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La Guajira faces many challenges including access to basic resources
The department of La Guajira is very rich in culture, gastronomy, and tourism, among other areas. There is a strong concentration of Wayuu communities (indigenous group of the peninsula of La Guajira), so it is full of cultural representations, and we can also find beautiful nature places as “Cabo de la Vela”. Despite having many qualities and resources, these have been reflected in luxury riches for a small minority; elsewhere in the department, hundreds of children suffer and die due to malnutrition in La Guajira, and although this situation has been present for decades, it is far away from improving, and every day is getting worse. This is why it is suitable to affirm that the significant problem which affects La Guajira is a “domino effect” caused by corruption.
If a detailed analysis were to be made of all cases of corruption in La Guajira, this investigation would take more than fifty pages, not only because of the facts but because of the fatal consequences that all this has brought to this region. In 2016, the Attorney General’s Office determined that there were constant irregularities in contracting education, health, childcare, and civil works programs. Public officials, contractors, and individuals have embezzled the department. In the period between 1997 and 2013, through the Palacio de La Marina, passed professionals with different profiles, and who at the end of their mandates left typical traces: their administrative troubles, some of a fiscal nature, others of a disciplinary kind and those that effectively managed to merge all these vices which afflict politics. In addition to the profound social ills that La Guajira suffers and the already almost proverbial corruption of its political class, the Colombian Prosecutor´s Office determined that La Guajira had the potential of becoming a failed department; prior to an investigation called “Bolsillos de cristal”, in which it was proved that judicial officials in combination with public leaders, businessmen, and members of the Wayuu community contributed to the waste and robbery of funds for the region, and he labeled this as systemic in the politics of La Guajira. This type of practice produced a crisis in sectors such as health and education; feeding off the vulnerable in terms attention of early childhood, public work and many other sectors (El Espectador, 2016).
Taking into account the cases already mentioned; we can say that corruption reflects itself in society as a domino effect in which wrong actions end up causing more imbalance in the system, which creates a compilation of negative effects caused by corruption. Due to corruption, children are strongly limited in terms of education, which also affects the chances and opportunities to be able to appropriately sustain themselves and their families. Furthermore, this domino effect also affects public health; most of the children, women, and men do not have access to proper health care because of the concentration of resources of the department in a minor group of the population. But, it is not just education and health; corruption has also had a negative impact on the accomplishment of Human Rights, women’s inclusion, democracy, job opportunities, and food distribution.
Due to the negative impact which corruption has had in La Guajira, social leaders have started to emerge on this issue; their appearance represents a little bit of hope to society because it means that someone is out there working to make things right, and take a stand against corruption. As an example, we can examine the statement of Marcela Epiayu Sánchez (2019), a social leader and legal representative of the Shipra Wayuu Association of Manaure, in La Guajira, who fights for children and women’s rights. Marcela has stated that: “We are the stone in the shoe for the corrupt and for the law” and given an interview about it. She established that children die by hunger and thirst due to the lack of effectiveness of the government to distribute resources (Navas, 2019). On the other hand, Jose Víctor Ceballos, an indigenous teacher and activist was murdered for defending the rights of his community (La Libertad Sublime, 2019). Both are short stories, but sadly they explain the current reality of social leaders in La Guajira, and all over the country. They are fighting against corruption and the consequences which it brings; being killed or seeing their coworkers be killed.
In conclusion, it is pivotal to understand that the solution is not to address every single problem but to identify the root, which we have identified as corruption. This should be the first domino to fall, in order see a positive result in terms of Human Rights, heath, local economics, mining, food and education. Currently, as a result of this corruption, there are no funds left to attend to the urgent needs of society such as investment in infrastructure, education and also health-related issues. As a consequence of this, the appearance of social leaders, like Marcela and Jose Víctor, becomes necessary because they represent the interests of a society that is being violated. There are many more social leaders in La Guajira defending their people and taking a stand against corruption, something which is necessary due to the power vacuum and the lack of state presence which exists. Social leaders are fighting for our society all over the country, and they are being threatened and killed for it. The least that we can do is to support them by trying to comprehend their context and put ourselves in their shoes. Departments like La Guajira needs our attention and assistance.
Don´t you think it is worth fighting for?
*Article written by Alejandra Bula & Luz Marina Pineda
Information sourced from:
Navas, M. P. S. (2019, June 19). “Somos la piedra en el zapato para los corruptos y para la ley”: líder social de La Guajira. Retrieved from https://www.publimetro.co/co/noticias/2019/06/19/las-duras-denuncias-de-una-lider-social-en-la-guajira.html
La Libertad Sublime. (2019, November 28). José Victor Ceballos Espinayu: The indigenous teacher and activist slain for defending the rights of his community. Retrieved from https://lalibertadsublime.home.blog/2019/11/28/jose-victor-ceballos-espinayu-the-indigenous-teacher-and-activist-slain-for-defending-the-rights-of-his-community/
Los graves casos de corrupción en La Guajira. (2016, October 21). El Espectador. Retrieved from https://amp.elespectador.com
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