Colombia’s 2016 peace deal contains the necessary elements to resolve its current social crisis, the United Nations´ mission chief told the Security Council on Tuesday.
During the presentation of his quarterly report on the progress of the peace process, UN mission chief Carlos Ruiz stressed the importance of the political participation chapter of the agreement.
This chapter did not just seek the introduction of now-defunct guerrilla group FARC to Congress, but provide general guarantees for political opposition and peaceful protest in general.
Instead of trying to negotiate an end to anti-government protests that erupted after a national strike on April 28, police tried to quell them with extreme violence that killed at least 53 people.
The peace process demonstrated the value of dialogue in resolving the conflict, while the accord offered a set of instruments to resolve a number of long-pending issues, many of which have also been the subject of discussion in the context of the national strike.
UN Colombia chief Carlos Ruiz
The increasingly authoritarian President Ivan Duque has refused to negotiate with protest leaders and has been reluctant to implement the peace deal since taking office in August 2018.
“The implementation of these provisions” to curb political and social exclusion, however, “would be useful in the current context and for the future,” Ruiz told the members of the Security Council in New York City.
The parties to the peace process recognized that peace building requires the active commitment of all Colombians and specified safeguards for political and citizen participation.
UN Colombia chief Carlos Ruiz
The organizers of the April 28 strike announced a new strike day for July 20, Colombia’s Independence Day, to protest the far-right government’s plan to introduce a second draft of a tax reform to Congress.
Duque withdrew his first draft in May in an attempt to appease protesters, but has refused to negotiate with social organizations while preparing the far-right government’s second draft.
The announcement another tax reform would be presented before Congress on July 20, which is also the beginning of the legislative year, triggered the April 28 strike organizers to call for renewed protests.
The security forces will be subjected to extraordinary international scrutiny during the upcoming protests due to the widespread human rights violations committed in response to the previous protests.