12 October 2009 | Special reports | Human rights | Extractive industries
Armed strike
Mobilization of the Uwa People in the border between Colombia and Venezuela to demand respect for the territory and culture
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As part of the continental mobilization of indigenous communities that take place this October 12, the Uwa people in the border between Colombia and Venezuela, affirm their resistance to the extractive projects with several days of mobilizations.
The mobilizations will take place from October 12 through 13, as part of an “armed strike” in Cubara municipality, Boyaca department.
Uwa’s town council has decided that the slogan of this day is the non exploitation of any natural resources and the respect for their ancestral territories.
Hildebrando Vélez, of Friends of the Earth International is in the Uwa territory as part of the delegation of Colombian and international organizations that joined the Uwa call.
He told Real World Radio about the difficulties to access the territory as well as to carry out the mobilization, since the access by land is not possible.
The member of CENSAT – Agua Viva, Friends of the Earth Colombia, also explained that the “armed strike” implies a ban on the guerilla forces operating in the region to use the paths and roads, something which hinders the supply of staples.
Beru Tegria, leader of the council of Uwa said the communities aim to “strengthen planet Earth and for this reason we are making a visible action in our territories to say that we have to mobilize to stay alive”.
Oil extraction projects on the one hand, and hydroelectric installations and eco-tourism on the other, are the plans of Alvaro Uribe’s administration for the Uwa region, Beru Tegria said.
