Under the inclement sun of the Amazon rainforest, 15 soldiers of the Jungle Infantry Battalion No. 52 went to work on the adaptation and restoration of the landing strip of the Buenos Aires indigenous people, pacoa, in which the Cubeos desanos, guananaos and Tukanos indigenous inhabit.
The main objective of the National Army is the protection of the Colombian people and the preservation of the conditions of the country's regions; that is why the soldiers, in addition to working to ensure the safety of indigenous peoples, in the same way contribute to their well-being.
There are 27 indigenous ethnic groups that have made the 57,135 kilometers of extension of the department of Vaupés their home. Food or medicines arrive there by air and water; the air is the most effective way, since the Amazon biome, being a nature reserve, has no land roads.
In this way, the runways of the region are strategic assets, such is the case of the Buenos Aires, Pacoa airfield, comprised of approximately 500 meters of runway extension that presented significant deviations and put at risk the landing of aircraft and the lives of people who are constantly transported by this means.
The soldiers arrived at this track with shovels, pikes, strength and willingness to leave it in optimal conditions, a work of 144 hours under the inclement sun that included plugging holes, drying water wells and removing grass and weeds.
Lieutenant Colonel Guillermo Alberto Domínguez Giraldo, commander of the 52nd Infantry Battalion, said: “We work to generate safer living conditions and that includes having security operations for our indigenous people, but in the same way generating well-being in other ways. We have conducted more than 30 activities of Comprehensive Action, we helped to build their church and we in the same way worked on the construction of a bridge so that the students arrived without getting their feet wet to class. The effort continues.”
This is the second airfield that the soldiers of the National Army are adapting for the service of the indigenous people in Vaupés in 2022, strengthening ties with the communities and in the same way generating strategies for the protection of these biodiverse regions.
Source: Press, National Army of Colombia
