BOGOTA (AP) – Clashes between police and indigenous groups resumed amid promises by the Indians to remain on the more than one dozen farms they have seized in southwest Colombia in an effort to take back what they say are their ancestral lands.
A protester was injured during one of several confrontations Sunday where police in riot gear tried unsuccessfully to remove Indians from the farms using tear gas, said a police officer in Caloto, who refused to provide his name because he is not authorized to speak to the press.
Since the hostilities began more than a week ago, dozens have been injured on both sides and a 16-year-old indigenous young man was killed on Thursday near Caloto, 310 kilometers (194 miles) southwest of Colombia’s capital, Bogotá.
The two sides agreed to a temporary truce on Friday so the Indians could hold a funeral for the young man killed, but that ended Sunday as police moved toward the protesters.
Gerardo Jumi, a leader from the Embera tribe, on Sunday reiterated statements made earlier by other Indian officials that the protesters would not leave the land they had taken.
Jumi agreed with government calls for negotiations to end the dispute, but said the government’s insistence that the Indians first leave the farms they seized as a condition for talks is unacceptable to the protesters.
Hundreds of Indians are taking part in the protests, armed with machetes, slingshots and wooden sticks.
They argue the government has gone back on promises to give them more reservation land to feed their growing populations, which has forced them to take action.
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