PBI-Colombia accompanied NOMADESC calls for protection measures after attack on Bahía Málaga in the rural area of Buenaventura
Photo: Mangaña is a community of 21 families located in Bahía Málaga (Valle del Cauca).
On January 23, PBI-Colombia retweeted this post from the Association for Social Research and Action (NOMADESC):
“#SOS We reject all violent actions and REQUEST @CorteIDH [Inter-American Court of Human Rights] to attend to the precautionary measures that are in process and we demand [Colombian president] @petrogustavo [and vice-president] @FranciaMarquezM to speak out and act immediately with REAL AND EFFECTIVE protection measures.”
El Espectador further explains: “After the incursion of an armed group that has not been identified, the inhabitants of Bahía Málaga, in the rural area of Buenaventura, have been confined and frightened since 1:00 a.m. on Monday, January 22, 2024. The community council of the Black Communities in the area published a statement denouncing the situation and asking for the presence of the security forces.”
Map: “The Naval Base of the National Navy is located just one kilometer from Bahía Málaga.”
That statement says: “We are being invaded and threatened by an outlaw group that took over the community of Mangaña. We ask the security forces to make an urgent presence. They have already tried to kidnap two leaders of the Community Council who were traveling in boats from rural towns near Buenaventura.”
“The community resists a forced displacement of our communities”
La Silla Vacía adds: “The Community Council does not specify which group is, but in the surroundings of Bahía Málaga there is a presence of the ELN [National Liberation Army] and the Clan del Golfo [paramilitary].”
On July 3, 2022, a delegation of labour activists along with the Peace Brigades International-Colombia Project and PBI-Canada visited the island of La Plata off the coast of Buenaventura and heard from the Afro-Colombian community of Bahia Malaga on the threat of “conservation” to ancestral and collective rights.
The PBI-Colombia Project has accompanied NOMADESC since 2011 and its president Berenice Celeita since 1999.
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