Colombia: La Guajira Citizens On Hunger Strike For 19 Days

On Thursday, La Guajira Department's Diverse Youth Movement reached Bogota as part of its protest against President Ivan Duque's failure to address the social crisis in their territory. 

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Through a hunger strike that has lasted 19 days so far, the Group requires the Duque administration to deliver education, sanitation, and clean water to local communities. 

"We don't have a decent education. We must walk up to 8 km and we have no roads", said Leandro Aguilar, spokesman for La Guajira municipalities.

"There are many children who die from malnutrition and lack of food and water. In La Guajira we do not consume drinking water, we get it from the rain and it is always dirty," said one of the strikers.

According to the Colombian Family Welfare Institute (ICBF), 29 children have died from malnutrition in La Guajira so far this year and around 20 percent of the department's child population is suffering from malnutrition or at risk of malnutrition.

This is not the first time the Diverse Youth Movement goes on a hunger strike. In July, its activists remained 20 days without eating demanding the same things. The Duque administration eventually held a meeting with the protesters and signed an agreement that included plans to resolve the situation.

"Now, it is up to the government to fulfill these commitments. We hope they are not a 'dead letter.' We will continue to fight because the our department deserves a better destiny," said Luis Lobo, one of the La Guajira strikers.