The Association of Indigenous Cabildos and Traditional Authorities of Puerto Leguízamo and Resguardo Alto Predio Putumayo (ACILAPP) along with the Yauda Foundation of Amazonian Studies invite you to be part of the “Let’s give a hand to Puerto Leguízamo” campaign. The campaign aims to raise COP$15,000,000 (around 4,000 US dollars) to provide immediate humanitarian assistance to the indigenous communities of Bellavista, Ka+yano, and Yarinal, within the municipality of Puerto Leguízamo, Putumayo, which have been victims of armed conflict and forced displacement after incidents on December 25, 2021. With the money collected, we will provide the families at these indigenous communities with:

1.     Non-perishable food.

2.     Blankets.

3.     Toiletry kits (soap, toothbrushes, sanitary towels, toilet paper, detergent).

4.     Kitchen kits (cookware sets, crockery set, cutlery).

5.     School kits (backpacks, notebooks, pencils).

6.     Medicine (Ampicillin, Amoxicillin, Acetaminophen, Diclofenac, Ibuprofen).

The situation 

At approximately 3 pm, on December 25, 2021, an armed group entered the indigenous community of Bellavista in the municipality of Puerto Leguízamo, Putumayo, causing the massacre of seven (7) people and the disappearance of eighteen (18) more, among women and children from outside the community, who were near the territory or navigating on the river at the moment. The missing bodies have not yet been recovered since some of them were thrown into the Putumayo river after being massacred by this armed group, and further identification and removal has not been allowed. In addition, a traditional authority from the indigenous community of Umancia, on the Caquetá River, who was in Bellavista at the moment, died after falling down a ravine while trying to avoid the shooting.

35 indigenous families were forced to leave their houses; 25 moved to the urban area of the municipality of Puerto Leguízamo, where they live in a critical and vulnerable situation at the moment, while the other 10 families crossed the river into Perú. Approximately 120 people, including elderly and children, had to leave their community in order to protect their lives and physical integrity. The political and traditional authorities of the indigenous community of Bellavista are among the displaced, which leaves the community and its territory without its own governing structures and mired in fear and uncertainty facing a possible return.

Currently, only the Colombian Military Forces are present in the indigenous community of Bellavista, while carrying out demining and sweeping the land in order to ensure a safe return for the families that were displaced. The political and traditional authorities in the neighboring indigenous communities of Ka+yano and Yarinal also had to leave their houses and move to the urban area of the municipality of Puerto Leguízamo, due to the unsafe current conditions in their territory. Two families from Ka+yano and three families from Yarinal were displaced as a result of this situation.

The Association of Indigenous Cabildos and Traditional Authorities of Puerto Leguízamo and Resguardo Alto Predio Putumayo (ACILAPP), and the Yauda Foundation of Amazonian Studies launch the campaign “Let’s give a hand to Puerto Leguízamo,” in order to raise COP$15,000,000 (around 4,000 US dollars) to provide immediate humanitarian assistance to the families in said communities. With the money collected, we will provide the families at these indigenous communities with:

1.     Non-perishable food.

2.     Blankets.

3.     Toiletry kits (soap, toothbrush, sanitary towels, toilet paper, detergent).

4.     Kitchen kits (cookware sets, crockery set, cutlery).

5.     School kits (backpacks, notebooks, pencils).

6.     Medicine (Ampicillin, Amoxicillin, Acetaminophen, Diclofenac, Ibuprofen).