Social Activists Denounce Colombia's Intervention in Venezuela to OAS

The Colombian Coordination of Social Organizations (COS) took a stand during the 49th Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS), voicing their outrage over Colombia’s disregard for contracts, pacts, and promises made to its Indigenous, rural, and endangered citizens, while publicly only intervening on Venezuela and other Latin American nations. 

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In an open letter to Latin American delegates gathered at the OAS assembly session in Medellin, Colombia, Wednesday, human rights organizations denounced the current administration’s blatant disregard for the sanctioned violence raging across the country and overbearing presence in international affairs, particularly concerning Nicaragua and Venezuela.

“The Political Constitution of Colombia, states in its articles 9 and 227, the obligation that the Colombian government has to defend national sovereignty and to promote peace among peoples, both as their right to self-determination, promoting integration with others countries of Latin America and the Caribbean," the letter reads, adding that "it is therefore strange to our Political Constitution any kind of association with other governments of the region, such as the "Lima Group," for the stated purpose of ingesting, blocking, to harass or encourage aggression against another brother country such as Venezuela, Cuba, Honduras, and Nicaragua.”

Meanwhile, the activists warn paramilitaries continue their crusade of violence and “extrajudicial” killings leaving communities bereft of social leaders, journalists, women, ethnic minorities and former guerrillas. Drug and human trafficking continue their upward climb as well, mining rips through the hills and contaminates natural resources with the government’s blessing.

The social organizations accused the government of far-right president, Ivan Duque, of being “committed to paramilitarism,” to fascism and capitalism “putting at risk the very existence of life in Colombian territory,” to the “atrocious National Plan’” which eradicates all previous contracts made with social, labor, and community organizations.

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“The inhabitants of the street are innumerable; the displacement within of this territory that shelters displaced people and return to expel those who do not accommodate with the order that prevails grows and grows as much as the exploitation sexual activity of boys and girls. The unemployment rate exceeds levels never before reached There is a widespread vulnerability to the fundamental rights of its inhabitants in front of which the local, regional and national governments, they do not know these realities,” the activists continue.

And in the face of dozens of coups and dictatorships throughout the region over the last few decades, Colombia has never intervened.

“On the contrary, they were denounced and criticized as instruments against the peoples and as tools against the adversaries of their geopolitical environment. The panorama has not changed: we are in the presence of an agenda that "polishes," in relation to other nuances, the plans that, in Trump's hands, are taking shape.”

Yet, the world’s attention is drawn to Venezuela, Colombia has rushed to the forefront, denouncing it's neighbor’s human rights violations. 

Representatives of the Coordinator of Social Organizations (COS), the Coordination Team of the National Meeting of Social Organizations and Politics (ENOSP), Movement of Colombians in Solidarity with the Peoples and Governments of the ALBA, Colombian Movement of Solidarity with Cuba denounced the blockade against Cuba and the anti-Bolivarian aggression.

Before closing, the authors urged Latin American delegates to remember the continent’s history and current state of affairs as well as Washington’s influence and to reconsider the international intervention against Venezuela.