Internationalist solidarity with the Peoples of Colombia

Friends of the Earth International issued a statement of solidarity with the people of Colombia and CENSAT Agua Viva, condemning systematic violence and human rights violations during national strikes and social mobilisations in 2021.

• The 2021 national strikes in Colombia were driven by a tax reform bill, rising poverty, and a development model that prioritizes capital accumulation over human well-being. DANE reported that 42.5% of the population (21 million people) lived below the financial poverty line, with 3.5 million falling below it in 2020, while the Financial Systems Oversight Board reported net profits of approximately US$ 6.3 billion (24.25 trillion Colombian pesos) from January to September 2020.
• Colombia is experiencing a severe humanitarian crisis characterized by the murder of social movement and community leaders. According to INDEPAZ, 32 massacres occurred in 2021, and 573 leaders were murdered during the first two years of the current government. Additionally, approximately 270 signatories of the agreements with the FARC-EP have been killed in recent years.
• The Colombian government's development model is criticized for treating nature as a commodity, leading to the return of aerial glyphosate spraying, the prioritization of extractive activities for economic reactivation, mining in highland páramos critical for water supplies, and the approval of the country's first fracking projects.
• Security forces have committed significant human rights abuses against peaceful demonstrators. Data from the NGO Temblores recorded 1,443 cases of police violence between April 28 and May 4, 2021, resulting in 31 deaths, 814 arbitrary arrests, 92 instances of physical violence (including 21 eye attacks), and 10 cases of sexual violence against women.

APA

FOEIAdmin (2021). Internationalist solidarity with the Peoples of Colombia. Friends of the Earth International. https://www.foei.org/internationalist-solidarity-with-the-peoples-of-colombia/

Chicago

FOEIAdmin. Internationalist solidarity with the Peoples of Colombia. Friends of the Earth International, 2021. https://www.foei.org/internationalist-solidarity-with-the-peoples-of-colombia/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=FOEIAdmin |title=Internationalist solidarity with the Peoples of Colombia |publisher=Friends of the Earth International |date=14 May 2021 |url=https://www.foei.org/internationalist-solidarity-with-the-peoples-of-colombia/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{foeiadmin2021internationalist, author = {FOEIAdmin}, title = {{Internationalist solidarity with the Peoples of Colombia}}, publisher = {Friends of the Earth International}, year = {2021}, month = may, url = {https://www.foei.org/internationalist-solidarity-with-the-peoples-of-colombia/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }