This is Jose Murillo. I met Jose at La Delfina, a community that served as a gathering point for a 22 day civic strike held in Buenaventura, Colombia in 2017.

 

Buenaventura is Colombia’s largest port city, receiving around 60 percent of Colombia’s imports and exports. Despite the immense wealth that moves through the port, the predominantly Afro-Colombian residents of the city suffer extremely high levels of poverty.

 

To protest the city’s one-sided investment in the port and to demand basic services from the local government including potable water, a hospital, and economic opportunities, residents held a 22-day long civic strike in May 2017 after years of planning.

 

Jose helped coordinate efforts throughout the strike. However, the strike was met with brutal repression. Anti-riot forces used U.S.-MADE tear gas and rubber bullets indiscriminately on the population to break up protests. After 22 days, the strike ended when citizens made an agreement with the government for more investments in a civil society and public infrastructure. Residents continue to work with local governmental officials to ensure that the agreement is implemented.

 

Buenaventura "EL PUEBLO NO SE RINDE, CARAJO". The people don't give up, damm***t.