Colombian Amazon Indigenous warn deforestation will rise if USAID shuts down

AFP English

Indigenous people of the Colombian Amazon warn that deforestation and drug trafficking will likely increase if USAID support ends due to Trump's decision. Osvaldo Muca, President of OPIAC (National Organization of Indigenous Peoples of the Colombian Amazon), urges the Colombian government to replace USAID financial support, as its absence "could have serious consequences" in the Amazon territories.

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00:00Part of it is that this is no longer going to be a mechanism for illicit mining to grow,

00:08for drug trafficking to grow, for our young people to continue being recruited in territories,

00:13for them to continue going to the margins of the law.

00:16So we need the government to supply what was already working in the territories,

00:22because yes, there may be some kind of affectation.

00:26Whether there is an end to these aids or not,

00:29the government must assume how to protect these territories,

00:33how to protect those who do not continue to increase deforestation,

00:37how to protect those who do not continue to increase the issue of illicit mining.

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