Colombia: indigenous environmental activist Breiner David Cucuñame killed at 14
Environment — di Valentina Neri
On 14 January a group of dissidents opened fire on members of the Guardía Indígena. Fourteen-year-old Breiner David Cucuñame was killed.
Colombia: indigenous environmental activist Breiner David Cucuñame killed at 14
On 14 January a group of dissidents opened fire on members of the Guardía Indígena. Fourteen-year-old Breiner David Cucuñame was killed.
- Fourteen-year-old Breiner David Cucuñame was taking part in a patrol of a rural area of the department of Cauca, in Colombia, alongside the Guardía Indígena on 14 January.
- A group of dissidents belonging to the former Farc reached the group and opened fire, killing two people, including the boy, and wounding a third.
- The incident deeply shocked public opinion, shining a spotlight on how vulnerable indigenous communities are in a country like Colombia, which is the scene of frequent violent episodes.
Colombia is known as an extremely dangerous environment for activists. The NGO Global Witness reports 65 environmentalists killed in 2020, out of a global total of 227. The year 2022 has also begun in the worst possible way, with the attack that cost Breiner David Cucuñame his life. He was only 14 years old.
The ambush in which Breiner David Cucuñame lost his life
Breiner David Cucuñame was taking part in a patrol of a rural area of the department of Cauca alongside the Guardía Indígena on 14 January. This is a coalition of men, women and children who protect indigenous lands; on that occasion they were carrying out checks after receiving word of the presence of armed individuals in the area.
A group of dissidents belonging to the former Farc (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia), formally dissolved following the 2016 peace agreement, reached them and opened fire. Killed in the attack were Guillermo Chicame, a member of the Guardía Indígena's security team, and the fourteen-year-old who, according to some accounts, was accompanying his father. Community leader Fabián Camayo was also wounded.
La muerte del joven Breiner David Cucuñame, un abanderado de la protección ambiental en su comunidad en el Cauca, nos llena de tristeza. A su familia y a la comunidad indígena, mis más sentidas condolencias; apoyaremos a la @FiscaliaCol para esclarecer con celeridad los hechos.
The resurgence of violence in Colombia
The incident deeply shocked public opinion, shining a spotlight on how vulnerable indigenous communities are. Especially in regions such as Cauca, which is the scene of ongoing conflicts between armed groups. The peace agreement reached between the government and the Farc in 2016 had kindled a faint hope, with 78 confirmed murders in 2017 — a completely different order of magnitude compared to the 12,000 a year recorded before negotiations began in 2012. After the dissolution of the Farc, however, 5,000 dissidents remained active, alongside a further 2,500 from the Ejército Popular de Liberación and an equal number of right-wing paramilitaries. Hence the 10,500 murders recorded between January and September 2021, a testament to a resurgence of violence.
"Yes, yesterday armed men clipped this child's wings in our mother of forests (Kauka). Yes, he is one of the many who continue to be killed by the mafia-like territorial dispute that has taken hold in our territories," reads the statement in memory of Breiner David Cucuñame issued by the Consejo regional indígena del Cauca. "It is painful to see territories invaded by coca and marijuana. It is painful to see the commodification of sacred plants. It is painful to see dozens of young people killed every day and thrown away like rubbish."