A mass march of indigenous and peasant demonstrators made its way through the streets of downtown Bogotá on Wednesday, March 9, concluding with a major rally that evidenced once again the strength of popular opposition to the governmental decrees that are sentencing small and medium-sized milk producers to death.

 

Backed by the National Association of Raw Milk Suppliers and Wholesalers (ADELECAD), the rural organization Salvación Agropecuaria, IUF Latin America (Rel-UITA), Colombia’s United Workers’ Federation (CUT), and the National Agro-Food Union of Colombia (UNAC), more than 7,000 men and women representing organizations from across the country marched down Bogotá’s Highway 7.

 

They marched to protest the national government’s intention to put into effect three decrees issued in 2008 (nos. 616, 3411, and 2838) banning the sale of raw milk as of May 20, 2011.

 

Peasants from the department of Nariño, in southern Colombia, also mobilized and held a mass rally that brought all activity to a standstill in Rumichaca, the leading port on the border with Ecuador.

 

The Bogotá march concluded with a demonstration at Plaza de Bolívar, where indigenous and peasant leaders, along with Senator Jorge Robledo Castillo, denounced once again the government’s intention to hand over all milk production to national and transnational monopolies, which have the industrial infrastructure necessary for pasteurization.

 

This measure is part of an onslaught against national dairy production, in particular small and medium-sized farmers, as the intention is to wipe out domestic supply to force the domestic market to consume European lactocin products, which are nutrient-deficient but must be massively imported into the country to meet the condition set by European Union for the implementation of a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Colombia.

 

The presence of indigenous communities marching alongside peasant and small dairy farmers in defense of common interests was very significant, as it lends enormous strength to the campaign against the government’s measures and its intention to implement the FTA with Europe and the United States.

 

As the march was setting out, Agriculture Minister Juan Camilo Restrepo Salazar sent a message to the organizations that convened and backed the mobilization, informing them of the government’s decision to postpone these highly negative decrees. He also went on radio and television to suggest that the march was unnecessary.

 

But the demonstrators came out to march anyway, with force and unwavering resolve, as their main goal is to repeal the decrees and they will not be diverted by temporary measures that seek to minimize this social protest.

 

The struggle will continue with new actions and demonstrations before the national government.