Amazon indigenous communities: ‘Without the earth we cannot exist’

They call themselves “Children of Mother Earth.” Indigenous communities of the Amazon are not only fighting for the preservation of a unique habitat but for their survival. Interview with Noelia Campo, indigenous representative of the Cauca region in southwest Colombia.

Interview conducted by Jasmin Rietdorf, DW Akademie

DW: Your home is the Cauca region, one of the most dangerous areas in Colombia. Political, social and environmental activists have been murdered. What is the situation there now?

Noelia Campo: They want to take away our water. They want to take away our air. The struggle for land has become a life-and-death struggle. Many of us have been killed because they raised their voices to say “Do not let our mother earth bleed. Do not cut off her roots because without the earth we cannot exist.” That is why more than 45 indigenous leaders have been murdered this year and Cauca has been especially affected.

DW: Who is responsible for this?

Campo: We are faced with a policy of exploitation. Large multinationals have invaded the indigenous territory in the northern Cauca. Sugar cane is grown there for fuel. We are running out of water. These companies want to drive us out of our territories in order to further exploit our land. They hire people who come to us and threaten us and try to force us to give up.

DW: You are propagating non-violence. How do you resist?

Campo: The women have become stronger, the young people, too. This is still developing. The communities in the few areas that have access to mobile phones and the internet are very active in social networks and use them to educate people and fight against misinformation. But as soon as we raise our voices, we are threatened. We get written threats telling us to get out of the area, out of the city, and that pushes us into a corner. But still we have strength. We have the clear objective to continue defending our territory. If our land is taken from us, we have no way of continuing to exist as indigenous peoples.

DW: Most indigenous areas do not have access to the Internet. How do you inform the public about what is happening in indigenous areas and how do you keep yourself informed?

Campo: We have mobile phones but they are of no use to us. We have to go to a city, to Popayan or to any other nearby town, to make phone calls or to access the Internet.

The radio also reaches communities further up in the mountains, in the areas further away from the cities. However, local radio stations are fighting for their own economic survival because the Colombian government is demanding taxes. They do not have the necessary financial resources. That is why there are radio stations broadcasting without a license, the “Radios Piratas.” The state has no control in this region. The government can’t reach up into the mountains but the radio signal can.

DW: You have also been threatened with death—are you afraid?

Campo: I fear for the life of our Mother Earth. Again and again intruders come into our territories to exploit them. I am not afraid for my life. If I die, I will die in battle. And I know that this struggle does not only take place in the Cauca but that indigenous peoples are fighting all over Latin America. We want our children to continue to breathe clean air, to continue to have clean water. My message is that the resistance must continue!

31-year-old Noelia Campo is the youngest member of the board of directors of the Cauca indigenous council. Here she wears a “bastón” which distinguishes her as a dignitary.

© DW

Consejo Regional Indígena del Cauca (CRIC)

The Indigenous Regional Council of the Cauca, was founded in 1971 as a self-governing organization and political representation of the indigenous population in the Cauca region. Today, a large part of the indigenous population is organized into the CRIC. The council is made up of ten ethnic groups: Nasa and Misak as the largest groups, and smaller ones like Kokonuko, Totoró, Yanacona and Inga. They all live and maintain their own culture and language. The CRIC fights for the preservation of indigenous autonomy and territory. The Colombian constitution guarantees exten sive political autonomy in the indigenous territories, called Resguardos. Indigenous self-government also includes their own justice, education and health institutions as well as media.