➤You can add your signature to the first 126 ones by clicking here
Urgent appeal to the President of the Republic of Colombia Gustavo Petro Urrego
“So leave our country
Our land, our sea
Our wheat, our salt, our wounds
Everything, and leave
The memories of memory
O those who pass between fleeting words!”
Mahmud Darwish, Those
Who Pass Between Fleeting Words, 1988
17.11.2023
State of Palestine Street, Bogotá (inaugurated in September
2023)
Mr. President Gustavo Petro, friends
and other recipients of this communication,
With alarm and anguish we are witnessing the vile genocide perpetrated by the Zionist State of Israel against the Palestinian people. In turn, the United States is complicit in such horror, has deployed its war apparatus to the ar zone and supports Netanyahu's government with weapons.
For decades, it has spent a fortune in arming Israel. This drama is not new, it is 75 years of ignominy since the very creation of this state. It is the aberrant disproportion of two powers raging against a small territory and its people.
Pain and indignation have seized us, the images reveal all the impiety exercised, they have even bombed hospitals and refugee centers causing to date more than ten thousand fatalities without counting the missing, most defenceless girls, boys and women, civilian population. We are seeing the destruction and the bleeding of a people in all its dimension.
Inevitably, repudiation of such ignominy has been expressed from different parts of the world. Massive demonstrations have been held in many cities. As of today, several countries have spoken out. In our case, we are encouraged by your courageous declarations, qualifying this barbarism of the State of Israel as what it is: a genocide, as well as a “cleansing” or continuous ethnic elimination for 75 years. You have pointed out that the Zionist regime has violated human rights, that it has ignored all UN resolutions. You have also condemned their inhumane actions, and this deserves great recognition from us. Colombia, as well as several other countries, has recalled its ambassadors for consultation. The Plurinational State of our sister country Bolivia has broken diplomatic and economic relations with the Israeli State.
Although there is a forceful pronouncement on your part, it is of greater scope, to ratify it, to take one more step; that step that advances among the smoke of bombs to say No more, from our country Colombia we do not condone it. For this reason and in the face of such a misfortune, President Gustavo Petro, we raise our petition, which arises from the heart of the feeling of popular sectors that voted for the Government of Change that you preside together with Francia Márquez. We also call on Colombians who read this communiqué to adhere to this clamor by signing the following petition:
We would like to request President Gustavo Petro, the immediate severance of diplomatic, economic and political relations with the State of Israel with the consequent expulsion from our territory of the diplomatic corps of said country and the cancellation and/or embargo on all contracts concerning military security systems and armaments.
It is imperative to cancel the agreement that absurdly and regrettably grants us the condition of “strategic partner” of NATO, given that our country has no geographical or political reason to belong to that organization. Both the existence of U.S. military bases in our territory and our membership in this military organization, which goes against world peace, not only threatens our sovereignty, but also places us as an ally of the U.S. military forces in the scenario of a possible war between foreign powers. Likewise, Colombia considers itself as a “non-aligned” country, which unfortunately is only possible in words, because in practice we are not, since we are a signatory country of those agreements with NATO and accept the existence of U.S. military bases in our territory, a situation that you fought against and denounced in other days. Asserting Colombia's sovereignty before the world and positioning our country as a territory of peace would constitute the ratification of your policy of total peace, not only for our territory but also for the planet, in accordance with your positioning as a world leader for global peace.
With sincere appreciation and consideration, the following Colombian persons, residing in Colombia and abroad, sign this petition:
Gloria Gaitán, social fighter and writer, daughter of the great leader Jorge Eliécer Gaitán.
Hernando Calvo Ospina, writer, journalist, documentary filmmaker, Paris, France.
Renán Vega Cantor, writer, researcher, university professor. Bogotá, Colombia.
Reinaldo Spitaletta, journalist, writer, columnist for El Espectador, Medellín, Colombia.
Daniel Libreros, research professor, Universidad Nacional, Bogotá, Colombia.
Victor de Currea-Lugo, physician, journalist, university professor, Bogotá, Colombia.
Juan Manuel Arango, journalist, Noticiero Clarín, Colombia.
Blanca Merz, social leader, Hamburg, Germany.
Mauricio Vidales, poet and columnist, Hamburg, Germany.
Eleazar Plaza, writer, editor, director of Rosa Blindada Ediciones, Cali, Colombia.
Alberto Aguilera, historian, researcher specializing in Simón Bolívar, Cali, Colombia.
Juan Diego García, writer, Colombia.
Matilde E. Trujillo U. freethinker, popular educator, Cali, Colombia.
Luis Alfonso Mena, journalist, lawyer, historian, director of Periodismo Libre de Cali.
Ildebrando Arévalo, historian, international analyst, professor ESAP, Cali, Colombia.
Luis Carlos Domínguez Prada, lawyer, writer, human rights defender, Bogotá, Colombia.
Manuel Caicedo Paz, freethinker, socio-political activist, Cali, Colombia.
José Urbano, documentary filmmaker, Cali, Colombia.
Carlos Fuentes Delgado, metallurgical engineer, university professor, Cali, Colombia.
Iván Enrique Chaves, health worker, pensioner, Cali, Colombia.
Harold Adolfo Ortíz Calero, magister in political science, doctor in philosophy, Cali, Colombia.
Henry Montesdeoca, singer-songwriter, Cali, Colombia.
María Piedad Ossaba, independent journalist, director of La PLuma, Paris, France.
Mario Ossaba, painter, sculptor, Paris, France.
Lilian Eugenia Gómez Álvarez, agronomist, PHD Biological Sciences, Medellín, Colombia.
David López, jurist, director AIDHES, Switzerland.
Álvaro Lopera, journalist and engineer, Colombia.
Eliécer Jiménez Julio, journalist exiled in Geneva, Switzerland.
Evelio Loayza, physician, human rights defender, CPDH, Cali, Colombia.
Alcides Lesmes, trade unionist, human rights defender, exiled from the UP, Valencia, Spain.
José Manuel Gómez, UP political exile, Geneva, Switzerland.
Zoilo Angulo Ríos, agricultural engineer, PHD candidate, Valencia, Spain.
Nelson Restrepo Arango, lawyer, human rights defender, exiled, Madrid, Spain.
Jaime Jiménez García, historian, lawyer, Medellín, Colombia.
Carlos Arturo Velandia, peace promoter, Medellín, Colombia.
Patricia Quintero, teacher exiled in Belgium.
André Veraart, pensioner, Belgium.
Cecilia Saavedra Ruiz, journalist, director of Zuma Qamana Cooperative, Bogotá, Colombia.
Rodrigo Vargas, human rights defender, CPDH, Cali, Colombia.
Heidy Rojas, project technologist, human rights defender, CPDH, Cali, Colombia.
Jovanny Rojas, human rights defender, demobilized FARC-EP peace signatory, Cali, Colombia.
Milton Luna, teacher, graduate in Chemistry, Cali, Colombia.
Elías Díaz, writer, Cali, Colombia.
Diego Gil, writer, Cali, Colombia.
Ana Ruth Mejía, architect, Cali, Colombia.
Yamil Gutiérrez, philosopher, Cali, Colombia.
Stella Jane Potes Cortés, artist, Cali, Colombia.
Jairo Ramírez Benjumea, social psychologist UNAD, Cali, Colombia.
Pablo Angarita, actor, playwright, stage director, Cali, Colombia.
Margarita María Aristizábal Ariza, anthropologist, Cali, Colombia.
Hugo Sánchez, cultural manager, director of Café Cinema, Bogotá, Colombia.
Luna Vera, actress, cultural manager, artivist, Bogota, Colombia.
Aleida Tabares Montes, actress, playwright, stage director, poet. Bogota, Colombia.
María Catalina Hurtado, graduate in Social Sciences, Cali, Colombia.
Clemencia Gálvez, literature teacher, poet. Cali, Colombia.
José Figueroa Fernández, exiled in Brussels, Belgium.
María Fernanda Quintero, geographer, researcher Territorio y Población, Bogotá, Colombia.
Miguel Hernández Chavarro, industrial engineer, Bogotá, Colombia.
Javier Meza Lagrancurth, petroleum engineer, Santa Marta, Colombia.
Marco Alfredo Forero Parra, lawyer, Bogotá, Colombia.
Luis Eduardo Agudelo Caro, pensioner, Bogotá, Colombia.
Eduardo Duplat Sanjuan, demobilized M19, Cúcuta, Colombia.
Iván Bocanegra, mechanical engineer, Corinto, Colombia.
Adolfo León Arciniegas Martínez, beekeeper, Palmira, Colombia.
Mauricio Domínguez Caicedo, university professor, Cali, Colombia.
Alfredo Martínez Vásquez, veterinarian and zootechnician, Cali, Colombia.
Francia Elena Prado Cedano, lawyer, Cali, Colombia.
Jorge Kujar, plastic artist, Cali, Colombia.
Jesús Alberto Gómez, architect, Cali, Colombia.
José Ramírez, M19 exile in Spain.
Walter Tello, plastic artist, Cali, Cali, Colombia.
Beatriz Eugenia Hurtado, plastic artist, Cali, Colombia.
Marta Inés Hurtado, poet, Cali, Colombia.
Harrinson Riascos Torres, systems engineer, Hamburg, Germany.
Victor Edgar Vélez Giraldo, peasant artist, Palmira, Colombia.
Edgar Aníbal Roa Zamora, social leader, Cali, Colombia.
Ángela María Quintero, psychologist, PhD University of Valencia, Spain.
Emely Marín, human rights lawyer, Valencia, Spain.
Willie Milton Hostos Álvarez, visual artist, Valencia, Spain.
María Cristina Palacio, sociologist, public policy specialist, Manizales, Colombia.
Gladys Giraldo, psychologist, Medellín, Colombia.
Alba Nora Aristizábal, human rights lawyer, Manizales, Colombia.
Amparo Mejía Arbeláez, sociologist, Manizales, Colombia.
David Marcelo Idarraga, publicist, Barcelona, Spain.
Pietro Alfonso Schiavo, soccer coach, Köln, Germany.
Sara García, economist, Valencia, Spain.
Rafael Escobar, publicist, Cali, Colombia.
Anilsa Caicedo Salazar, lawyer, Universidad Nacional, Bogotá, Colombia.
Jairo Restrepo, freelance journalist, USA.
Juan Carlos García Rivera, anthropologist, Universidad Nacional, Bogotá, Colombia.
Miryam Christel, sociologist, Stuttgart, Germany.
Gloria Mesa, graduate in English philology, pensioner, Manizales, Colombia.
María Carolina Estepa Becerra, lawyer, Bogotá, Colombia.
Juan Pablo Estupinan, lawyer, Bogotá, Colombia.
Blanca Lucía Mera, attorney, Procuraduría, Bogotá, Colombia.
Francia Elena Correa, psychologist, Manizales, Colombia.
Luz Marina Cruz Pérez Cruz, psychologist, Pereira, Colombia.
María Emma Rodriguez Mosquera, social activist, Cali, Colombia.
Johanna María López, head nurse, Medellín, Colombia.
Beatriz del Socorro Escobar, lawyer, Medellín, Colombia.
Silverio Mejía, artist, Manizales, Colombia.
María Teresa Puerta Marín, social activist, Toronto, Canada.
Oswaldo Quintero, lawyer, Pereira, Colombia.
Claudia Patricia Gómez, social worker, Bogotá, Colombia.
Silvia Zuleta, social activist, Barcelona, Spain.
Martha Isabel Povea de Caicedo, retired teacher, Armenia, Colombia.
Laura Vargas, administrative, Valencia, Spain.
Stella García, business administrator, Cali, Colombia.
Patricia Duque, therapist in Traditional Oriental Medicine, Cali, Colombia.
César A. Duque Córdoba, lawyer, public official, Cali, Colombia.
Yira Bolaños Arturo, reincorporation and reconciliation project coordinator, Cali Mayor's Office
Patricia González, business administrator, Cali, Colombia.
Daniela Córdoba, professional in international business, Cali, Colombia.
Silvia María Salazar Giraldo, lawyer, human rights defender, Cali, Colombia.
Rosalba Hernández, independent trader, Cali, Colombia.
Esperanza Cerón, physician, Cali, Colombia.
Elizabeth Cubaque, popular leader, Ciudad Bolivar, Bogota, Colombia.
Santiago Duque, worker, Cali, Colombia.
Ángela Liliana Mazuera León, psychologist, philosophy graduate, human rights defender, Cali, Colombia.
Pilar Orozco, psychologist, Cali, Colombia.
Lisandro Duque Naranjo, cineasta, columnista y escritor
