President Juan Manuel Santos announced the arrival of 28,000 troops Tuesday in Colombia's southwestern Cauca department, where a recent surge in violence has forced thousands from their homes. The new arrivals will become part of the Southwestern Joint Command comprised of soldiers from the army's Third Division and special forces from Colombia's Air Force and Navy. The Colombian defense minister said he hoped military forces continued their collaboration with the department's police to combat illegal armed groups.

Cauca has been a hotbed of violence in recent weeks. The historical FARC stronghold has witnessed a string of violent incidents involving the guerrilla group, state forces and the indigenous population who continue to protest the government and the FARC's presence in the autonomous region. On July 11, some 400 indigenous occupied a military base near the embattled town of Toribio to protest increase military presence in the region. This occurred the same day President Juan Manuel Santos visited the town to announce a new security strategy aimed at tackling FARC activity in Cauca. Police reclaimed the base July 17 resulting in one death and the injury of 23 others.

The government and indigenous leaders met Monday to discuss the ongoing violence in the region. The Association of Indigenous Councils of Northern Cauca issued a list of demands during the meeting which included the removal of state security forces from territory belonging to the Nasa indigenous tribe.

Sources : Colombia Report

 

Here was an image of a indigenous people in Colombia expelling armed soldiers from their lands. It happened in the Colombia province of Cauca. There has been mounting tensions between the indigenous people of this province and the Colombian government. In addition, these same groups of people also started fighting back against FARC rebels, who has been fighting against the Colombian government.

 

 

 

 

Govt claims truce ending Cauca violence has been reached amid controversy

Thursday, 19 July 2012 10:53 Olle Ohlsen Pettersson

Colombian authorities said Thursday they have reached an agreement with indigenous leaders to end the tense situation in the southwestern department of Cauca, although community leaders from the area disputed this claim.

According to local newspaper El Liberal, the agreement specifically stated there would be no more armed clashes between the Colombian security forces and the indigenous guard in the northern Cauca municipalities of Toribio and Caldono.

However, representatives from the Association of Indigenous Councils in Northern Cauca told Colombia Reports that no such agreement had been reached and recent local media reports regarding the agreement were false.

In the past few weeks, the two municipalities have been the scenes of fierce protests as indigenous movements tried to force the army and police out of the area, arguing the armed state presence put the community members’ lives at risk.

On Wednesday, one protester was killed near Toribio as the Colombian police retook an army outpost briefly occupied by roughly 400 indigenous protestors, although certain estimates were as high as 1,000. The occupation took place the same day President Juan Manuel Santos arrived in the town to announce "Plan Cauca," a security strategy aimed at curbing FARC-related violence in the department, a traditional guerrilla stronghold, through increased military presence and the development of social initiatives.

James Yatacue, a representative from a local indigenous organization, said Thursday representatives from the army, Colombia’s ombudsman and the indigenous community would meet to discuss further solutions to the ongoing conflict between security forces and FARC rebels.

Federico Renjifo, Colombia’s interior minister, said Thursday “an open dialogue” was being held with indigenous organizations, while pointing out “the [armed forces] will stay in all of the national territory and this cannot be a negotiable condition.”

Cauca has been a FARC haven historically, due to its mixture of mountainous and swampy terrain and easy access to drug smuggling routes, and the recent surge in violence has highlighted the departments fragile security situation.