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Afro-Colombians are giving their full support to the civic strike in Buenaventura, a major port in the southern Colombian Pacific coast, in the department of the Valle del Coca, the singer of internationally renowned band ChocQuibTown, Tostao, affirmed Monday.
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“The strike in Colombian Pacific is legitimate, we don't understand how can the (Colombia's special anti-riot police force) ESMAD attack protesters when the mobilization is just,” he said in an interview with Prensa Latina.
On Saturday — the fourth day of a general strike in the Colombian state of Choco — clashes between the ESMAD and strikers broke out on the Pinal Bridge and in the local community of La Delfina.
Several people were injured by tear gas inhalation, including two children who were transferred to a local clinic.
“We express our solidarity and support to the brothers and sisters that are rising now to denounce structural racism and demand fundamental rights like access to water, health, employment and dignity,” he added.
ChocQuibTown received international recognition with the hit “De Donde Vengo Yo” (“From Where I Come”), which the Latin Grammy jury selected as the best alternative song of 2010. The single was a strong statement against racism and discrimination directed toward Afro-Colombians.
The civic strike organizers, composed of 177 groups in Buenaventura, are waiting for government representatives to outline a negotiation agenda. They also solicited a commission including the U.N. Human Rights representative in Colombia, Todd Howland, and Cali's Archbishop Jesus Monsalve Mejia.
A spokesperson for the Afro-Colombian community in Bogota, Juan de Dios Mosquera recalled that the Day of African Identity (Sunday) was not for celebrating, but resisting.
“The tambores are now resonating in order to resist, and to remind us that no one gave us freedom,” he explained.
The Afro-Colombians living in Popayan, in the southern province of Cauca, also called for mobilizations, “with the firm objective to support our sisters and brothers of Buenaventura, Choco, and in general in the Pacific.”
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Choco, Colombia’s Poorest Region, Calls for Civil Strike
Two weeks ago, residents of Colombia's Choco department vowed to continue a civic strike against the government's negligence in the face of poverty and violence in northern Colombia.
Organizers argued that the government of President Juan Manuel Santos hasn't met 2 percent of the commitments made to Choco residents following a similar strike last year. These commitments included improvements in the areas of health, education, safety and transportation.
Choco, home to large Afro-Colombian and Indigenous communities, is currently the poorest department in the country. Some 65.9 percent of Choco’s population now live below the poverty line, according to Colombia Reports. Apart from economic and social crises, many also face evictions, displacement or targeted kidnappings, death threats and homicides as paramilitary violence continues in the area despite a historic peace agreement signed by the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia in late 2016.
According to a 2014 report, 36 percent of the children in Choco do not have a healthy size and weight for their age. The report also found that child mortality was higher than the average rate in the rest of the South American country.
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