Please pray for indigenous communities throughout Colombia and for the agricultural-mining communities of the southern Bolivar province, as the Colombian government ignores, defames or tries to violently squelch these communities’ nonviolent gatherings and demands for dialogue and policy change.

This past week, when thousands of indigenous Colombians marched in Cauca and other provinces to protest military and economic policies that have created humanitarian crises in their communities, Colombian national military and police forces fired live ammunition into the crowds, burned nearby houses and destroyed supplies.

Meanwhile, hundreds of subsistence farmers and miners, associated with the Southern Bolivar Agricultural-Mining Federation, gathered in the city of Santa Rosa to meet with government officials on October 15 and resume a dialogue process seeking solutions for their region. When the government officials failed to attend the meeting over 900 farmers and miners marched in Santa Rosa. The following day 150 protested at the Cartagena office of the Secretary of Mining. Federation members continue in assembly in Santa Rosa, awaiting a response from the Colombian government.