By Gabriel Aguirre, World BEYOND WAR, December 8, 2023
Every two years, a weapons fair known as Expodefensa is held in Bogotá. This event was created in 2009, during the government in Colombia of former president Alvaro Uribe Velez, whose management was also responsible for the establishment of U.S. military bases in the territory. This year a new edition of Expodefensa was held, in the Corferias spaces in the city of Bogotá. For three days, from December 5 to 7, more than 11,000 participants were present, along with more than 220 exhibitors from 25 countries, including nine Israeli companies, some of which have supported the bloody offensive against the Gaza Strip, which began on October 7 and which to date has claimed the lives of more than 16,000 people, of which 6,000 have been children.
As has been done since 2017, on this occasion a coalition of organizations, movements, and platforms was formed in Colombia, including organizations that work on anti-militarism, solidarity with Palestine, and the creation of a culture of peace and the abolition of the war, to denounce the true nature of this arms fair.
Activities in opposition to the weapons fair were begun in September. They have involved the days of putting up posters in important areas of the city, where some deaths occurred in past years, murders that occurred with the types of weapons that are exhibited and marketed in this Expodefensa. A webinar was also organized to talk about Colombia’s arms trade with the world, and multiple videos, flyers, and other initiatives for the media and social networks were created.
The central activity to reject the expodefensa took place on December 6, at the main entrance of Corferias. The event began after 4:00 p.m., with several cultural and artistic presentations, as well as a performance symbolizing the people who have died in Palestine as a result of the genocide that Israel has been carrying out.
In the message delivered by the various organizations that make up the coalition, the common point was to demand that the government in Colombia stop holding this arms fair, considering it a space where death is negotiated, and violence deepens. Additionally, most organizations actively expressed their solidarity with the Palestinian people.
World BEYOND War was present at this event, raising its voice to call on all the Colombian people and their organizations to reject this and all arms fairs that take place in the world, as well as to work broadly to build a powerful movement that is capable of ending the war.
