Indigenous Women Lead Anti-Violence Protest Following Police Attacks

Two thousand mestizas, indigenous and African women marched through the streets of Choco, Colombia on Sunday demanding the national, departmental and municipal governments bring peace to the region and protect its social leaders.

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"They will not snatch us the hope of peace in the Chocó," thousands of women chorused to the beat of drums and the pounding of raindrops on the pavement early Sunday morning.

Protesters from 25 cities and 90 sectors gathered together in the city that has become the epicenter of violence over the last few months with weekly coverage of another indigenous or social leader cut down by police or paramilitary forces.

"The women of Colombia, and in particular the Chocoanos, have suffered the cruelty of war, violence, hunger, poverty, lack of opportunities; the dispossession of our lands, territories and homes,” the feminist group Peaceful Route for Women said in a statement.

"Despite the signing of peace, new displacements, assassinations of leaders and femicides and even the benefits of peace do not materialize," the group said.

“We have seen our daughters and children, relatives, friends, friends and colleagues disappear for thinking differently or for being poor; we have endured the grievances of the use of our bodies and our lives as spoils of war; We have suffered the effects of discrimination and impunity,” the statement read.

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Demonstrators called for a seven-point manifesto, calling for an end to violence against women; for a peace agreement to be signed between the government and the former guerrilla group ELN which includes the manifesto; action against continued displaced families; respect to indigenous lands, territory and food sovereignty; equal opportunity to health, education, civil rights and employment; and an end to the murdering of social leaders.

“We demand urgent measures to stop the murders of leaders in the country and in particular in our territories. It is unacceptable that one year after the signing of the peace agreement, the State does not have effective measures against this systematic practice,” the women said.

Local media reported the attempted assassination of an indigenous community leader by Colombia’s riot police in Agua Tibia. Dario Tote was attacked with a blunt object Friday morning by members of the Mobile Anti-Riot Squad (ESMAD).

The victim’s son, Willinton Andres Tote Galindez, notified the media, Human Rights defenders and local administration, bringing national attention to the department of Cauca where just months before an indigenous women, a relative of the victim, was murdered.

According to the most recent report from Opiac, 182 Indigenous and social leaders were killed in defense of their territories and in pursuit of freedom in their communities since 2016.