Bogotá Mayor's Office responded to the demands of indigenous communities in the National Park

After Infobae's visit to the settlement of the self-described Bacatá Community, the various figures available so far on the situation of indigenous people in Bogotá were analyzed. The district, beyond the pronouncement of some entities and the mayor Claudia López, did not have a consolidated official statement about what happened in these 7 months.

Interestingly, both sides agree that the “solution” is the return of these ancestral peoples to their territories. For this reason, the Government Secretariat of Bogotá, exclusively replied to Infobae, that so far there is no agreement signed with what they call the “organizational process of Bakata indigenous authorities”.

They say that they do not have a record with the Ministry of the Interior, and that during the days of consultation with other organizational figures, which they do not indicate, and government entities, which are within the District Development Plan, the result has been: “62 affirmative actions with all sectors of the District Administration, of which implementation is constantly monitored by the District Government Secretariat.”

In fact, the district has made a budget expenditure of 9 billion pesos, which has been shared among the population settled in the National Park and those who have voluntarily moved to UPI - Preflorida; since 2020. They explain that this money has been spent on:

among other concepts.

Specifically, the theme of La Florida Park has been one of the alternatives that the mayor's office has emphasized the most, but, as indigenous leaders said at the press conference last Thursday, April 7, “there have been 9 dead, who wants to go to the slaughterhouse? , no one wants to go and die there,” the government secretary says:

This is why, along with the alternatives constantly rejected by indigenous leaders, who have left as the only option of “temporary accommodation”, where their needs can be guaranteed, is UPI - Preflorida, but, the district points out that this place is not accepted, even by people who do not even spend the night there.

Another point demanded by the community is that none of the requests made so far by the Bacatá Community, to the government, have not been complied with. They say that, after these 7 months, they have not been able to guarantee the sanitation of basic needs, which they argue, are set out in a law ruling and in the constitution; that is why Infobae asked about the alternatives or concrete proposals to clean up these requests. The secretariat ensures that each district administration entity has taken care of what it has been able to within its means.

With regard to health care, they say that they have the ambulance service available 24 hours a day for any emergency, in addition to care in the hospital subnet depending on the case, but, despite “these services”, the death of a minor has already been recorded. This originates because:

The Government Secretariat said that it has held discussions with the Ministry of the Interior and the Victims Unit, which have succeeded in advancing 3 prioritized returns. But, they emphasize that the mayor's office has stated that this process of attention with the different indigenous communities has had to be assumed and led by the Ministry of the Interior, they must generate

Therefore, in order to achieve the “definitive solution”, it is necessary that the Victims Unit take center stage with the people who still remain in the National Park. However, it must be made clear that not all these peoples are victims.

Faced with the excesses that occurred last Wednesday, April 6, the indigenous authorities assured that the problem arose after a meeting, with the mayor's office, where they were told that they had to repeat the characterization process, because there was a “human error” in the fingering of the cards, which the communities secure, they handed over physically, but they argued that the numbers did not match the names.

The Secretariat of Government responds:

They even acknowledge that other days had already been tried, but they were failed, due to attacks by the community on public servants.

However, the objective of the characterization is to identify the family nuclei, to compare them with the databases of the Victims Unit in order to provide aid and guarantee the rights of the population settled in the National Park, emphasizing those who are victims of the conflict, the latter in order to avoid the “benefit” own” of persons interested in the conditions of the community in conditions of displacement.

In conclusion, and for now, both sides, government and indigenous, agree that the solution is the safe return to the territories, but, the mayor's office is limited by the fact that in its functions they cannot intervene in the areas where communities demand, but, on the part of ancestral peoples, they continue to say that they do not comply with their lawsuits, despite the alternatives that the district has put forward; since, these options do not guarantee their rights.

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