The history of the invaders does not seem to end and, on the contrary, seems to grow like foam throughout the country. In the village of Los Chivos, del Plato, Magdalena, a group of 400 ranchers had no alternative but to join together and set up a sit-in this Saturday in the face of the imminent risk that exists on the part of a group of invaders who intend to illegally appropriate land that exceeds 4,000 hectares.
The land is in production and belongs to at least 500 families, including a group of ranchers who generate employment and reactivate the region’s economy, but that does not seem to matter to said group of unknown citizens who came to the area and began to delimit the estates.
In dialogue with WEEKthe rancher Jefry Molina said that for a week the owners of the properties noticed the spray marks on a large number of trees in the sector, with which they intended to improvise limit the lots that have owners with public deeds.
“There are a series of signs that allow us to conclude that they are regarding to invade. We have found marks in different parts, 200 meters from each other, which means that there are people who want to get into the area that is peaceful, livestock and agricultural, “he explained.
The ranchers who are part of the support brigade arrived in their trucks, placed them on the sides of the main road and held banners that read: “eye, don’t be fooled, these lands have an owner. Being an invader is a crime.” They all come from the municipalities of San Ángel, Tenerife, Plato, Granada, Pinto, among others.
Jefry Molina clarified that ranchers are peaceful and that the only objective is to make invaders aware that appropriating private properties with legitimate owners is a crime. “We are working people, we were born and raised in the region,” he summarized.
In the properties there is not only livestock, there are also crops of palm, corn, cassava, sesame, among others. “I ask the central government to please make it clear to people that at no time can private property be invaded, because it is a crime. What they can invade are State properties, these are private and must be respected. We have been working for a lifetime to build what is ours and for them to take it away, that can’t stand it, “he concluded.
So far, the ranchers have not come face to face with the invaders, but through the sit-in they seek exclusively to make them aware of the problem that would be generated following an invasion.
In fact, more than 400 productive families would be seriously affected. “Here there are many owners, many families who would be affected, plus the employed gentlemen who live from planting, harvesting and marketing the agricultural products produced in the region,” he summarized.
The invasion of land is a problem that already worries the governors and mayors of the country, because the illegal appropriation of land seems to become the weekly bread in some regions of Colombia.
