FEDEPESAN fishers in Colombia face collective displacement due to ongoing threats against them by armed groups

Published by Brent Patterson on March 6, 2025March 6, 2025

We express our concern about the situation being experienced by members of the Federation of Artisanal, Environmentalist, and Touristic Fishermen and Women of Santander (FEDEPESAN) in Barrancabermeja, Santander, Colombia.

FEDEPESAN is a federation of fishers accompanied by the Regional Corporation for the Defence of Human Rights (CREDHOS) an organization which in turn is accompanied by the Peace Brigades International-Colombia Project.

An Amnesty International urgent action notes: “On 15 February, the fishers’ association FEDEPESAN announced that they feel forced to carry out a collective displacement from the lakes and rivers surrounding the city of Barrancabermeja, Colombia. In recent years, including the first two months of 2025, FEDEPESAN members have been subjected to numerous instances of harassment, threats, robbery, extortion, and even attempted murder by armed groups seeking control of the waters to their own benefit, or in retaliation for denouncing potential cases of pollution and corruption affecting the environment.”

That alert also notes: “[Members of FEDEPESAN] particularly those who carry out their fishing activities in the lake of Ciénaga de San Silvestre as well as the rivers Sogamoso and Magdalena, Caño San Silvestre, Caño Rosario, and Quebraza El Zarzal, in the Barrancabermeja area … felt forced to leave their territory … [because they] face multiple forms of harassment, including telephone and direct threats— sometimes for extortion, other times because they are seen as obstacles to armed groups seeking control of the region’s lakes and rivers. Additionally, they have been attacked after denouncing water pollution or potential acts of corruption that undermine environmental policies in their territory.”

On March 1, in response to the Amnesty International urgent action, Yuli Velásquez, the president of FEDEPSAN, posted on social media: “No more impunity in Barrancabermeja. We demand that investigations be accelerated.”

On March 2, she also posted: “A city drowned in blood, hunger, displacement, extortion, unemployment, corruption, and threats is uninhabitable. Unlivable, we demand permanence in the territory guarantee for the right to life, freedom of expression.”

On that same day, Velásquez was quoted in the Bucaramanga, Colombia-based newspaper Vanguardia saying: “There is a lack of clear answers from the institutionality. Of all the complaints we have made, there is no response or progress in the investigations. In January and February of this year we have denounced threats and there is no response. As there are no guarantees for permanence or for carrying out our fishing tasks, what we announce is a massive displacement to be able to protect our lives.”

And the next day, March 3, Agenciapi.co also reported: “Yuli Velásquez, president of Fedepesan, denounced that, despite multiple calls for help, they have not received protection from the local government or progress in the investigations. In the absence of guarantees for their safety and the exercise of their work, at least 10 families announced their imminent displacement. ‘We are tired of so many threats. We have no choice but to leave the territory to protect our lives,’ said the community leader.”

We continue to follow this with great concern.

Photo: Brent Patterson, Yuli Velásquez, Javier Garate; June 30, 2022.