Considering the various opinions and
information involving our institution and speculating on the use of its funds,
we express the following:
1.
The Grupo de Formación e Intervención para el
Desarrollo Sostenible (Grufides) is a civil non-profit association
constituted as non-governmental organization (NGO) and founded by a group of
citizens of Cajamarca in 2001. As juridical institution we respect the legal
order and strictly
fulfill the norms and requirements established by the Peruvian State.
2.
Mr. Marco Antonio Arana Zegarra is not a member of the
Directive Council of GRUFIDES and, as acknowledged by a recent public press
release of the Peruvian Agency for International Cooperation (APCI)[1], its current
executive director is Mrs. Mirtha Vásquez
Chuquilín, who represents and directs the institution.
3.
The money managed by our institution comes from
competitive international cooperation funds, which are made viable through
projects meticulously audited by cooperating entities through annual audits. Moreover,
these entities receive information on our activities and perform auditing
actions when required: the Peruvian Agency for International Cooperation (APCI), the National Customs and
Tax Administration (SUNAT) and the Financial Intelligence Unit (UIF) of
the Superintendency of Banking, Insurances and Pension Funds, to which we are
voluntarily subscribed.
4.
Our
funds are strictly destined to the activities contained by the approved
projects and in the specific area in which these are defined. Therefore, we
reject that the attempts to relate the use of private international cooperation
resources with the funding of political parties, individual activities of some
of our members or the protests and violent actions in the province of Islay and
in various parts of the country.
5.
We
reassert that the solution to the socio-environmental conflicts implies the
affirmation of channels that deepen democracy and allow a respectful and good
faith dialogue between the parties, in which civil rights are protected and the
democratic rule of law is respected. As has been declared by the Coordinator of
International Cooperation Foreign Entities (COEECI)[2] it is necessary to have a better understanding
of the context and local processes that have led to conflict situations and
make genuine efforts to overcome the climate of intolerance and confrontation,
which weakens democracy.
Cajamarca, 28 May 2015.
