On Tuesday 13 December, the third title in the Defender collection was launched, Defender el territorio, published by the organisation Somos Defensores and the project Hacemos Memoria of the University of Antioquia.

The text presents eight stories written by journalists from different departments of Colombia, where they show the struggle of social leaders and environmental defenders to defend the rights of different populations in the Colombian territory against the State and local or foreign companies.

Photo: Alfredo González Núñez

The authors include Alfredo González Núñez, who is also an ethno-educator and part of the Pressenza Colombia editorial team. In his document he researched and narrated the story of the indigenous leader José Silva, defender of the human and territorial rights of the Wayuu people through the NGO Nación Wayuu.

The Wayuu Nation Organisation is a non-profit civil society organisation created after multiple violations against the Wayuu indigenous people in the department of La Guajira. Because of his social work, Silva has reported threats and has been the target of police persecution.

González Núñez mentioned in the letter that the social leader founded a legal office to advise on and defend legal cases in defence of the rights of the Wayuu communities. He also indicated that Silva considers the office:

“It was the way to help my indigenous brothers. I felt that in the police I was already working for the human rights of the population, but I still felt tied to an institution, and I could do much more. Therefore, I invited other colleagues who are sensitive to good causes, for it to make a contribution as a social responsibility, but in this case to the Wayuu brothers, who through ignorance of the laws and their rights are victims of abuses”.

Defender el territorio is the third volume of the Defender collection, a project carried out by the project Hacemos Memoria of the University of Antioquia and the organisation Somos Defensores.

You can access the books here: Defender los pueblos, Defender la Vida, Defender el territorio.