Yesterday, Sunday May 9, Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Marc Garneau issued the following statement:

“Canada is deeply saddened by the loss of life and injuries in Colombia over the last week.

Canada condemns the violence, including the disproportionate use of force by security forces, and urges that the violence cease. The right to peaceful assembly and association are the bedrock of democracy and must be promoted and protected at all times.

We are also concerned with the acts of vandalism and attacks directed against public officials responsible for the protection of all Colombian citizens. Canada calls upon those responsible for road blockades to allow the free passage of goods and services essential to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

We welcome the Government of Colombia’s commitment to fully investigate and hold accountable those who may be guilty of violating human rights during these events. We encourage continued dialogue as an important means of de-escalating the current tensions.”

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On May 9, the same day that Garneau issued his statement, the Institute for Development and Peace Studies (Indepaz) and Temblores reported that at least 39 people have been killed by police violence since the national strike began on April 28.

They also documented 1,876 cases of violence by the Public Forces (police and military) over the past 11 days: 278 victims of physical violence, 963 arbitrary arrests, 356 violent interventions against peaceful protests, 28 victims of eye assault, 111 cases of gunfire and 12 victims of sexual violence.

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On a call convened by Peace Brigades International on Wednesday May 5 with Global Affairs Canada, the Embassy of Canada in Colombia, the Regional Corporation in Defence of Human Rights (CREDHOS) and Above Ground, the ask was made that Foreign Affairs Minister Marc Garneau make a statement about the situation in Colombia.

More on that meeting here.

On May 8, the Peace Brigades International-Colombia Project tweeted: “PBI accompanies Berenice from @Nomadesc to the great mobilization of mothers and women of Cali and Valle del Cauca that is happening right now.”

Berenice Celeita is the president of the Association for Social Research and Action (NOMADESC). She has been accompanied by PBI since 1999. In 2004, Celeita was targeted by state agents in an assassination plot known as Operation Dragon because of her opposition to the privatization of Emcali, a state-owned utility that provides water, telecommunications, and electricity services in Cali.

The Colombian digital media platform Kienyke reports: “The national strike continues and this time the call is made by the mothers of Cali who will take to the streets in rejection of the murders of young people in the midst of social protest.”

“There are four meeting points and one concentration point. The starting points of the marches are Siloé, Meléndez, Calipso and the so-called Paso del Aguante. All the demonstrations led by mothers will have as a meeting point the sector called Puerto Resistencia.”

“Since the national strike began on April 28, Cali has been one of the cities with the most massive demonstrations.”

Indepaz has documented that 31 people have been killed between April 28 and May 4 during the national strike. 24 of those were killed in Cali.

ABC News has reported: “Among the dead is 17-year-old Marcelo Agredo who was allegedly fatally shot by a police officer on April 28 in Cali, Colombia. Video from the incident shows Agredo appearing to kick a police officer sitting on a motorbike before the officer opens fire. A government agency is now investigating his death.”

BBC has also reported: “Local media named on of those who died in the city’s protests as Nicolás Guerrero, a 27-year-old artist. The mayor of Cali, Jorge Iván Ospina, said Guerrero had died of a gunshot wound to the head.” The Mayor said: “I condemn this and I ask of all police to not even think about using guns in these protests.”

And the Associated Press has reported: “The United Nations human rights office said it was ‘deeply alarmed’ over violence against protesters in Cali, where ‘police opened fire on demonstrators’ and allegedly killed and injured several people [on May 3].”

PBI-Canada echoes the statement by PBI-Colombia that: “Social and peaceful protest is a human right, above all, disproportionate repressions cannot be justified against the civilian population, we ask for guarantees and respect for life.”

Berenice on a PBI organized visit to Toronto in June 2015.

On May 7, PBI-Colombia posted: “This week PBI has been accompanying the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó in Urabá where they have been in the village doing agricultural work. They sow to maintain the food sovereignty of their members.”

It adds: “In these weeks, the Community denounces that it has been the victim of threatening acts related to its opposition to a project to build access roads to some sidewalks, including a highway that would pass through their lands.”

“In their account, they say that the highway, instead of bringing better conditions for the peasant population, will open the way to the entry of transnational companies that intend to exploit the natural resources of the area.”

Earlier this year, PBI field team in Urabá also raised the concern about mining companies and provided this context for the situation:

“A consequence of the Peace Agreement between the former guerrilla group, FARC-EP, and the Colombian government has been a commodification of territories that, due to the armed conflict, were on the periphery of the market system. In the case of the Peace Community, this means defending land from mining companies that have come into the area to exploit the wealth of natural resources.”

For more on this: Peace Community warns illegal road construction may be to “exploit the natural resources of our region”.

PBI-Colombia, which has accompanied the Peace Community since 1999, was present at the community’s 24th anniversary gathering on March 23rd this year.

On May 7, Portafolio reported that Armando Zamora, the president of the Colombian National Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH), told the “Development of the YNC in Colombia” forum organized by the Colombian Petroleum Association (ACP) that there is potential to extract another type of unconventional deposit (yacimiento no convencional) in Colombia.

The article then highlights: “It is the so-called tar sands (arena bituminosa) which are located in six basins and which can produce between 16,000 million and 23,000 million (16-23 billion) additional barrels of crude oil.”

That news report continues: “Portfolio was able to establish with ANH sources that the basins in which this new type of bituminous sand unconventional deposits would be located are the Valle Medio del Magdalena (VMM), Valle Inferior del Magdalena (VIM), César-Ranchería, Sinú-San Jacinto , Urabá and Amagá.”

It also notes: “Likewise, the entity’s technicians explained that for this second type of unconventional deposit, the Magdalena Medio Valley and Cesar-Ranchería basins would concentrate more than 45 per cent of the extraction.”

Concerns about tar sands

Greenpeace has explained: “Here in Canada, the tar sands are huge deposits of bitumen, a tar-like substance that’s turned into oil through energy-intensive processes that pollute rivers, lace the air with toxins and emit more global warming-causing pollution than the entire province of British Columbia.”

Greenpeace has also warned: “First Nations communities in affected areas report unusually high levels of rare cancers and autoimmune diseases.”

And it has been noted that each barrel of oil produced from the tar sands takes 2 to 6 barrels of water that then lead to toxic tailings ponds.

Canada in Colombia

Gustavo Galvis, a representative of Export Development Canada in Bogota, has previously highlighted under “Key opportunities for Canadians”: “At one point, Canada was one of the largest investors in [the oil and gas] sector in Colombia. One of the reasons is because there’s a lot of similarities between the Alberta foothills and the Colombian geography. Canadian operators feel comfortable with the industry and today, some of the most important companies in exploration and production in Colombia are Canadian.”

Claudio Ramirez of the Trade Commissioner Service of Global Affairs Canada has also noted under “Key sector and growth trends”: “Colombian resources are depleting fast, so there’s a push to increase exploration through the auction of new blocks. Technologies related to oil recovery and mature fields are much sought after, as well as in the development of unconventional resources, like fracking and deep-water exploration.”

Ramirez took part in a recent PBI convened virtual meeting between the Regional Corporation in Defence of Human Rights (CREDHOS) and officials from Global Affairs Canada and the Embassy of Canada in Colombia.

Meanwhile, Above Ground, Oil Change International and other organizations have called on Export Development to Canada to end all support for fossil fuels and rapidly scale up its support for renewable energy projects that respect human rights.

PBI and Above Ground recently collaborated on this webinar that featured Karen Hamilton and Colombian environmental defenders who expressed concern about conventional extractivism and fracking in the Magdalena Medio region.

Photo by Luisa Gonzalez/Reuters.

The United Steelworkers has sent a letter to Colombian president Ivan Duque expressing their concern about the violence against the national strike.

The USW is the largest private sector union in North America with more than 225,000 members in Canada and more than 800,000 members continent-wide.

Their letter states:

“The United Steelworkers strongly condemn the brutal repression against the Colombian people who have exercised their right to freedom of expression against the tax reform bill and other policies of your government.”

“According to information we have received, a vicious military escalation has taken place in which state repressive agencies – the National Police and the Mobile Anti-Riot Squad (ESMAD) – social cleansing groups and plainclothes police officers with the help of the army have intimidated, persecuted, repressed, injured and murdered, not only union and social leaders, but indiscriminately targeting at the general population.”

The United Steelworkers calls on the Duque government to:

-immediately halt the human rights violations taking place against civilians engaging in protest, and to guarantee the safety of all of those in line with internationally recognized human rights standards

– investigate and bring to justice all members of state security agencies responsible for human rights violations during the national strike

-refrain from criminalization and stigmatization of peaceful protests

-urgently engage in a wide-ranging social dialogue and genuinely listen to all sectors of the population to find a solution to the immediate crisis in the country

-effectively implement the 2016 Peace Accords in their entirety.

The Peace Brigades International-Colombia Project has been accompanying human rights defenders throughout the national strike that began on April 28. For more on that, please see this photo journal.

On May 5, Peace Brigades International helped convene a meeting between the Regional Corporation in the Defence of Human Rights (CREDHOS) and officials from Global Affairs Canada and the Embassy of Canada in Colombia.

Among the key issues discussed at that meeting:

A statement from Foreign Affairs Minister Marc Garneau

Following this tweet from the Canadian Ambassador to Colombia, it was expressed that a statement from Foreign Affairs Minister Marc Garneau would also be warranted given the concerns about the violence against the national strike in Colombia.

Police violence

Given the documented reports of instances of violence by the public forces (the police and military) against the national strike and the deployment of the military in the city of Cali and on the outskirts of Bogota, the concern was raised about the sale of Canadian-manufactured Light Armoured Vehicles (LAVs) to the Colombian army in 2014. Beyond the question of if they had been deployed during this national strike, the ask was made by CREDHOS that Canada stop its military exports to Colombia.

Fracking and extractivism

It was noted that Canadian companies have expressed interest in fracking in Colombia. That includes Toronto-based Sintana Energy (that co-owns the VMM-37 block near the community of Puerto Wilches in the Magdalena Medio region where ExxonMobil intends to conduct a fracking pilot project), Calgary-based Canacol Energy (that has conducted an assessment on the potential to frack on another block of land in the Magdalena Medio region), and Calgary-based Parex Resources (that was named by the Colombian Minister of Mines and Energy as a company interested in the fracking pilot projects).

Escazu Agreement

On March 5, during a session of the United Nations Human Rights Council with Special Rapporteur Mary Lawlor on the threats against and killings of human rights defenders, Canada’s Ambassador to the UN in Geneva Leslie E. Norton stated: “Some states have established specific protection mechanisms to prevent risks and attacks against HRDs and to intervene when need be. Canada wants to stress these important milestones such as the Escazu Regional Agreement in Latin America and the Caribbean.”

At the meeting with Global Affairs and Embassy officials, it was noted that while Colombia has signed Escazu, it has not ratified it. It was further suggested that Canada should communicate with Colombia its support for the Escazu Agreement.

There was a productive discussion about these and other issues, and hopefully the meeting also provided an opening for further discussion and action.

We are grateful that Montreal-based Karen Hamilton from the human rights and corporate accountability project Above Ground was present at the meeting and tweeted:

On April 29, Peace Brigades International in collaboration with CREDHOS and Above Ground hosted a two-hour webinar on extractivism and fracking in the ecologically sensitive Magdalena Medio region of Colombia.

To watch the video of that webinar moderated by Luis van Isschot of PBI-Canada, please click here. (The Zoom webinar had simultaneous translation by Kath Nygard, but the Facebook video is mostly in Spanish.)

Ivan Madero, the president of the Regional Corporation for the Defence of Human Rights (CREDHOS) made the first intervention.

Madero highlighted: “A characteristic of the pandemic has been the concessions for fracking and extractive industries, including Canadian companies.”

“We have been carrying out research of the purchasing of lots by [Calgary-based] Parex [in relation to a third-party transaction of land controlled by drug traffickers]. …We have also seen that Parex generated a legal process against community leaders and as CREDHOS we won a right of protection for constitutional rights.”

“There have been two fracking projects approved, one by the Colombian petroleum company Ecopetrol, the other by ExxonMobil, a foreign company, which opens the door for these projects to be carried out by transnational corporations.”

He stated: “We are living a political genocide, a social genocide.”

Madero closed by asking Canadians to make statements so that the Colombian government will ratify the Escazu Agreement for environmental defenders, to call for a review of the Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement in relation to the actions of Canadian companies in Canada, for guarantees for environmental defenders, and in opposition to fracking.   

Madero was followed by Oscar Sampayo, an environmental activist with CRY-GEAM, as well as the Alliance for a Colombia Free of Fracking and the National Union of Food Industry Workers (SINALTRAINAL).

Sampayo noted: “There has been hydrocarbon extraction in the Magdalena Medio region for the past 100 years. When it began in 1918, it dispossessed the original Indigenous populations living in this area, including the Yariguíes.”

With a PowerPoint map, Sampayo also noted Petrosantander, a company with Canadian capital that has extracted oil in the region for 70 or 80 years.

He also highlighted the impacts of hydrocarbon extraction on communities, territories, and nature that will be worsened by the fracking pilot projects.

Sampayo also noted that the American jaguar moves through this area, less than 8 kilometres from the Ecopetrol fracking pilot project. He said: “It is possible that the American jaguar will be one of the victims of these pilot projects.”

He also highlighted that the Platero fracking pilot project on the VMM-37 block is on land that was granted to Patriot Energy, a subsidiary of the Canadian company Sintana. Sampayo noted that it is important to pursue research to understand the relationship of the granting of the land title and its use for a fracking pilot project now.

Sampayo also expressed concern about the relationship between Canadian corporations operating in the region, drug traffickers, loans from the Export Development Corporation (EDC) to these companies, and land conflicts and tensions.

Next, Yuli Velasquez of the Federation of Artisanal Fishers of Santander (FEDEPESAN) spoke from the city of Bucaramanga.

Velasquez spoke about the pollution of water sources in the city of Barrancabermeja and the social and environmental struggle in defence of water.

She said: “We have faced various threats and assassination attempts, but we will continue working and contributing to the protection of the environment.”

Velasquez says: “We are working hard to stop fracking. Pollution will impact future generations. As fisherpeople we are impacted by water pollution. We can’t allow corporations and contractors to come in and affect the well-being of our communities.”

Then Yuvelis Morales of the Committee for the Defence of Water, Life and Territory of Puerto Wilches (AguaWil) spoke.

Morales stated: “This is a committee that was formed to combat the imposition of not one, but two fracking pilot projects in Puerto Wilches.”

She highlighted: “The armed conflict isn’t something of the past. In all regions of the Magdalena Medio the armed conflict continues to be something very present.”

Morales continued: “We have highlighted the impacts of fracking on not only the environment, but also the health of the people. And when AguaWil became more visible, and didn’t disappear, when we became a problem for the oil companies, those interested in promoting fracking and its economic benefits, they started to threaten, stigmatize, and silence us. More than eight of our youth have been threatened.”

She further noted: “We are against fracking and not only a company, but a government, but Ecopetrol is a government company, in addition to the transnational companies. And we have shown that the community of Puerto Wilches doesn’t want fracking, but the government doesn’t care, and they continue to try to impose these projects on us.”

Morales concluded: “We have a constitutional right to a healthy environment, but the government is not interesting in hearing the communities because we are a problem for them, they aren’t interested in listening to young people. But we will keep fighting.”

Lastly, Montreal-based Karen Hamilton of Above Ground spoke about the role of the Crown corporation Export Development Canada, civil society concerns about the new Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise and steps that can be taken to address this situation.

Hamilton noted: “For decades Canadian civil society has been advocating for strong environmental and human rights policies at EDC because of their poor track record, as well as a lack of transparency and accountability around their decision.”

She also highlighted: “Oil and gas received $8.1 billion of support from EDC last year.”

Hamilton also noted the Trade Commissioner Service, a support for Canadian companies including in Colombia, that operates very closely with the EDC and the Canadian Embassy. Their support extends to oil and gas companies in Colombia.

She then noted that Parex, Gran Tierra, Canacol and Ecopetrol have all received support from EDC over the past five years. Notably, Parex is the top company receiving support: six loans of between $250 and $475 million (EDC doesn’t disclose specific amounts).

Hamilton highlighted: “EDC doesn’t disclose what the companies will use the loans for commercial confidentiality reasons.” That said, she added: “It would be great to know if EDC is supporting fracking or if fracking is not part of the activities it is supporting.”

She then noted that one possible recourse for communities adversely impacted by Canadian companies is the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise (CORE). Again, that said, she highlighted numerous concerns that civil society has with the CORE.

Among those concerns is the inability of the CORE to compel companies to provide documents and testimony to perform the investigation required.

Hamilton concluded with next steps, including ending all fossil fuel subsidies and implementing mandatory due diligence legislation.

We then moved into a question-and-answer session that included questions about the role of trade unions in Colombia in relation to opposition to fracking, if it’s still possible to revoke or suspend the fracking pilot projects, and the legal strategies that could be pursued given these companies are based in Canada and the United Kingdom.

Notably, Sampayo replied that the Colombian Petroleum Industry Workers Union (USO) has joined the Alliance for a Colombia Free of Fracking.

Madero also noted that he visited Canada in November 2019 and is interested in working with allies outside of Colombia on these issues, notably in relation to the Canadian company Parex and the illegal purchase of land CREDHOS has denounced.

He also highlighted that Colombian civil society is saying no to the Colombian government and transnational corporations wanting to frack in Colombia because it will worsen climate change and that will impact the world.

Morales also asked Canadians to help to raise awareness and share AguaWil posts about the impacts that fracking will have on climate change, water, nature, and communities.

Madero concluded by saying that the Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement needs to reflect these concerns and that the Canadian Embassy needs to make better known to communities and environmental defenders its ‘Voices at Risk’ guidelines.

And Sampayo wrapped up the webinar by highlighted that there needs to be more robust advocacy in support of the proposed bills that would ban fracking in Colombia.

Peace Brigades International will continue to work with all the speakers on this webinar on the issues they raised with such great clarity and compassion, as well as to further reflect and explore the questions and ideas posed during this discussion.

To connect and support the organizations on this webinar, you can find CREDHOS, CRY-GEAM, the Alliance for a Colombia Free of Fracking and Above Ground on Twitter and FEDEPESAN and AguaWil on Facebook. You can also find regular updates on these issues from us on our Twitter feed and Facebook page.

If your question wasn’t answered, please also feel free to email me at brent@pbicanada.org and I’ll do my best to answer or find an answer for you.

To watch the video of this webinar, please click here.

On May 5, the Canadian Union of Public Employees tweeted: “Solidarity with workers, human rights defenders & others on strike in Colombia. CUPE calls on the Cdn gov’t to condemn the Duque regime’s violence & rights violations.”

Agence France-Presse has reported: “Tens of thousands of Colombians have taken to the streets in demonstrations against a proposed tax reform but have since morphed into broader protest against the government of President Ivan Duque.”

The mobilization began on April 28 against a $6.4 billion “tax reform” package that would have disproportionately impacted the poor.

That tax package could have imposed a 19 per cent tax on drinking water for some, while the health reforms raised concerns given the investment of foreign capital in the health sector has increased considerably in recent years.

The BBC has reported that the unions that called for the national strike have stated “the withdrawal of the tax reform was not enough and that it also wants improvements to Colombia’s pension, health and education systems.”

Yesterday, the Bogota-based organization Temblores reported that after nine days of national strike protests there were 1,728 documented cases of police violence against the protests and 37 homicides committed by the police.

In October 2019, CUPE National President Mark Hancock participated in a CUPE delegation to Colombia and met with NOMADESC and SINTRACUAVALLE – the union representing workers at Colombia’s only public water provider.

You can read his reflections on that delegation here.

PBI-Colombia has provided protective accompanied to NOMADESC since 2011 and its president Berenice Celeita since 1999.

As can be seen in this photo-journal, PBI-Colombia has been accompanying human rights defenders throughout this national strike.

PSAC National President Chris Aylward

On May 4, Chris Aylward, the National President of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), wrote to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau about the violence being committed against national strike participants in Colombia.

Key excerpts from the letter include:

“On behalf of the Public Service Alliance of Canada, we are writing to express deep concern at the militarized response of the Colombian government to the ongoing national strike which began April 28, 2021 and continues today.”

“There are widespread reports of firearms being used against unarmed civilians, and indiscriminate violence against citizens participating in the protests.”

“We are calling on the Canadian Government to condemn this violence, to urge the Colombian Government to release all political prisoners, and to hold accountable the perpetrators of human rights violations.”

“The demonstrations against the tax reform have become a catalyst for the collective expression of citizens’ frustrations and widespread social discontent over the rapid process of mass impoverishment and exclusion of vast sectors of the society.”

The letter concludes with several demands including that the Canadian Government urge the Government of Colombia to:

-immediately halt the human rights violations taking place against civilians engaging in protest, and guarantee the safety of all of those in line with internationally recognized human rights standards

-demilitarize the cities and urban areas

-dismantle the anti-riot police (Escuadrón Móvil Antidisturbios) ESMAD

-refrain from criminalization and stigmatization of peaceful protests.

The full letter can be read here.

The Public Service Alliance of Canada is one of Canada’s largest unions. It represents more than 200,000 workers. Their members work for federal government departments and agencies, Crown Corporations and in other sectors.

In November 2019, the PSAC hosted a meeting with Colombian human rights defenders from the Regional Corporation in Defence of Human Rights (CREDHOS) and the Luis Carlos Pérez Collective Lawyers Corporation (CCALCP) during a Peace Brigades International organized advocacy tour in Canada.