Territory, Autonomy, and the Good Life:

Afro-Colombian and Indigenous

Ethno-Territorial Movements in Colombia’s
Peace Process
By
Sheila Gruner
Algoma University and Javeriana University

In August 2016, as the first peace accord between the Colombian government
and the FARC-EP (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia—Popular Army)
was signed, Des/Dibujando el Pais/aje. Aportes para la paz con los pueblos afrode-
scendientes e indı́genas: Territorio, autonomı́a y buen vivir (Blurring/Drawing the
Country/side. Contributions for Peace with Afrodescendent and Indigenous People:
Territory, Autonomy and the Good Life) was published, representing a year’s effort
to bring together significant work, perspectives, and proposals of Afro-Colombian
and Indigenous people. The collection represents work that has developed within
the context of ethno-territorial movements and organizational efforts rooted in
historical struggles. It is also a response to a specific political juncture during the
final year of the four-year peace negotiations between guerrilla group FARC-EP
and the Colombian government, and as discussions between the government and
the ELN (National Liberation Army) cautiously advanced. Chapters are the work
of popular leaders, activists, intellectuals, and academic allies who have commit-
ted their life’s work to the territorial, political, and cultural aspirations of these
communities. The perspectives on conflict and peace include analyses of race and
racism, gender violence and collective rights, political–cultural concepts of terri-
tory, and alternatives to development—all of which are essential in the construction
of peace.
Ethno-territorial movements have fought hard to have these perspectives in-
cluded in public debate and policy despite having lived with the consequences
of violence, displacement, systematic discrimination based on race, the ecological
destruction of lands, and political and cultural erasure throughout Colombian
[Afro-Latin Americans, Colombia, conflict, development, ethnicity, indigenous peoples] [descendentes Afro-
Latinoamericanos, Colombia, conflicto, desarrollo, etnicidad, pueblos indı́genas]
The Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Anthropology, Vol. 22, No. 1, pp. 174–182. ISSN 1935-4932, online ISSN
1935-4940. 
C 2017 by the American Anthropological Association. All rights reserved. DOI: 10.1111/jlca.12269

174 J ournal of L atin A merican and C aribbean A nthropology

history, from the onset of colonialization and the brutality of the slave trade. The
positions and proposals have numbered the highest in victims of the more than
half-century of internal armed conflict that has played out in the last couple of
decades largely in their collective and ancestral territories. They have long taken
the lead in fostering peace in these regions and the country as a whole. This
commentary draws on Des/Dibujando el Pais/aje (Gruner et al. 2016), which is
available only in Spanish to date, the efforts of the Ethnic Commission for Peace
and Defense of Territorial Rights (the Ethnic Commission) and the inclusion of
an “Ethnic Chapter”1 in the Final Accord for the Termination of the Conflict and
the Construction of a Stable and Lasting Peace (the Havana Accords).2 The Ethnic
Chapter is a historic element of the peace process based on efforts of popular
Indigenous and Afro-Colombian political and territorial organizations who have
rallied to have a voice since 2012, when the talks began.
Des/Dibujando el Pais/aje includes perspectives on, but goes beyond, the
Havana Accords making visible the points of view of Afro-Colombian, Black,
Palenquero, Raizal,3 and Indigenous people,4 and in particular the orienta-
tions of ethno-territorial representative movements which represent them and
have developed sophisticated forms of organizing and advocating for the de-
fense of territory, collective rights, and land title. The collection explores cri-
tiques of capitalist accumulation and alternatives to development based on dis-
tinct productive relations coming up against the ravages of both the internal
armed conflict and a dominant development model, both expressive of class re-
lations. These alternatives to development—expressed through new discourses
of “Buen Vivir,” “Sumak Kawsay,” and “Ubuntu” (Escobar 2016a, 2016b:11–32,
91–108; Perez 2016:51–64) —have been fundamental to the survival of these
communities. Much of the violence they have faced historically and during
the internal armed conflict in Colombia has been directly or indirectly linked
to dominant legal and illegal economic production relations within a logic of
often unfettered capitalist accumulation, dependent on systematic exploitation and
dispossession, undermining other productive economic forms (Arocha 2016:115–
132) with particularly brutal effects on women (CONPA—Articulacion de Mujeres
2016:295–304).
Although Des/Dibujando is not meant as a detailed analysis of the peace accords,
it reflects efforts underway by Indigenous and Afro-Colombian organizations to
support peace and to analyze the causes of war. It was intended to open space for the
articulation of perspectives of ethno-territorial organizations specifically, and to in-
crease the visibility of significant gaps in the peace talks, including the implications
and effects of the Havana Accords on Afro-Colombian and Indigenous rights and;
the role of ethno-territorial authorities (Afro-Colombian community councils, In-
digenous cabildos, and related collective community processes) in decision making
on territorial and justice-related issues and procedures related to demobilization

Ethno-Territorial Movements in Colombia’s Peace Process 175

 and reintegration of combatants; the collective rights of victims—including the
concept of “collective victim”—entire communities affected by displacement and
the assassination and disappearance of leaders; the need for representative voices
of Indigenous and Afrocolombian people and an effective “ethnic” verification
mechanism for the implementation and monitoring of the accords. Also crucial
is the need for a better understanding of and commitment to addressing violence
against women in Indigenous and Afro-Colombian collective and ancestral terri-
tories. The violent actions of paramilitary and other illegal groups see collective
territorial rights as obstacles to “development and progress” and these groups
have used violence systematically against women’s bodies to seed fear and erode
communities’ social and cultural fabric.
Des/Dibujando accompanied the efforts of Indigenous and Afro-Colombian
groups, including the work of CONPA (the Afro-Colombian National Peace Coun-
cil), which comprises nine of the most significant national and regional organi-
zations representing Afro-Colombian, black, Palenquero, and Raizal communities
and territories in Colombia,5 two national Indigenous organizations, ONIC (Na-
tional Indigenous Organization of Colombia), and Autoridades Tradicionales Indi-
genas de Colombia Gobierno Mayor (Traditional Indigenous Authorities of Colom-
bia Higher Government). These came together formally as the Ethnic Commission
for Peace and the Defense of Territorial Rights (Ethnic Commission) launched on
International Women’s Day, March 8, 2016.6

The Ethnic Commission for Peace and the Ethnic Chapter of the Peace Accords

The work of the Ethnic Commission aimed to achieve written safeguards and
guarantees for their established cultural and territorial rights, as well as princi-
ples and mechanisms for implementation and monitoring in ethnic territories,
including recognition for “ethnic gender, women, family and generation.”
(Comisión Étnica para la Paz y los Derechos Territoriales 2016:3). Despite in-
tense efforts since the inception of the peace talks, the Ethnic Chapter was only
integrated into the Final Accord at the 11th hour, as it was being signed at the end
of August in preparation for a popular plebiscite on October 2, 2016.
Leading up to the signing of the peace accord, the Ethnic Commission had
engaged in intensive advocacy—supported nationally by progressive sectors in the
country as well as the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights in Colombia
and internationally by allies in the U.S. (including human rights organizations
WOLA—Washington Office on Latin America and ACSN—Afro-Colombian
Solidarity Network, who worked with the Congressional Black Caucus, the
Coalition for Black Trade Unionists, among others), Cuba, Canada, Europe, and
elsewhere—with the aim that the Ethnic Chapter would be included in the final

176 J ournal of L atin A merican and C aribbean A nthropology

accord as a measure of protection of rights, leaders, and communities in the
post-accord period.
While the peace negotiations allowed for a “gender subcommission”7 to deal
with the specific effects of the war against women and underrepresented gendered
groups, an “ethnic subcommission” was not similarly created. The work of the Eth-
nic Commission arose from grassroots organizational efforts, largely self-financed,
and appeared to be perceived as an obstacle to the process given its political–
territorial character. The achievement of the Ethnic Chapter was no small feat.
From the outset of the peace process in 2012, given the special legal status
of Indigenous, Afro-Colombian (and Rom) people, established in the 1991 Con-
stitution, the Ethnic Chapter should have been assured. Nevertheless, it required
considerable internal and external political pressure, and drew on social mobiliza-
tions across the country. Among diverse demonstrations in the capital city and in
the territories, the National Agrarian, Ethnic, and Popular Minga took place in
June 2016, which was met with state violence leading to the deaths of a number
of Indigenous protesters. The National Minga eventually resulted in a number
of negotiated agreements, including recognition of the Ethnic Commission as
voice for Indigenous and Afro-Colombian territorial movements in the peace
process.8
Afro-Colombian and Indigenous groups have drawn on historical, constitu-
tional and ethical claims to self-representation and consultation in relation to the
Havana Accords. At the same time, there has been a risk for these groups in achiev-
ing a place at the table, because it could legitimize a process that might not lead to
any real change in the war dynamic in their territories, given the pending vacuum
created via demobilized FARC and ongoing economic interests in these regions,
already linked to increased paramilitary violence.
It was only after the Ethnic Commission was established as a broader-based
coalition in March 2016—with statements about the right to consultation over
the zones being established for demobilization and transition to civilian life for
FARC guerrillas—that the commission was paid any significant political attention
by the negotiation table, seeing Indigenous and Afro-Colombian “territory” and
“territorial authority” on the peace agenda. The Ethnic Chapter, because of the
groups driving it forward, was not a minor challenge for the FARC and the Colom-
bian government who needed to contemplate the implications of these recognized
ethno-territorial authorities. They also needed to consider ongoing strategic eco-
nomic interests, and the implications for the planned demobilization and tran-
sition “concentration” zones (zonas veredales transitorias de normalización) for
the FARC.9 There is also legislation and jurisprudence that would be implicated in
the accords in relation to ethno-territorial rights, including Indigenous and Afro-
Colombian legal jurisdiction,10 rights to free, prior, and informed consent, and

Ethno-Territorial Movements in Colombia’s Peace Process 177

 the proposed “zonas de reserva campesina” (peasant reserve zones), among other
significant issues.
Finally, an updated “second” peace accord passed via vote in Congress at the
end of November, with the Ethnic Chapter intact. The accords passed this second
time round after the “No” vote had won in the nationwide plebiscite by less than a
percentage point (with a 63 percent abstention rate), based in part on disconcerting
tactics, by right wing political groups including campaigns on statements that
the accords were a “threat to the family unit through the use of gender ideology
(ideologia de genero),” as well as a “threat to private property” (Samana 2016; Verdad
Abierta 2016). These distortions were particularly troubling in a country marked
by high levels of violence against racialized women associated with ancestral and
collective territories, as well as a lack of political participation and representation
of women and LGBTQ communities in formal governance processes.
It was not lost on the Ethnic Commission and the Indigenous and Afro-
Colombian people they represent that the majority of their communities voted in
favor of the original accords. These then represented the strongest civilian peace
protagonists, given what they have endured and what they have to lose if the agenda
for implementation is usurped by institutional and economic interests, or if the
threats of paramilitary and “illegal groups” continue to amplify.

Development, Violence, and Implementation of the Peace Accords

Indeed, peace cannot be discussed without assessing what is happening in the

territories and to the social organizations most affected by the violence of the
internal armed conflict. Tumaco, for example, an Afro-Colombian port city on
the South Pacific coast, has become coveted as a region for drug trafficking
given its geostrategic location; it is one of the most violent regions in the coun-
try with 132 killings reported in 2016 (El Tiempo, December 14, 2016). Afro-
Colombian community councils have worked hard against the drug economy
and numerous leaders have been killed and otherwise displaced for opposing il-
licit crop production linked to entrenched national and international mafia-type
groups. The Black and Indigenous population living in or near another impor-
tant port city on the Colombian Pacific coast, Buenaventura (now home to a
megaport and massive hotel and other infrastructure projects and plans) experi-
ences endemic poverty; it is also the site of troubling violence and, particularly,
of violence against women, which has taken on brutal dimensions.11 Betty Ruth
Lozano (2016:73–86) links violence against women in Buenaventura directly to the
pervasive extractive logics that see ethnic-territorial rights and collective territo-
ries as a threat. Other regions made vulnerable to violence related to development
include Northern Cauca, where large-scale legal and illegal mining and other ex-
tractive projects are located; el Choco province—also rife with mining, petroleum,

178 J ournal of L atin A merican and C aribbean A nthropology

illicit crop production and other interests; southern Putumayo region, areas along
the Caribbean coast, and the border with Venezuela.
One hundred fourteen targeted killings of human rights and community lead-
ers have been reported to have taken place in 2016 alone—with a chilling increase
during and after the signing of the peace accords.12 These killings evoke recent
memory of UP (Unión Patriótica) genocide—a leftist political organization affili-
ated with the FARC during the 1980s and 1990s: the goal was the extermination of
leftist ideological and political organization.13 Such systematic killings of civilians
unaffiliated with any armed group are of deep concern for the viability of peace.
There is a further and obvious concern as the FARC moves toward disarmament
and participation in political processes. The whole basis of the peace negotiation
between armed insurgency and the state is predicated on the idea that the guerrillas
can demobilize and engage without weapons in the political process. However, it
remains unclear whether conditions will be met to make this possible, now com-
plicated by the fact that five “dissident factions” of the FARC have been identified
and denounced by this guerrilla’s secretariat.14
Clearly, ongoing violence raises questions about the viability of peace in Colom-
bia, particularly in Black and Indigenous territories. Implementation of the accords
will be the deciding process. Currently, the trend leading up to implementation is
worrisome as paramilitary groups tied to economic interests are becoming more
active in vulnerable regions, often presented in the media as “invisible” forms of
violence by “unknown” illegal groups, and as grassroots and popular organizations
are systematically criminalized and simultaneously victimized.15
The overall number of displacements and deaths linked to the conflict has sub-
stantially decreased since the unilateral and subsequent bilateral ceasefire agree-
ments were reached between the FARC-EP and the Colombian army, which is
an important indicator for the success and potential for peace in Colombia. Yet,
the systematic and selective attacks on leftist, Afro-Colombian, Indigenous, and
campesino leaders have led to deep concerns for the postaccord period.
Displacement, violence, and related atrocities in ethnic communities have
been endemic in the 52-year conflict, although have more profound historical
roots spanning centuries from the arrival of Europeans; this merits much broader
and focused attention, as ethno-territorial organizations work to put discussion of
historical reparations on the national agenda. For the purposes of the current peace
process, ensuring that these communities have a strong voice for implementation
and monitoring of the accords is a minimum they must be afforded.
Ethno-territorial organizations have emphasized the urgent need for imple-
mentation and verification processes reflective of political-territorial rights and
safeguards established in the Ethnic Chapter of the Final Accord, where it states in
the chapter that a “Special High Level Authority with Ethnic Peoples” for follow
up and implementation of the accords will be formed. This ethnic verification

Ethno-Territorial Movements in Colombia’s Peace Process 179

 commission is to take part in the tripartite verification processes that involve
the Colombian state, FARC representatives, and the United Nations, for ethnic
regions. Further, given the significant legal reforms required for implementation
through the Colombian congress, involvement of legal representatives of the Ethnic
Commission in the formation of legal reforms should also be assured. Unresolved
issues related to land restitution and victims reparation policies for Indigenous
and Afro-descendent communities are clear indicators that the legal and policy
arenas need significant attention.
Black and Indigenous communities must be afforded sufficient financial sup-
port and recognition for the autonomy and authority of community-based grass-
roots efforts and governance processes to develop a truly “ethnic” monitoring
mechanism to oversee implementation, which would include the involvement
of the Indigenous Guard (guardia indı́gena) and Cimarron Guard (guardia
cimarrona)—unarmed, civilian human rights-trained members of Indigenous and
black communities, respectively, who accompany their communities in protecting
civilian rights and territorial autonomy.
In the face of policy, resource, and security challenges, the organizational capac-
ity of Indigenous and Afro-Colombian ethnoterritorial movements and commu-
nities is nonetheless astounding, represented indeed through such achievements as
the Ethnic Commission and the Ethnic Chapter of the Havana Accords, reached in
the midst of violent internal conflict that has produced mass physical and cultural
displacement, and ongoing threats posed by illegal and legal capitalist accumula-
tion processes aligned with racist, neocolonial, and patriarchal ideological logics.
Grassroots, territorial communities affected by war have the ability to change the
dynamic in the postaccord period if afforded the opportunity. The many political
and legal challenges that lie ahead in the postaccord period are perhaps the next
phase in the many centuries of resistance and collective organizing by Indigenous
and Afro-Colombian people who have maintained ways of life that persist against
the odds.

Notes

1 See http://www.infoindigena.org/attachments/article/567/2016-Acuerdo-Final-%20terminaci%
C3%B3n-conflicto-construcci%C3%B3n-paz-Capitulo-Etnico.pdf.
2 Documents pertaining to Colombia’s peace dialogues in Havana can be found here:

https://www.mesadeconversaciones.com.co/.
3 These are terms used by Afro-descendent groups to identify themselves as a distinct group in

Colombia; all are used in policies relating to Afro-descendents in Colombia. They are used interchange-
ably throughout this article.
4 “Indigenous” is used in a similar way to “indı́gena” in Colombia to identify original peoples whose

ancestors lived in the region before the arrival of Europeans. The National Indigenous Organization of
Colombia (ONIC) lists 87 tribes currently living in Colombia.

180 J ournal of L atin A merican and C aribbean A nthropology

 5 Organizations comprising CONPA include the following: Autoridad Nacional Afrocolombiana
ANAFRO, la Asociación de Afrocolombianos Desplazados AFRODES, el Foro Interétnico Solidaridad
Chocó FISCH, Red Nacional de Mujeres KAMBIRI, Centro de Pastoral Afrocolombiana CEPAC, la
Asociación de Consejos Comunitarios del Norte del Cauca ACONC, EL Consejo Laboral Afrocolom-
biano CLAF, el Proceso de Comunidades Negras PCN y la Conferencia Nacional de Organizaciones
Afrocolombiana CNOA.
6 See http://www.onic.org.co/noticias/70-destacadas/976-comunicado-a-la-opinion-publica-co–

mision-etnica-para-la-paz-y-la-defensa-de-los-derechos-territoriales.
7 See https://www.mesadeconversaciones.com.co/subcomision-genero/comunicados.
8 See http://www.thedawn-news.org/2016/06/02/colombia-national-minga-continues-as-repres–

sion-increases/.
9 Alberto Yace of the ONIC discusses implications of the peace process and pro-

posed concentration zones for Indigenous communities in Gruner et al. (2016:109–114). See
also http://www.elespectador.com/noticias/politica/reparos-zonas-de-concentracion-de-farc-articulo-
616942.
10 Indigenous and Afro-Colombian lawyers discuss issues of ethnic justice in relation to the peace

process in an interview transcribed in “Territory, Justice and Peace for Indigenous and Afrodescendent
Peoples” in Gruner et al. (2016:65–72).
11 See https://www.centrodememoriahistorica.gov.co/descargas/informes2015/buenaventuraPue–

bloSinComunidad/buenaventura-un-pueblo-sin-comunidad.pdf.
12 According to a Dec 17, 2016 article in El Espectador newspaper, the total number of assasinations

of social leaders rose to 114. See: http://www.elespectador.com/opinion/editorial/los-estan-matando-

articulo-670851. The Centro de Memoria Historica, had also reported a high number (94) earlier
in December. http://www.centrodememoriahistorica.gov.co/noticias/noticias-cmh/van-94-los-lideres-
sociales-asesinados-en-el-2016.
13 See http://www.corteidh.or.cr/tablas/r24797.pdf.
14 See http://www.elespectador.com/noticias/paz/depuracion-interna-farc-separan-cinco-man–

dos-de-sus-fil-articulo-670308.
15 Boaventura de Soussa Santos (2016:39) questions the meaning of peace in the increasingly

militarized and criminalized environments facing popular movements.

References Cited

Arocha, Jaime. 2016. “Territorio y daño cultural en el afro-Pacı́fico.” In Des/DIBUJANDO EL PAIS/aje. Aportes para
la paz con los pueblos afrodescendientes e indı́genas. Territorio, autonomı́a y buen vivir, edited by Sheila Gruner,
Melquiceded Blandon, Jader Gomez, and Charo Mina-Rojas, 115–32. Medellin: Editorial Poder Negro.
Centro de Memoria Histórica. 2016. “Van 94 los lı́deres sociales asesinados en 2016.” Accessed Decem-
ber 14, 2016. http://www.centrodememoriahistorica.gov.co/noticias/noticias-cmh/van-94-los-lideres-sociales-
asesinados-en-el-2016, accessed December 14, 2016.
Comisión Étnica para la Paz y los derechos territoriales. 2016. “Capitulo Étnico.” Accessed Decem-
ber 12. http://www.infoindigena.org/attachments/article/567/2016-Acuerdo-Final-%20terminaci%C3%B3n-
conflicto-construcci%C3%B3n-paz-Capitulo-Etnico.pdf
CONPA—Articulación de Mujeres. 2016. “Construyendo una agenda de paz afrocolombiana desde el cuerpo, el
corazón y la mente de las mujeres negras afrocolombianas, palenqueras y raizales.” In Des/DIBUJANDO EL
PAIS/aje. Aportes para la paz con los pueblos afrodescendientes e indı́genas. Territorio, autonomı́a y buen vivir,
edited by Sheila Gruner, Melquiceded Blandon, Jader Gomez, and Charo Mina-Rojas, 295–304. Medellı́n:
Editorial Poder Negro.
de Soussa Santos, Boaventura. 2016. “Los derechos humanos: instrumentos de guerra y obstaculo para la paz.” In
Des/DIBUJANDO EL PAIS/aje. Aportes para la paz con los pueblos afrodescendientes e indı́genas. Territorio,

Ethno-Territorial Movements in Colombia’s Peace Process 181

 autonomı́a y buen vivir, edited by Sheila Gruner, Melquiceded Blandon, Jader Gomez, and Charo Mina-Rojas,
39–50. Medellin: Editorial Poder Negro.
Escobar, Arturo. 2016a. “Thinking-Feeling with the Earth: Territorial Struggles and the Ontological Dimension of
the Epistemologies of the South.” Revista de Anthropologia 11:11–32.
———. 2016b. “Territorios de diferencia: ontologı́a political de los derechos de los territorios.” In Des/DIBUJANDO
EL PAIS/aje. Aportes para la paz con los pueblos afrodescendientes e indı́genas. Territorio, autonomı́a y buen
vivir, edited by Sheila Gruner, Melquiceded Blandon, Jader Gomez, and Charo Mina-Rojas, 91–108. Medellin:
Editorial Poder Negro.
Gruner, Sheila, Melquiceded Blandon, Jader Gomez, and Charo Mina-Rojas, editors. 2016. Des/DIBUJANDO EL
PAIS/aje. Aportes para la paz con los pueblos afrodescendientes e indigenas. Territorio, autonomia y buen vivir.
Medellin: Editorial Poder Negro.
Lozano, Betty Ruth. 2016. “Asesinato de mujeres y acumulacion global: el caso del bello puerto del mar mi Bue-
naventura.” In Des/DIBUJANDO EL PAIS/aje. Aportes para la paz con los pueblos afrodescendientes e indı́genas.
Territorio, autonomı́a y buen vivir, edited by Sheila Gruner, Melquiceded Blandon, Jader Gomez, and Charo
Mina-Rojas, 73–86. Medellin: Editorial Poder Negro.
ONIC. 2016. “Formalizada la Comisión Étnica para la Paz y la Defensa de los Derechos Territori-
ales.” http://cms.onic.org.co/noticias/70-destacadas/976-comunicado-a-la-opinion-publica-comision-etnica-
para-la-paz-y-la-defensa-de-los-derechos-territoriales, accessed December 10, 2016.
Perez, Diego. 2016. “Ubuntu y sumak kawsay: paradigmas urgentes para una paz incluyente y sostenible en Colombia.”
In Des/DIBUJANDO EL PAIS/aje. Aportes para la paz con los pueblos afrodescendientes e indı́genas. Territorio,
autonomı́a y buen vivir, edited by Sheila Gruner, Melquiceded Blandon, Jader Gomez, and Charo Mina-Rojas,
51–64. Medellin: Editorial Poder Negro.
Semana. 2016. “Ideologia de genero una estrategia para ganar adeptos por el no al plebisc-
ito.” http://www.semana.com/nacion/articulo/ideologia-de-genero-una-estrategia-para-ganar-adeptos-por-
el-no-al-plebiscito/488260, accessed December 11, 2016.
Verdad Abierta. 2016. “La nueva apuesta por el acuerdo final.” http://www.verdadabierta.com/procesos-de-
paz/farc/6473-la-nueva-apuesta-por-el-acuerdo-final, accessed December 16, 2016

182 J ournal of L atin A merican and C aribbean A nthropology