Community leaders will travel to Bogotá to ask President Petro for urgent measures in the face of threats in Cúcuta and Catatumbo.
The leaders denounce a lack of institutional coordination and demand a unified database of threatened leaders in the region.
Within the framework of National Day of Community Actionrepresentatives of the federation and associations of Norte de Santander made public their urgent requirements to the National Government given the complex security situation in the region.
The main focus of concern is the security of social leaders in the various communes of Cúcuta and in critical areas such as Catatumbo, the province of Ocaña and the south of the department. This problem has been increased exponentially, keeping authorities on high alert. Despite the meetings and strategies implemented, the leaders consider that the actions have been insufficient to counter attacks.
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Trip to Bogotá for Presidential Meeting
Given this panorama, Hugo Rey, president of the Communal Federation in Cúcuta, announced to La FM that this week they will travel to Bogotá with the aim of confirm an appointment with President Gustavo Petro and his ministry cabinetl to address various topics. Among them, the security of at least 38 social and community leaders threatened in Cúcuta alone.
Rey recalled that, according to the Law 2166, The National Government “must serve the community twice a year.” The leader emphasized the need to be received not only by the president, but by his entire cabinetto comprehensively treat the problems.
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It is urgent to Unify Figures of Threatened People
The community leader also pointed out the fhigh unification in the figures of threatened leaders, making it difficult to implement effective protection measures.
“We are going to propose to the Ministry of the Interior that there be a clear database of how many community leaders are threatened in Cúcuta. I have a database of 38 leaders in that condition, but if you go to the Prosecutor’s Office, only ten appear, and the same thing happens with the Police, the Government Secretariat and the Ombudsman’s Office. We are very concerned because there is no unification of data of the leaders who are threatened,” said Rey.
Another key issue on the meeting agenda is comprehensive attention to community leaders displaced from Cúcuta due to constant threats from criminal groups and gangs, which have declared them as a “military objective.”
For its part, Martha Maldonado, Secretary of Human Rights of the National Communal and Fedecomunal Confederation in CúcutaHe added that the most worrying thing is the stigmatization against leadership in the region, a factor that, in his opinion, is the origin of many of the violent actions against him.
Source: Integrated Information System
