Consejo Comunitario Mayor de la Asociación Campesina Integral del Atrato (Cocomacia)
The Consejo Comunitario Mayor de la Asociación Campesina Integral del Atrato (COCOMACIA) is an ethnic-territorial organization that works for the defense of the right to territorial, social and cultural autonomy in Chocó. Founded in 1982, this organizational process was born with the accompaniment of the Diocese of Quibdó, headed by Father Gonzalo de la Torre. Cocomacia is made up of 124 community councils from five municipalities in the department of Chocó and three in Antioquía, with a reach of around 45,000 people. The board of directors of the organization is made up of ten people, including a legal representative, who are all elected every three years.
Cocomacia is reflected in its active participation in the mobilization that gave rise to Law 70 of 1993, one of the most significant achievements of the Afro-Colombian people in terms of recognition of the right to property of collective territory and enforceability of their ethnic rights. In 1997, as a direct result of the law, Cocomacia received collective title to the nearly 700,000 hectares of land that make up its territory. In addition, the organization formulates a development model from its culture and worldview as an Afro-Colombian people, which includes the good use and rational use of natural resources.
Cocomacia is part of the Chocó Interethnic Solidarity Forum (FISCH), a network where 68 organizations from Chocó converge, and also of the Regional Coordination of the Colombian Pacific, an alliance of entities and the Catholic Church.
Cocomacia’s work for the defense of the territory has generated tensions with different actors, both armed and civilian, with economic and geostrategic interests in the collective territory of the organization, related to the extractivism of wood, gold, platinum and other minerals. Since 2008, SweFOR Colombia provides international accompaniment to leaders of Cocomacia.
Website: https://www.cocomacia.org.co/
Social media:
Facebook: Consejo Comunitario Mayor de la Asociación Campesina Integral del Atrato
Twitter: oCocomacia
