely the product of unfulfilled agreements with national, provincial and municipal governments, and a practice to reverse current policies.

“That is why we are asking, through your leadership, to summon the Minister of the Interior, Daniel Palacios, so that the national, provincial and municipal governments can hear the voices of the indigenous peoples who have been mobilized in Antioquia,” he urges.

The national strike in Colombia began on 28 April and continues today, and more and more sectors are joining this measure of pressure against the government of Ivan Duque.

Protesters are demanding the withdrawal of health reform, basic income, universal vaccination against COVID-19, non-use of glyphosate in areas with coca crops, and the dismantling of the mobile riot squad.

They also demand police reform, the non-militarization of social protest, access to and continuation of higher education, the emergence of all the disappeared alive in the framework of mobilization, among other things, and agreements with the protesting sectors.

G / otf