With implications for Canadian multinational Gran Colombia Gold's proposed open-pit mine, this communiqué from the Marmato Defence Committee and the Regional Indigenous Council of Caldas (CRIDEC) indicates that the local municipality will now prohibit open-pit mining and resettlement of the historic town centre. Recent changes to the municipal land use plan also include recognition of the Embera Chamí indigenous community within Marmato and prioritization of water and environmental protection.

Last week the Honduran National Congress passed a law allowing the military to perform police functions, and Assistant Secretary of State Maria Otero visited Honduras with Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, Todd Robinson, to promote security initiatives.

The Mazamorras Gold mining project, owned by Canadian multinational Gran Colombia Gold, and directed by ex-Colombian Foreign Affairs Minister María Consuelo Araujo, is located between the municipalities of Arboleda and San Lorenzo, in the Department of Nariño, Colombia.  The company is currently moving ahead with mining exploration activities, which has led to chaos and confrontation in and around local communities. Given this, we feel obliged to publicly denounce the following, which have occurred as a result of Gran Colombia Gold's presence in the region:

A New Report from Peace Brigades International:

In the provincial reserve in the jurisdiction of the Barrancas municipality in the department of Guajira, from November 18th to 20th, 2011, we consider the issues that have arisen as a result of the request for permission to expand the Cerrejón mining project, as well as the impacts from this project's open pit mining activities for the las 35 years in La Guajira.

Especial attention was drawn by the active participation during these meetings on the part of traditional autorities, women, youngsters and children.

Defending their land is the priority of the Uwa people. Their ancestral territory covers approximately 14.000 square kilometers - an area half the size of Belgium.

Today however, they possess only 14% of these lands. Currently there are two projects under development in the region that would affect the indigenous reserve. One of these is the Niscota Block, an oil extraction project extending more than 600 square kilometers and plans are also underway to construct a pipeline.

Today the US Office on Colombia published a report on the dramatic situation of land rights leaders and associations of displaced communities in Colombia. Against all Odds: the Deadly Struggle of Land Rights Leaders in Colombia documents the cases of 20 land rights leaders that were assassinated during the Santos administration’s first year in office and the multiple threats, attacks and stigmatizations that such leaders face.

"The War We Are Living," which airs November 1 and is part of a five-part series on women and war, raises new questions about the evolution of the Colombian conflict, and the extent to which the new generation of criminal organizations will continue to protect

On 17 October 2011, the Special Rapporteur presented his third annual to the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. The Report provides a summary of the activities over the first three years of the Special Rapporteur's mandate.

M. Speaker, I was in Colombia at the end of August with a delegation organized by the Washington Office on Latin America.

In Medellin, we met with the National Labor School, or ENS, to discuss the current labor situation in Colombia. Their reports on threatened and murdered unionists are internationally recognized, and because of this, ENS faces constant threats and efforts to discredit them.