The Nasa Indigenous people of northern Cauca Department have been victim to armed violence for many years. One of the primary armed actors is the Central General Staff (EMC), founded by dissident members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebels who reject the 2016 peace accords.
Among the revered community leaders of La Bodega reservation is Carmen Yule Paví, age 62, whom residents affectionately called “La Mayora” (the mayor). A weaver with a profound respect for the spiritual essence of nature, she would ask plants for permission to use their leaves in fabrics. As co-founder of the Tejedoras AMA group and professor at the Intercultural Indigenous Autonomous University, she encouraged women to see the practice of weaving as a way to be more independent. Opening paths for other women, she invited them to her house to discuss violent situations they were experiencing.
The resilient leader and Nasa Yuwe speaker had been a victim of conflict on several occasions, but it was the murder of two of her elven children (2020 and 2021) that led her to fight for the community. She was a staunch vocal opponent of the EMC; their forced recruitment of Nasa children infuriated her. She said that she preferred to die before they took more young people.
On March 16, while community residents attempted to rescue one of their neighbors who had been kidnapped (a young man), armed men fired on the community, and Carmen Yule Paví was shot in the head. She died a day later.
