Popayán, Cauca and the southwest of the country were condemned to suffer blockages, seriously damaging regional development.
Regardless of the damages caused to millions of inhabitants of the departments of Cauca, Valle and Nariño, directly, and to the country in general, taking into account that the Pan-American Highway is an international highway through which the economy is mobilized, Every time certain communities, especially indigenous people, feel neglected by the central government, they clog this fundamental road corridor, forcing the State to assume more commitments, and those that it does not comply with remain in the “safe” of the historical petitioners. who use them as “bills of exchange” for when they decide, once again, to set up their tents, fire pits, knock down trees, put an end to traffic signs and road furniture, in order to pressure compliance with pending demands and increase others to that endless and insatiable list and, most seriously, without accountability for land delivered and other benefits received, which come out of the pocket of all Colombian taxpayers, without having the right to know what developments and investments they make in favor of their own communities and the progress of their territories.
How long will Cauca and the Colombian southwest be able to withstand so much abuse from a few? That is the question that both citizens and road users ask themselves, especially the transporter union, small, medium and large businessmen, who with the blockages their companies go bankrupt, increase their expenses and increase their debts.
Precisely, before the current blockade by those who call themselves “grandchildren of Quintín Lame”, the Executive President of the Chamber of Commerce of Cauca, Ana Fernanda Muñoz Otoya, spoke out, who rejected the de facto routes that are registered in Cauca since July 31, which today has cut off the region from the north of the country. “The impact that this type of action generates on the economy not only in the Department, but also in the Southwest of Colombia is immense. Micro-enterprises, the transport sector, the community itself… all are affected”, she pointed out.
The executive recalled that Cauca has been experiencing this situation for more than 40 years. He pointed out that previous blockades have caused serious damage to the economy, especially due to the closure of companies or their transfer to other regions of the country.
In 2019, for example, Avícola San Marino left Cauca, leaving approximately 200 families without a livelihood and the general effects on the productive sector caused the department to register the highest inflation rate in the country that year. In 2021, Segalco SAS, a company that bought quinoa from Cauca producers, left unemployment and directly affected the communities.
«We have to learn to change our strategy, it is not possible that with de facto paths that affect an entire region, we continue to demand compliance with agreements and acquired rights. We call on the national government to come forward and seek a solution, but also to those who block to lift the closure of the Panamerican Highway and allow the constitutional right to free mobility and work to be fulfilled,” said the executive president of the Chamber of Commerce.
He also reported that contact was established with the Nuevo Cauca Consortium, with the departmental administration, with the Ministry of the Interior and with the armed forces for the kidnapping of materials and machinery used for the blockade, seeking an articulation that leads to solutions, not only circumstantial but definitive. “We need to move Cauca forward, we cannot see it in a divided way and we have to be aware of the importance of leaving the tracks in fact to be able to move forward.”