Here you can find all about the Week for Peace, the changes of the initiative in these three decades and what will bring this new edition that begins on September 2

From September 2 to 9, 2018, the 31st Week for Peace will be held. In the framework of its launch, LatinAmerican Post spoke with Luis Emil Sanabria, director of Redepaz, one of the organizations that promotes the event, who told us about the transformations of the initiative, the changes in the Colombian context and the challenges that this new edition has in the midst of the growing violence against social leaders and human rights defenders.

Leer en español: Colombia: Esto es lo que se viene en la 31ª Semana por la Paz

Transformations in the peace agenda

The Week for Peace has moved its focus as the years go by and changes the Colombian reality, explained Sanabria. When this initiative was born in 1987, for example, the Constitution that governed the country was that of 1886. For that reason, the first editions were oriented towards the requirement of citizen participation. However, the scenario changed after the Constitution of 1991 and the demobilization of several of the seven armed leftist groups that existed at the time, including new demands.

Other events that marked the agenda of the most recent editions are the dialogues between the government of Colombia with the former FARC guerrilla and the ELN. There, the dialogue was marked by the topics of the negotiation agendas and pedagogy. This 31st Week for Peace will be focused on the situation of human rights defenders and social leaders.

"More than 400 have been killed since January 2016. There are already several in the early days of the Government of Duque," said Sanabria. Therefore, this event will also emphasize the need to protect and claim their work. "In Colombia, the right to life continues to be violated," Sanabria added, arguing why the slogan of this edition is "There is life. There is hope. Let's continue to color the peace."

It may interest you: The double moral of Latin American politics

Peace today in Colombia

"Colombia is torn between a model that wants to build peace and another that wants a pacified society imposing war," said Sanabria. In addition, he assured that there are political groups interested in polarization with the objective of maintaining the status quo and that the discourses that feed this social division make people believe that the path is violence. According to him, many are based on lies and stigmatization of those who think differently.

Similarly, he told us that although in the past eight years progress was made in the negotiated exits to the armed conflict with the guerrillas, with the new Government the social sectors and the communities are concerned about the statements of the political sector that supports President Ivan Duque and leads the former president Álvaro Uribe.

According to Sanabria, this group seeks to "impose a developmental economic model based on the legalization of dispossession, monoculture projects and mining and energy exploitation" that would not be aligned with the rights of the communities. This dilemma is also part of the agenda of the 31st Week for Peace.

You can also read: "The defenders are the voices where there is no State": UN Special Rapporteur

Logistics and activities

The Week for Peace "is the greatest expression of peace that occurs in Colombia," Sanabria said. It will be held from September 2 to 9 with the participation of more than 100 movements and social organizations, religious, communities and institutions, builders of peace and reconciliation. This event is promoted by the National Secretariat for Social Pastoral of the Episcopal Conference of Colombia, Redepaz, the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana and the CINEP. There will be more than 2000 activities that seek to build bridges of dialogue, take stock of the peace process and give it its support.

"We will insist on the importance of an agreement between the Government and the ELN. We believe it is necessary for Colombia to really move towards reconciliation," said the director of Redepaz, inviting organizations that convene and participate to "not to falter in the construction of peace and to adhere to a new social pact in Colombia."

Finally, he told us that the participants are enthusiastic about the actions within the framework of this week. In addition, there are fears about the threats that some of them or their organizations have received. "The risk of violent actions against them also adds to the real possibility of judicial proceedings by the authorities that have turned social organizations and their members IGNORE INTO targets of false processes," said Sanabria.

In the websites of the driving organizations and social networks through the hashtag #SemanaPorLaPaz, you can find all the information on this event

LatinAmerican Post | Carolina Garzón Díaz

Translated from "Colombia: Esto es lo que se viene en la 31ª Semana por la Paz"