PBI webinar with social leaders criminalized by Canadian oil company in Colombia, October 11

Ferney Salcedo, Yulivel Leal, Ninfa Cruz, Reymundo Vásquez will be speaking on our webinar on October 11. To register for this, click here.

PBI-Canada will be hosting a webinar on Tuesday October 11 at 2 pm ET (1 pm in Colombia) with social leaders from San Luis de Palenque and representatives of two PBI-Colombia accompanied organizations.

The webinar will have simultaneous translation in English and Spanish.

To register, click here.

The webinar panel will include social leaders Ferney Salcedo and Yulivel Leal; Ninfa Cruz of the Social Corporation for Community Advice and Training (COSPACC); and Reymundo Vásquez, a lawyer with the Committee in Solidarity with Political Prisoners (CSPP).

The webinar will take place just days after Ferney, Yulivel and six other defenders are in court this coming October 3-6 on charges related to their protests against Toronto-based Frontera Energy.

Background

Frontera Energy operates the Cubiro oil block in the Llanos basin, which includes the community of San Luis de Palenque. Prior to June 2017, Frontera operated as Pacific Exploration & Production Corporation (and was also known as Pacific Rubiales).

The Cubiro block produced 2,410 barrels per day of light and medium crude oil in 2021.

In February 2018, Frontera temporarily closed Cubiro block operations. At that time, they said: “Unfortunately, the excessive demands on the part of a minority group of people from San Luis de Palenque — a group that does not represent the leaders or the community of the municipality — has led the company to make this decision.”

By November 16 and 19, 2018, Frontera had signed two protection agreements with the Ministry of Defence for USD $1.34 million to secure army protection.

Just days after those contracts were signed, a police and military operation on November 27 arrested Ferney, Yulivel and the six others.

Video: A Black Hawk helicopter was used in the arrest of the social leaders.

A still from this video of the social leaders being taken into custody after their arrest.

Yulivel under house arrest with a monitoring bracelet on her ankle.

On September 16, 2019, the CSPP and COSPACC raised this situation with the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention in Geneva.

Michel Forst, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, also raised concerns about the criminalization of these leaders in his February-March 2020 report to the UN Human Rights Council. 

Forst highlighted “the apparent connection between Frontera Energy, the army’s 16th brigade and the Attorney General’s Support Office in this criminalization.”

It was not until August-September 2020, that a judge ordered the release of the leaders from prison and house arrest. The release decision was appealed by the Prosecutor’s Office and by Frontera Energy’s lawyers.

PBI-Canada and PBI-Canada met with Ferney, Yulivel, Ninfa and Reymundo in San Luis de Palenque this past July 1.

To register for the webinar on October 11, click here.