WEEKLY NEWS UPDATE ON THE AMERICAS
ISSUE #481, APRIL 18, 1999
NICARAGUA SOLIDARITY NETWORK OF GREATER NEW YORK 339 
LAFAYETTE ST., NEW YORK, NY 10012 (212) 674-9499 



*1. COLOMBIAN ARMY BOMBS INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES 

In an Apr. 12 statement, the National Indigenous Organization of 
Colombia (ONIC) charged that Colombian army planes have been 
carrying out bombing raids on Nasa (Paez) indigenous communities 
in the north of Cauca department since Apr. 7, killing local residents 
and their livestock, and destroying native forests. According to a 
report from the Association of Indigenous Councils of the North of 
Cauca (ACIN), intense combat has been under way between army 
troops and guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia 
(FARC) on the indigenous reservations of Caldono, Pioya, Jambalo and 
Aguada San Francisco. The combat and the bombings have forced 
indigenous families to leave their homes in the villages of La Maria, 
El Maco and La Mina, in Jambalo municipality; and Villa Hermosa, 
San Juanito, Granadillo and El Carmen, in Pioya municipality. Some 
250 indigenous families remain in the combat zone, with all food 
supplies cut off. Three indigenous people have been detained by the 
army; they are accused of collaborating with the rebels and it is 
believed that they are being beaten or otherwise mistreated. ONIC is 
calling on the government and the rebels to halt their armed actions 
in the area, to respect indigenous territories and to release the three 
detainees. [Agencia de Noticias Nueva Colombia (ANNCOL) 4/12/99, 
from ONIC communique]
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