By: John Elvis Vera Suarez
To begin with, these should be called Life Plans, as they are called by the indigenous communities organized in their respective reservations, which they elaborate collectively to organize and project their territories autonomously, based on their own spirituality and ancestral knowledge. All plans that affect populations should first of all celebrate life in all its diversity and extension.
Like the original peoples, the preparation of the plans in question should be carried out collectively, respecting the context of the proposals and decisions agreed upon. The plans that are achieved in broad and participatory exercises should become the guide for the respective governments to execute the programs and projects required for the search for territories with social inclusion in the continuous path towards the well-being of the citizenry in general.
Development plans (whose meaning does not convince many of us or do not like it because of our finite planet), were created by Law 152 of July 15, 1994. And this clearly stated that citizen participation and environmental sustainability are matters of importance in the elaboration and approval of the same. And these plans are precisely violated or at least ignored repeatedly by the governments that up to now have governed the destinies of the territories and the nation itself.
Given the above, the question of who is going into the matter, would be: And then why the Territorial Planning Councils (CTP), the municipal assemblies and councils? And regarding national development plans, what is the role of Congress? Why have successive governments been allowed to ignore the law so completely? Wich is the way to go? Are these plans legitimate, when the concepts emitted by the different expressions or population sectors are unknown?
And the answer can be as complex as the same issue I am dealing with today. In the first place, we must highlight that the composition or representativeness of both the Territorial Planning Councils, as well as Congress, assemblies and municipal councils, respectively, are the expression of the citizenry that, through different mechanisms, has chosen those who represent it. in such important spaces. We are as good, average or bad as the voters or determiners have chosen. We are the living voice of the contradictions, advances or setbacks in which social organizations and the will of the communities find themselves.
The other important part is that the law has always been shaped so that it can be denied without much problem by those who ignore it or flagrantly violate it. This presidential period should serve so that citizen participation has all the importance it deserves. That the voice of those who, in the case of the CTPs, work ad honorem in defense of sectors, populations and citizens in general, is truly heard and respected.
On another occasion I will try to continue delving into this relevant topic that is so crucial for our collective life.