For seven months now, Colombian indigenous peoples occupy the national park in the capital Bogota to demand government aid. Nearly 1,700 indigenous people live in a camp to denounce the great precariousness of their community.
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In Colombia, it has been seven months since indigenous peoples set up camp in the national park of Bogota to ask for help from the government and to highlight their situation. They are nearly 1,700, and denounce the situation experienced by their entire community in the country: their land handed over to armed groups, forced displacement and the lack of water and food.
The indigenous or native peoples of Colombia make up almost 4% of the population. They speak Native American languages and generally live in resguardos, that is to say nature reserves. They also live according to the tradition of the community, raising cattle and selling handicrafts, mainly bags and hammocks made of crochet or embroidery.
Indigenous peoples are one of the groups that suffer the most from turf wars between criminal gangs or guerrillas. The latter settle on their land because it is in strategic areas for the production or transport of illicit goods, or because it is land for the exploitation of natural resources such as mining or hydrocarbons. . As a result, indigenous communities are forced to leave their lands to take refuge in the cities or simply to settle further in the hope of being safe.
The families are sheltered under tents built with sticks and black plastic sheets, which does not represent much to face the rain and the cold which characterize the Colombian capital. But the indigenous communities who come from several regions of the country, most of them isolated and without resources, do not want to give up. They are asking for help from the government to guarantee their security in their territories. They claim that so far many promises have been signed but none have been implemented.
Several negotiations have been started between the two parties, but nothing concrete has been signed and tension is mounting. Last month, clashes even took place between the police and the occupants of the park. The city’s mayor, Claudia Lopez, has offered to relocate communities to emergency reception centers pending progress in negotiations. This was refused by the representatives of the natives, who are asking for long-term solutions.