Colombia Resists the Free Trade Agreement - solidarity demo in Ireland
Channel: Union Solidarity International
Date: 2013-09-17

Since August 19th, millions of people have been demonstrating in Colombia in support of the peasants and small farmers. Protests started when they criticised the ruin that has represented for them the Free Trade Agreement with the US. While the US bans any form of subsidies for poor peasants in Colombia, heavily subsidised rice, corn and potatoes are flooding the local market. Rice imports raised in one year by 2,000%! This has meant misery for most small producers that took out to the streets to voice out their anger. The response of the Colombian government was brutal repression: 50,000 soldiers were sent to the streets to crush dissent. 17 people have died, many have disappeared, over 500 people have been badly injured and mutilated. Reports of torture, looting and rape by the army against peasant communities are most disturbing.

We demand the Colombian government to stop repression and engage with civil society, taking into account their demands as a democratic regime should do. We demand justice to those who were killed and injured. We demand freedom to those imprisoned. We demand that policies are designed to help boost food production, not to ruin the peasant with cheap subsidised imports. We demand an end to wanton free trade, as the Colombian government will sign up a new free trade agreement, this time with the EU... we wonder: at what price? and who will pay the price?

Grupo Raíces (Grúpa Fréamhacha) Solidarity with Colombia raices2007@gmail.com"