Native Colombia in mourning over loss of leader to COVID-19
February 14, 2021
Native Colombia lost one of its most important leaders to COVID-19 on Saturday, the national indigenous organization ONIC announced.
Luis Fernando Arias, the Chief Counselor of the ONIC, died in a hospital in the northern city of Barranquilla weeks after testing positive to the coronavirus.
“His return to the bosom of Mother Earth fills us with sadness,” said the Indigenous Organization of Antioquia in a press release, adding that “today we didn’t just lose a brother, but a leader of the regional and country’s indigenous peoples.
The organization representing 212 indigenous communities from the northwestern province said they will remember the ONIC director as “an example that will motivate us to continue working for the demand and vindication of the rights of the communities, the good life, and our guiding principles of Unity, Territory, Culture and Autonomy.”