Lizardo Domenico, Coordinator of the National Peace Council of the Organización Indígena de Colombia (ONIC), has publicly stated that his organization adamantly opposes President Alvaro Uribe Velez's proposal to incorporate indigenous peoples into a military “campesina” force. The militia-like force would begin operations in December 2002. “We will not allow, at any cost, our youth to become part of this force, because war is not part of our culture and we are autonomous peoples, so we can create our own mechanisms of defense,” Mr. Domenico declared. Heemphasized that the organization rejects war but does support political negotiations to end Colombia's longstanding internal conflict. Indigenous legislator Gerardo Jumí echoed these sentiments, affirming that he is also in opposition “to the incorporation of the campesinos and indigenous peoples in a contra-insurgent military force because that will only provoke an escalation of violence in the internal conflict as well as the involvement of civilians in the war.”
