“The Minister's Position with the Chocoans Is Racist and Discriminatory”: Department Attorney Responded to Daniel Palacios' Statement

The alarming situation of violence in the department of Chocó has urged different agencies to speak out on this fact. On this occasion, Richard Moreno, coordinator of the National Council for Afro-Colombian Peace (CONPA), said that the position of the National Government and specifically of the Minister of the Interior, Daniel Palacios, is discriminatory and racist, since it has played down the importance of this acute situation, which today leaves more than 60 dead.

W Radio contacted Richard Moreno, who explained in detail the situation that the Chocoans are experiencing, specifically in Quibdó, the capital of the department, pointing out that people must take shelter as soon as the sun goes down, since that is when confrontations between the various criminal groups begin, who, due to the abandonment of the State, act in their own way, also emphasized the delegitimization of the National Government around this conflict, allows criminals to escalate their actions.

Meanwhile, the coordinator pointed out that Minister Palacios has failed in several of his pronouncements, specifying specifically when he denied the conflict in that department, Moreno said: “The minister has had two false starts; the first was that he treated the church and the Chocó organizations as a liar, when they said that the humanitarian crisis was coming, he said that was a lie, today it is shown that the church was right”.

Likewise, Moreno assumed that, for his part, there is no concrete hope regarding the timely action of government agencies and authorities, since at the moment, he points out that they are at the mercy of the conflict and armed actors, since there is no coercive presence on the part of the National Government and the organs of control.

Faced with this situation, Richard Moreno said: “We Chocoans are at the mercy of the violent because the government is not capable of exercising authority, both social and coercive, to guarantee the peace and tranquility of the Chocoan population in their territories and in their communities, that is, on the part of the National Government that we have no hope whatsoever for comprehensive action by the State.” .

He also throws a dart to the government of President Iván Duque, stating that the latter's position is discriminatory and even racist, considering that the delicate picture faced by Chocoans has not been taken seriously, despite the numbers that are increasing every day.

Bearing in mind that Palacios pointed out that the government was not responsible for what was happening, but rather the armed actors, the CONPA coordinator pointed out: “This seems to us to be discriminatory and we think it is racism on the part of the minister, this also seems to us to understand that the minister and the government do not like Chocó, its people and its territory; because that is to say that they do not care what happens there, that the armed actors that generate violence continue to act as they want to, because the government has no responsibility.” .

Finally, this Chocoan official explained to W Radio that, from his position, in communion with the church and the community, they have made various proposals for immediate action, in addition, he rejected the non-application of the covenants established in the civic stoppages that have been organized in this capital, since this allows solutions delay and fail to deliver timely results.

According to the leader of the National Council for Afro-Colombian Peace, commitments to the State must be fully fulfilled, with regard to this issue, he said: “We have proposed a humanitarian agreement, and this would require respect for human rights, respect for international humanitarian law and, moreover, that regional dialogues be generated; allow the different sectors and actors to sit in order to process the differences that are being generated in the department of Chocó, In the same way, there are some commitments of the National Government to the Chocoan society, agreed in the civic stoppages that have been implemented for us”.

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