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07/11/2017

The Cubiros oil well had been blocked for ten days until the protestors reached an agreement with the Canadian company Frontera Energy (previously known as Pacific Stratus, owned by Pacific Rubiales) to resume negotiations which had been interrupted in September.

On August 2nd 2017, members of different localities from the San Luis de Palenque municipality requested negotiations with the multinational corporation in order to make their demands known. After 3 days of blockade, negotiations were initiated between the corporation and the municipal administration. However, they were interrupted again on September 20th 2017, leaving issues related to human rights, wages, social investments and environmental compensations unsolved.

After the "Cumbre Agraria, Campesina, Étnica y Popular" (Popular Ethnic Agricultural Peasant Summit) on October 12th, at 12 PM, a nation-wide month-long mobilization began.  The contractual workers and representatives of the community blocked the well again, leading to many skirmishes against the anti-riot squad who were on location.

After refusing for many days, the corporation finally accepted to resume the negotiations and signed an agreement not to file charges against the protesters. In addition, they also accepted to restart negotiations with the supervision of the USO Oil Sector Union, the Organization for Human Rights, the COSPACC and the ASONALCA peasant association. Members of PASC and REDHER were also present.

Author
PASC