Colombia: Indigenous Leaders Decry Colombia’s Deadly Crackdown on Land Protesters

Apr 4, 2019 | Taran Volckhausen, Mongabay
View Original

Indigenous groups in southwestern Colombia have since March 10 mobilized mass protests, known as minga, to demand a meeting with President Iván Duque over his government’s failure to implement agreements made during the previous administration’s historic 2016 peace deal and recognize community land rights. Protest leaders estimate there were 20,000 people involved in the massive mobilization as of March 27, including Afro-Colombian and indigenous communities, students, and associations of peasant farmers, or campesinos. The Indigenous Regional Council of Cauca (CRIC) has denounced the crackdown by the police’s anti-riot squad, known as ESMAD.