The Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) cordially invites you to the following webinar:
On Colombia’s Independence Day, July 20, nationwide protests resumed after they started nearly three months ago. Initially called in opposition to a controversial tax reform, the wave of protests quickly became a blanket rejection of the status quo. Protesters’ demands ranged from calls for full and comprehensive implementation of the 2016 Peace Accords to a radical transformation of society.
Amid the nationwide protests, which began on April 28, state security forces killed dozens of protestors and injured and disappeared many more, shocking and garnering the attention of international observers. Much of this violence was concentrated in Cali: Colombia’s third-largest city and the city with the second-largest Black population in Latin America. Three months later, Colombians continue to demand justice and community-based solutions to the wide array of structural issues the country faces despite sustained stigmatization, a brutal state response, and the ongoing effects of the pandemic.
Join us on Wednesday, July 28 at 10:00 a.m. EDT to hear from activists, scholars, and community organizers in Cali, Valle del Cauca—the epicenter of the protests—who will give firsthand accounts of the conditions of the protests, their community projects, and their visions for dialogue and peace in Colombia.
Event Details:
Wednesday, July 28, 2021
10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. EDT
Panelists:
Mauri Balanta Jaramillo
Communications Coordinator, Asociación Casa-Cultural “El Chontaduro”
Anthony Dest
Assistant Professor, Lehman College
Johan Andrés Niño
Colectivo ComUnidad y Ciudad Paz
Moderator:
Gimena Sánchez-Garzoli
Director for the Andes, WOLA
Simultaneous interpretation will be available between English and Spanish, exclusively on Zoom.