Valencia to deliver second lecture in series Oct. 2

Leider Valencia will deliver the second lecture in the three-part Latino/Latin American Studies Fall Series at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 2, at room 264, Quadrangle, Saint John’s University.

Valencia will speak on “Eradicating Peace: The Other Side of the Colombian War on Drugs.” His lecture is free and open to the public.

The theme of the series is “Social Movements in the Americas: Power, Rights and Resources.”

In 2016, the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia signed a historic peace accord, the Fuerzas Armadas Revolutionarias Colombianas (FARC) to end six decades of armed conflict. Unfortunately, the peace accord didn’t work as hoped, as many local human rights organizations and communities continued to call for international solidarity as the country faced continued paramilitary activity.   

Reflecting from his groundwork in Colombia, Valencia will discuss forces that threaten the Colombian peace process in rural areas. He will explain how movements in the U.S. can contribute to solidarity and support for projects like the National Coordinator of Growers of Coca, Poppy and Marijuana (COCCAM).

The COCCAM was formed in 2017, in the context of the peace accords, in order to protect the rights of small farmers, to advocate for voluntary crop substitution by growers of illicit crops and to defend the traditional ancestral uses of coca leaf and the legitimate alternative industry in marijuana and poppy. Valencia is the leader of COCCAM.

This Latino/Latin American Studies Fall Series concludes at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 23, at room 204C, Gorecki Center, CSB, with Elena McGrath. She will be presenting “I Am Too Poor to Fear Death: Indigenous Miners and the Defense of Natural Resources in the Andes.”