The plenary session of the Senate has already started sessions and this Tuesday, July 26, the Escazú Agreement was discussed, one of the pending issues left by the last Congress.
However, before this discussion began, a strong confrontation took place between Senator María Fernanda Cabal and several climate activists who promote the ratification of said agreement.
It all happened at the entrance to the headquarters, where the plenary session of the Senate is taking place. for several minutes The congresswoman confronted those leaders and Senator Wilson Arias, who blamed the Democratic Center for interfering in the approval of that initiative.
In Cabal’s opinion, “The environmental activists instrumentalized by the international left, ignore the danger of Escazú. That agreement is part of a globalist agenda to stop development, impoverish Colombians and deceive unsuspecting young people.”said the congresswoman.
In the discussion that took place between Cabal and Arias, positions on the Escazú Agreement were established. “You cannot be on the side of a cow and not the human being”, the senator told the member of the Democratic Center. For that reason, the legislator asked for respect and pointed out that those who are supporting this initiative are ignoring the dangers that Colombia would have.
Although the dialogue between the congressmen was made in a strong tone, the two entered the plenary and during the discussion of the project the positions were established again.
What is the Escazú Agreement?
The Escazú Agreement proposes to improve citizen participation in environmental conservation and in the protection of the rights of its leadersbut for some sectors the benefits of this initiative are not real.
“In initiatives such as Escazú, with which we would cede our sovereignty to environmental courts and international judicial bodies, we will oppose the intention to create what I have called the ‘JEP Agraria’, which would force the creation of more bureaucratic positions and endanger the property rights and legal certainty,” said Cabal.
In fact, the Democratic Center reiterated its position regarding the Escazú Agreement and announced that it will vote against that initiative. “After a thorough legal and political study of the agreement, our bench finds that Escazú means the loss of Colombia’s sovereignty, as it is an agreement that assumes the prevalence of international law over internal order.”
They added that “advances in terms of environmental rights, which is worth saying, have enormous development in the constitutional, legal and jurisprudential order of Colombia, unlike other nations in the region; There are several cases that prove it. Therefore, to safeguard the protection of the environment, the participation of communities and the safety of social leaders, the country does not have to expose itself to an agreement like Escazú, which generates legal uncertainty, regulatory duplicity and puts everyone at risk. producers, regardless of their size, social status and/or activity”.
The process in the Congress of the Republic still needs three more debates to be ratified, but several senators expressed their joy at the first step in that direction that was taken in April of last year. The issue remains thorny, since Iván Duque, regardless of the pressure from the international community, has left this task in the background.
The commitment of the Historical Pact, as the majority bench, is to approve this initiative in the Senate and the House of Representatives.