In Colombia, land occupations raise tensions and spook investors

FILE PHOTO: Workers of a sugar mill prepare the land to plant sugar cane in a cane field that, according to them, could be invaded by indigenous communities and poor farmers, in Corinto, Colombia September 20, 2022. REUTERS/Luisa Gonzalez

A machete slung across his chest, sugarcane worker Aldemar Moreno guards the entrance to the farm where he has been employed for 23 years, ready to defend it from land occupations by indigenous groups and others that have erupted around Colombia.

"We have taken the decision that if to defend our rights... we have to die, we will die because this is what my family depends on," said Moreno, as he stood at the entrance of the large corporate farm in Corinto, in southwestern Cauca province.