Indigenous march to Popyan demanding education

Some 5,000 indigenous people from the southern Colombian Cauca department started a protest march on Tuesday to demand autonomous education programs.

Cali newspaper El Pais reported that members of the Regional Indigenous Council of Cauca (CRIC) began marching in Piendamo, a holy place for the local indigenous peoples. Up to 10,000 indigenous people are expected to join the march on Wednesay before reaching the department’s capital Popayan.

CRIC leaders expressed their discontent with the Ministry of Education for its alleged lack of support in establishing an indigenous education system, and say that Bogota is not keeping its promises about improved education for the indigenous.