The National Police Force of the Cauca Region of Colombia violently tried to relocate 2,000 indigenous protestors occupying the Japio ranch in Caloto on November 10. Over 150 members of the police force used tanks and weapons to confront the protestors, causing the death of 16-year old Belisario Camayo Guetoto and injuring 32 others.
The Regional Indigenous Council of Cauca (CRIC) blamed Colombian President Alvaro Uribe for the death of Guetoto and for any future acts of aggression against the indigenous community. CRIC announced that "In his name (Camayo) and in the name of all our fallen leaders, we will pacifically remain in the lands that ancestrally belonged to us, until the government gives us what belongs to us today," Prensa Latina reported. CRIC also announced that they would not accept any more signed agreements from the government because they need concrete actions.
In the early morning on November 13, Colombian armed forces initiated another campaign to oust the protestors using tear gas and weapons, resulting in various injuries to the protestors, according to the Nasa organization, Association of Indigenous Councils of Northern Cauca (ACIN). Nasa and Paez protestors have been occupying the ranch since October 12, demanding the delivery of 11,000 hectares of land from the government, and fighting for the liberation of Mother Earth.
