Bogotá, of all or none?

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Social inclusion is as much an urban issue as one of the countryside.
Social inclusion is as much an urban issue as one of the countryside.

The glaziers have come and gone, most of the windows have been replaced aside from those on a recently vacated office block. On some buildings, shards of glass are held in place by the polyester base used to tint the windows. It’s scruffy, but then, Lourdes is rough around the edges and the police truck parked outside the CAI five days out of seven, holding petty criminals overnight, hints at the complexities of this district.

This section of Chapinero is the buffer zone, a socio economic divide that perhaps is more revealing to one who has lived in this area for several years. The leafy barrios of Rosales, the Zona G and Chapinero Alto couldn’t be further removed from the realities of pawn shops, kitsch motels, faceless brothels and the mechanics’ workshops that extend from the Avenida Caracas to the Barrios Unidos and through an area known as the Siete de Agosto.

Of course these districts, known for prostitution, piracy and peddling are hardly exceptional here in Bogotá. There are dozens of pockets of social exclusion and wilful neglect that punctuate the six strata of living standards here in our capital. The question is how to promote a further act of reconciliation – a true catchword if there ever was one for the thorny issues of reintegration and peace in Colombia – and social inclusion of these barrios so as to generate a greater level of security, economic and social mobility and finally, a sense of belonging?

A few weeks ago I had the good fortune of hearing Sergio Jaramillo, Colombia’s High Commissioner for Peace and a member of the government’s negotiating team in Havana speak at a workshop hosted by the department for national prosperity. I wholeheartedly back Jaramillo’s stance and greatly respect his revolutionary proclivity regarding the creation of a new Colombia and the success of the peace dialogues through a term he has coined as “Paz Territorial”.

Put basically, Jaramillo’s idea of “Paz Territorial” involves “guaranteeing the rights of all Colombians in all of the national territory.” He was addressing members of the press and indeed a great deal of Colombians who had been displaced by the conflict but had since returned to their lands. For the most part, these people hailed from the de- partments of Bolívar, Cauca and César. Given the emphasis on the “rural” in Colombia and the disconnect between rural and urban, this had me thinking about another interpretation of this “Paz territorial”. What about in the cities? What about Bogotá?

One can just as easily point to a different type of segregation and the repudiation of these aforementioned districts by government officials. Two more areas spring to mind. Imagine how the colonial Candelaria could be allowed to bloom – beyond just the lunchtime rush – before politicians, tourists and students head north as dusk stretches her grey fingers over the cobbles and Spanish rooftops and the zone becomes a scene reminiscent of Cormac McCarthy’s 2006 take on a post-apocalyptic world in “The Road”.

Recyclers, scroungers, addicts and ne’er do wells amble up and down the beating heart of Bogotá’s touristic centre. I’m exaggerating to make a point as I hold the Candelaria dear since I lived here for four years. But, you can hardly dispute the overall feeling of insecurity after dark. So, how can we integrate the people of the overlooked Barrio Egipto above la Candelaria and equally so, those west of the Palacio Lievano or south of the Calle Sexta? Indeed, how can we include the barrio of Los Olivos, perched on the cerros orientales with Chapinero?

Jaramillo has the right idea and it’s not exclusively a rural issue, far from it. It’s the nationwide concern of social inclusion that is crying out to be addressed. As we are well aware, social inclusion is about working to break the cycle of social exclusion. Can we dream of Bogotá becoming a city or Colombia a country where students from marginalised backgrounds are permitted to reach or exceed their educational potentials rather than just live in the shadow cast by the new buildings constructed by the Externado, la Javeriana or Los Andes?

Will an effective reconciliation permit these same individuals and their families to be provided with adequate healthcare not based on socio economic strata as defined by the barrio in which you live? Even eliminating the strata system as Mayor Petro would like to do would not erase the invisible lines of economic distress that will still be in place until running water, electricity, security and the generation of income become a constant in these abandoned barrios.

Reconciliation in Colombia, as we hope to round the corner after some 50 plus years of civil conflict, is going to be one of the most exasperating themes that civil society is going to have to address. “Paz Territorial” is going to be key and it is not solely a rural issue. Those in charge are going to have to plan ahead thinking of the best way to create the trickle-down effect of prosperity in the most disastrous and unequal areas. This has to be hands on, unpretentious and represent an inclusive sharing of knowledge, ability and intellect to induce a holistic wellbeing and sustainable sense of belonging in a city that has for so long been decried as being de todos y de nadie. Paz Territorial may just do it.

 

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