The hearing began around 8:15 in the morning where President Gustavo Petro will present the reasons why the Government declared a state of economic, social and ecological emergency in La Guajira for 30 days.
“The climate crisis can end human life. It is not a kid’s game”argued President Gustavo Petro in the public hearing that seeks to determine if the decree of Economic, Social and Environmental Emergency in La Guajira, issued by the Executive, is constitutional.
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?? President’s speech @PetroGustavo at the public hearing on the declaration of Economic, Social and Ecological Emergency in La Guajira ???
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– Institutional Channel (@InstitucionalTV) August 11, 2023
The public hearing on Decree 1058 of 2023 that gave legal support, on July 2, through which the Government declared ‘State of economic, social and ecological emergency in the department of La Guajira’ for a period of 30 days.
This Friday’s hearing will last until 6:00 pm, at the Palace of Justice, in Bogotá and is chaired by the rapporteur magistrate, Natalia Ángel Cabo, who explained that the existence of the problems in La Guajira is not in doubt, more well the emphasis should be on the severe aggravation that justifies the statement.
The president’s intervention was made in the morning where he explained the serious humanitarian crisis faced by the inhabitants of the department. The President spoke for 25 minutes before that Court and later answered the questions of the magistrates.
“La Guajira in almost every way is poorer, with more unsatisfied basic needs for decades. It has an aggravating circumstance and is that by culture its wayúu population it disperses from the territory, complicating the possibilities of a solution”, he argued.
“It is the State,” added the president. the one that must adapt to the culture”so that the measures that are taken and have been taken are not insufficient.
To argue why he insists on caring for water, Petro recalled that the mortality rate due to malnutrition in boys and girls is 30 times higher in La Guajira than in the rest of the country. What happens is that many die from water shortages, not food, he pointed out.
Also, it went back to the time when the Salinas and Cerrejón Concession was operating, which, according to him, “produced a break” because it prioritized the use of water for power mechanisms.
“The water is enough,” he insisted, “But we have to take it from the south to the north and that the priority now is human consumption.”
The emergency decrees try to mitigate the effects of the El Niño phenomenon in the department, which produces drought.
The Head of State argued before the Constitutional Court that “it was only until June that we knew that there was going to be a change in the La Niña phenomenon. We were advised that there was a probability of an El Niño phenomenon, but not its severity”. This, according to institutions such as Ideam, could last until February or March 2024.
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?? LIVE! Public hearing in the Constitutional Court on the declaration of Economic, Social and Ecological Emergency in La Guajira ??
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– Institutional Channel (@InstitucionalTV) August 11, 2023
Questions to President Petro in the Constitutional Court
At the time of the questions, Magistrate Ángel of the Constitutional Court wanted to know Why is it intended to mitigate the problem through emergency decrees and not ordinary measures?
“Not all of them are emergencies because not all of them modify laws. Some have to do with generating a economic sustainability in La Guajira so that this situation is not repeatedón”, replied the first president.
insisted that not only La Guajira, if not humanity, is on its way to a point of no return.
He took advantage of another question about the activation of the powers of the National Disaster Risk Management Unit to say that this institution “They changed the name, but not the meaning. It fails to anticipate the emergency”, which is why it is insufficient.
Judge José Fernando Reyes Cuartas controverted the President by reminding him that he had already attended the Court and therefore knew the calls for attention that it had made in response to this whole situation.
“Colombia is a country of structural evils and you were no stranger to the T-302 ruling”warned the togado.
Faced with this, Petro maintained that, in effect, he was not oblivious, but that when the Government made visits to La Guajira it was in the winter period and urgent measures were taken, but the situation was the opposite.
With information from Colprensa.
