Colombia will lead the Summit for the Defense of the Andes in the midst of the debate on the new General Royalties System

In an interview with El Tiempo, the governor of Tolima, Adriana Matiz, spoke about the upcoming Summit for the Defense of the Andes and the budget reduction of the General Royalties System. Matiz highlighted the importance of protecting this vital ecosystem for Colombia and warned of the risks of a decrease in resources for departments in 2025.

What are the main objectives of the South American Summit for the Defense of the Andean Cordillera to be held in 2025?

The governors of this country met in Ibagué to draft a manifesto that we wanted to present at COP16. Tomorrow we have a meeting of regional governors, and in this manifesto we have included three fundamental aspects. First, the commitments we are making at the national level, with women and young people as the central axis of our environmental and biodiversity policies. There are also commitments at the regional and international levels.

From Tolima, we want to promote the defense and protection of the Andean mountain range, which is 8,500 kilometers long and crosses seven countries: Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Venezuela and Colombia. Here it covers 1,000 km and is Colombia's "water factory": 60% of the fresh water consumed here comes from the mountain range. That is why we have to protect it.

What are the expected results of this summit?

First, we seek effective articulation among the seven countries. Secondly, we want to improve the management of information for the protection of the mountain range and strengthen the institutional performance in this effort. We also expect international technical and financial cooperation, and we want to reactivate and diversify the value chains of the mountain products that exist in the Andes. All of this is based on cooperation between the different governments to protect this important ecosystem.

How is the debate on the new general system of royalties, which gives more resources and responsibilities to the departments, progressing, given the concerns that it may affect the state's finances?

We are in the process. The Congress of the Republic is discussing the budget of the General Fee System, which is a two-year budget. We are very concerned because, specifically for my department, there is a reduction of 122 billion pesos, which is extremely serious. It almost forces us to redesign the development plans that we had designed for our region. This is what we have asked the national government: to take into account the situation of the departments and not to allow this reduction.

With these decisions, the regions of the country are being suffocated

We will continue to express our concerns in Congress, because the discourse on decentralization and territorial autonomy is one thing, but what happens in practice is another. With these decisions, the regions of the country are being suffocated, and that is why we have raised our voice of protest against this biennial budget of the General Fiscal System, which reduces the resources for the territories.

DEYNER CAICEDO CAMACHO

Special Envoy of EL TIEMPO

Cali

Editor's note: This text is an artificially intelligent English translation of the original Spanish version, which can be found here. Any comment, please write to berdav@eltiempo.com