SOS for Buenaventura, civic strike continues The community demands the presence of President Santos, events are getting out of control By: Jesús Karabali | May 22, 2017

SOS for Buenaventura, civic strike continues

The community demands the presence of President Santos, events are getting out of control

By: Jesús Karabali | May 22, 2017

On May 21, 1851, slavery was "abolished" in Colombia, but it continues.

When it comes to abolishing something, it is clear that it is a question of eliminating the practice of an activity definitively, but this is not the case with the abolition of slavery in Colombia. Afro-descendant or black communities, as some prefer to call them, still find themselves living in conditions similar to those forced to live in the Spanish colony.

In the XXI century we see that places like Buenaventura are subject to a house called the neoliberalism, I use that metaphor to refer to houses that were suitable for dismembering people in this city, a couple of years ago. Neoliberalism is the cutting house that is dismembering much of the planet and Buenaventura is no exception, while it cames to privatize absolutely everything, with the promise that the quality of life of people would improve, but we have lived in our own flesh It has not been so.

The privatization of Puertos de Colombia gave way to the Port Company, which contracts for 3 or 4 months to an Afro-descendant professional, who can have a university degree of professional in foreign trade, earning a monthly salary, an average of 800,000 Colombian pesos About 277,8453 USD. We have even seen cases of people working as watchmen, who have stated that they receive an average of 500,000 Colombian pesos, about 173.5 USD.

Some of these workers have resorted to the hunger strike by chaining themselves to the outskirts of the Port Society demanding a better salary and a work schedule that is more humane. Some workers report that white-mestizo people (many of whom are not from the Pacific) are hired with less qualifications and higher salaries. This phenomenon is repeated in almost all work spaces.

The strike continues, the Santos government has not complied

The civic strike in Buenaventura began May 16 with artistic manifestations such as poetry, Pacific music like currulao, rap, slogans alluding to the position of the government of President Juan Manuel Santos and the mayor of the city, Jorge Eliécer Arboleda.

The strike began by demanding 8 basic points: health, education, water, territorial autonomy, housing, employment, attention to victims of armed conflict, sport and recreation. It is worth noting that the community of Buenaventura, which is 80% black, almost since its founding (1540) has been demanding almost the same thing and the different governments in turn have not wanted to solve the problem.

The community of Buenaventura, and in particular the civic strike committee, awaited the presence of President Santos, but he traveled to the United States to meet with his counterpart Donald Trump. President Santos has been in power for nearly 7 years and has only a little more than a year to complete his term and has not kept up with what he promised in his presidential campaign. That is why the community was forced to stop the city, because it can not stand to live without water, adding to it, much of the city does not have sewerage and in these days has been constant the suspension of gas service home. In this vein, the community continues to demand the presence of the president, with the purpose of solving these basic needs.

From peaceful party to riots and looting

The strike began by honoring the name of the area where the city of Buenaventura, Pacific coast is located. The strike was a cultural event, alluding to what was raised by African activist intellectual Amilcar Cabral: culture as the foundation of the liberation movement.

In an unprecedented event more than 40,000 people took to the streets to protest for what they deserve in their own right, coupled with the high taxes that some inhabitants of the city must pay constantly to the nation and private entities. Nevertheless, the arrival of the ESMAD (Anti-riot squads - National Police) altered the march and other activities that were being carried out. Many protesters are reported to have been verbally assaulted and attacked with tear gas.

Given the circumstances a group of individuals who were moving on motorcycles, as if everything was planned according to many inhabitants of the city, burst into the shopping center Viva Buenaventura, forced the doors and left almost empty the supermarket Éxito, the same made in the La 14 shopping center And the Olympic supermarket, which is located in the center of the city.

The civic strike committee, which is made up of community leaders and two members of the Catholic Church, issued a statement in which one of the questions asks why the people who took everything had up to 3 hours to commit the eviction, as well Where was the police, the navy and the ESMAD, the latter in less than 30 minutes and dissolved the peaceful march.

Some people who live near the malls say that the public force arrived when they had almost taken everything. (Refrigerators, televisions, carts full of food, mattresses, washing machines and so on). Adding to that some residents have reported that ESMAD forces are provoking the community, firing tear gas at homes, many of them inhabited by young children.

Given this scenario, it is clear that Colombia's black population, and in particular that of Puerto Buenaventura, which mobilizes on average 70% of what goes into and out of the country, still claims for a real abolition of slavery.