Category Archives: In pictures

In pictures

Indigenous communities of Murindó: Defending life and their ancestral lands

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In August, PBI accompanied the Inter-Church Justice and Peace Commission in the indigenous community of Chageradó, located in the Río Chageradó reservation in the municipality of Murindó. There, an assembly was held between authorities and members of the eleven communities of the two resguardo of the municipality, Río Chageradó and Río Murindó. One of the main topics of this meeting was how to tackle the problem of land mines that are affecting the whole municipality. They also discussed how to preserve the model of ancestral life of the Emberá indigenous communities, their rights and their sacred land.

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In pictures

WALKING THE PATHS OF PEACE: COMMUNITY WORK AS LIFE AND RESISTANCE

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Every Thursday, community work is carried out in the villages of the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó (CdP).  This guarantees the food sovereignty of the members of this community, through the cultivation and care of the collective land.  Some of the products grown are typical of Colombian farmer culture: rice, maize, yucca, bananas and cocoa. The cultivation, as well as the process of harvesting and subsequent processing of the product, is carried out in a natural way, without the use of machinery or chemical products that are harmful to the environment. This community work stands out for its deep connection with and respect for nature and the territory.  Even the animals are protagonists and faithful companions in this process.  Donkeys, mules and horses are the favourite means of transport because of their strength and endurance on the paths immersed in the vegetation of the region. The human being, the land and the animals are therefore elements of the same circle that strengthen each other.

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In pictures

Buenaventura: a town that won’t give up

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The people of Buenaventura have been experiencing an escalation of the conflict since 2020. Today, all eyes are on the port city, because since last December 30, the lives of 170,500 people are at risk due to clashes between “Los Shotas” and “Los Espartanos”, two factions of “La Local”, a group inherited from paramilitarism. So far in 2021, according to the Pacific Regional Ombudsman’s Office, due to more than 38 confrontations that have taken place in the urban area of Buenaventura in January, 907 families – around 2186 people – have had to be forcibly displaced from their neighborhoods and 22 people have been killed, mostly young people between 16 and 35 years old who have refused to be recruited by these groups.

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