Lorenzo Muelas Hurtado (born July 9, 1938) is a Guambiano activist and politician in

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

. Muelas was one of the

indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology) In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often populari ...

leaders who participated in the

Constituent Assembly of Colombia The Constituent Assembly of Colombia () was formed on February 5, 1991, to draft the Colombian Constitution of 1991. It was dissolved in July 1991, after the new document was adopted nationwide. Background Throughout the later half of the 20th ...

in 1991. He was a member of the

Senate of Colombia The Senate of the Republic of Colombia () is the upper house of the Congress of Colombia, with the lower house being the Chamber of Representatives. The Senate has 108 members elected for concurrent (non- rotating) four-year terms. Electoral ...

from 1994 to 1998.

Biography

Muelas was born on July 9, 1938, in Silvia, Cauca, Colombia. Muelas was elected to the

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

and was a co-founder of the ''Consejo Regional Indígena del Cauca'' organization. He also co-founded the

Indigenous Authorities of Colombia The Indigenous Authorities of Colombia (, AICO) is a progressive indigenist political party in Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, in ...

(AICO) political party. According to a report by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', Muelas "escaped three assassination attempts since he left a local landowner's debt peonage system 35 years ago". In

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

, Muelas was elected to the

with 270,000 votes in his favor, and served in the body until 1998. In 2006, Muelas was elected Governor of Guambia, the highest position in his community. Muelas is the author of ''La fuerza de la gente: juntado recuerdos sobre la terrajería en Guambía, Colombia'', which chronicled his experience as an indigenous activist. In a 2007 interview with ''

Indian Country Today ''ICT'' (formerly known as ''Indian Country Today'') is a nonprofit, multimedia news platform that covers the Indigenous world, with a particular focus on American Indian, Alaska Native and First Nations communities across North America. Fo ...

'', Muelas criticized the United States over the ''

Plan Colombia Plan Colombia was a United States foreign aid, military aid, and diplomatic initiative aimed at combating Colombian drug cartels and left-wing insurgent groups. The plan was originally conceived in 1999 by the administrations of Colombian Presid ...

'' doctrine.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Muelas, Lorenzo Colombian politicians Indigenous politics in South America Living people 1938 births People from Cauca Department