International Trade committee  One important point of this debate for us as indigenous peoples and Afro-Colombians is that general issues have to be examined in relation to particular perceptions, the particular perception of peoples. So for us, not only have we had a right for development being recognized, bu

International Trade committee  Yes, but I'd like to openly talk about other issues. Many of the debates we've had focused on labour issues and on the figures, but they didn't deal with other issues. My understanding is that in the particular case of Canada, there are very strong mining interests. I think the

International Trade committee  Because of the way in which it's been drafted or developed, without the participation of our peoples or of our communities, we doubt that our particular rights will be guaranteed. This is why we want to repeat that one of the possibilities for us to see if this would actually ben

International Trade committee  In general, we accept trade. The presence of black people in our continent is a result of trading in the past. I would like to insist that there are two different issues being discussed. What we are presenting arguments in relation to is the method through which the agreement w

International Trade committee  I think so.

International Trade committee  In this particular case, friendship does imply certain rules, and finally this is what we are asking for. There are rules, democratic rules, and we believe that friendship with the Colombian people, and particularly with African Colombians and indigenous peoples, could be a longe

International Trade committee  We haven't conducted studies. I can talk to you about my experience in a specific area such as Norte del Cauca. If you ask me whether there's been improvement, there haven't been any improvements in the area in which we are. I started working with them in 1996 on the process of

International Trade committee  Officially, based on census data in 2005, it's only 10.5% of the population, or about 4.5 million people. These are official figures. Extra-officially, our data tells us that it's close to 20% or 25% of the total Colombian population, but these are extra-official figures.

International Trade committee  Well, evidence shows us several things. First, this and other agreements have affected us initially in that there have never been prior consultations and the requirement of free and informed consent. That hasn't been respected, and that actually tells us that terrible things coul

International Trade committee  I think the Colombian government, in relation to average Colombians, doesn't make enough of an effort to improve the human rights situation of our people. For example, there's a great deal of evidence in the communities in which we work where non-compliance on the part of the go

International Trade committee  I don't have the comprehensive data, but I do have UNHCR data from the UN. This data says that indigenous peoples represent 2% of the population, but represent 12% of all displaced people inside Colombia. African Colombians represent 8% of the population, but represent 20% of the

International Trade committee  Yes, this has happened in several areas of our country. One case is Jiguamiandó, in the northern area along the Pacific coast, involving people who were displaced in 1997. They returned in 2007, and their lands had actually been occupied by a company that deals in livestock breed

International Trade committee  An investor informs the government that they're interested in working in a particular area and will ask the government to, in turn, inform the investor whether there are Afro-Colombian or indigenous peoples in the area. This will lead to the beginning of a prior consultation proc

International Trade committee  I think, in general, we agree, but as you've pointed out quite specifically, with the participation of the indigenous peoples...that is not happening in Colombia. I have some figures that were too dense and I wasn't able to read, but there is a quote from our President. When ta

International Trade committee  Additionally, I would like to say that drugs, or drug dealers, finance a lot of the illegal activities in Colombia and also some of the legal activities carried out in our country. We have to say that the war on drugs in Colombia is one of the current causes of displacements and