Poised between dreams of peace and horrors of war, between hopes for democracy and fears of repression, the people of Colombia are preparing for momentous elections in May. The impact of the contest will be profound no matter who wins. There is a strong possibility that Center-Left forces could gain power and that an Afro-Colombian woman could become Vice President, both historic firsts. However, congressional elections in March were marred by fraud, and the entire electoral season has proceeded under the pall of political threats and assaults.
When AFGJ was in Colombia for the 2018 presidential elections, we saw irregularities with our own eyes, saw copies of death squad pamphlets threatening our partners, and heard about the increasing political violence. We are returning again because the presence of international observers and accompaniers is necessary to help assure that elections are open, honest, and violence free as possible.We will bring an international Colombian Election Accompaniment and Observation Mission from May 25 – June 1, 2022 (applications are closed), as well as provide live coverage all day on election day.
Even if you cannot go on the mission with us, you can still be there!
On election day, May 29th, the Alliance for Global Justice, the Centro Pazífico, and Camino Común will be collaborating together to provide all day updates and live broadcasts from the nation’s capital, Bogotá; Cali, in the Southwest; and Riohacha, on the Caribbean coast. We will also be getting reports from our teams spread across the country. AFGJ and our partners are committed to bringing you the story, live, as history is made in Colombia.
There are several ways you can follow our Live Colombian Election Day broadcasts. We will send out Zoom links in the near future. Meanwhile, we encourage you to subscribe to the AFGJ Youtube channel and follow us on Facebook, where you can watch live reports all day and night until results have been announced.
The Colombia Electoral Accompaniment and Observation Mission we are taking is looking very promising. We have a good team of applicants willing to step forward and walk side by side with those under threat, and to use their status as international observers to help insure a legitimate vote. It is a diverse group. The mission is co-sponsored by AFGJ, the National Lawyers Guild, Camino Común, and the People’s Human Rights Observatory. We are diverse in age and ethnicity, we are students, union members, and lawyers, and we are international, with people from at least five different countries.
However, several of the mission applicants are people of color and young workers who need your support to assure their participation. Your gifts will also help defray the costs of the May 29th broadcasts, since most our broadcast team members are young workers. Please consider joining this effort by making a tax-deductible contribution
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT! There will be NO CHARLA DE COLOMBIA this Friday. We are taking a week off and will come back on April 29th for our finale.
COMING FRIDAY, APRIL 29, 5:30PM EASTERN:
Register here for this special edition of Charla de Colombia: Looking Back on One Year Since the 2021 National Strike, featuring a conversation with Darnelly Rodriguez of the Centro Pazífico and independent journalist David Escobar. Darnelly and David coordinated the distribution of supplies we raised for street medics in Cali during the strike. April 29, 6:30pm Eastern time
Did you miss a Charla de Colombia broadcast and want to get caught up? We’ve been having a lot of fun with these Friday “Happy Hour” broadcasts, and we’ve been learning a lot, too! Following are links to our previous episodes:
Charla de Colombia con Fundación Lazos de Dignidad en su sede en Bogotá, 25.3.2022 (SPANISH ONLY)
Chara de Colombia con el Comité Permanente de Derechos Humanos, 8 de abril, 2022 (SPANISH ONLY)
Charla de Colombia, 4.15.22. With Sintraintabaco and Sindicato Memoria Viva labor unions (ENGLISH)
Charla de Colombia, April 15, 2022, con los sindicatos Sintraintabaco y Memoria Viva. (ESPAÑOL)
