The attack follows social unrest and other violence in the Cauca region. In March and April, Afro-Colombians participated in an indigenous-led protest with 20,000 people against the government’s environmental and social policies. The protesters called on the government to provide security guarantees for threatened ethnic minority leaders and communities caught up in increasingly violent situations.
Indigenous groups in southwestern Colombia have since March 10 mobilized mass protests, known as minga.
Logs, branches and leaves blocked the door of Bogota’s Prosecutor’s Office Wednesday after activists erected an “environmental graveyard” in a demonstration against deforestation in Colombia’s Amazon.
When ConocoPhillips’ staff began handing out plates of food, I followed the lead of local activists and said no. The rule is, don’t accept their gifts. We didn’t sign the attendance sheet either – we didn’t want to support them in their license application any more than we had to.
Nearly 5,000 citizens evacuated the surrounding villages bordering the Cauca river at risk of serious flooding Wednesday after complications at the Hidroituango dam led to a state of emergency.
They have been around since the dawn of time, but until 25 years ago certain natural habitats never had rights — at least, not in a legal sense.
The ruling comes after a group of 25 young plaintiffs, ranging in age from seven to 26, filed a lawsuit against the government in January demanding it protect their right to a healthy environment.
Ten years later the company has left the region following a referendum that decisively rejected the mine, and the Carnival March for Water, Life and Territory saw 120 000 people turn out in June in the department’s capital, Ibagué, which also recently became the first city in Colombia to prohibit polluting mining.
A group of young Colombians, one as young as seven, filed a lawsuit against the Colombian government on Monday demanding it protect their right to a healthy environment in what campaigners said was the first such action in Latin America.
Over 300 people marched and demonstrated against mining (legal and illegal) in the Colombian Massif.