8,000 families displaced by armed groups managed to return to their homes in Nariño

Gabriel Nastacuás, governor of the El Sande indigenous reservation, said that the return of the communities to their homes was due to “the fact that the peace dialogue has been taking place with the ELN group. “That guarantees us to live in peace in our territory,” he stated.

He pointed out that as indigenous communities they have always asked the National Government that they want to live in peace, while thanking the government of Nariño, the Victims Unit and the mayor of Samaniego because they made their return to the villages possible.
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(Also read: Fighting between dissidents and the Army in Cauca: a community member is seriously injured and 2,000 inhabitants confined).

However, he assured that the communities will now be aware of the investments that the State makes, “tell the community that they have that peace of mind, you have to be patient, I believe that peace is on the right track, it can happen very soon.”

That August 3, 2023, is still fresh in his memory, when nearly 7,800 inhabitants had to be displaced from the mountainous areas of Samaniego and Santacruz de Guachavés, due to the strong clashes between the National Liberation Army (ELN) and the dissidents. of the FARC.

All that time they remained the indigenous people in two coliseums in the municipal seat of Samaniego, which were enabled as temporary shelters.

For Mauricio Pantoja, governor of the La Montaña indigenous reservation, he was less optimistic about the momentous process they carried out when he declared that “here practically the community took the initiative of the return plan, but at this moment we do not have assigned resources, we have to do a diagnosis”.
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(Also read: There are 2,075 women in the Valley, victims of sexual violence by armed groups in the conflict).

“We want official institutions to enter our territory so that they know our needs, and thus be aware of the investment that must be made immediately,” he added.

He emphasized that as indigenous communities they are nature lovers. “Therefore we want to continue conserving it and continue in our territory, but we recognize that there are needs and that resources must be invested to be able to restore all the losses that occurred during the armed conflict,” she said.

He said that the indigenous communities settled in their reservation have every will to move forward, as well as continue believing that peace is possible, “we are completely determined to support this process.”

According to the revelation of Alex González, undersecretary of Peace and Human Rights of the governorate of Nariño, The return of indigenous communities to their territories means great progress towards peace.

“We want this return of the community to be within the framework of the Constitution and the law, which can be with guarantees that involve a social investment that the National and Departmental Governments have been managing,” he said. He then added that resources will be invested in tertiary pathways, education and health in the region.

(Read also: Overcrowding in Cali police stations: this is how detainees live among violence and diseases).

The indigenous leaders also insisted on the need to promote humanitarian demining actions in the territory, following the progress of negotiations between the National Government and illegal armed groups.
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