The mayor of the municipality of La Jagua de Ibirico, Ovelio Jiménez, warned President Gustavo Petro about a “regional strike for employment and economic development” that “leaders representing different sectors” would be calling for this Monday, January 23.
Through a letter, the burgomaster stated that there is “dissatisfaction and discomfort among the former employees of the Prodeco company, merchants, housewives, young people, professionals, motorcycle taxi drivers, suppliers of goods and services and the entire productive chain of the Cesar mining corridor.”
DEPARTURE FROM PRODECO
This municipality located in the center of the department has stopped receiving different economic resources after the cessation of operations of the company Prodeco (of the multinational Glencore) in the coal mines called La Jagua de Ibirico and Calenturitas.
Because of this situation, the municipality “is experiencing the worst social crisis in its history,” the statement said, because tax revenues have fallen, there is a rise in unemployment and an impact on social welfare “expressed in an increase in poverty and inequality”.
CALL TO THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT
Jiménez added that his duty “is to turn on the alarms so that the national government together with the other civil, police and military authorities of the department and the municipality take action on the matter.”
On December 21, the Ministers of Mines and Energy (Irene Vélez), Environment and Sustainable Development (Susana Muhamad) and Labor (Gloria Inés Ramírez) were in a binding social dialogue called ‘Cesar Life Corridor’ to agree the roadmap for the just energy transition in this part of Colombia.
There were also executives from entities such as the National Mining Agency, the National Agency for Environmental Licenses, the National Planning Department, among others.
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Thus, EL PILÓN consulted Luis Fernando Ramírez, spokesman for the mining workers’ union (Sintramienergetica) about the arguments for participating in this strike, however, the man pointed out that as a union they would not be part of the protest because they had reached agreements with the national government.
“We were at work tables and we have participated in different events with the State, we have no argument to strike, we trust we will have results in the first half of this year,” said the union leader.
However, Ramírez added that other former workers from the two mines will participate, as well as social leaders from different municipalities and “politicians like Senator Didier Lobo.”
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PRESIDENT
This publishing house tried to find out if this document reached the president, but until the closing of this edition it did not receive an official response. However, in his first visit to Cesar as head of state, Petro Urrego reiterated that the coal industry pollutes the planet.
“El Cesar lives a paradox and that is that it suffers from the climate crisis, but at the same time this region produces the chemicals that produce it: coal,” said the economist from Bosconia, the center of Cesar. Likewise, he has proposed “decarbonizing the economy”, not only in the region, but in the world.
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“It is unfortunate to express it, President, that to this day a true comprehensive solution has not been proposed that would help to overcome this situation of mine closure in the short and medium term, exposing our communities to suffering a political, economic and humanitarian crisis. ”, concluded Ovelio Jiménez.
Read the letter from the mayor of La Jagua de Ibirico to President Gustavo Petro.
POLITICAL WRITING.