Thursday, October 20, 2022

COLOMBIA
Petro will comply with the indigenous agreement of the previous government and asks not to call them «terrorists» for violence
IT'S NOT VIOLENCE ITS SELF DEFENSE

The president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, has reaffirmed this Thursday that they will comply with the agreements reached between the previous government and the indigenous communities, whom he has asked not to be called "terrorists" for the violent altercations that took place in Bogota a day before, which he already condemned.


The President of Colombia, Gustavo Petro -
 PRESIDENCIA DE COLOMBIA

Petro has met this Thursday with representatives of the Emberá community after the altercations a day earlier in the Colombian capital, which resulted in some thirty people injured, among them fourteen policemen, as well as two arrested for the violent rampages that took place.

"A month ago they had no drinking water, they lived overcrowded with more than 1,200 people where only 400 fit. They have seen 21 of their members die, most of them children in Bogota," he wrote on Twitter about this indigenous community. They feel their dignity has been cheated. Every time they are beaten they come more to Bogota," he said.


About 200 people demonstrated this Wednesday in downtown Bogota to protest the breach earlier this year of the agreement that these communities reached with the previous government of Ivan Duque. In response, Petro has stated that these agreements will be implemented by his government.

Leaving aside the violence experienced, Petro has pointed out that these families are claiming their rights and has asked not to be called "terrorists" and not to commit "one of the greatest social injustices" which is to blame the victims. "Indigenous fathers and mothers who have seen their own children die of hunger, HIV, epidemics, lack of care," said the Colombian president.

Prior to these statements, President Petro took to social networks to condemn the acts of violence that took place in downtown Bogota, emphasizing that "aggression against a police officer will never be a protest" and the need to establish dialogue to solve conflicts.

The Colombian authorities have made public the photos of about twenty people suspected of assaulting police officers and of the acts of that mobilization, offering a reward of up to 50 million pesos (about 57,500 euros) for information that may lead to their arrests.

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