Event Summary
From 14 to 17 October 2025, roadblocks and demonstrations took place on the Cali-Buenaventura road, organised by ethnic and peasant communities expressing their dissatisfaction with the national government’s failure to comply with agreements on land and social investment. This route is one of the most important for Colombia, as it connects the port of Buenaventura with the rest of the country. As a result, the impact of these blockades exceeded 30 billion Colombian pesos (about 8 million dollars) and left several surrounding areas with food and gas shortages. The incident left four police officers injured and involved the use of force by the Valle del Cauca provincial government.
The leadership of this mobilisation is attributed to the so-called Congreso de los Pueblos (People’s Congress), a national organisation that includes peasants, indigenous peoples, Afro-Colombian communities, among others. This is a pattern of demonstrations where roads have been blocked on repeated occasions throughout 2025 to pressure dialogue between communities and the national government.
The demonstration came to an end when the community that was holding the protest reached an agreement with a delegation from the national government. The agreement includes commitments by the national government on issues related to agrarian reform, the dismantling of paramilitarism, and mining and environmental policies.