Colombia trade deal goes forward as Indigenous peoples at risk
Colombia trade deal goes forward as Indigenous peoples at risk
Alex Neve ,Kathy Price
Published: Thursday, 10/25/2012 12:27 am EDT
Last Updated: Thursday, 10/25/2012 12:57 am EDT
"We are facing a monster."
This is how an Indigenous leader, his face etched in anxiety, described the deep fears of so many Indigenous peoples in Colombia, faced with voracious exploration and exploitation on their lands by a rapidly increasing number of resource extraction companies.
He didn’t identify the nationality of the monster. But the truth is that Canadian companies have already been involved in gold, petroleum, and other resource extraction projects that affect Indigenous lands in Colombia. And there is every reason to believe there will be many more projects now that a free trade deal is in place between the two countries.
Last week, we attended the eighth Congress of the National Indigenous Organization of Colombia, an event held every four years which brings together thousands of Indigenous peoples from across the country.
They gathered at a time of unparalleled peril. Decades of unending grave human rights violations have taken such a toll that the country’s own Constitutional Court has ruled that 35 Indigenous nations are at risk of “cultural or physical extermination”.
It is a stunning human rights crisis. Yet equally stunning is how little international concern has been generated or action galvanized.
More:
http://www.embassymag.ca/opinion/2012/10/25/colombia-trade-deal-goes-forward-as-indigenous-peoples-at-risk/42708
