In a country shaped by decades of impunity, time has been efficient in erasing evidence of rights violations and delaying justice for victims. To resist, the Territorio de Vida Interétnico e Intercultural de Cajibío (TEVIIC), a Colombian indigenous and peasant coalition, has denounced the multiple attacks by the Irish and US multinational Smurfit Westrock.

 

On June 6, a Human Rights Verification Mission took place in the municipality of Cajibío, in the department of Cauca, Colombia. The mission brought together social organizations, indigenous and peasant authorities, representatives of the United Nations, the Colombian Ministry of the Interior, and international accompaniment groups. It aimed to demonstrate and denounce the repeated human rights violations committed in this territory by the Smurfit Westrock company and the Colombian national army, particularly those that took place on March 29, 2025.

 

As part of the mission, TEVIIC and several social organizations drafted a report documenting the territorial context, the violations observed since August 2, 2021, and recommendations to guarantee respect for human rights. This initiative follows the continued inaction of institutions, even in the wake of multiple petitions from the community.

 

Despite the presence of institutional representatives during the mission—and the notable absence of representatives from the Colombian Attorney General's Office, which had been requested—few concrete commitments were made to counter Smurfit Westrock's impunity and accelerate the land recovery process led by TEVIIC.

 

Human rights violations committed on March 29, 2025

 

On March 29, 2025, a peaceful land recovery action was violently repressed by the Colombian National Army in the municipality of Cajibío. Shortly after 7 a.m., as a group of farmers were cutting down non-native trees planted by Smurfit Westrock, a battalion of the National Army intervened and opened fire. One individual was shot in the left arm. This was followed by armed pursuit, further shooting, and threats and intimidation against residents, including women and members of the Nasa indigenous authority.

 

Farmers were illegally detained, stigmatized, and forced to declare themselves members of armed groups. The army then spread a false version of events on social media, claiming to have confronted armed dissidents. The communities denounce the presentation of the facts as “false positives” (falsos positivos), attacks historically carried out by the Colombian National Army under the pretext of confronting illegal armed groups.

 

Smurfit Westrock at the heart of a land conflict

 

The land conflict that has been ravaging the municipality of Cajibío for several decades stems from the presence of the Irish and US multinational Smurfit Westrock on territory claimed by the TEVIIC. Created last year from the fusion of Smurfit Kappa and WestRock, the company has been producing paper and packaging in Colombia since 1986.

 

Smurfit Westrock operates mainly in the departments of Valle del Cauca and Cauca, the latter being one of the departments in Colombia most affected by inequalities in land distribution. The concentration of land in the hands of the company, achieved without the prior consent of local communities, has robbed them of their livelihoods and led to numerous forced displacements.

 

Eucalyptus monoculture introduced by Smurfit Kappa in the municipality of Cajibío

 

For more than 40 years, Smurfit Westrock's production has been based on massive deforestation and the establishment of extensive monocultures of eucalyptus and pine on occupied land. The presence of these two non-native species leads to soil depletion. Extractive activities have contaminated local water sources, drastically reducing the amount of water available for consumption by indigenous and peasant communities.

 

The multinational manages to maintain its legitimacy through various means, including establishing strategic relations with political entities, investing in its foundation, and generating jobs in the municipality of Cajibío.

 

Resistance and united mobilization for land recovery

 

The TEVIIC was created in 2021 to formally bring together the Misak and Nasa indigenous peoples, as well as several peasant communities organized through the Coordinador Nacional Agrario (CNA). The three entities coexist peacefully in the municipality of Cajibío. They have united to defend their right to live with dignity on the lands they wish to recover, particularly in relation to the extractive practices of Smurfit Westrock.

 

The TEVIIC resists by remaining on the land and cultivating it, despite the environmental destruction caused by Smurfit Westrock and the company’s refusal to halt its operations. This process involves the constant risk of further military altercations.

In a report about human rights defenders in Colombia published last February, the Colombian Attorney General's Office recorded 1,372 cases of human rights defenders who were victims of homicides between January 1, 2016, and December 31, 2024. It is noted that the figures for the early years of this period underrepresent the facts for methodological reasons. According to the Instituto de Estudios para el Desarrollo y la Paz (Indepaz), this number has already risen to 67 in 2025.

 

Considering these grim statistics, Luz Adriana Camargo, Colombia's attorney general, said last February that Colombia was the most dangerous country in the world for human rights defenders.

 

Towards the implementation of comprehensive rural reform

 

The June 6 mission emphasized the importance of implementing the first part of the 2016 Peace Agreement, namely the Comprehensive Rural Reform (Reforma Rural Integral – RRI). This reform is at the heart of the TEVIIC's current efforts and aims to restore equitable access to land. One of the mechanisms for implementing this reform is for the Colombian state to purchase land belonging to large companies to redistribute it to communities.

 

Discussions between the TEVIIC and Smurfit Westrock have so far yielded few concrete results. The multinational company still refuses to cede or sell the land on which it operates and defends the option of cohabitation. Smurfit Westrock claims to have identified 8,500 hectares of uncultivated land that could be handed over to the TEVIIC. However, this land is fragmented and scattered throughout the municipality, making it ineffective for a coherent territorial project.

 

The TEVIIC is now calling for concrete measures to effectively implement the RRI and return the land seized by Smurfit Westrock. Until institutions make a firm commitment to guarantee the rights of communities and address structural inequalities in land tenure—which the June 6 mission failed to achieve—local communities will continue to resist the domination of private economic interests.