The indigenous peoples of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, in northern Colombia, believe that it is essential that the world know the structural and conjunctural risks that their community continues to face as a consequence of the armed conflict that hit the country for almost 60 years – 1958 to 2016—. With a message calling to protect the “heart of the world”, the representatives of the four indigenous peoples that inhabit this territory – Kankuamo, Wiwas, Arhuacos and Kogi – traveled last November to The Hague, Paris, Brussels and Madrid to warn against the dangers that threaten their very existence, such as forced displacement or the exploitation of their natural resources.
“What happens to us happens to the territory. What happens to the territory also affects us,” comments Jaime Luis Arias, 39, with a serene air despite his concern. Arias is the current governor of the Kankuamo people and, together with Sebastián Pastor Mojica (36 years old), an authority of the Wiwas, visited some of the main European cities last November to talk about the risks faced by Colombian indigenous peoples.
Although seven years have passed since the signing of the Peace Agreement between the Government of Colombia and the FARC, the danger has not yet dissipated from the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. In this place, the Kankuamo, Wiwas, Arhuacos and Kogui live together in a social structure based on a principle of unity. The four of them live in the same territory and the four of them feel called to protect it. Through the Territorial Council of Cabildos, they establish joint actions to preserve culture and ancestral knowledge. They hold working groups to achieve peace in a unified way. “We always have to think about the Sierra Nevada,” highlights Pastor, referring to the commitment that unites them.
Organized and convinced that to achieve comprehensive peace it is necessary to have the participation of indigenous communities, Pastor and Arias gave some interviews, with the support of their people, to bear witness in Europe to the dangers that afflict them. The constant violence they experience has led different indigenous peoples to move due to the presence of armed groups.
In the context of the Total Peace negotiations and despite the efforts made by the previous and current government, violence persists in the Sierra Nevada. Different armed actors—the FARC dissidents, the National Liberation Army (ELN), the Gaitanista Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (the Gulf Clan) and the Conquering Defenses of the Sierra Nevada or “Pachencas”—continue to affect indigenous populations.
For this reason, they consider that it is necessary to generate conditions for the imminent protection of communities against possible risks, the protection of their territory (since the relationship with the territory is a fundamental part of their identities) and participation in the dialogue that they carry out with armed actors. “The Government is moving forward, but the challenge is to implement it,” says Arias.
The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta region has been one of the territories hardest hit by violence. The Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP), which investigates the macrocase 09 The violations perpetrated on indigenous populations have counted 89,994 victims in said region. Therefore, making known the current situation of this process and identifying racism and discrimination against indigenous peoples in the face of armed actors is crucial for building peace.
“Between 2000 and 2010 they took many people and we don't know where they are,” says Pastor, remembering people murdered and disappeared by members of the Colombian National Army in the scandal known as “false positives.” This practice, which consisted of presenting murders and forced disappearances of civilians as combat casualties made by State agents, is under investigation in the case 03 by the JEP. Until now, the institution has counted the existence of 6,402 victims.
Accompanied by Sebastián Escobar, lawyer of the José Alvear Restrepo collective, and the director of the office for the Americas of the International Federation for Human Rights, Pastor and Arias participated in the screening of the documentary Extrajudicial executions in Colombia: Wiwa and Kankuamo peoples of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in the auditorium of the Hotel de Ville in Paris. In the 30 minutes that the screening lasts, the judicial process on the case and the observations of relatives of some of the victims of the disappearances and murders are shown. “We are neither left nor right, we reject all types of violence… and that has been the excuse to kill us,” comments Arias.
After this brief visit, Sebastián Mojica Pastor weighs how important it is to be heard, because “the message we are giving is not only for the people of the mountains, but it is also for all human beings.” For his part, remembering the words of one of his fellow leaders, Jaime Luis Arias, he affirms that, despite the dangers, they will continue to tell what is happening with the hope of being able to find peace for the heart of the earth. .
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