The first of twelve meetings between the Colombian Government and farmers working to find alternatives to the rural crisis was focused on the issue of illegal crops and various alternatives for their gradual replacement. At the first meeting held yesterday in Medellin, farmers spoke about the need to approach the issue from a perspective of human rights, according to which, access to property, education and health, decent housing and basic services become reality for those communities.
According to local media outlets, Interior and Agriculture Deputy Minister and the governors of the Departments of Nariño and Cauca attended this first round of talks.
The farmers insisted on the need for security guarantees for their spokespeople and those who participated in the national strike that began on August 19.
Although concrete agreements were not reached at this meeting, the official team said that at the next meeting in Bogota on October 3, they would present a written answer to the farmers’ repeated statements about being forced to plant illegal crops as their only alternative in the face of abandonment by the State.
