YouSaid · the spoken record

Botero García

lines on the record
11
first
2023-10-11
most recent
2023-10-11
sittings or episodes
1
sources
un-security-council

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

  1. “The peace policy has opened up an essential path forward: namely, achieving a national agreement that goes beyond what was agreed with a specific armed group and includes all social, political and financial segments of society in building a path towards the resolution of conflicts in the country. Likewise, if the reality of international demand for products from illegal economies remains unchanged, other groups could emerge and seek to control over such revenue, despite the political transition of the groups currently involved in negotiation processes. Lastly, we call on the Security Council to continue its support in the hope of reversing climate change and biodiversity loss, concurrently with the long-term peacebuilding process, which will have ramifications for Colombia and the planet as a whole.”

    2023-10-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9434 (2023) · source

  2. “On the border with Venezuela, a number of illegal groups are having an impact on Indigenous and protected territories along the Orinoco River, in search of gold and of coca routes in Catatumbo and through Lake Maracaibo. The story comes full circle on the border with Panama, where the highest levels of migration in America are taking place, controlled by armed groups. In other words, peace in Colombia affects the continent and the world. Reciprocity is more urgent than ever, as the Presidents of the States members of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization drew attention to in Belém, Brazil, earlier this year. Democracies and the environment are increasingly at risk. I must point out that Colombia is at a turning point.”

    2023-10-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9434 (2023) · source

  3. “The peace dialogues have also included segments of communities that are affected by the hydrocarbon industry and oil and mining companies associations, in the search for agreements and consensus that will allow us to achieve a plausible future. On the issue of borders, alarm bells are ringing. Today, unfortunately, we are witnessing drug trafficking taking hold, with unprecedented violence, along our border with Ecuador. On our border with Peru, illegal mining activities are making inroads, Indigenous youth are being recruited and industrial-scale coca crops are being established, in the search for routes to Europe. On the border with Brazil, fleets of dredging boats are paying taxes to illegal armed groups.”

    2023-10-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9434 (2023) · source

  4. “The income from those businesses passes through money laundering systems and could be traceable between purchasing and producing countries. The role of private enterprises must be reviewed, as they could be playing a key role in that operation. Another issue that fuels war and destroys the environment and local communities is that of minerals such as coltan. Its uses in communications technologies, inter alia, augurs long-term demand. Various countries with powerful economies are interested. How can we achieve an agreement that does no harm to those still- untouched areas of our planet? The same goes for coal and other minerals with regard to the energy transition.”

    2023-10-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9434 (2023) · source

  5. “It is important to highlight the opportunities — and challenges — that have arisen with other illegal groups, such as the Estado Mayor Central, which is directly associated with deforestation in the Amazon and has demonstrated its intention to discuss that issue in addition to the agricultural frontier, Indigenous territories and protected areas. The transition towards a comprehensive State presence, with support for local populations — and hopefully supported by the United Nations Verification Mission in Colombia — will be a crucial point in the political dialogue with the Estado Mayor Central, which could constitute the best path towards their political transition. The price of gold has increased by 118 per cent since 2008, and the consequences of that can be seen in the lands forgotten by humankind.”

    2023-10-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9434 (2023) · source

  6. “The inclusion on the agenda of an item dedicated to the environment as a victim underscores the fact that Colombia has recognized the importance of the environment as a collective good that must therefore be repaired, restored and privileged in governmental and civil efforts. It also recognizes that the State, the private sector and armed groups have all had environmental impacts that must be acknowledged and rectified. That is unprecedented at the global level and therefore attests to the challenges faced in advancing the dialogue process.”

    2023-10-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9434 (2023) · source

  7. “It is worth highlighting here the opportunity presented by the Colombian Government’s peace policy to place the environment at the heart of the peace dialogues’ agenda. For the first time in the history of peace dialogues in our country, the environmental axis has been defined as a structural element to achieve a peace that includes the environment as a victim, but also as an element of transformation for the country’s sustainable future. As for the peace agenda with the Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN), it has been agreed that civil society’s participation in the discussion of environmental issues should be promoted, and the transformations required to ensure that the environment can recover and thrive for the benefit of the entire population should be considered.”

    2023-10-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9434 (2023) · source

  8. “Threats against and the displacement of national park officials, in an area of 10 million hectares and over the course of several years now, as well as the concentration of anti-personnel mines, which are causing inhumane confinement and leaving land uninhabitable for the future, are concrete examples of the major interests that are posing a danger to our territories. All of that paints a bleak picture for civil and public environmental defenders and non-governmental organizations. Colombia has one of the highest rates in the world of threats to and deaths among those defending its environment and territory, despite the Government’s efforts to advance the ratification and implementation of the Escazú Agreement.”

    2023-10-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9434 (2023) · source

  9. “The overlap between activities related to agriculture, livestock farming, infrastructure, oil and large-scale mining and illegal economies is not by chance, allowing us to see the complexity of the conflict. Deforestation has been concentrated in public lands, Indigenous territories and protected areas. The introduction of 1.2 million new cows to appropriated and deforested lands in the Amazon has had an impact on the rights of landless peasant communities, as well as forests and biodiversity. The data collected in Brazil and Bolivia by the Science Panel for the Amazon shows regional trends. We believe that the regulations of the European Union, the United States and the United Kingdom are not enough when it comes to due diligence and traceability. Other large international markets are still not helping with that task.”

    2023-10-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9434 (2023) · source

  10. “The proliferation of such groups is also related to the presence of resources — generally in local community areas or conservation zones — that are fuelling their armies. In that context, since the signing of the Final Agreement, almost 1 million hectares have been deforested in one of the most biodiverse areas on the planet — an area approximately a quarter the size of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Environmental degradation is also related to allegedly legal activities, which in some areas are conducted in tandem with those forms of territorial co-opting, offering evidence of new alliances between armed groups, regional politicians, private investors and international markets.”

    2023-10-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9434 (2023) · source

  11. “Mr. Botero García (spoke in Spanish): Following a deplorable weekend that saw conflicts escalating around the world, I wish to draw the Security Council’s attention to three issues: first, the nature of the armed conflict in Colombia and its environmental repercussions; secondly, the opportunity for a peace policy that includes the environment at its heart; and finally, the international reciprocity necessary to prevent the conflict’s expansion. As Council members know, the lack of implementation of the 2016 Final Agreement for Ending the Conflict and Building a Stable and Lasting Peace and, in particular, the failure of the State to reach the territories previously controlled by the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia-Ejército del Pueblo have led to those territories being occupied recently by various armed groups.”

    2023-10-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9434 (2023) · source