An Indigenous Wayuu family rests in a chinchorro, a handmade hammock, in the Belen neighborhood on the outskirts of Riohacha, Colombia, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Ivan Valencia)
An Indigenous Wayuu family rests in a chinchorro, a handmade hammock, in the Belen neighborhood on the outskirts of Riohacha, Colombia, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Ivan Valencia)
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A Wayuu Indigenous family rested in a chinchorro, a traditional woven bed that many prefer over mattresses. Unlike a standard hammock, a chinchorro features an enclosed, elongated design with sides that gently wrap around the body, offering a cocoon-like feel. Wayuu people consider it more comfortable for sleeping than a hammock.
This family, also made up of Wayuu migrants from Venezuela, lives in an informal settlement, right beside Riohacha’s airport. Their house, with no running water, is prone to the severe floods and extreme heat that has ravished the La Guajira region in recent years.
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Rosa Elena Gonzalez, 45, an Indigenous woman from the Wayuu community, poses for the photo in her kitchen in the Somos Unidos neighborhood on the outskirts of Maicao, Colombia, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Ivan Valencia)
Rosa Elena Gonzalez, 45, an Indigenous woman from the Wayuu community, poses for the photo in her kitchen in the Somos Unidos neighborhood on the outskirts of Maicao, Colombia, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Ivan Valencia)
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Rosa Elena González, 45, is a Wayuu woman from Maracaibo, Venezuela. She has been living in the Somos Unidos informal neighborhood in Maicao, Colombia, for the past seven years, after migrating from Venezuela.
“When there are big weather events like huge downpours, the young and elderly get sick … most of them don’t have health insurance,” she said.
“Some families have roofs made out of plastic bags which break. In January, the wind got so strong that almost all of us lost our roofs.”
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Alfredo Atencio, 69, poses for the photo at home in the Amanecer de la Paz neighborhood, on the outskirts of Maicao, Colombia, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Ivan Valencia)
Alfredo Atencio, 69, poses for the photo at home in the Amanecer de la Paz neighborhood, on the outskirts of Maicao, Colombia, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Ivan Valencia)
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Alfredo Atencio, 69, is from the Wayuu community on the Colombian side of the border who lives in the Amanecer de la Paz neighborhood in Maicao with his daughter and her three children. His home, constructed from recycled materials and covered with zinc, lacks internal divisions and he says the strong wind and flooding has impacted him.
“It hits really hard, and when it’s really hot and there’s lots of sun, it’s tough too,” he told the Associated Press.
With support from a kit provided by the Danish Refugee Council, Atencio was able to expand his home using the wood and cement boards supplied, making significant improvements to his living space.
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Teacher and Indigenous member of the Wayuu community Kelmis Maria Gonzalez, 45, and her son David, watch videos on her cell phone in Mayapo, Colombia, Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Ivan Valencia)
Teacher and Indigenous member of the Wayuu community Kelmis Maria Gonzalez, 45, and her son David, watch videos on her cell phone in Mayapo, Colombia, Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Ivan Valencia)
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Kelmis Maria Gonzalez, 45, a Wayuu woman and teacher from Mayapo along the La Guajira coast, lives with her son, David. She is also trained in teaching about “Mother Earth.” Gonzalez says climate change, driven by multinational activities, is severely impacting the Wayuu people, particularly the traditional fishermen known as Apalaanchi. Coastal erosion is rapidly destroying the shoreline and the mangroves in her community, and she points to offshore gas production, visible in the distance, as a major culprit.
“It is a territorial and environmental crisis that deeply affects us as a people, especially from a spiritual perspective,” she told AP. “Our connection with nature is integral to our identity as Wayuu. We view the sea as our ancestral grandmother, who provides us with sustenance. But she also sends us a warning — our actions are harming her.”
Gonzalez blames “cultures that pursue what they call progress,” especially through the exploitation of natural resources.
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Luis Barliza, 48, a member of the Indigenous Wayuu community, prepares to pose for a photo with his children on the outskirts of Cabo de la Vela, Colombia, Friday, Feb. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Ivan Valencia)
Luis Barliza, 48, a member of the Indigenous Wayuu community, prepares to pose for a photo with his children on the outskirts of Cabo de la Vela, Colombia, Friday, Feb. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Ivan Valencia)
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In the remote Cabo de la Vela, the heartland of the Wayuu people, Luis Arturo Barliza, 48, represents the small community of Casa Eléctrica, where a wind farm has been proposed.
Several wind farm projects in La Guajira are currently on hold as the Wayuu communities struggle to reach a consensus on how these projects should proceed and what benefits they will receive. While Barliza does not oppose the wind farms himself and has signed agreements to allow turbines on his land, many in his community, and even his family, vehemently reject the companies behind the projects.
“It’s going to be very difficult to reach an agreement, it’s very complex,” Barliza says, acknowledging that the Wayuu communities have differing leaders and perspectives on the issue. Over 50 wind farm projects remain on hold due to resistance from the Wayuu people, according to Indepaz, a Bogota-based think tank.
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Publish date : 2025-02-21 01:12:00
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