Blog

Oil on Canvas – 30” x 40”
January 2019

In Colombia, land is power. The more than half-century long civil war (which despite international proclamations and nobel peace prize adornments, still has not reached its resolution), was more than anything about the control of land. More than seven million people have been internally displaced during the conflict, which is the most in the world (Syria is second). 

The Colombian constitution of 1991 is recognized as one of the strongest legal documents in the world in terms of guaranteeing indigenous rights, to land and social participation. Nonetheless, an often absent and always corrupt government rarely fulfills the obligations of the constitution, and indigenous groups and leaders who stand up and speak up for their territorial rights are often silenced, permanently.  

Colombia has become the world leader in assassinations of social and environmental leaders and human and land rights defenders, a trend that is only growing since the signing of the “peace agreement” between the Colombian Government and the FARC (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia) in 2016. 

Here a young indigenous Nasa leader is being silenced by dark forces while trying to hold on to his land.