BOGOTA –The Movement for the Dignity of Coffee Workers (El Movimiento por la Dignidad Cafetera – MDC) have announced their adherence to a national agrarian strike called for April 28th, less than a month before the country’s presidential elections.
The announcement was made in a press release issued on Monday after a meeting held in Cordoba, Quindio,.
The announcement highlighted that since the mass nationwide strikes that took place last August and September, the outlook for the country’s farmers has not changed, newspaper El Colombiano reported.
According to the press release, no real agricultural policy has been defined by the government guaranteeing the protection and reinforcement of the sector, or its establishment as a pillar of the Colombian economy. Orlando Beltran, a spokesperson for the country’s coffee workers, highlighted the need for the government to fulfill the commitments it made in previous pacts, which were marked the end of last year’s strikes.
The strike should envelop all agrarian sectors throughout the country.
“All farmers should support us regarding the payment of the PIC [the Protection for Coffee Workers’ Income government project] that has been pending since 2013; and also regarding buying of a fund for small-scale farmers,” Beltran said.
Other demands by the agricultural community are for the government to implement clear policies against contraband, an illegal practice that is crippling to farmers, and a reduction in fertilizer prices
The agreement was signed by the delegates of Dignidad Cafetera from the states of Antioquia, Caldas, Risaralda, Quindío, Valle, Cauca, Nariño, Huila, Tolima, Santander, Cesar, Magdalena and Cundinamarca.
Coffee farmers went on strike for almost two weeks in February 2013 asking for higher government subsidies to offset lower prices on the international markets.
The protest ended On March 2, when the government agreed to double the subsidies received by coffee growers, both large and small.
Less than three months later, Dignidad Cafetera charged that the government was not making good on its commitments.
In early June, it published a manifesto laying out its grievances and convening a second strike for 19 August inviting other sectors of Colombia’s agricultural economy to join.
More than 200,000 Colombian farmers, as well as miners, truckers, coffee growers, milk producers, public health-care workers, students and others took to the streets that day in 11 of Colombia’s 32 provinces.
