Afro-Colombian communities face and overcome difficulties in exercising their right to vote in the second round of presidential elections taking place this Sunday in Colombia, where candidates Gustavo Petro and Rodolfo Hernández are vying for the presidency.
From San Juan Nepomuceno in Montes de María, Manuel Ortiz and Duván Caro, reporters who are part of a group of journalists covering the second round elections in Colombia, sponsored by the organization Global Exchange In collaboration with Peninsula 360 Press, they highlighted that the obstacles facing communities, mostly black, have not stopped in the Colombian Caribbean.
"Yesterday we toured some of the communities in Montes de María, most of them Afro-Colombian peasant communities, and we encountered some obstacles that people will have to face today when voting," said Duvan.
From there, he said, they were able to confirm that there are many Afro-peasant and ethnic communities that have to overcome difficulties this Sunday to exercise their right to vote freely.
One of these obstacles, he explained, is the armed presence of illegal actors outside the law, precisely the same ones who about a month ago led or decreed an armed strike in the area.
Other communities in the Magdalena River area say they are having difficulty voting due to the floods that are currently affecting their communities.
These reporters have undertaken to tour the area to verify and assist these communities in exercising their right to vote.
This community, they said, was one of those that was confined during the recent armed strike.
«San Juan Nepomuceno is one of the municipalities that was affected by the confinement decreed by this illegal armed actor called «Las Sauce or Clan del Golfo», a region that experienced approximately a week of complete silence and abandonment by government institutions.»
It should be noted that the mayor of the municipality was temporarily replaced for undue participation in politics just 15 days ago, and the Colombian National Electoral Council returned him to his post.
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