Indigenous groups protest against gold mining in Cauca, Colombia

Indigenous peoples demand the government to avail the constitutional mandates of human rights and free, prior, and informed consent, El Espectador reports. The Regional Indigenous Council of Cauca (CRIC) called for a march on the Panamerican Highway in order to protest against the extraction of gold in mines located in the protected zones of Canoas and Caldono Mercedes in Cauca department.The Colombian constitution gives the right to indigenous peoples and Afro-descendants to be consulted before granting an operating license to companies working on their ancestral territories. Read Article