
This communique comes from the Regional Indigenous Council of Cauca (CRIC), and convokes a series of mobilizations in the ongoing struggle for territory, autonomy and self-determination amongst the Indigenous peoples of Cauca, Colombia. The original in Spanish was published on the CRIC website and can be found here.
The Regional Indigenous Council of Cauca–CRIC–continues to fulfill the teachings of the political and cultural orientation of Indigenous peoples and communities, where our authorities, leaders, boys, girls, youth, women, men and elders converge. Bringing the memory of our ancestral times of struggle and resistance, to continue weaving together all of the Indigenous brothers and sisters, social and popular sectors of the country. To unite as the accumulation of ideological, political, cultural, social and economic forces in the mark of diversity as the only pathway to care for, protect and safeguard territory, water, life, democracy, the commons, fundamental rights, work, dignity and the peace of our nation.
Social mobilization is our pathway of unity, of collective force, of word and action. It is the source of sovereignty to find freedom, it is the pathway forward to defend life, coexistence, work, justice, equality, knowledge, fundamental rights, dignity and peace.
- Let us fulfill our ancestral teachings and weave the pluri-ethnic and multicultural wisdom of our nation
- We will defend the fundamental right of public education
- We will defeat the tax machine that harms the poor and favors the economic elites of the country and world
- We will defend territory for life, the people and for human survival (Our mother earth)
- We will defend our universal right to previous consultation
- To defend the citizens decision through popular consultations
- To defend the fundamental right of all citizens to apply for guardianship
- We will defend life, peace and human dignity in our nation
- We will defend the constitutional right to social protest in Colombia which has been the only mechanism which we have utilized to plant our fundamental demands
- We will defend the right of our own communication, as the National Government seeks to modernize the sector of Information and Communication Technologies favoring the technological industries of multinational corporations
- We demand respect and guarantees of the fulfillment of the peace agreements reached with the FARC
Lets take to the streets with our voices and our word, to march with joy to the sound of our drums, flutes, guitars, and our dances. Lets take to the streets to recreate our memory, with our symbols that are the ideological force of our thoughts and our dreams.
From the paromos, mountains and mountain peaks, to the rivers and pathways, along the roads and trails, we walk toward the people, arriving to the cities to sow our word with our ideas and our wisdom, to weave together Afro, campesino, student, teacher, union member, worker, truck driver, transport worker, trader, leader, alternative legislator, women’s movement, youth, LGBTQ, human rights platform and non-governmental organizations, with all the social and popular force of Cauca, the southwest of the country.
Days of Mobilization:
- November 22-23, 2018: Territorial Congress of Sath Tama Kiwe Caldono
- November 21-22, 2018: Summit of Macizo Colombiano
- November 22, 2018: Report from human rights regarding the Special Jurisdiction for peace.
- November 23-25, 2018: Community work project of Indigenous Art “Cultures in Communication” Place: Caldas Park, Popayán, Cauca.
- November 26, 2018: CRIC Board of Education
- November 27-28, 2018: Social and community mobilization
- November 27, 2018: Mobilization against patriarchal violence
- November 28, 2018: Take the city of Popayán y Cali Valle, Cauca.
- November 29-30, 2018: Regional gathering of Indigenous Guard.
We convoke all of the Indigenous peoples, social and popular organizations of Cauca. Gather with us in the regional and national mobilizations to continue fulfilling our ancestral teachings and weaving the alternative process for life, democracy, dignity, and peace in the Colombian nation.
The People United Will Never be Defeated!
Regional Indigenous Council of CAUCA- CRIC
Popayán, November 21st, 2018