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22 de julio de 2014 | Testimonios | Anti-neoliberalismo | Derechos humanos | Género | Luchadores sociales en riesgo
Colombia: Interview with Nury Martínez about the peace agenda after the national elections
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The Colombian social sphere faced a dilemma in the framework of the second electoral round held in May, where a large part of social movements supported the re-election of Juan Manuel Santos, winner in the end, understanding that he, at least, ensured the continuation of a peace dialogue agenda with the leftist insurgent forces, both the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the National Liberation Army (ELN).
Real World Radio interviewed Nury Martinez, leader of the National Agricultural Union Federation of Colombia, Fensuagro, part of the Latin American Coordination of Countryside Organizations (CLOC-Via Campesina) in that country. She was interviewed in the framework of the women´s articulation meeting of CLOC, where gender issues were discussed from the point of view of peasant and popular feminism at continental level, and an agenda of struggles was established for the short and medium term.
“Beyond the peace negotiations themselves, the difficulty will be on implementation. We are working in unity and solidarity to be ready for the implementation of these agreements”, said Nury, making reference to the fact that one of the key issues is the release of the political prisoners arrested after the national agrarian strike promoted by the Agrarian Summit in 2013.
70 of these prisoners are members of FENSUAGRO, among them its Vice president, Huber Ballesteros (photo) who has health issues that haven´t been addressed by the prison´s authorities, putting his life in danger.
“Not only is he not being granted house arrest or given any guarantees, he is not being given the food or medicines he requires”, denounced Nury.
There are over 150 political prisoners who are still imprisoned as a result of the agrarian mobilizations of August 2013.
