Nukak indigenous people and peasantry of Guaviare present coexistence agreement

The Nukak indigenous people and the peasant communities of the Charras and El Capricho districts, in the municipality of San José del Guaviare, have lived together and shared the territory for more than 30 years, amid conflicts and problems between their communities.

In order to provide a peaceful solution to the internal conflicts between the communities that have been affected by the armed conflict, the Nukak indigenous people and the peasantry of Guaviare presented on April 22, in the main auditorium of the Luis Ángel Arango Library in Bogotá, the 'Agreement of Wills for a Dignified Life and defense of the territory', which has the support of Forensic Architecture and the Truth Commission.

Nukak leader Alex Yau said in the presentation of this agreement that “we are making an arrangement with the peasants to be able to resolve conflicts, to be able to live well, to manage our problems and the mistakes that peasants and nukaks have to relate to each other”.

For the parties involved, this agreement aims to build territorial and intercultural peace in the hands of institutions such as the Truth Commission, the Office of the Ombudsman and the United Nations Verification Mission, who accompanied the entire process so that compliance with the guarantees of implementation of the ethnic chapter of the peace agreement signed on November 26, 2016.

Ten indigenous people from the Nukak people and peasants from the region participated in the presentation of the 'Agreement of Wills', who traveled from Guaviare to share their experience of coexistence.

“It is very important for the peasantry of Guaviare to have coexistence with the Nukak because they have lived here all the time, just like the peasants and it is much better that we treat each other with respect,” said Edith Osorio, the peasant leader of the department.

The Nukak represent 0.1 per cent of Colombia's indigenous population. They are mainly concentrated in the departments of Guaviare and Guainía, but the last indigenous census reports a large majority of the Nukak population in the department of Valle del Cauca, where, it is said, 41.7% of the population lives. It is followed by Vaupés with 13.6% (147 people) and Cauca with 12.1% (131 people).

The communities of this department have identified territorial problems such as anti-personnel mines, deforestation of the peasant reserve area and the indigenous reservation, and the difficulty of returning the Nukak people to their territory. “This space is for us to learn from them and they from us,” said Joaquín Nijbe, who attended the meeting.

Hernán Vargas, a peasant from the region, said that “the problems of citizen coexistence between peasants and the Nukak people do not stop happening because both of them have a number of problems that are not resolved by the State. There are no productive projects, there is no education, there is no health. Our territory lacks the basic elements for a dignified life.”

Together with the Government of Guaviare, the Office of the Ombudsman, the UN Mission in Colombia and the Norwegian Embassy in Colombia, the Truth Commission recognized the efforts of these communities to solve their problems. “The challenge is to consolidate the search for good living for communities deeply affected by the armed conflict,” said the entity born of the Peace Agreement.

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