At least 4,000 Embera indigenous people from the Colombian department of Risaralda (center) arrived in Bogotá in the early hours of this Tuesday to denounce the death of several children in their community due to malnutrition and demand peace and security in their territories.
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The senior advisor of the Greater Indigenous Council of Risaralda, Marco Fidel Guasarave, explained to EFE that what his community asks of the Government is that “listen to the voices of mothers and families” of their territories, since between 2023 and so far in 2024, at least 110 children under five have died due to malnutrition, according to figures provided by the community.
The thousands of Embera, who arrived in more than 60 buses and are camped in front of the building of the National Land Agency (ANT) of Bogotá, They will remain settled in the facilities until the government listens to their requests, and they assure that they will stay “as long as it takes.” “We must remedy and provide relief so that there is peace and harmony in our territories and that the scourges of these deaths do not occur”added Guasarave in front of the thousands of tents that spread across the ANT parking lot.
Embera indigenous people return to Bogotá
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The Mayor Council hopes to meet this Tuesday afternoon with the Government, a meeting that it hopes will “be solid and forceful” and that they can reach “agreements that are fulfilled”. “Everything depends on the government, we will stay as long as we want”Guasarave added, and assured that “They will do whatever it takes to protect their people.”
In August, More than 800 Embera indigenous people returned to their territories from Bogotá after almost a year living under plastic tents and precarious conditions in the central National Park to claim guarantees of peace on their lands, from which they left due to the armed conflict and violence.
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EFE
