colombia's indigenous communities demand answers
At the beginning of October, thousands of Colombian indigenous peoples began a popular uprising around the country to protest about the cultural and physical genocide they are suffering at the hands of the state and to defend their territory, autonomy and culture.
La Guajira, Córdoba, Sucre, Atlántico, Chocó, Norte de Santander, Risaralda, Caldas, Quindío, Valle del Cauca, Cauca, Tolima, Huila, Casanare, Meta and Boyacá are some of the departments where the indigenous peoples got together and continue resisting in spite of the human rights violations, attacks and the unfair accusations from the public forces and the Colombian Government.
Police forces have repressed indigenous from Cuaca and Valle del Cauca by firing bullets and throwing tear gas. Three people have been killed, including a child from other region, and more than a hundred have been injured.
In interview with Real World Radio (FOEI web radio), Ezequiel Vitonás, Councilor of the Association of Indigenous Cabildos of the North of Cauca (which is part of the Regional Indigenous Council, CRIC), talked about the current situation where indigenous continue fighting despite the brutal repression.
"The current situation is that the communities have taken to the streets to protest against the brutal repression", said Vitonas.
The councillor explained that there were over ten thousand resisting indigenous and that they shall continue doing so until the Colombian government answers to their five point demands.
The first demand is that free trade agreements are not accepted "because the community has not been consulted about them. Those are not treaties between the people but between governments and the big transnational interests that fail to benefit the communities". Vittonas explained that the only way that these agreements could be accepted would be if there were agreements between peoples, that had a collective benefit.
The leader said that the second demand consists in repealing the laws affecting the communities (such as those taking collective land from them) and the third one refers to democratic security, since it now represents a "security plan for the rich". As the indigenous leader said "they talk about democratic security but that means insecurity for us because most of the murders have been perpetuated by the public force, in coordination with paramilitary".
The fourth demand is the failure to fulfil the agreements signed with all the governments, both social demands like the demand for an agrarian reform, or the agreements aimed to meet unfulfilled basic needs (78% in indigenous communities).
The fifth demand is calling all social sectors to start thinking of an agenda by the peoples and for the people.
- Listen to interviews and background information on Real World Radio
- Show your support for the indigenous people by sending a letter to Colombian authorities
Solidarity fund
Censat Agua Viva/Friends of the Earth Colombia urgently need financial support to attend to the dozens of wounded people and the families of murdered indigenous peoples during the mobilization.
If you are able to contribute to the solidarity fund please transfer funds into the following account:
Banco de Bogotá, Popayán, Colombia.
Account name: CRIC (Consejo Regional Indigena del Cauca)
Account number: 496-05979-1
SWIFT code is SWIFT BBOGCOBB.
