This week, the agrarian jurisdiction project was filed in the Congress of the Republic, another of the Government’s bets that aims to fulfill the campaign promises of President Gustavo Petro to strengthen food sovereignty in the country, through the use of lands that are currently They are not being productive, despite having the potential to be so.
During the presentation of the text that will be submitted for consultation and voting, the Ministry of Agriculture assured that the principles that guide this bill, which also seeks to comply with the 2016 peace agreements, are based on the actions of judicial authorities in the analysis and solution of conflicts that reach the offices. All with the aim of helping to overcome barriers in rural areas.
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While the aim of this project seems laudable, the means it intends to use are not They have been very well received by different sectors of the economy and analysts, who, in addition to denouncing that there are legal contradictions in the article, warn that it does away with judicial guarantees in these processes, since it leaves in the hands of the Executive a function that is solely the responsibility of the judiciary.
Uncertainty at the wrong time
One of the first to present his objections to the project was Bruce Mac Master, president of Andi, who said that it does not come at a good time, since the country is seeking to recover the investment and what the jurisdiction is seeking increases uncertainty, which could end in a migration of capital to other sectors of the economy.
Colombian peasants.
THE TIME file
“The agricultural sector in Colombia, one of the few that is currently functioning well, has experienced growth of 8 to 9 percent. However, great uncertainty has arisen related to possible expropriations, which is causing concern. Although the government has assured that Article 12 is not linked to expropriations, the perception of uncertainty persists,” he said.
For the union leader, “this is due to the lack of clarity in the way in which the issue will be addressed, which creates an environment of great concern for peasants, farmers, ranchers and food producers in Colombia, which could discourage investment. The prevailing concern is not the best scenario to encourage investment in the agricultural sector.”
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Guarantees and contradictions
On the other hand, Jorge Enrique Bedoya, president of the Society The Colombian Farmers’ Association (Sac) criticized the bill for eliminating judicial guarantees in most agrarian processes. It believes that this contradicts the government’s commitment to the peace agreement and decree law 902 of 2017, which had guaranteed a judicial phase for these processes.
“If you are going to be subject to a process of domain extinction for not exploiting the land, you must first go to a judge, to whom the National Land Agency must present all the evidence. If the project is approved, the ANT decides, takes away the land and then it goes to the judicial states, ending the guarantees that existed in this regard,” explained Bedoya.
The agricultural sector spokesman said that if the jurisdiction is approved, great care must be taken to ensure that the National Land Agency is not politicized and exposed to risks of corruption, especially with greater administrative powers without proper supervision. He also indicated that the following must be reviewed: the technical and personnel capabilities that the Agency may have to meet these challenges.
Land.
Guillermo Gonzalez / EL TIEMPO Archive
“What we are trying to do here is to provide legal security to those who own land and those who are subject to agrarian reform. That is why it must be looked at with absolute legal rigor and those things that go to the Congress of the Republic, so that they do not end up being put together and simply creating coalitions, but rather there is a discussion facing the country, because what is at stake here is the legal security of all rural inhabitants,” said Bedoya.
In the Congress of the Republic the spirits are divided between those who demonstrate that the agrarian reform is an ‘express expropriation’, which will give powers to the Government, which the Constitutional Court already said was not possible; while legislators close to the Casa de Nariño maintain that the country is being lied to.
All this while the Ministry of Agriculture points out that, since the conflicts that arise in the countryside are different from those in the cities, it will be necessary for the jurisdiction to have new judges, trained to resolve the conflicts that arise in rural areas from an agrarian and territorial perspective.
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Differentiate the earth
Portafolio also spoke with former Minister of Agriculture Cecilia López, who said that in the comparison between the expropriation of urban and rural lands, the fact that the conditions and challenges are very different is not being taken into account. Emphasizing in the low legality of rural land tenure and specific supply problems.
“We consider it dangerous to change the expropriation process to a judicial process and leave it to an administrative process because it weakens the possibility of owning land at a given time. Judges will no longer be the ones to decide and this could lead to a loss of stability for the agricultural sector. There was already work done that seems to be being ignored,” said López.
Cecilia López pointed out that the multipurpose cadastre, which could have been key to agrarian reform, is not being implemented properly. At the same time, he warned that there is a lack of interest from the Ministry of Agriculture and a lack of transparency in the acquisition of land; thus, the characteristics of the population to be worked on are also being ignored.
Agrarian reform
Juan Pablo Rueda. THE TIME
“We cannot ignore the fact that there are shadows here, there is a story here. This is the third attempt by the Government to carry out an agrarian reform through financing. Here there is a word from the same Minister of Agriculture that is the most worrying, because there is talk of a forced sale based on social utility, but we do not know what is really sought with this,” he said.
For now, the requests of the various interested parties in the issue are to ensure that the issue is not treated lightly and that the agrarian jurisdiction project has the debate it deserves, given the importance for the agricultural sector and the stability of the peace agreements signed with the FARC.
