The New York Times has a really important post up about the effect the ‘war on drugs’ in Colombia is having on the indigenous populations of the region.

Before the Embera Indians were displaced, the nation’s main rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, admitted killing eight Awá Indians in February in Nariño, another department, accusing them of informing for the Colombian Army.

Late last year, tensions also flared in Cauca, a nearby province, after the husband of a Nasa Indian leader was killed at a military checkpoint, and it was reported that at least eight Nasa Indians had been assassinated. Nasa leaders said those responsible included both the FARC and paramilitary groups working with large landowners who oppose land reform demands.

Here in Chocó, the Embera fleeing during the first three months of this year almost equaled the 2,400 displaced in all of 2008, said Luis Enrique Murillo, the peace commissioner here. Many of their villages lie in areas long under the control of rebel groups, but are now in the cross hairs of the criminal armies trying to dislodge the guerrillas.

In recent years, we’ve been hearing story after story about how much better things are getting in Colombia–and no doubt they have been. But are things getting better at the expense of indigenous peoples? And do those of us who have the privilege of saying “Whew, things are so much better!” have the ethical right to look away from the violence still happening?