Public Story
Amazonía colombiana
MINERIA LEGAL E ILEGAL EN TERRITORIOS INDÍGENAS
Colombia tiene el 6% del total de la selva amazónica del mundo. Estas selvas se encuentran repartidas en 6 departamentos ubicados en el suroriente del país y conforman la región amazónica. Vaupés es uno de los departamentos que la componen y es uno de los más aislados del país. Hace frontera con el Brasil y en su territorio de 54135 km² conviven 27 etnias indígenas de los 115 pueblos indígenas reconocidos por el Estado colombiano de acuerdo con el Departamento Administrativo Nacional de Estadística (DANE). La población indígena alcanza el 66% de los 44 mil habitantes que tiene el departamento.
Las comunidades empobrecidas y abandonadas históricamente por el Estado se encuentran en resistencia permanente por la minería dentro de sus resguardos. En el año 2017 la Agencia Nacional de Minería (ANM) le otorgó una concesión minera a una multinacional española (se desconoce el nombre de la empresa) que, sin la debida consulta previa, autorizó dentro de su territorio la explotación de los minerales niobio, tantalio, vanadio y circonio, o tierras negras. A esta problemática se suma la explotación ilegal de oro por parte de grupos armados y de colonos. Las amenazas son constantes contra los líderes y contra las comunidades que se resisten a que sus territorios sean explotados y destruidos. Bajo el peligro permanente piden protección a las autoridades que ignoran los llamados y no les brinda la protección adecuada. Los pueblos indígenas de la Amazonía colombiana hacen un llamado urgente para evitar a toda costa la minería de cualquier tipo y así seguir conservando sus territorios ancestrales ricos en biodiversidad y recursos naturales.
Estas imágenes hacen parte del trabajo realizado el año 2019, sobre diferentes comunidades indígenas en los departamentos amazónicos de Vaupés y Guainía y su lucha contra la minería en sus territorios.
English below
LEGAL AND ILLEGAL MINING IN INDIGENOUS TERRITORIES
Colombia has 6% of the total Amazon jungle in the world. These jungles are distributed in 6 departments located in the southeast of the country and make up the Amazon region. Vaupés is one of the departments that make it up and is one of the most isolated in the country. It borders Brazil and in its territory of 54,135 km², 27 indigenous ethnic groups of the 115 indigenous peoples recognized by the Colombian State coexist according to the National Administrative Department of Statistics (DANE). The indigenous population reaches 66% of the 44 thousand inhabitants of the department.
Communities impoverished and historically abandoned by the State are in permanent resistance by mining within their safeguards. In 2017, the National Mining Agency (ANM) granted a mining concession to a Spanish multinational (the name of the company is unknown) which, without prior consultation, authorized the exploitation of niobium minerals within its territory, tantalum, vanadium and zirconium, or black earth. Added to this problem is the illegal exploitation of gold by armed groups and settlers. Threats are constant against leaders and against communities that resist their territories being exploited and destroyed. Under permanent danger they ask for protection from the authorities who ignore the calls and do not provide them with adequate protection. The indigenous peoples of the Colombian Amazon make an urgent call to avoid mining of any kind at all costs and thus continue to conserve their ancestral territories rich in biodiversity and natural resources.
These images are part of a work carried out in 2019, on different indigenous communities in the Amazonian departments of Vaupés and Guainía and their fight against mining in their territories.
Communities impoverished and historically abandoned by the State are in permanent resistance by mining within their safeguards. In 2017, the National Mining Agency (ANM) granted a mining concession to a Spanish multinational (the name of the company is unknown) which, without prior consultation, authorized the exploitation of niobium minerals within its territory, tantalum, vanadium and zirconium, or black earth. Added to this problem is the illegal exploitation of gold by armed groups and settlers. Threats are constant against leaders and against communities that resist their territories being exploited and destroyed. Under permanent danger they ask for protection from the authorities who ignore the calls and do not provide them with adequate protection. The indigenous peoples of the Colombian Amazon make an urgent call to avoid mining of any kind at all costs and thus continue to conserve their ancestral territories rich in biodiversity and natural resources.
These images are part of a work carried out in 2019, on different indigenous communities in the Amazonian departments of Vaupés and Guainía and their fight against mining in their territories.
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