In February 2013, the Afro-Colombian community from the hamlet El Crucero decided to create its own Community Council, “The Future” (El Porvenir), a requirement in order for the community to be able to request ownership titles for the land on which they have been living on for generations. Read our photo story.
In February 2013 the Inter-Church Justice and Peace Commission visited the Nonam indigenous community in the Santa Rosa de Guayacán Humanitarian Reserve (Valle del Cauca), in order to talk about their precarious situation and the escalation of the armed conflict in the region. PBI accompanied Maria Eugenia Mosquera and Laura Chaparro on this journey.
The Chocó has some of the richest land in Colombia. There is an abundance of water, minerals, and biodiversity. This has also meant significant potential for agricultural businesses. Since 1996, three thousand Afro-descendents and mixed race persons from the Curbaradó and Jiguamiandó River Basins have been displaced by paramilitary groups. About 10 years after being forcibly displaced, these people returned to their land. However, by then, the land was in the hands of others. In order to resist, they established humanitarian zones. Since then, they have had to face threats and murders that attempt to prevent the resistance process of these communities.
