The FARC delegation in Havana, Cuba Monday gave the Colombian government eight proposals for land reform that the two sides will discuss as the first round of negotiations nears an end.
Colombia’s largest rebel insurgency, FARC, gave the Colombian delegation a list of land reform proposals for the country that dealt directly with indigenous, Afro-Colombians and other minorities.
They proposed more effective guarantees for political, judicial and territorial autonomy of indigenous people, Afro-Colombians and minorities.
Colombia’s Constitution currently grants indigenous and Afro-Colombians territorial autonomy, judicial autonomy and reserves seats for minority-elected representatives in Congress.
However, Colombia’s Afro-Colombians and indigenous remain the most marginalized demographic in Colombian society.
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The FARC also proposed that the state finance minority communities with a fixed percentage of the national budget and that the funds be completely controlled by minority representatives.
According to the FARC, the state should take an extraordinary interest in the plans and worldviews of the indigenous, Afro-Colombian and minority communities and provide them with the financial help they deserve.
Throughout nearly 50 years of conflict between the Colombian state and FARC guerrillas, indigenous and Afro-Colombian people have been caught in the crossfire. Right wing paramilitaries, leftist guerrillas and the Colombian military have all committed atrocities including: massacres, assassinations of community leaders, displacement of thousands from their land, and recruiting child soldiers from these populations.
Sources
- Delegación de paz FARC-EP_Ocho propuestas mínimas para el reconocimiento del derecho a la tierra y el territorio de las comunidades (Pueblo Colombiano: Pa La mesa)
- The Paradoxes of Indigenous Politics (Americas Quarterly)