On May 11, PBI-Colombia tweeted: “PBI accompanied the Justice and Peace Commission in the Portal Americas humanitarian space in Bogota within the framework of the national strike where last night 7 people were injured and 10 people detained by ESMAD [riot police] in the middle of a peaceful protest.”

Portal de las Americas Kennedy is a transit station in Ciudad Kennedy, a predominantly poor and working-class locality in Bogotá.

PBI-Colombia has previously noted it’s “where youth and grassroots organizations in the area have created a humanitarian space for participation in the social protests.”

Teusaradio further explains: “The proclaimed Humanitarian Space on the Americas Portal in the town of Kennedy in Bogotá has already been configured for several days in a place of artistic, cultural and political debate that resists constant police repression.”

Ana Teresa Bernal notes: “Here at Portal Américas we are able to establish the participation of young people in their public space. There is music, a community pot, bicycles and microfootball because the strike is lived with joy.”

Contagio Radio says: “Various artistic and cultural activities are registered to form a ‘collective resistance’ and make the area a space free of confrontations and violence that mainly affects the inhabitants of the sector.”

And Conexion Capital explains: “Given the arrests and concern for fellow protesters, protesters and residents of the sector have made community pots in order to take care of all the days of peaceful sit-ins that take place in the area daily in the mornings and nights.”

The full account by the Justice and Peace Commission of the arrests and injuries that happened on May 10 can be read here.

PBI-Colombia had also accompanied the Justice and Peace Commission at the Portal Americas humanitarian space on May 6.

Peace Brigades International functions as a decentralized, non-hierarchical, consensus-based organization that provides, upon request, unarmed protective accompaniment and visibilization to at-risk activists and human rights defenders.

The banner reads: Humanitarian Space “To Heat the Pot”.

PBI-Colombia continues to accompany human rights groups during the national strike. For more on that, please see Photo journal: PBI-Colombia accompanies human rights defenders during the #ParoNacional national strike.

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