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The protests will continue while the government refuses to set up a proper negotiation table including the Interior Minister or the President of the Republic, said Indigenous leaders.
The Regional Indigenous Council of Cauca (CRIC) reaffirmed on Thursday its support for the anti-government protests that have been taking place in Colombia for the last two weeks.
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He said that the Indigenous peoples who traveled to Bogota from different departments in order to support the demonstrations, carried a message of resistance, hope, unity and defense of life.
"We demand compliance with the agreements reached for the end of the Colombian armed conflict," he stressed at a time when members of Indigenous rural communities are frequent victims of violence.
"We are marching against the murder of social leaders and the indigenous guard. We demand the dismantling of the Mobile Riot Squad and the unnecessary expense of repressive military forces in a context of moving towards peace," he said.
The Council also rejected what it considers to be an excessive increase in the price of fuels, high salaries in the Congress of the Republic and other points of the national strike that currently "express the country's outrage at an indolent government that has not shown real willingness to listen to the people."
CRIC representative Ferley Quintero, also part of the Strike Committee, said in an interview with the Anadolu news agency that the mobilizations will continue until the government will open the dialogue with either the Interior Minister or President Ivan Duque.
Thousands of people took to the streets the day before throughout the country in rejection of government policies, against violence and for peace, as part of the protests that have been held for two weeks.
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