The Indigenous and Afro-Colombian community of Marmato won a major court victory in their 10-year fight against a massive Canadian gold mine.
In February 2017, Colombia's Constitutional Court ruled in favor of the residents of Marmato, a small Indigenous and Afro-Colombian community in the center of the country, in their 10-year fight against a massive open pit mine project by Canadian gold giant Gran Colombia Gold Corporation.
Concerning the Ministery of the Environment’s resolution which extends from 11 thousand to 18 thousand hectares authorized for mining in Cundinamarca, the mayor of Tausa (Cundinamarca), Jaime Rodríguez warned that his municipality could only comply with the resolution in some sectors.
Up to recently, PASC was denouncing the threat caused by Alange Energy1, a subsidiary company of the giant Canadian oil company Pacific Rubiales (now named Pacific Exploration & Production, or Pacific E&P)2, in the páramo of Sumapaz. Thanks to the local movements’ advocacy against the oil exploration in their region, the Colombian authorities have refused to issue the environmental license necessary to pursue exploration activities in the territory.
The report, by the Justice and Corporate Accountability Project, documents 15 years of violence and death that happened near Canadian mines in Latin America.
A new report that documents 15 years of violence near Canadian mines in Latin America says the federal government is not doing enough to address the problem.
The study, published Monday, charts 44 deaths, 403 injuries and 709 arrests, detentions and charges from 2000-2015 that the authors link to 28 Canadian companies’ mining projects in 13 countries in the region.
« Without the river, I can’t laugh, I can’t dream, I can’t live: rivers for life, not death! » This quote is taken from one of the testimonies that moved the activists that took part in the Caravan for the Defense of Life and Territory, an event that took place from the 15th to the 28th of August 2015. This event was organized by the The Network for Fraternity and Solidarity with Colombia.
Pacific Rubiales Energy, the most powerful Canadian Company in Colombia, is now acting under the name Alange Energy Corp and it intends to break ground on the COR-33 project in Colombia’s páramo de Sumapaz. It is important to mention that Pacific Rubiales is receiving support from the Canadian government. In 2014 alone, the company was granted close to 50 million dollars (source: Exportation et Développement Canada).
*Crude Gold is a series of short documentaries showcasing 5 pivotal cases of foreign-funded mining exploitation connected to Canadian investors.
Trailer (espagnol, sous-titres anglais, bientôt disponible en français)
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Last May 29 and 30 in Aguachica, Cesar, the Second Regional Meeting of the Southern Bolívar Victims Chapter—South of Cesar and Catatumbo—was held. Six years after first meeting, around 250 people gathered on a new date to achieve a better balance between what have become the laws of victims, victim-peace relations and the recovery of memory.