CPTnet
30 May 2014
COLOMBIA: Ten questions for the next president
The Colombian people went to the polls on 25 May to elect a
new leader for the country. The
incumbent President Juan Manuel Santos was seeking re-election in a race
against five candidates, all aspiring to the most powerful office in the land
and discussing issues such as education, corruption, environment, and as
always, the peace accords with Colombia’s FARC guerilla organization. He will face Colombian ex-finance
minister Oscar Ivan Zuluaga in a 15 June 2014 runoff election.
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| Sign caption: “Dialogue is the way” |
We as CPT Colombia, hope the next
president fulfills her/his promise and works for the Colombian people. Based on our work, the requests of our
partners, and communities we accompany, we have created a list of questions
that we would like to ask the next president that highlight some of our
concerns and key issues for Colombia today:
1.
Will you continue peace negotiations
with the FARC-EP
and ELN?
2.
Are you willing to re-negotiate Free Trade Agreements in
favor of Colombian
small farmers?
3.
What guarantees of can you give in regards to keeping
paramilitary commanders in prison?
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4.
How will you combat impunity
enjoyed by the Police and Military for crimes committed against grassroots processes?
5.
What guarantees can you provide conscientious objectors to obligatory military
service?
6.
What steps will you take to address the environmental
crisis in the country?
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| photo – comunicarigualdad.com.ar |
7.
Will you approve the law that condemns femicide
after the increase in acid attacks against women?
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8.
How will you ensure that the laws protecting the rights
of the LGBT community are upheld?
9.
If you are president, will you comply
with agreements the government signed with the farmers and miners?
10.
Will you respect the right of the land to be used in sustainable manner that
benefits the Colombian people rather than multinational corporations?
