Bogota, Nov 19 (Prensa Latina) Luis Fernando Arias, senior advisor of the National Indigenous Organization of Colombia (ONIC), reaffirmed on Monday the will of native peoples to work to consolidate a stable and lasting peace in this country.
'We will continue to vindicate our cause for peace. We have always said that you can count on us for peace, never for war,' he said during the launch of the National Report on the Historical Memory of Indigenous Peoples.
'Our relationship with the West has been one of oppression, of discrimination, but above all it has been one of resistance,' Arias emphasized in a context marked by frequent acts of violence against these communities.
In this sense, he pointed out that 'it has been the resistance of the indigenous peoples that has allowed us to be here today, for 4.4 percent of the Colombian population to be indigenous.'
Indigenous peoples are not folklore, we are political subjects, it took centuries for our rights to be recognized, he added.
Colombia is the third most diverse country in Latin America. We are still far from closing the inequality gap, he stressed.
The report will shed light on the reality to which indigenous peoples in Colombia have been subjected; it is the living memory of our struggles, Arias explained.
This Tuesday, we tell the country that we will continue to fight for life and the defense of the territories, despite the extermination and genocide to which we are being condemned, he insisted.
Ayda Quilcue, ONIC Human Rights Advisor, pointed out that, 'today we are 115 living indigenous peoples, and xenophobic attitudes and discrimination still exist, that is why it is fundamental to remember in this country.'
More than 3,000 indigenous people have been murdered in the last 40 years. They are not found in computer databases, but they remain in our memory, stated Eulalia Yagarí, founder of ONIC.
The report, also launched by the National Center of Historical Memory, includes the violence that indigenous peoples have suffered, and their alternative ways of life to face it.
rly/cg/apz/mv/mfb
'Our relationship with the West has been one of oppression, of discrimination, but above all it has been one of resistance,' Arias emphasized in a context marked by frequent acts of violence against these communities.
In this sense, he pointed out that 'it has been the resistance of the indigenous peoples that has allowed us to be here today, for 4.4 percent of the Colombian population to be indigenous.'
Indigenous peoples are not folklore, we are political subjects, it took centuries for our rights to be recognized, he added.
Colombia is the third most diverse country in Latin America. We are still far from closing the inequality gap, he stressed.
The report will shed light on the reality to which indigenous peoples in Colombia have been subjected; it is the living memory of our struggles, Arias explained.
This Tuesday, we tell the country that we will continue to fight for life and the defense of the territories, despite the extermination and genocide to which we are being condemned, he insisted.
Ayda Quilcue, ONIC Human Rights Advisor, pointed out that, 'today we are 115 living indigenous peoples, and xenophobic attitudes and discrimination still exist, that is why it is fundamental to remember in this country.'
More than 3,000 indigenous people have been murdered in the last 40 years. They are not found in computer databases, but they remain in our memory, stated Eulalia Yagarí, founder of ONIC.
The report, also launched by the National Center of Historical Memory, includes the violence that indigenous peoples have suffered, and their alternative ways of life to face it.
rly/cg/apz/mv/mfb
Temas Relacionados:
