Arhuaco People Face Extinction as Drug Traffickers and Paramilitaries Invade Sacred Sierra Nevada
In a ceremonial hut high in Colombia's Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, the Arhuaco people gather around a sacred fire. Tying traditional cotton threads around their wrists, they make a solemn pledge to guard their ancestral lands while seeking protection from forces that now threaten their very existence. This ancient ritual, preserved for thousands of years, takes place against a backdrop of escalating violence that indigenous leaders warn could lead to their final erasure.
Centuries of Survival Now Threatened
The Arhuaco descend from the Tayrona civilisation, which was brutally subjugated by Spanish conquistadors in the 16th century. Those who survived retreated to the upper valleys of the Sierra Nevada, the world's highest coastal mountain range. Over subsequent centuries, they endured waves of intrusion from settlers carving up their lands to Catholic missionaries attempting to quash their spiritual traditions.
"Our culture has been preserved for thousands of years," says Ati Quigua, an Indigenous leader. "We are a peaceful community, but now violence is coming to our land."
Now, the Arhuaco face what many consider their greatest threat yet. Paramilitary groups, guerrillas, and drug traffickers have converged on their territory, transforming the sacred mountains into strategic corridors for illicit activities.
Strategic Prize for Criminal Networks
The Sierra Nevada has become a battleground for control of Colombia's illicit economies. Despite its status as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve of Man and Humanity and recognition as the most irreplaceable ecosystem on Earth in the journal Science, the mountain range offers traffickers limited state presence, porous borders, and direct routes to the Caribbean Sea.
"All of the actors have arrived: the paramilitaries, the guerrillas, the drug traffickers," explains Quigua. "They are taking control of our areas and interfering in our local assemblies. They set curfews, telling us when we can and cannot walk in the territory. They want to use it as drug-trafficking corridors."
Across Colombia, violence has surged dramatically. The number of violent incidents increased by 45% in the first three months of 2025 compared with the same period last year. Recent attacks have seen scores killed and injured by car bombs and drone strikes across the country, with the government struggling to quell violence in remote rural areas.
Spiritual and Physical Violence
For the Arhuaco, the consequences have been immediate and devastating. Non-state armed groups have attacked their sacred capital and burned traditional work and sacred objects in other territories.
"It is a spiritual violence, a violence to gain a foothold in our territory," Quigua says.
Dwiarinmacku Alfaro Kwimi, a 22-year-old spiritual leader, describes the escalating violence as a war against nature itself. "The territory gives us the nourishment we need to survive," he explains. "We are connected to every living being – plants, animals, the sun – in the land. We must defend it."
UN Warns of Physical and Cultural Extinction
These warnings have reached international human rights organisations. The United Nations reports that the five Indigenous groups living in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta – the Kogui, Wiwa, Kankuamo, Arhuaco and Ette Naka – face "physical and cultural extinction." Their combined population numbers approximately 54,700 people.
Scott Campbell, Colombia's representative for the UN high commissioner for human rights, describes this risk as "an ongoing tragedy that we can and must prevent."
"Violent actions of non-state armed groups against the Indigenous peoples in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mean they cannot travel within their territory, hunt or carry out their ancestral practices in their sacred places," Campbell states.
Armed groups are using unconventional explosive devices and installing anti-personnel mines in the Sierra Nevada, posing additional risks. Members of the Wiwa community have been injured by these devices in recent months.
Forced Displacement and Targeted Violence
The human toll continues to mount. Hundreds have been forcibly displaced in the past two years, with hundreds more confined to their homes. Indigenous leaders report increasing assassination attempts, while research organisation Cinep/Programme for Peace documents victims being tortured, dismembered, and displayed in public spaces to instil collective terror.
Quigua describes how those who speak out become targets. "One man was given hours to leave. The armed group said they would kill him if he said anything more," she reveals.
Luz Helena Izquierdo, an Arhuaco elder, says paramilitary groups have warned community leaders "to be careful because they are clearing the territory." She adds: "They are killing people who are not welcome."
Children Targeted for Recruitment
As tensions escalate, armed groups are increasingly targeting children to fill their ranks. The Colombian ombudsman's office reported 43 alerts of recruitment registered in 2019, 184 cases of forced recruitment in 2023, and at least 409 cases in 2024.
Experts believe these figures vastly underestimate the real toll, as many families stay silent, afraid of consequences if they speak out. Indigenous groups have been the hardest hit, accounting for almost half of the UN's verified cases.
"They have started taking our children, recruiting them," says Quigua. "Our people have seen some who left in the mountains in camouflage, with rifles. It's a cultural invasion."
The children are used as informants, tasked with surveillance, intimidation, and upholding the group's laws, or as fighters – often serving as frontline soldiers to protect more experienced members. Sexual violence against children is also widespread.
Campbell explains: "The groups have learned how effective children can be in consolidating their control over territory. Especially the Indigenous kids, they're excellent scouts, intelligence-gatherers, they know the turf really well."
Mining Interests Compound the Threat
The battle for survival extends beyond armed trafficking groups to include powerful mining interests. According to the National Mining Agency, there are 124 active mining titles and 88 overlapping mining applications within the Sierra Nevada's ancestral territory boundary, known as the Black Line.
"There are constantly new projects: copper mining, farming palm oil, building hydroelectric dams," says Quigua. "They even want to mine gold on our sacred sites. The landscape deterioration has already begun – they have wounded our mountain."
Indigenous leaders say they have faced death threats for speaking out against environmental destruction, with at least three surviving recent assassination attempts. Colombia has suffered the highest number of murders of environmental defenders for three consecutive years, according to a Global Witness report.
"People are afraid. We live in constant fear," Quigua admits. "Colombia is a very dangerous place for those who defend it."
A Race Against Time
The communities of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta believe that if they do not speak out now, they could soon cease to exist. With their ancestral practices disrupted, their children recruited, and their lands invaded, the Arhuaco face what may be their ultimate challenge after centuries of survival.
Quigua delivers a stark warning: "We are convinced that, if not, within two generations, our future is over."
As the ceremonial fires continue to burn in the Sierra Nevada, the Arhuaco people's struggle represents not just a fight for territory, but a battle for cultural survival against overwhelming odds.
