Bogota, the May 6th, 2021
At Ambiente y Sociedad, we express our concern about the worsening of violence as a way to resolve conflicts, and we wonder if it will be possible, one day, to change death as the fatal destiny of our history?
We believe in the validity of the Human Rights enshrined in the national constitution, and as one of them, the right to social protest without stigmatization. The aforementioned only pretention is, the invalidation of its exercise, as well as, punishing such behavior. We are to recognize the preeminence of the Human Right; therefore, it is better to disarm the conflict.
We recognize the injustice behind the social and environmental claims, present in the national strike, as an expression of the inequity and exclusion of a majority of our population. These disagreements, come from a model designed to exacerbate the plundering of resources without seeking to reduce the social gap between their parts. We also understand, that the pandemic is not the cause but rather a factor which revealed inequality.
We emphatically reject the abuses of the public force and the recent events of overflowing violence (apparently manipulated) that have put the right to life and integrity of people at risk. We hereby remember the hundreds of victims of the conflict and the environmental defenders who have fallen due to the mere fact of defending their territory.
We believe in dialogue but with defined, bounded issues, with effective, measurable, enforceable solutions; unlike the national conversations that only lead to greater and worse reactions. Because of all of the above reasons, the conflict manages to increase the distrust that is another feature of our history. Let’s play fair from all sides!
Ambiente y sociedad is an organization committed to the protection of human rights; as well as, the environment. And upon this foundation, we call for the construction of bridges of respectful and immediate dialogue, for which we must have international guarantors.
