Thread by @ScientistRebel1

The mayor of Bogotá @ClaudiaLopez intends to authorize the displacement of a remnant of the Muisca community residing in Tunjuelito, a southern district of the city, from their ancestral land. SR condemns this violation of rights & colonial state policy. 📷 @cej_juvenil (1/18)

The Muisca community of Tunjuelito is part of the Experimental Youth Center @cej_juvenil which is dedicated to the perpetuation of the Muisca culture and the protection of the Tunjo wetland complexes that are crucial biodiversity hotspots in the city. (2/18)

This expropriation is a danger for the preservation of the wetlands and the continuation of a violent marginalization of the Muisca which has been going on for 500+ years. @cej_juvenil represents a popular, communitarian, environmental and cultural root for the community. (3/18)

In the words of its governor @camaleoncromo: "We are 16 families directly affected as a community, but this is more than people, it is a permanent promotion work with universities, schools, community processes, in our Youth Experimental Center, our house. (4/18)

On weekends, more than 50 people gather to sow, to look for medicine, both physical and spiritual". (5/18)

What's the worth of your promises against corruption during your campaign @ClaudiaLopez, if you now take part in the destruction of the environment & cultural heritage of the Muisca? How could we thank you @ClaudiaLopez for the terrible service delivered to your community? (6/18)

Is this what @NorthwesternU taught @ClaudiaLopez to be a "political process of democratization bringing power and legitimacy evenly within the territory", mentioned in her PhD thesis? (7/18)

Global North universities like @NorthwesternU bear a responsibility in exporting neocolonial politics to the Global South, teaching their students such as @ClaudiaLopez to shape the land & culture for capitalists. (8/18)

This decision is lighting up a strong social resistance and different groups are organising locally towards an environmental strike to denounce the criminal decision of @ClaudiaLopez. @ciencia_local @festivalsomos @caicasclctv @ExtinctionRebe2
@def_humcordoba @PactoCol (9/18)

@AcueductoBogota @ChucuasTunjo @PLineaAmbiental @sostibabuyes @rhumedalsalitre @VeedEmClimaBog @ConcejoDeBogota (10/18)

The culture and traditions of Muisca living in cities have already been highly affected by urbanization, which significantly changed the physical space and disrupted the relationship with their ancestral territory (doi.org/10.17645/up.v5…). (11/18)

The Muisca suffered centuries of marginalization & displacement since the Spanish invasion. In mid-16th century, Spanish Kingdom colonized their land destroying a thriving, culturally rich and self-sufficient confederation, and decimating a population. (12/18)

Colonizers stole their resources, destroyed their land with extractivism, banned their culture, evangelized and enslaved the population, and turned the main pillar of their economy, agriculture, into a western intensive model. (13/18)

The Spanish Kingdom stole and rewrote the story of 'El Dorado', which was a cultural ceremony of the Muisca Peoples and became a term referring to a place full of gold and precious stones. (14/18)

After the independence of Colombia, the Muisca community kept being discriminated against and still fights against the invisibilization of its culture, for example through the publication of the Suati Magazine, honoring Muisca literature. (15/18)

The Muisca Peoples are also at the forefront of the protection of the environment, the land having a central place in their culture not only for its natural resources but also for its cultural significance, including the history it holds (doi.org/10.17645/up.v5…). (16/18)

@cej_juvenil is asking for international help to prevent the expropriation of the land they have been taking care of for 20 years. No more forced displacement of defenders of the land in Colombia. SR stands in solidarity with the Muisca community of Bogotá. ✊ 🇨🇴 (17/18)

#SOSCentroExperimentalJuvenil #SOSComunidadMuiscadelTunjo #CuencaBajaDelRíoTunjuelo #NuestraLuchaEsPorLaVida #TerritoriosSagrados #NoAlCerramientoDeHumedales
#ParoAmbientalColombia (18/18)