Defending land in Colombia
4 December 2020
Pablo is a passionate human rights defender from Chocó, Colombia.
Thursday 10 December is International Day of Human Rights. In Colombia, CAFOD’s Jesuit partner - The Centre for Popular Research and Education (CINEP) - is supporting communities to stand up for their human rights and defend their land.
“When you demand your rights, people see you as a bad person and your life is always in danger. It’s not easy, but you do it because you are born with a fighting spirit,” says Pablo with a smile.
Pablo is a passionate human rights defender from the Chocó region of Colombia. He is a family man (with eight brothers and sisters and an 11 year old daughter) and a lover of music and singing. His songs are wistful and melancholic. He sings of the pain in his community, his people’s suffering and his yearning for peace across Colombia.
. . .
Families forced to abandon their land
Pablo is softly spoken and playful, but when he speaks about his people you can instantly tell what a strong leader he is, and how proud he is of his Afro-Colombian roots.
As a result of Colombia’s armed conflict, which has lasted more than 50 years, many Afro-Colombian families have been forced to flee their homes and abandon their land. In many cases, this land was then taken over by outside economic interests linked to large-scale farming, illegal logging or mining, armed groups and the drug trade. The Chocó region of Colombia is no different.
More:
https://cafod.org.uk/News/International-news/Defending-land-in-Colombia
Hoping that they won't go right ahead and dismember Pablo with chainsaws, as they have done with other citizens they want to make into examples for others who speak or sing up .... That kind of "suppression" has been done to death so many times, already.
