PBI-Colombia accompanied CREDHOS meets with groups to strengthen the social mobilization against fracking

On February 3, CRY-GEAM tweeted: “Together with AguaWil, @Credhos_Paz and @ColombiaNoFrack [the Alliance for a Colombia Free of Fracking] we met with different unions from Puerto Wilches to support and strengthen the social mobilization process and stop the fracking pilot projects in Magdalena Medio.”

PBI-Colombia has accompanied CREDHOS since 1994.

CREDHOS president Ivan Madero, who visited Canada in November 2019 as part of an advocacy tour, was present at the meeting noted above.

On December 11, 2020, CREDHOS tweeted: “Today we accompanied the Committee for the Defense of Water, Life and the Territory of Puerto Wilches (AGUAWIL) in the day of rejection of the Integrated Research Pilot project for the exploration and exploitation of unconventional deposits through the fracking technique.”

The first licence for a fracking pilot project was awarded by the National Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH) on November 25, 2020 to the Colombian state-owned oil company Ecopetrol for its Kalé project near Puerto Wilches, Santander.

On February 1, BNAmericas reported that four companies have prequalified for a second round of licencing for fracking pilot projects in Colombia and that the ANH said it hopes to award three more contracts on March 8.

One of those contracts could go to ExxonMobil in partnership with Toronto-based Sintana Energy Inc. (and its Colombian subsidiary Patriot Energy) that would likely involve the VMM-37 block in Puerto Wilches.

On January 29, United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment David Boyd called on Colombia to prohibit fracking.

Boyd, who is from Pender Island, British Columbia, Canada, stated: “In light of its obligations under constitutional, international, human rights and environmental law, fossil fuels must be replaced by renewable energies. I respectfully maintain that the government of Colombia must pass a law to prohibit fracking.”

Puerto Wilches and Barrancabermeja (where CREDHOS is based) are situated in the Magdalena Medio region. This region is a focal point for oil extraction and refining, as well as for threats against environmental human rights defenders.

Last year, Madero spoke about the Águilas Negras (Black Eagles) death threat made against 18 environmental activists in the Magdalena Medio region.

Madero said: “This [threat] corroborates once again that if they are not the Black Eagles, there are some actors interested in intimidating and putting at risk the lives of public officials, environmental leaders and legal professionals who have demonstrated against of environmental effects and against fracking.”

PBI-Canada continues to follow this situation.