Colombia: Indigenous Guards: The Shield of Colombia’s Amazon

Jun 26, 2025 | Daniela Quintero Díaz
Mongabay
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Luis Alfredo Acosta, the national coordinator of the Indigenous guard within the National Indigenous Organization of Colombia (ONIC), is from the department of Cauca and a member of the Nasa (or Páez) Indigenous community. For 35 years, he has been part of the Indigenous guard, and as national coordinator, he has been part of multiple processes in the Amazon, where — just as in other places far from the Colombian capital — Indigenous guards spend day after day accomplishing a silent but vital, task. They protect their territory, despite violence and the presence of armed actors.