About

About our Association

Who we are

The Association of Indigenous Cabildos of the Municipality of Villagarzón Putumayo, identified by the acronym ACIMVIP and with NIT 846.004.150-4, is a special public-law entity with legal personality, its own assets, and administrative autonomy, governed by Decree 1088 of 1993. The current Bylaws describe it as a non-profit Indigenous entity that exercises organizational and political representation, in self-government, of the Inga People of Villagarzón, Putumayo. Its principal domicile is the municipal seat of Villagarzón, in the Las Villas neighborhood.

It operates in the municipality of Villagarzón and, in accordance with the 2023 Bylaws, in the traditional ancestral territories of the Indigenous Peoples and in those recognized through settlement dynamics within that jurisdiction. The territory of the Inga People of Villagarzón extends across the Middle Putumayo, in the municipalities of Villagarzón, Mocoa, and Puerto Guzmán.

Origin, establishment and registration

ACIMVIP was born as an initiative of the Inga People on March 26, 1998, to work for collective and individual rights, respect for nature, and the cultural, social, economic, productive, and political strengthening of the Indigenous communities of Villagarzón, guided by the principles of unity, territory, culture, and autonomy. It was formally constituted at the general assembly held on June 12 and 13, 2004, in Villagarzón, where the bylaws were approved and the Executive Committee was appointed. The Directorate of Ethnic Affairs of the Ministry of the Interior and of Justice registered that constitution through Resolution 0033 of July 22, 2004; the act records the participation of communities of the Inga and Nasa Peoples.

Resolution 0099 of August 17, 2007, registered the affiliation of the Blasiaku Reservation and of the cabildos Musu Waira Sacha Nucanchipa and Saladilloiaco. The ICBF Putumayo Regional Office recognized the legal personality of the Association through Resolution 390 of July 30, 2021. On April 1, 2024, the Directorate of Indigenous, Rom, and Minority Affairs of the Ministry of the Interior registered, through Resolution 087, the Board of Directors and the amendment to the bylaws, and on May 3, 2024, the ICBF Putumayo Regional Office, through Resolution 156, registered the legal representative and approved the bylaws of December 22, 2023.

Bylaws, corporate purpose and principles

The Bylaws were approved by the Assembly of Governors and have been in force since February 14, 2016. On December 22, 2023, the general assembly reviewed and approved their amendment, promulgated that day and registered and approved by the 2024 resolutions cited above. The purpose of the Association is to promote, support, and safeguard the comprehensive development of the affiliated Indigenous communities: to design, formulate, implement, and monitor the life plan of the Inga People of Villagarzón, strengthen their own forms of organization, agree on and coordinate actions with national and international entities, demand compliance with prior consultation, and facilitate guarantees for the victims of the armed conflict, among other objectives.

It is governed by the principles of unity, solidarity, autonomy, respect for one's word, territoriality and Mother Earth, community work, identity, interculturality, respect for human rights, equity, equality, and suitability, and by the Inga principles Ama Killai (do not be lazy), Ama Sisaii (do not steal), Ama Llullaii (do not lie), and Suma Iuiai (think well). In exercise of the special Indigenous jurisdiction (Article 246 of the Political Constitution), it acts as a judge of instance in conflicts arising within the communities, upon request or on its own initiative when the Assembly deems it appropriate.

Associated Cabildos (Indigenous traditional authority) and Reservations

ACIMVIP brings together 13 Indigenous authorities of the Inga People of Villagarzón, representing 12 communities. Seven communities have their own reservation: the Inga Indigenous Reservations of Albania, Blasiaku, Calenturas, Chaluayaco, Saladilloiaco, San Miguel de la Castellana, and Wasipungo. Four cabildos share the Inga Indigenous Reservation of Nukanchipa Alpa Amukunapa Wasi: the Cabildo Alparumiyaco Alto San Juan Las Delicias, belonging to the Inga Indigenous Reservation of Nukanchipa Alpa Amukunapa Wasi, the Cabildo Cachiacu Andaki, belonging to the Inga Indigenous Reservation of Nukanchipa Alpa Amukunapa Wasi, the Cabildo Nukanchipa Taita Kausadiru, belonging to the Inga Indigenous Reservation of Nukanchipa Alpa Amukunapa Wasi, and the Cabildo Musu Waira Sacha Nucanchipa, belonging to the Inga Indigenous Reservation of Nukanchipa Alpa Amukunapa Wasi, each belonging to the Inga Indigenous Reservation of Nukanchipa Alpa Amukunapa Wasi. One community, the Cabildo Indígena Atun Taita Ambi Upiadiru, has its own cabildo and is moving toward the constitution of its reservation. The thirteenth authority is the Cabildo of the Nukanchipa Reservation.

The reservations were constituted through the acts listed in Annex A: Calenturas in 1989, Wasipungo and Albania in 1999, Chaluayaco in 2000, San Miguel de la Castellana in 2002, Blasiaku in 2004, Nukanchipa Alpa Amukunapa Wasi in 2020, and Saladilloiaco in 2025.

How the Association is governed

The Bylaws establish an Assembly of Governors, an Executive Committee, and a Control Council, also called the Council of Elders; the 2023 Bylaws further distinguish the Fiscal and reserve to the Executive Committee the status of administrative body.

The General Assembly of Governors is the highest authority of the Association and is made up of the governors of the member cabildos, one per cabildo. It deliberates and decides with half plus one of its members, whose attendance is certified by the Fiscal, which with 13 authorities amounts to 7; amending the Bylaws, dissolving the Association, and changing the board require two thirds, that is, 9 of 13. It meets in ordinary session four times a year, quarterly, and in extraordinary session when convened by the President, the Fiscal, or one quarter of the governors, with notice of no less than eight days. It approves and amends the Bylaws, elects and removes the members of the Executive Committee and the Council of Elders, sets dues, approves reports, balance sheets, and plans, defines the organizational structure, and creates the coordinations needed to implement the life plan.

The Executive Committee is the highest administrative body and is made up of four positions: the Presidency, the Vice Presidency, the General Secretariat, and the Treasury. It resolves and directs the affairs of the Association while the Assembly is not in session, executes the budget programmed with the governors, and approves loans with prior authorization from the Assembly. The Presidency holds legal representation, chairs the Assembly and the Committee, convenes meetings, and signs checks and other negotiable instruments together with the Treasury; the Vice Presidency replaces it in its absence; the General Secretariat keeps the minutes and the archive and signs the notices of meeting; and the Treasury keeps the accounting books and presents the balance sheet as of December 31.

The Council of Elders is the oversight body for the management of the Executive Committee. It is made up of five members elected by the Assembly, who periodically review the treasury accounts, respond to the Committee's inquiries, and issue opinions before the Assembly to resolve conflicts among the member communities. From among its members comes the Fiscal, who oversees the Committee's management acts, certifies the Assembly's quorum, issues opinions on the reports of the Presidency and the Treasury, and signs the financial reports; under the 2023 Bylaws, the Fiscal is not part of the Executive Committee and is elected by the Assembly.

To put the life plan into practice, the Assembly creates thematic coordinations. The 2023 Bylaws list ten: Territory and Environment; Self-Government and Indigenous Justice; Economy and Production; Indigenous Education; Indigenous Health; Human Rights; Planning, Infrastructure, and Basic Sanitation; Culture and Sports; Political Participation; and Women and Family. The Executive Committee attends to the reports they issue.

Other bodies of the self-government of the Inga People of Villagarzón operate alongside the Association without being its organs: the Minga of Territorial Thought, the highest authority of the Ancestral Territory; the Assembly of Authorities of the Nukanchipa Reservation; the Mingas of Thought of each community; and the Higher Council for the Administration of Indigenous Justice, the second instance of Indigenous justice, which must not be confused with the Association's Council of Elders.

Current legal representation

The legal representation of the Association is exercised by the holder of the Presidency of the Executive Committee. It was registered by the Ministry of the Interior through Resolution 087 of April 1, 2024, for the period from January 1, 2024, to December 31, 2027, and took office on January 10, 2024.