Indigenous people oppose the return of the Sebastián de Belalcázar statue

Given the decision of the mayor of Popayán to restore the Sebastián de Belalcázar statue and return it to its pedestal, social and indigenous sectors ask that this space be provided for figures that symbolize ethnic resistance during the conquest.

Indigenous Misak del Cauca indicated that the demolition of the equestrian figure of Sebastián de Belalcázar aims to vindicate the memory of their ancestors.

“In itself, it was to carry out the trial for all the attacks that Mr. Sebastián de Belalcázar made”, assured Luis Eduardo Calambás, a Misak indigenous.

While rejecting the de facto routes, the mayor of Popayán indicated that the statue will be returned to the top of Morro de Tulcán.

“We are going to restore this statue and we are going to put it back on its pedestal because it is part of our history”, explained Juan Carlos López, mayor of Popayán.

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This decision unleashed a political, cultural and historical discussion, several sectors assure that it should be the community that decides on which figure should be in that artificial pyramid that dates back to 1,900 years.

For some scholars of history, the outrage at the fall of Belalcázar stems from the denial of our inherited roots from miscegenation.

The indigenous leaders of the 127 towns of Cauca consider that returning the image of Belalcázar to this site of sacred ceremonies is like putting the photo of a murderer on the grave of a massacred person.