HELP THE NUKAK
A POTENTIAL PROBLEM
The Continuation of Coca Plantations
A POTENTIAL LOOP IN HISTORY
In the area the Nukak Inhibited, according to the latest estimates of the Simci and United Nations, the FARC planted approximately 5,423 hectares of coca(“Guaviare, otro Scenario para la Sustitución de Cultivos Ilícitos”). These plantations have no longer been maintained after the peace treaty, but cocaine production in Colombia is still on the rise and it could easily pose a threat to the Nukak once again if they were to return to the forest, causing similar outcomes to what happened with the FARC in the early 2000s.
CROP SUBSITUTION
Ever since the peace treaty, the government has been trying to substitute coca plantations with alternative crops along with the coca farmers. According to newspaper El Tiempo, more than 80,000 coca growing families have already agreed to take part in the substitution program(“Guaviare, otro Scenario para la Sustitución de Cultivos Ilícitos”). However, Cultivation of coca rose 18% last year from 2015, officials estimate 188,000 hectares of Colombian land now contains coca crops(“Colombia’s Coca Production Soars to Highest Level in Two Decades, US Says”). Additionally, not all coca farmers are easily convinced to participate in the substitution plan. In some cases, farmers don't have faith in the government and in others Illegal armed groups of all sorts have taken control of former FARC territory and interfered with the program, violently opposing communities’ participation while forcing the continuation of coca plantations(“Drug Trafficking in Colombia”).
A POSSIBLE BENEFIT FROM THE GOVERNMENT'S WORD
The coca situation in Colombia remains dangerous as not all farmers are agreeing to change their plantations and armed groups still have authority over many farmers. If the Nukak are to return to the forest, then they will need to be sufficiently protected from facing the same problems they did with the FARC; however, if the Colombian government stay true to their ‘guarantees’, hopefully the Nukak will remain protected.
