President-elect Gustavo Petro called on Colombia’s sugar association and indigenous to negotiate the use of land in the southwest Of the country.
The Nasa people and the owner of multiple sugar plantations in the regions have been in an escalating conflict over land for days.
I invite the indigenous movement, Asocaña and the social movements of northern Cauca to initiate the first regional dialogue in Colombia for Peace.
President-elect Gustavo Petro
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“Liberating Mother Earth”
According to sugar plantation association Asocaña, the Nasa people “invaded” one of their associates’ plantations in Padilla, a town in the Cauca province.
According to the indigenous, they are “liberating Mother Earth” where their ancestors have lived for thousands of years.
The Nasa people accuse the sugar plantations of damaging the environment by growing sugar cane instead of food.
The indigenous’ cutting of sugarcane caused tensions with employees of the sugar plantation, which claims to own the land.
Asocaña said in a press statement that it was willing to negotiate with the indigenous.
Ombudsman Carlos Camargo urged Interior Minister Daniel Palacios to facilitate the resumption of talks that formally started in June, but were abandoned by the government.
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Centuries-old conflict
The Spanish Crown granted the north of Cauca where the sugar plantation is located to the indigenous in the 17th century.
The sometimes violent expansion of land by regional elites has gradually reduced Nasa territory in the north of Cauca over the past 200 years.
Promises made by the government of former President Ernesto Samper in the 1990’s to return indigenous land were never fulfilled.
The mass killing of indigenous leaders in Cauca over land disputes with the plantation owners and guerrillas has gradually increased tensions over the past few years.
