Tuesday, September 10, 2013
Tuesday, September 3, 2013
Indigenous peoples in Cauca march for the support of the National Agrarian Strike in Colombia
On Tuesday,
it is expected that nearly 5,000 thousand Indians arrive in the city of
Popayan, following its announcement to support the National Agrarian Strike.
The
mobilization will start from the place known as La Maria, in Piendamó, reaching
the bridge of the river of Rioblanco, to, then, advance to the historic center
of Popayan.
This
day of action is organized by members of the Regional Indigenous Council, CRIC,
the ONIC (Colombian National Indigenous Organization), and other social
organizations.
"This
peaceful demonstration will be carried out in a time when the national agriculture
strike has notified the entire national population that farmers, indigenous
peoples and Afro-descendants will not be ignored and will not be disposed from
our territories through the current legislation, which has as its main prop the
development of the FTAs with countries such as the United States and those in the
European Union ", reported spokesmen Regional Indigenous Council of Cauca,
CRIC.
Letter from Colombia Solidarity Campaign
to AngloAmerican, one of the owners of Cerrejon
protesting the expropriation of Roche in La Guajira
Colombia
Solidarity Campaign,
BM Box
Colombia Solidarity,
London WC1N 3XX
email: info@colombiasolidarity.org.uk
Sir John Parker, Chairman
and Mark Cutifani, Chief
Executive,
Anglo American plc,
20 Carlton House Terrace,
London SW1Y 5AN.
27 August 2013
Dear Sir John Parker and Mark
Cutifani,
We wish to express our outrage at
the planned expropriation of the old village of Roche in La Guajira, Colombia.
This expropriation is a violation
of the rights, dignity and wellbeing of the eight families remaining in the
village. The judge in San Juan del Cesar who authorised this act of violence
was acting at the request of Carbones del Cerrejon, in which your company owns
a one-third share.
Among the inhabitants of the
village are around fifteen children aged between one and fifteen years, ten
adult women and two elderly people.
This eviction is the latest
example of the systematic pressure and abuse which this community, along with
many others in the area, has been suffering over the past thirty years as a result
of opencast coal mining. The initial promise of development and improvement in
living conditions has been transformed into a reality of eviction and
impoverishment. Thousands of people have been displaced, and many who have
remained have suffered loss of livelihood and cultural impoverishment as a
result of environmental destruction.
The Colombian State has not
complied with the order of the Supreme Court of Justice of 13 September 2012,
which demanded that a process of prior consultation be undertaken in the area.
The forced displacement of Roche would be a negation of the community’s
constitutional rights and a threat to the community’s ability to make any kind
of living.
The eight families
remaining in Roche have resisted a process of relocation which has involved
inordinate pressure on residents to sell up at minimal prices and move to a new
community which has inadequate land for the cattle herding on which some of the
families have relied for their livelihood. Some of the residents of the new community
report that the economic development projects promised by Cerrejon Coal as a
replacement for agricultural work have been badly mismanaged by the company and
have left people in a state of need.
The way the
relocation has been handled has split the community. Negotiators for the
remaining eight families, and North American observers of the negotiation
process, report that officials from Carbones del Cerrejon have shown deep
disrespect for the farming families, refusing to take seriously many of the matters
which Roche residents have raised. It is this disrespect which has led to the
present stalemate. The company has responded to the stalemate not with a new
attempt at respectful negotiation but with legalised brutality.
The eight families at old Roche
are terrified that what happened at Tabaco on 9 August 2001 is about to happen
to them. Former residents of Tabaco, violently evicted on that day, were
scattered to various locations and their community life destroyed. Despite a
settlement with Carbones del Cerrejon after many years of struggle, the people
of Tabaco have still not been able to take possession of the new community
which they were promised. Depression and ill health have afflicted some of them
as a result.
The remaining
villagers at Roche were due to be forcibly evicted on Thursday 29 August.
Pressure from villagers and their supporters has led to the postponement, but
not the abandonment, of the planned eviction. What is needed at old Roche is
not forced displacement but a changed attitude on the part of company
negotiators so that a just settlement can be reached. We demand that the company negotiate
in good faith in order to come to an agreement, and not continue with the
expropriation.
Yours sincerely,
Andy Higginbottom,
Secretary, CSC.
DEPARTMENT-WIDE INDEFINITE CIVIC STRIKE – LA GUAJIRA
We make a call to organized sectors in La Guajira, mayors,
council members, the political and civic leadership, the unions, and the people
in general to support and join this call for a permanent and indefinite strike.
This strike is divided into the following steps :
The Guajiros marched once again in August 20th
In August 20th, inhabitants of La Guajira and
members of different social sectors marched against the poor energy, water, and
garbage disposals services provided in the department. In addition, people
demanded improvement of the environmental problems left by large-scale mining, the
health services and its networks of corruptions, the use of contracting
companies for hiring health and education workers, the national system of
royalties and against the US free-trade agreement.
Sponsored by:
MESA DE CONCERTACION POR LA GUAJIRA, CUT GUAJIRA,
SINTRACARBON, ASODEGUA, COMITÉ CIVICO EN DEFENSA DEL RIO RANCHERIA, AACIWASUG,
LA MANE, FUERZA DE MUJERES WAYUU, FECODEMIGUA, SINDESENA, SINTRABIENESTAR,
RECLAME GUAJIRA, CODEPAZ, CENTRO DE ESTUDIOS DEL CARBON,LIGAS DE USUARIOS DE
LOS SERVICIOS PUBLICOS.
El Cerrejon Mine in Colombia attacks communities
No Pasaran!
Scenes from Tabaco 2001. Stop this from happening again
STOP THE FORCED EVICTION OF VILLAGERS IN ROCHE
TO MAKE WAY FOR A COAL MINE
Cerrejon Coal and the Colombian
courts are threatening to evict indigenous and afro-descendent villagers at
Roche, in the northern province of La Guajira, on Thursday 29 August. They want
to expand their massive opencast mine. Cerrejon Coal is owned by three mega
mining multinationals (Anglo American, BHP Billiton and Glencore Xstrata) and
exports most of its coal to power plants in the eastern United States,
including the Brayton Point plant in Somerset, MA.
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