The Nukak community keeps the road in San José del Guaviare blocked to demand the withdrawal of the Army from their territory.
The entrance to San José, capital of the Guaviare department, remains closed by the indigenous communities that are stationed on the Nowen bridge, on the national road that connects with Meta and where they complain against the National Government for the presence of the Army in its territorieswhere, according to their complaints, mobility is impossible.
“The protest is because the National Government guarantees mobility in the Nukat territory,” said the mayor of San José Willy Rodríguez, who is accompanying the negotiation along with other institutions such as the Ombudsman’s Office, the Person’s Office, the National Land Agency and the National Army.
The indigenous community demands that the Army not be in the place where they live with their families because, according to them, there are shots and detonations from the troops who have arrived at the school where their children are.
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Demands of the Nukak people in the face of the military presence
Although the Unified Command Post was installed by the Guaviare authorities and an inter-institutional table was formed, the protest has continued since the previous day with the closure of the national highway.
Joaquín Nijbe, leader of the Nukak Baka people, said that they are asking the President of the Republic, Gustavo Petro, to be present in the area together with the Ministry of Defense so that he can directly hear their claims.
The community spokesperson confirmed that they will remain stationed on the Nowen bridge along with some 200 Nukak Baka indigenous people.
“We invite the institutions to look at why we are here, we need urgent support. If the Government does not move, we are not going to move from here either, to give us a solution so that they can carry out a verification in the Macusito channel, in Inírida. The Nukak people want the public force that is in the middle of the territory of the Nukak people to withdraw,” stated their spokesperson.
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Permanent Minga and support from indigenous organizations
The Traditional Indigenous Authorities of Colombia also came out to support the protest of the Nukak Baka people, “in defense of their territorial rights, autonomy and law of origin.”
They confirmed that they will maintain the Permanent Minga on the main road of San José del Guaviare, until Tuesday, December 9, 2025.
“The Nukak Baka people have been violated by armed groups in conflict for several decades, without the Colombian State having guaranteed the physical and cultural survival of this people who have not only been stripped of their territory, but also of their dignity as human beings,” said the national organization.
Despite the presence of the Ombudsman’s Office and the Person’s Office of San José del Guaviare, it has not yet been possible to persuade the indigenous people to leave the blocking point so that the hundreds of vehicles that have been waiting for hours in that area can be evacuated.
For now, the department of Guaviare continues in solitary confinement on the only national road it has, said the mayor of San José, Willy Rodríguez.
They have only been able to get the Ministry of Defense to listen to them on Tuesday, December 9, regarding the request that they withdraw military troops from the Nukak territory, a town with a nomadic tradition that moves between the Guaviare and Inírida rivers, in the same department, where some 650 people of that ethnic group and that in their Nukak Baka language means “good people.”
Source: Integrated Information System
