In support of the social mobilizations in Colombia

The Steering Committee and Member Centers of CLACSO (Colombia) stand in solidarity with the broad, diverse and massive demonstrations carried out by Colombian society within the framework of the National Strike of November 21 and the social mobilization that continues.

This National Strike has been called by the entire Colombian social, labor, and popular movement in rejection of President Iván Duque's government, neoliberalism, and the war. The slogans of the protesters in the streets have been clear: the defense of peace and the human right to social protest; the protection of the lives of social leaders and human rights defenders; the care of common goods and nature; the condemnation of dispossession, exclusion, and precarity, fundamental pillars of the neoliberal model; the demand for compliance with the agreements signed by the government with teachers and the university student and faculty movement; the rejection of all forms of violence against women and children; among other issues.

This society has expressed its weariness with a systematic war it has endured for more than five decades. This war has not been stopped due to the reluctance of the Colombian state, and particularly this government, to implement the Final Peace Agreement. It is also a demonstration against the high levels of wealth concentration (among the highest in the region) and the deterioration of people's living conditions.

These proclamations express a collective sentiment for the defense of a dignified life for communities and their territories. Millions of women and men have gathered in public squares, in their neighborhoods, with their neighbors, friends, and strangers in a cry of hope that Colombia has not experienced with such intensity for decades, comparable, according to many, only to the civic strike of 1977. Youth have been the driving force behind this gathering. The banging of pots and pans and the banging of pots and pans have filled the streets of Colombia with joy.

The legitimacy of social protest and the just demands of the movement have been repelled, stigmatized, and criminalized by state institutions. President Iván Duque's government has prioritized a militarized approach, contrary to the path of dialogue. The country's security forces, especially the repressive Mobile Anti-Disturbance Squadron (ESMAD), have deployed a reactionary campaign against the protesters; the attacks have been numerous and varied, resulting in a deplorable humanitarian toll.

In the last few hours, some leaders have decreed curfews and, in coordination with the National Government, have militarized the cities, unleashing a campaign of individual fear and Collective Panic that delegitimizes the protest and contains the vitality of the resistance that is expressed in the strike.  

The CLACSO Steering Committee and the Colombian Centers, expressions of critical thought committed to the pursuit of justice, peace, the defense of human rights, and a dignified life, reject the militarized treatment of the protests and the stigmatization they have been subjected to through various means, especially social media and mass media. We condemn the campaign of stigmatization against Venezuelan migrants currently residing in Colombia; migration is a human right. Violence, looting, and pillaging are not expressions of the mass, citizen-led protests taking place in Colombia today. 

We call on the National Government of Colombia to provide all the necessary guarantees for the continued development of peaceful mobilization and free expression, and to establish a dialogue table with real and effective guarantees regarding the demands put forward by the entire popular movement.

SEE ALSO:
https://www.clacso.org/rotundo-rechazo-al-neoliberalismo-en-colombia/