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?”

Dear communities resisting extractive projects,

In a press release on August 18, 2013, the final day of the  Popular Tribunal on the Extractive Industry Practices in Colombia, the Colombian Redher network published the jury's final verdict. A complete document will be made public soon in order to bring to light the whole of incriminating evidence that supports this popular judgment.

The companies on trial at the Tribunal were generally accused of:

An activist tribunal dubbed the Ethical Trial against Plunder (Juicio Ético contra el Despojo) was held in Bogotá over the weekend to air testimony against the practices of multinational gold firm Anglo Ahshanti (AGA) and oil giant Pacific Rubiales Energy (PRE). More than 500 representatives from across Colombia convened in the capital's central folk-crafts market, the 

News Release

Bogota - May 29, 2013-  The President of the Unión Sindical Obrera (USO), Rodolfo Vecino, confirmed today that the union would file suit against the multinational oil company, Pacific Rubiales Energy, for alleged violations of the freedom of association, the freedom of assembly and conspiracy to commit a crime. Mr. Vecino added that the USO would officially file the suit at the Colombian Public Prosecutor's Office (Fiscalía General de la Nación) on Thursday, May 30, 2013 at 10 am.

This summer the PASC and members of the Red de Hermandad y Solidaridad con Colombia (Redher - Colombia Friendship and Solidarity Network) will be organizing a Popular Tribunal against Colombia's extractive industry policies.

How transnational corporations use trade and investment treaties as powerful tools in disputes over oil, mining, and gas. / Como las empresas mineras transnacionales utilizan las reglas de los acuerdos de inversión y de comercio como poderosos instrumentos a su favor en las disputas por el petróleo, la minería y el gas.

ENGLISH: CLICK HERE FOR FULL REPORT IN ENGLISH

The US Office on Colombia is proud to announce the release of our latest report, Large-scale mining in Colombia: Human rights violations past, present and future.

   By Mauro Giormenti, in Columbia. The entire Department of Arauca is under a general strike against the government, the multi-national oil companies, and the repression of civil resistance to the visit by President Santos to the region.