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Tribes in Colombia threatened by decades-old war
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Filed Under: World

At least 27 tribes in Colombia have been displaced or at risk of being eliminated as a result of the country's decades-long civil war.

Paramilitary groups have massacred Indian villages and taken over tribal lands as they battle the Colombian army. The drug trade often motivates the groups to take revenge on tribal people.

The Embera Tribe has been among the latest to be terrorized. Hundreds of Embera families fled their traditional lands after two girls were raped, one man was killed and others were beaten by an armed group.

"There is safety in numbers, so we moved here," Dionel Isaramá, an Embera man, told The New York Times. "We will not return as long as our fear of the armed men remains with us."

Some advocates say the government hasn't taken steps to address violence in Indian areas. The military recently helped the Arhuaco Tribe reclaim land from armed groups.

Get the Story:
Wider Drug War Threatens Colombian Indians (The New York Times 4/22)

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