Colombia’s Siona Indigenous guard faces landmines, violence around territory

Alberto Franco* has long lost count of how many times he has had to hide in the forest until the gunfire dies down. The southern Colombian forest where he grew up has been a battlefield for decades. Over the last few years, armed groups have robbed his people of their freedom. Franco was born in the upper part of Buenavista, in Putumayo, an Indigenous reserve that was formalized in 1983 and is referred to as the ‘ancient root.’ It is a community founded by seven families led by Arsenio Yaiguaje, a visionary taita (elder). Franco is the son of a Mestizo father and a Siona mother and found himself growing up between two worlds, though he ultimately chose his mother’s. His true schooling, however, was from his grandparents and the use of yagé (ayahuasca). In 2008, he became a governor and lat