Colombia`s paradise complex
These past weeks I have followed the National Agrarian strike and protests from abroad. The protests and blockages might have been lifted, but the problem is not going to go away.
But it won’t go away not because the issue is too big or complicated, but because Colombian politics are not effective at solving the nation`s problems or resolving her conflicts. Good government is based in pro-active, initiative taking behaviours. What we have in Colombia is a “rhetoric of paradise”. We have pie in the sky instead of public policy.
Paradise is the promised land; in many ways paradise is a place, but is it a place of fiction?
Ask any Colombian about the FARC, drug production and smuggling, poverty or even the agrarian strike and instead of engaging in conversation or debate we deflect any serious answer into an advertisement to visiting Colombia.
We don’t have a culture of political dialogue.
People shy away from having, or expressing opinions. We are perhaps scared of debate and conflict as a nation because of our history, but we need to have practice. If we are not encouraged to comment and give opinions on the crisis we will not learn how to deal with people or groups that disagree with us – this can be at a personal level or within government.
Our culture of deflection also weakens any potential for accountability of government. Take for example Santos’ early morning speech last Thursday. Rather than focusing on policies and measures that will appear as concessions to farmers and peasants, he repeatedly commented on how the strike was affecting Colombia’s image. He said he did not want to give the wrong impression to the outside world who are gathering in Medellin in 2015 for the World Tourism Summit.
He is allowed as president to use this as an argument because as Colombians it is what we do every day. Of course we do it as a coping mechanism as it gets too much to engage in serious debate every time somebody ask you where you are from. But it is no longer just a coping mechanism but a good example of how we see the solutions to our problems as a country not within or reach, unable to influence and even comment on what is happening.
As Colombians we are proud of our country and that is why we want to tell people all about the good things. How bio-diverse we are, how happy we are as a nation and even how some people believe we are the nicest people on the planet. However can we talk about paradise before arriving?
The best way of becoming the nation we want is by participating as citizens to keep the government´s decisions and policies accountable.
Give people like the farmers and peasants the chances and platforms to voice their grievances, listen to their proposed solutions. Yes, dialogue and negotiation are long term and will involve political and emotional investment from the country, but is it not worth it when thinking that being able to talk proudly of our country is not a deflection or an alternate reality but rather the truth?
So let`s be honest, let`s talk about our problems and start to find their solutions.
