Coalition of Indigenous Tribes March on Bogota to Demand Justice for Killings

Thousands of Indigenous protestors rallied in the center of Bogota, Columbia to demand an end to the ongoing wave of violence that has disproportionately affected Indigenous communities across the country, reports Joshua Collins for Al Jazeera.

The protest is the first by the Indigenous collective, called the “Minga”, to come during the administration of left-wing President Gustavo Petro, who has promised to pursue peace after the country’s nearly six decades of internal armed conflict. However, success has been mixed and violence in rural areas has largely continued unabated. The Global Witness advocacy group recently designated Colombia as the most dangerous country in the world for land defenders and environmental activists last year – and a disproportionate number of those targeted leaders come from Indigenous communities, which make up roughly half of all those displaced or affected by the violence, despite representing just 3.5 percent of the population.