Aim: This article explains the situation of displacement to which the Embera Katío people were forced
as a result of the construction of the Urrái hydroelectric power plant (Alto Sinú-Córdoba), depriving
this minority group of its territorial and cultural heritage and causing its imminent disappearance as a
community.
Methods: The document shows how political and judicial corruption—through its questioned deci-
sions—caused the Embera Katío community to be “expelled” from their ancestral territories and relo-
cated in the urban area of the municipality, where they could not carry out their agricultural, educatio-
nal, religious, fishing and navigation, etc. activities. Therefore, its members were subjected to a process
of adaptability to a new life system until “disappearing” as an ethnic group.
Results: Despite the existence of national and international legislation that protects the rights of indi-
genous communities and minorities, there was no effective application of the law in this case so that,
when the Constitutional Court intervened, it faced accomplished facts.
Conclusion: The judicial authorities’ failure to timely obey the orders of the National Constitution and
international treaties led to a situation of eviction, displacement and subsequent disappearance by
acculturation of the Embera Katío community from Alto Sinú.
Keywords:
fundamental indigenous rights, prior consultation, political corruption, Embera Katío natives, denial of justice, Urrá i dam
