‘The Uribism (followers of the far-right doctrines of former Presedent Alvaro Uribe) with its congresspeople in the second commissions sabotaged the discussion and the voting to ratify the Escaz Agreement,’ Alianza Verde Senator Antonio Sanguino noted.
The Escazu Agreement protects four rights to defend the environment: environmental project information access; public participation in the projects; effective justice to settle disputes between companies and communities; and protection for environmental leaders, Sanguino stressed.
However, the parties that support the Government, particularly Centro Democrático, pointed out that the treaty violates the legal sovereignty of the country, considering that there are enough laws in Colombia that guarantee the defense of the environment.
In addition, entrepreneurs, represented by the Farmers Society and the Federation of Coffee Growers, among others, have been lobbying since last year together with congress people to shelve the bill.
According to the legislative agenda, the senators and House of Representatives had to decide on Thursday whether they were going to ratify the environmental agreement, adopted in Costa Rica, on March 4, 2018, and signed by the President Ivan Duque in December 2019.
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