30 de agosto de 2011 | Entrevistas | Industrias extractivas
Displacement at Full Steam
Resistance against La Colosa project in Colombia
Several Colombian social movements and organizations are warning that large extractive industry corporations are eliminating social leaders, displacing communities and looting natural resources in ancestral territories focused in the production of food, talking about “sustainable development” or “environmentally-friendly mining”. This is the case, for instance, of South African giant Anglo Gold Ashanti.
La Colosa project, owned by that company, announced by former President Alvaro Uribe as the largest open-pit mine in Latin America, is today more than a threat for the urban and peasant communities near the project (Cajamarca, Tolima department).
Nevertheless, the resistance against La Colosa is also a reality, as Javier Zambrano told Real World Radio. Zambrano is member of the Committee for the Defense of Life of Tolima. He made reference to the social and environmental risks of La Colosa, to the resistance process and the dirty strategies by Anglo Gold Ashanti and its allies. “We had to leave our tools and surf the web to find out the meaning of mining, mega-mining, what Anglo Gold Ashanti is and fight”, the activist said.
In the interview with Real World Radio, Zambrano denounced the behavior of some civil servants who work in favor of multinational companies and against social organizations in defense of life.
Finally, Zambrano invited all people to participate in the mobilization for life and against mega-mining to take place in October in Ibagué, Tolima: “if we have to mobilize the 600,000 inhabitants of Ibagué, then we will, in order to win and transform, because we are tired of resisting”, he concluded.
Photo: Sent by Colombian organizations
