COLOMBIA: CAUCA INDIGENOUS PEOPLE SEIZE ESTATES
October 18, 2005
As part of nationwide mobilizations on Oct. 12 in Colombia, indigenous people in the southern department of Cauca began a coordinated series of land occupations on Oct. 11 and 12. On Oct. 11 some 2,500 Guambiano indigenous people began occupying the Ambalo estate owned by the Estela family in Silvia municipality in an effort to recover their ancestral lands. On Oct. 14 police attacked the community, injuring at least three people: one was hit in the eyes with tear gas and might lose his sight; one suffered a fractured knee, and one woman's ribs were fractured.
OCTOBER 16, 2005
COLOMBIA: CAUCA INDIGENOUS PEOPLE SEIZE ESTATES
As part of nationwide mobilizations on Oct. 12 in Colombia, indigenous people in the southern department of Cauca began a coordinated series of land occupations on Oct. 11 and 12. On Oct. 11 some 2,500 Guambiano indigenous people began occupying the Ambalo estate owned by the Estela family in Silvia municipality in an effort to recover their ancestral lands. On Oct. 14 police attacked the community, injuring at least three people: one was hit in the eyes with tear gas and might lose his sight; one suffered a fractured knee, and one woman's ribs were fractured. (Colombia's Caracol news agency reported that the community members fought back with sticks, rocks and agricultural tools, and that four community members and a police agent were hurt in the clash.) The Estela family raises fighting bulls on the estate; Guambiano communities are also occupying two other estates, La Gloria and Puerta de Hierro, owned by the same family. [Fundacion Hemera 10/15/05; Caracol Noticias 10/15/05; RCN 10/15/05; El Pais (Cali) posted 10/14/05 on Colombia Indymedia]
On Oct. 12, members of the Kizgo community began occupying the Los Remedios estate, also in Silvia municipality. The estate is owned by the Colombian government, which confiscated it from drug trafficker Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela and co-owner Ana Dolores Avila de Mondragon. The Kizgo community has been trying for more than 15 years to negotiate with the national government for the return of their lands; in 1996 the government promised to buy 400 hectares of land for the community. [Fundacion Hemera 10/15/05; Autoridades Indigenas de Kizgo 10/14/05 via Colombia Indymedia]
On Oct. 12, residents of the Paez (Nasa) indigenous communities of Pueblo Nuevo, Caldono, La Aguada, Las Mercedes, Pioya and La Laguna Siberia began an occupation of the El Japio farm in Caloto municipality to press the government to grant them land. Government forces tried to evict them on Oct. 12, but the Indigenous Authorities of Caldono report that the occupation was continuing as of Oct. 13. [Autoridades Indigenas de Caldono - Cauca 10/13/05 via Colombia Indymedia; EP 10/14/05]
Elsewhere in Cauca on Oct. 12, indigenous people and campesinos began occupations on the Miraflores estate in Corinto, two estates in the village of Gabriel Lopez in Totoro municipality and lands on a site known as Las Guacas, east of the departmental capital, Popayan. Cauca police commander Col. Luis de Jesus Cely Rincon said army troops from the Codazzi Engineers Battalion of Palmira evicted 200 indigenous people from lands in the communit of Media Naranja. Two indigenous people were wounded--at least one of them by a bullet--and had to be hospitalized in Santander de Quilichao; two soldiers were reportedly bruised. [EP 10/14/05]
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