An Open Letter to Colombia's President Santos
Published on Sunday, September 1, 2013 by Common Dreams
An Open Letter to Colombia's President Santos
by Maryanne Schiffman
Two weeks ago in Bogotá, in the very same Plaza de Bolivar that turned into a melee on Frday, thousands of people squeezed into that very plaza to dance and enjoy free salsa concerts. They were completely open to the public…. and nothing bad happened.
So here’s the question: “If you can secure the Plaza de Bolivar as a space for thousands of people to dance salsa, why can’t you secure it as a space for thousands of people to peacefully demonstrate?”
“Salsa Dancing is Different, and Dangerous”
Of course, two weeks ago the situation was different because it was a musical event, not a social protest. So — naturally — to manage the risk of dancing, you closed off the plaza with security fences and created controlled entrances at which we had to be scanned and frisked to enter.
In order to dance.
And you did this because (one assumes) you perceive the threat of salsa dancing to be potentially more dangerous than the threat of social protesting?
I’m not sure if the concert’s headliner, Ruben Blades, would know whether take that as an insult or a complement.
“Sure, it will be fine.” As the History of Social Protest in Colombia Has Shown?
More:
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/09/01-1