On April 26, 2014, hundreds of residents from the department Casanare gathered in Trinidad, Casanare for a public hearing on the on the environmental and human rights impacts of oil exploitation. Senator Iván Cepeda presided over the hearing, and a number of government officials attended. They listened to the testimonies of community members, who presented instances of human rights violations and environmental damage due to petroleum extraction by multinational companies like Talisman Energy.  

Read the accusation sent for the Latin American hearing

With the water supply of millions of people at risk, we urge the ministry to publish details of the demarcation and ensure that this fragile ecosystem remains free of large-scale mining operations

London-based human rights organisation Colombia Solidarity Campaign has published an Alternative Report about La Colosa, the AngloGold Ashanti gold mining project in Colombia’s municipality of Cajamarca (Tolima), entitled La Colosa: A Death Foretold.

The Oil Industry Workers Union (USO) condemns the detention of its companions today.

CAMPO ELIAS ORTIZ, HECTOR SANCHEZ and JOSE DILIO NARANJO, workers and union leaders of the Department of Meta, were deprived of their freedom because of the worker protests in 2011 and 2012 en the municipal of Puerto Gaitán and who worked in businesses against multinational PACIFIC RUBIALES.

In an exciting development in the corporate accountability world, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, for the first time in its history, will directly consider the question: can a corporation’s home country be held liable for the actions of that corporation abroad, or for failing to provide a remedy to its victims?

Last week, Nestlé workers in Colombia began a hunger strike to force the multinational company to enter into discussions with the Sinaltrainal trade union. For several months , Nestlé has refused. Instead of seeking a solution to the conflict, Nestlé aggravates the situation by launching dangerous accusations against the union. On Saturday, November 9th 2013, a trade unionist was murdered.
Petition addressed to the Director General of Nestlé:

On November 2, 2013, in the city of Villavicencio, Brother DARIO CARDENAS, Vice President of USO (META), was arrested under a warrant from the First Criminal Court of Villavicencio, in which he is accused of “obstruction of public roadways, arson, and aggravated damage to property.”

Diego Melo

Foreigners and citizens often think of Colombia as a land of paradoxes. Though the country is filled with natural resources and biodiversity, it was recently ranked third most unequal in the region.

Colombians in the streets commonly wonder: “why are we so poor if our land is so rich?”