Indigenous Wayuu Children Dying From Corruption and a Stolen River in Colombia
Indigenous Wayuu Children Dying From Corruption and a Stolen River in Colombia
Rick Kearns
4/17/15
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YouTube
Screen capture from the trailer of “The River That They Stole,” a documentary by Colombian investigative journalist
Gonzalo Guillen.
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Thousands of Wayuu children are starving and dying of thirst in northern Colombia as a result of the government’s damming of the Rancheria River which diverted the water to big farms, mines and wealthier areas according to activists; now the community has taken its case to an international court.
On February 6, Javier Rojas Uriana, legal representative of the Association of Traditional Indigenous Authorities of the Wayuu Shipia Wayuu (ATIAWSW), along with five other leaders petitioned the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights to issue emergency cautionary measures to the Colombian government to allow for the community to regain access to the river in an effort to prevent further deaths and suffering.
According to a 2014 study commissioned by the Ombudsman of the region, in the last three years at least 5,000 Wayuu children have died of starvation and more than 37,000 Wayuu children are suffering malnutrition in the desert area of La Guajira, home to the community. Wayuu observers assert that the number of child deaths is closer to 14,000.
In response to the tragedies in the Wayuu territory, the Colombian government funneled 5 million dollars to the area for food and nutrition but the money did not reach the Wayuu community due to corruption asserted Uriana and other leaders.
Read more at https://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2015/04/17/indigenous-wayuu-children-dying-corruption-and-stolen-river-colombia-160016
