Colombia: Total Peace and the Fight to Free all Political Prisoners

EPISODE: Colombia-Total Peace and the Fight
to Free All Political Prisoners


GUESTS:  


Anthony Dest, Colombia Freedom Collective


Ajamu Baraka, Black Alliance for Peace National Organizer &
BAP Haiti/Americas Team





BACKGROUND:


In April 2021, tens of thousands of people took to the streets in
Colombia to demand change. They rejected decades of state
violence and deepening inequality. Over the course of three
months, the largest protest in Colombian history spread to over
800 municipalities throughout the country. The months-long
protests played a huge role in creating the conditions for the
election of Gustavo Petro and Francia Marquez.


Changes are afoot in Colombia, and the inauguration of President
Gustavo Petro and Vice President Francia Marquez on August 7,
2022 marked an important shift away from decades of political
repression. However, more than 300 people accused of
participating in the 2021 protests still remain incarcerated
and/or are facing harsh sentences on trumped-up charges.


Political prisoners from the 2021 National Strike are currently
on a hunger strike in four prisons around the country. Despite
numerous promises from the Petro administration to address their
situation, the prisoners continue to face dire conditions. The
only demand that would bring an end to the hunger strike: a
response from the national government regarding the December 2022
proposal emerging from political prisoners in Palmira for the
creation of a “Table for Dialogue” (mesa de diálogo).


Last week, two hunger strikers in Jamundí sewed their mouths
shut to refuse even water. As the strike enters its eighth day,
various other hunger strikers are facing health complications.





FOLLOW OUR GUESTS:


Anthony Dest


https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100089157999945


https://twitter.com/AnthonyDest


Ajamu Baraka


https://www.facebook.com/ajamu.baraka


https://twitter.com/ajamubaraka





ADDITIONAL LINKS:


Black Alliance for Peace


Colombia Freedom Collective


Colombian Peace Caravan: Bringing the Hope of “Total Peace”
to Afro-Colombian and Indigenous Territories


Hunger Strike by Political Prisoners Enters Eighth Day


December 2022: Political Prisoners in Palmira Go On
Hunger Strike 


WTF is Going on in Latin America & the
Caribbean: Colombia Erupts Against Neoliberalism





OUR BROADCAST PARTNERS:


WTF is Going on in Latin America & the Caribbean is a Popular
Resistance broadcast in partnership with Black Alliance for Peace
Haiti/Americas Team, CODEPINK, Common Frontiers, Council on
Hemispheric Affairs, Friends of Latin America, InterReligious
Task Force on Central America, Massachusetts Peace Action and
Task Force on the Americas.