What’s eating southwest Colombia’s indigenous population” Mar 18, 2015

An explosive conflict between indigenous people and authorities in southwest Colombia will not be resolved until the government returns thousands of hectares of land that they have been owed for decades, according to indigenous leaders…While protests have been ongoing since November last year, they have so far only been met by police repression, leading to growing numbers of injuries for both parties, and deepening unrest as the issue remaining unresolved. According to local indigenous rights groups, at least 100 protesters and seven soldiers have been injured in clashes…This land in question is now in the hands of large-scale business owners such as soda company Postobon, television network RCN and sugar plantation owner Carlos Ardila Lulle…“Almost 45% of the Cauca territory is taken up by sugar plantations, which only produce sugarcane. So, one part of our land is devoted to the production of sugar, while the other is for the production of ethanol,” [indigenous leader Feliciano] Valencia explained. The indigenous people of Cauca traditionally provide nutrition through products of their own land. Therefore, without sufficient space to cultivate and harvest crops, the communities are at great risk…