Colombia: Teachers Mobilize to Defend Health, Life and Peace

The Federation of Educational Workers (Fecode) began on Wednesday a 48-hour national strike asking Colombia's President Ivan Duque to comply with previous agreements, protect lives of social leaders and guarantee the right to health.

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The nationwide strike began with a pot-banging demonstration in front of the Education Ministry in Bogota, where the Workers' United Center union (CUT) joined teachers, parents and students.

On Thursday, these social groups will perform a sit-down in the capital city to denounce bad health services that the Colombian population receives. Marches to the Labor Ministry are expected too.

Teachers are also demanding reform of their social security funds so that "resources can effectively guarantee decent pensions for over 320,000 affiliates,” TeleSUR journalist Manuel Jimenez reported.

In this regard, Fecode President Nelso Alarcon explained that Fiduprevisora, a public-private fund manager, is not guaranteeing quality health services for teachers.

“It doesn't handle well the money we contribute. Over the last four years, such an organization has had a debt exceeding US$216 million with health providers. For this reason, its difficulties grow,” Alarcon told to El Tiempo.

"Colombia: the teachers' 48-hour nationwide strike advances demanding from the Government the fulfillment of agreements reached in previous negotiations, a better provision of health services and the right to life."

In order to reject the murder of Colombian social leaders, Fecode convened on Tuesday the "Caravan for life, peace and democracy", a massive event to be carried out from Sep 6 to 8, which will depart from different parts of the country to Santander de Quilichao, in the department of Cauca.

“The ongoing nationwide strike also rejects the murder of 10 teachers so far this year. This happened in a country where historical records show 1,547 teachers have been killed,” Jimenez explained.

Despite the 2016 Peace Agreement between the Colombian state and the former guerrilla Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the living conditions at the Cauca region have worsened since then due to actions deployed by irregular groups whose operations remain linked to drug trafficking and a far-right agenda.

On August 21, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) said that about 242,000 people need humanitarian aid in the Cauca Valley.