In March 2011, initial proposal by Greystar Resources to develop an open pit mine has encountered lots of resistance. Environmentalists stressed the danger of this project. The large use of water during the mining process, would reduce the groundwater supply and as a consequence would lead to the diminishing availability of water for the residents and reduced capacity for cattle-raising and farming [1].
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MARMATO, COLOMBIA -- The preparations for the evening Mass on Jan. 15 in the Church of Santa Barbara in Marmato, a mountainside mining village in central Colombia, were ordinary in every detail but one. Shortly before the service began, the village priest, Fr. Carlos Valencia, threaded his way through a tangle of horses and donkey carts into the town square at the wheel of a battered jeep. As he arrived, the bell in the church tower rang out.
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The Quimbo Hydroelectric Project is the first dam to be built in Colombia entirely by a multinational corporation, Emgesa an affiliate of Endesa-Enel, as part of the policies of creating investor confidence that have been imposed by recent administrations. This policy gives all the guarantees and support to the private corporations in detriment of the communities whose rights are violated.
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Colombia's 'parapolitics' scandal on Dipity. Chronology of events and diplomatic cables regarding the Colombian parapolitics scandal Created by colombiareports on Feb 20, 2011 Last updated: 02/05/12 at 08:16 PM
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The former president of the Colombian Congress was sentenced Wednesday to seven and a half years in prison for his ties to now defunct paramilitary organization the AUC. Following a trial that began in March 2011, the Criminal Chamber of Colombia's Supreme Court found Miguel Pinedo Vidal guilty of engaging in parapolitics, by having political and electoral ties to the AUC's Tayrona Bloc, in northern Colombia.
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The CUT and the USO oilworkers’ union have reported the assassination of trade union leader and community activist Mauricio A. Redondo and his wife Janeth Ordonez. The two were killed at 19.30 on January 17th in Puerto Asis. The couple leave behind 5 children. Mr Redondo was from the settlement of Teteye, near Puerto Asis in Putumayo department in Southern Colombia. He worked in PEI, a services company for the oil sector. As a community leader he had recently had an active participation in a forum on the right to work.
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Despite multiple accusations that the Colombian branch of Anglo-French oil company Perenco funded paramilitary organization AUC, the company is only investigated for the alleged bribing of government officials, newspaper El Espectador reported Sunday. Apart from the alleged paramilitary funding, the oil company has come under increasing pressure by locals and its workers' union for an oil spill allegedly due to the company's disregard of environmental protection procedures and the ongoing harassment of unionists.
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The Regional Movement for the Defense of the Territory launched a regional strike in Huila, Colombia on Jan. 3 to protest the destructive impacts of the Quimbo Hydroelectric Project and the entering of UK-based petroleum company Emerald Energy into the biodiverse mountaintop moor ecosystem of the Páramo of Miraflores.
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Source: www.confederacionminera.org This past November 30 2011, the National Confederation of Miners of Colombia, Conalminercol, signed an agreement with the national government putting an end to the strike planned for December 1. In the document, it was agreed to begin talks to identify "points that will lead to formalizing traditional or informal mining," involving two million Colombians carrying out this activity.
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p { margin-bottom: 0.21cm; }a:link { } Communiqué: Marmato Defence Committee and Regional Indigenous Council of Caldas (CRIDEC), December 22, 2011 The residents of Marmato detain open-pit mining in their territory, impede the resettlement of their municipal centre and prohibit the demolition of local heritage
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