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| Arhuaco Indians, Colombia
© Survival |
Two Arhuaco Indians from northern Colombia have been found beheaded
after being seized by right-wing paramilitaries. The tragedy came just
11 days after another killing, this time of an employee of the local
Indian organisation. The killings occurred on the same mountain where a
group of European and Israeli tourists were kidnapped by the ELN
guerrilla army.
The Arhuaco, together with the related Kogi and Arsario tribes, live on a huge mountain called the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta.
Despite the Indians' peaceful nature, for several decades the area has
been a battleground between the army, left-wing guerrillas and
right-wing paramilitaries that has seen the Indians caught in the
crossfire. The lower slopes of the mountain have been colonised by
settlers, many of them growing coca and heroin poppies for the drug
trade.
Dozens of Indians have been killed in the quasi-civil war raging on
their land. In February this year an Arsario village was bombarded for
several days by the Colombian army, forcing the inhabitants to flee.
