Multiple city actors have joined their voices to ask the Mayor’s Office not to close off Plaza Botero as a strategy to improve security. In their letter they express:
“Let’s find, together, a better solution for the serious problems of social and human deterioration that are evident in this part of downtown Medellín.”
In the letter, the citizens explain that they have followed up in detail on the actions that the administration has implemented in Plaza Botero in the last week and they feel concerned since they consider that a physical enclosure, with entry and exit doors, will not contribute to solve the problem in the area.
“On the contrary: we believe that the closures, like the one already carried out in 2021, generate more deterioration than solutions.”
They also believe that it is impossible to intervene in the Plaza if the Museum of Antioquia or the Palace of Culture are left out, which are an integral part of the space.
“What the Plaza has experienced on a daily basis are the endemic problems of society: unemployment, poverty, child sexual exploitation, exclusion. An integral work of all the secretariats is what the Plaza requires and, above all, it is necessary to act in union with the entities, businesses and neighboring community”.
To conclude, the signatories of the letter to Mayor Daniel Quintero reject any simplistic or short-term solution, and request to start a process of recognition of the other and teamwork.
The full statement here:
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