Mr. Emilio José Archila Peñalosa:

President Duque's Government regrets all violence. We feel sorrow for people affected by the strike and by protestors who did not behave according to the standards. We feel sorrow and solidarity for people who have been affected by police or other authorities that have abused their power. We are committed to the investigation of all affected people. We feel the same in relation to policemen and public servants that have been attacked. There is no distinction between our commitment to the investigation and the resolution that those actions that were outside the rule of law need to be investigated. All people who have acted outside constitutional and legal standards need to be investigated and, if found guilty, punished.

We are committed to the highest standards of human rights in the regular life of Colombia and, in particular, in the time of protest. We are open with all our attitude to co-operate and facilitate the investigation by all the independent authorities in Colombia. The general attorney's office is an independent branch of the Colombian state, as are the procuraduría and the contraloría. They have been accompanying this process and are doing their job in relation to the people affected. Vice President Marta Lucía Ramírez was in Washington and Ambassador Cortés Ortiz will go into detail on the timing of the visit of the human rights mission. We added that to the presence of the United Nations representative for human rights. We agreed to that and have been acting to have those guarantees for the people who are peacefully protesting.

In accordance with President Duque's instructions, we are hearing the voices of the national strike committee and having regional talks in all areas of Colombia with people who are marching and expressing their opinions. At this moment, we have more than 42 of these dialogues and negotiating processes around the country. I will meet the national strike committee again in a few hours and we have been more than open to their expectations that we enter a negotiation sphere. However, we have said that the blockades of our roads need to come to an end. The blockades of our roads and communication systems have caused a huge amount of sorrow and pain. They have affected all Colombian people. They have affected people in the countryside. They have caused people not to receive medicines and made food and supplies very costly. They are more costly than they would have been if the tax reform was passed. There is no provision in our law, Ireland's law or any country's law to permit protestors to decide who goes through the country or decide which products can pass or not. That has been our demand.

It is not only the Government's demand; it is what the people that marched two days ago asked. There were thousands of people representing millions of Colombians who have been seriously affected by this unlawful practice. I received a letter yesterday from the union that embraces more than 98% of Colombian entrepreneurs requesting that we do not enter the negotiation phase if these blockades do not come to an end.

In regard to the inquiries on the implementation, I will be glad to provide information. We have an English version of the report. I point out that, according to the Kroc Institute, which surveys the advances we have made, it was remarkable what the Duque administration accomplished in the last year, taking into account the restrictions that we have, in particular the pandemic and also the immigrant problem coming from Venezuela. Notwithstanding those restrictions, there has been no limitation of the resources that were assigned to the implementation of the agreement.

In some of the areas to which Deputy Brady referred, we have had the most significant advances in the multipurpose cadaster project that Columbia has seen. It is foreseen that we need to have 3 million ha in 15 years for that land bank and we have provided 1 million in less then 35 months. We need to give title on more or less 1 million ha to people who are in need. We have presented to the Congress and the special jurisdiction a ruling on these issues, which is something the Colombian people have been expecting for a long period.

We have implemented co-ordination between all the agencies that have responsibility for the safety of Columbians so they focus on the protection of ex-combatants. That was analysed by the special jurisdiction and after the one year that it studied, of the 35 special measures that we have for their protection, it made a recommendation in regard to two. It is obviously our goal that no ex-combatants are attacked or killed, and we are working to fully protect them. It is illustrative that, last year, the number of people who were attacked or killed reduced by 10%. If we compare this process with other peace processes that have been implemented in Colombia, this is the one with fewer casualties per 100 ex-combatants. I emphasise that this is not enough and we are working hard to take that figure to zero.