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PBI-Colombia accompanies case documentation meeting with CAHUCOPANA, AHERAMIGUA and CREDHOS

By
Brent Patterson
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On April 20, the Humanitarian Action Corporation for Coexistence and Peace in Northeast Antioquia (CAHUCOPANA) tweeted: “Between April 19 and 20, relatives of victims and #SanPablo institutions participated in the socialization of the project: an opportunity for the effective participation of the victims.”

It adds: “Activity carried out by @AHERAMIGUA [the Association of Agro-Ecological and Mining Fraternities of Guamoco], @Credhos_Paz [the Regional Corporation for the Defence of Human Rights] and CAHUCOPANA.”

On Facebook, CAHUCOPANA further noted: “Family members of victims and institutions of the municipality of San Pablo, participate in the socialization of the project ‘Case Documentation and psycho-juridical office: an opportunity for effective participation of victims’ that was advanced between April 19 and 20, under the execution of social organizations and human rights advocates from AHERAMIGUA, CREDHOS and CAHUCOPANA.”

PBI-Colombia has previously explained: “A crosscutting component of CAHUCOPANA’s work is the denunciation of human rights violations by all the armed actors, and by private companies with operations [notably large-scale commercial mining projects] in the region.”

It has also noted this “region has been experiencing systematic violence for many years. Local communities have suffered massacres, bombings and blockades that prevented the entry of food and medicine, imposed by illegal armed actors and the National Army.”

Cristy Lozano of CAHUCOPANA says: “PBI’s international accompaniment is an important shield, not only for us, but also for the peasants where the Army and paramilitaries are present, and at one time, the FARC.”

She adds: “PBI also helps us with advocacy. We are not alone: there are people who care about us, and this is clearly visible at the international and national levels.”

PBI-Colombia has accompanied CAHUCOPANA and AHERAMIGUA since 2013, and CREDHOS since 1994.

Observatory highlights risk of ExxonMobil fracking to the Ciénaga El Llanito and the endangered Antillean manatee

By
Brent Patterson
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Map from Corporacion Observatorio Desarrollo Territorial.

On April 19, the Barrancabermeja, Colombia-based Territorial Development Observatory Corporation published this map based on a map available from the National Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH) and noted: “The Platero Pilot Research Project is located in the municipality of Puerto Wilches, inside the VMM-37 block.”

The Observatory further highlights that the ExxonMobil Platero project is located just 7 kilometres away from the Ciénaga El Llanito (a wetland, marsh or lake area), which is the habitat of the Antillean manatee.

National Geographic has noted that the population of the mature adult Antillean manatee in the wild is estimated to be less than 2,500 and that it is listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

And environmental science professor Jairo Puentes has commented that the Llanito wetlands in Barrancabermeja are important because they are a source of food and employment for many fishers, as well as a place of contemplation for locals and tourists.

Puentes also notes: “Llanito is a reservoir without a flowing current which depends on the Sogamoso River to renew its water and redistribute waste products.”

The San Silvestre wetlands connect to the Llanito wetlands.

Canadian company Sintana Energy Inc.

Last week, Toronto-based Sintana Energy Inc. issued this statement that also confirms the Platero project is within the VMM-37 block.

The Canadian company holds a 30 per cent interest “to explore for, develop and produce the unconventional hydrocarbons of the VMM-37 Block.”

The company adds: “Sintana has been and continues to be in positive communications with both ExxonMobil and the ANH [National Hydrocarbons Agency] to ensure that the integrity of both the Company’s commercial arrangements with ExxonMobil and the Contract for VMM-37 with the ANH are honored.”

Webinar on April 29

On Thursday April 29 at 2:30 pm COT/3:30 pm EDT, Peace Brigades International is convening a panel of Colombian environmental defenders to speak on this issue. All four of the Colombian environmental defenders speaking on this webinar have recently received death threats for their environmental activism.

Click here to register to join this fully bilingual (in Spanish and English) webinar.

Manatee habitat in Ciénaga El Llanito de Barrancabermeja remains threatened.

PBI-Honduras notes letter signed by PBI-USA in opposition to US funding of the Jilamito dam

By
Brent Patterson
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On April 19, the Peace Brigades International-Honduras Project posted on Facebook: “Peace Brigades International-USA, along with 60 national and international organizations, are asking the U.S. Department of the Treasury to cancel the international funding of the Jilamito hydroelectric project in Honduras.”

Key excerpts from this letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen signed by PBI-USA, School of Americas Watch (SOAW), Witness for Peace Solidarity Collective, the Latin American Working Group (LAWG) and others include:

“We, the undersigned organizations, write to express our seriousness concern about the decision of IDB Invest, a member of the Inter-American Bank Group of Desarrollo, which in December 2020 approved a loan of $ 20.25 million for the Jilamito Hydroelectric Project in Honduras.”

“The continued opposition from affected communities to the project is well documented, as is that the heinous acts of violence and intimidation suffered by those who oppose the draft.”

“The Broad Movement for Dignity and Justice (MADJ), an organization Honduran woman highly respected from civil society to which affected local residents belong for the project, has presented serious complaints to the Honduran authorities that allege corruption and other irregularities related to the project.”

“We urge you to use the voice of the United States within IDB Invest and your role as a member of the DFC [the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation] Board of Directors to suspend proposed funding for the Jilamito Hydroelectric Project, ensure that no disbursements are made and that financing is definitely canceled.”

The letter concludes: “There is a need to improve current safeguards and safeguards application mechanisms to prevent this type of situation in the future. Take action to ensure the US is not complicit in project funding that undermine the rule of law and human rights.”

On March 22, Martín Fernández Guzman, a member MADJ, spoke on a PBI-USA organized webinar about the resistance in Honduras to the dam.

He highlighted the Canadian financing of a hydroelectric dam (at about the 1 hour, 13 minutes and 38 seconds mark in this video).

The Honduras Solidarity Network has also noted: “It’s not just the DFC that’s involved in funding this project, but also the Canadian government and the private arm of the InterAmerican Development Bank (IDB).”

While the US holds 30 per cent of the votes of the IDB, Canada holds 4 per cent of the voting power. In Canada, it is the Minister of International Development (currently Karina Gould) who is responsible for the Inter-American Development Bank.

To read the full letter to Secretary Yellen, click here.

What does the Escazú Agreement mean for environmental defenders in the Magdalena Medio region of Colombia?

By
Brent Patterson
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Click here to register for a webinar that will feature Colombian environmental defenders Ivan Madero, Yuli Velasquez, Oscar Sampayo, and Yuvelis Natalia Morales.

On April 19, Reuters reported: “The Escazu agreement is raising hopes among some [human rights defenders in Latin America] that they will be better protected and see the perpetrators of crimes brought to justice.”

That article adds: “The accord, which comes into force on April 22, has been signed by 24 of the region’s 33 countries, so far, and formally ratified by 12.”

Among its provisions, the article notes, “The treaty obligates countries to ensure activists can access public information on environmental cases and issues.”

“The treaty [also] orders countries to set up bodies to monitor, report and ensure new rules are adhered to, and specifies the rights of environmentalists, including their right to freedom of expression, free movement and peaceful assembly.”

Global Witness campaigner Marina Comandulli says: “Defenders are central in the fight against the climate crisis … we need a zero-tolerance approach to violence and to threats.”

Webinar on April 29

Bogota-based journalist Genevieve Glatsky has written: “In Colombia, massive protests against President Iván Duque prompted the conservative leader to sign the agreement in December 2019, becoming the last country to join Escazú. But both houses of Congress must now approve it, before it then faces a Constitutional Court review, a process that has been delayed by the pandemic.”

Meanwhile, environmental defenders continue to be threatened in the Magdalena Medio region of Colombia.

On Thursday April 29, our webinar will feature four Colombian environmental defenders who have recently received death threats.

This is also in the context of ExxonMobil and Ecopetrol being granted contracts to frack by the Colombian National Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH).

To register for this fully bilingual webinar, click here.

Ivan Madero, the president of CREDHOS, will be one of our speakers on April 29.

PBI-Honduras notes the self-organizing of the National Union of Rural Workers on the International Day of Peasant Struggle

By
Brent Patterson
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PBI-Honduras is marking the International Day of Peasant Struggle, April 17, with the above quote from the National Union of Rural Workers (CNTC). It says: “We are self-organizing. We cannot just sit around waiting for the agrarian laws to help us.”

The fuller quote reads: “We are self-organizing. We are going to sow a total of 40,000 manzanas (approximately 28,000 hectares) of maize and other products. Because we can’t sit on our hands waiting for agrarian laws to help us.”

The CNTC is a small-scale farming and trade union organization that fights for a more just distribution of land in Honduras. Its aim is to support affiliated small-scale farming families so that they have access to land.

PBI-Honduras has noted: “Of the 404 communities that form the CNTC, just 20% have titles to their lands. Many others have worked and lived on their lands for three or four decades and have spent 15 years awaiting the official recognition of their rights that never seems to arrive.”

Overall, land distribution in Honduras is highly unequal.

Just 5% of large-scale farmers control almost two thirds of all cultivable land, while 71% of small-scale farmers have access to just 5% of it.

We recall that Canada abstained in the vote on the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and other people working in rural areas that was adopted by the UN General Assembly in December 2018.

PBI-Honduras has noted that this UN Declaration recognizes key elements such as “the right to land, to natural resources and to food sovereignty, based on the principle of equality between men and women.”

Despite Canada’s abstention, the resolution in support of the Declaration passed.

PBI Honduras has been accompanying CNTC since May 2018.

#DíaDeLaLuchaCampesina

Franklin Almendares, General Secretary, National Union of Rural Workers (CNTC).

 

As COP26 approaches, the Glasgow Agreement looks to alternative processes to build climate justice

By
Brent Patterson
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In the lead-up to the United Nations COP26 climate summit this November 1-12 in Scotland, an alternative process toward a Glasgow Agreement is taking shape.

Their website notes: “Until now the climate justice movement has had a very big focus on pressuring governments to take action on climate, or to push for stronger international agreements within the framework of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), such as the Kyoto Protocol in 1997 or the Paris Agreement in 2015.”

“Meanwhile, emissions have continued to rise.”

It adds: “Hence the Glasgow Agreement proposes that civil society proposes its own plan of action, no longer waiting for governments and international institutions to do so. We aim to use a vast array of strategies and tactics, including civil disobedience, to achieve the necessary emissions cuts to prevent a 1.5ºC temperature rise by 2100.”

Some of the 160 organizations involved include: CENSAT – AguaViva (Friends of the Earth Colombia), MILPAH – Movimiento independiente indígena Lenca de la Paz (Honduras), Alianza Mexicana Contra el Fracking (Mexico), ATTAC España (Spanish State), Reclaim the Power (UK), MiningWatch (Canada), and Greenpeace International.

Climate change and Canada

The expressed concern about “no longer waiting for government” may resonate on the lands and territories of this country.

The Vancouver-based West Coast Environmental Law recently noted: “Canada has missed every single greenhouse gas emissions reduction target that is has ever set. Ever. From targets set in Kyoto in 1997, to Copenhagen in 2009 – and we are nowhere close to on track to achieve our 2030 Paris target set in 2015.”

The Toronto Star has also reported: “Canada has managed to lower emissions by just one per cent over the past 15 years.”

Worse yet, Canada anticipates producing more oil and gas in 2050 than in 2019.

Significantly, a new report by University of Waterloo researchers published by the Cascade Institute has found that Canada’s oil and gas production between 2021 and 2050 would exhaust about 16 per cent of the world’s carbon budget of 230 billion tonnes.

And despite Canada’s pledge at a G20 summit in 2009 to “phase out and rationalize inefficient fossil fuel subsidies”, there is still no official list of those subsidies and Environmental Defence recently reported: “In 2020, the federal government either announced or provided a minimum of nearly $18 billion to the oil and gas sector.”

The Environmental Defence report specifies that this includes: “$13.47 billion in public financing funneled to oil and gas companies primarily through a non-transparent crown corporation, Export Development Canada.”

Environmental Defence, Oil Change International and Above Ground have called on the Government of Canada to ensure that: “Corporations with a record of human rights violations, including violations of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, should be denied support.”

Despite this, on April 28, 2020, EDC signed an agreement to lend up to $500 million to build the Coastal GasLink pipeline on Wet’suwet’en territory.

This also happened even though the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination called on Canada on December 13, 2019 “to immediately halt the construction and suspend all permits and approvals for the construction of the Coastal Gas Link pipeline in the traditional and unceded lands and territories of the Wet’suwet’en people.”

PBI-Canada will continue to follow the Glasgow Agreement process with interest.

Red TDT report says aggressions against the Peoples’ Front in Defence of Land and Water in Mexico “multiply day by day”

By
Brent Patterson
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On April 15, Animal Politico reported: “In the first two years of [Mexican President Andrés Manuel] López Obrador’s government, a total of 45 human rights defenders have been killed in Mexico, nearly two activists dead each month.”

That article adds: “This is documented by the All Rights for All Network (Red TDT) – made up of 85 civil society organizations in 23 states – in an annual report it presented on Thursday on the situation of human rights defenders in Mexico.”

The report published by Red TDT is titled: Seeds of Dignity and Struggle. Situation of Defenders in Mexico 2019-2020.

Marianna Mendoza of Red TDT says: “It must be acknowledged that there is a human rights crisis in the country, and that aggressions against activists have not ceased. Human rights advocacy remains a very high-risk activity in Mexico.”

The article further notes: “Of the 45 defenders killed during the time of this government, 10 were environmental activists, 6 were defenders of the land and community, and 6 others defending the rights of sexual diversity.”

It highlights that among these deaths, 11 were murdered in the state of Oaxaca, 5 in Chiapas, 5 in Chihuahua, 4 in Guerrero and 4 in Morelos.

Animal Politico notes: “The Red TDT report highlights that there is a pattern of aggression against activists and defenders who oppose the new government’s infrastructure megaprojects and state governments. An example, the document raises, is the case of the Integral Morelos Project and the Huexca thermoelectric plant.”

“The report also recalls that activist Samir Flores, one of the fierce opponents of this project for its impact on the environment, was shot dead on February 20, 2019, while aggressions against the Peoples’ Front (FPDTA) ‘multiply day by day’.”

The Peace Brigades International-Mexico Project has accompanied the Peoples’ Front in Defence of Land and Water (FPDTA) since early 2020.

To read the full article, click here.

To read the full report by Red TDT, click here.

Webinar on April 29 will discuss fracking pilot projects in Colombia following Biden convened Climate Leaders Summit

By
Brent Patterson
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To register for the webinar with Colombian environmental defenders from the Magdalena Medio region, click here.

On April 22-23, Colombian president Ivan Duque and Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau will participate in US President Joe Biden’s virtual Climate Leaders Summit.

The White House media statement on this has noted: “The virtual Leaders Summit will be live streamed for public viewing.”

A few days after that summit, on April 29, a PBI convened webinar will discuss the fracking pilot projects that have been approved in Colombia and the role the Canadian government has played in supporting oil and gas operations in Colombia.

The National Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH) has approved two pilot projects near Puerto Wilches, Santander. Ecopetrol plans to invest $76.7 million in its Kalé project and ExxonMobil $53 million in its Platero fracking project.

The Canadian oil and gas company Sintana Energy holds a 30 per cent interest in the Platero/VMM-37 block in the Magdalena Medio region.

Ecopetrol president Felipe Bayón has stated that there may be up to 7 billion barrels of fossil fuels in the pilot area (the Magdalena Medio region).

More than 450 signatories – including 350.org, Amazon Watch and Oil Change International – signed this letter to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres calling for a global ban on fracking. That letter highlights that fracking for fossil fuels “torpedoes our global efforts to tackle climate change and violates basic human rights.”

About a month after the webinar, starting on May 31, there will be three weeks of intensive COP26 preparatory negotiations to finalize key issues related to the Paris Agreement, including common timeframes for national climate pledges.

The Alliance for a Colombia Free of Fracking and the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment have stated that Colombia proceeding with fracking is inconsistent with its obligations under the Paris Agreement.

We are in a crucial period relating to climate change and human rights.

To register for our webinar, please click here. This webinar will be fully bilingual with simultaneous translation in English and Spanish.

Webinar panel: Colombian environmental defenders Ivan Madero, Yuli Velasquez, Oscar Sampayo, Yuvelis Natalia Morales, plus Karen Hamilton (Above Ground), Luis van Isschot (Peace Brigades International-Canada).

Bilingual webinar will hear from social leaders opposing ExxonMobil and Ecopetrol fracking pilot projects in Colombia

By
Brent Patterson
-

Ivan Madero (left) and Yuli Velasquez (right) will be among the environmental defenders participating in the webinar on Thursday April 29.

The National Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH) has approved two fracking pilot projects near Puerto Wilches in the Magdalena Medio region of Colombia.

ExxonMobil plans to invest $53 million in its Platero fracking project and Ecopetrol $76.7 million in its Kalé project.

To hear directly from Colombian social leaders mobilizing fracking, please join an English-Spanish bilingual webinar on Thursday April 29 at 3:30 pm EDT.

To register, click here.

Webinar panel: Colombian environmental defenders Ivan Madero, Yuli Velasquez, Oscar Sampayo, Yuvelis Natalia Morales, plus Karen Hamilton (Above Ground), Luis van Isschot (Peace Brigades International-Canada).

Canadian company confirms ExxonMobil’s Platero fracking pilot project is the VMM-37 block near Puerto Wilches, Colombia

By
Brent Patterson
-

To hear Colombian social leaders speak about Platero/VMM-37, please register for this bilingual webinar on Thursday April 29.

This morning, Toronto-based Sintana Energy Inc. released this statement that confirms the recently approved ExxonMobil Platero fracking pilot project is the VMM-37 block in the Magdalena Medio region of Colombia.

Their statement reads: “Sintana Energy Inc. is pleased to comment on the ExxonMobil Exploration Colombia Limited bid for a Comprehensive Research Pilot Project (CEPI) in the unconventional formations of Block VMM-37 (Project Platero) and its acceptance and award by Colombia’s National Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH).”

Sintana Energy operates in Colombia through its wholly-owned subsidiary Patriot Energy that holds a 30 per cent interest in VMM-37.

The company notes: “Sintana is encouraged by the ANH’s acceptance of ExxonMobil’s bid for Project Platero and its award of a CEPI contract.”

And it highlights: “CEPI process should now provide an effective path forward for the testing and production of source rock hydrocarbons in future operations.”

Webinar on fracking and extractivism

Colombian social leaders have been raising concerns about the environmental and human rights consequences of fracking and conventional fossil fuel extractivism.

We are organizing a bilingual webinar (in Spanish and English) on Thursday April 29 at 3:30 pm EDT (2:30 pm in Colombia) to help bring public attention to these concerns.

The webinar will include a discussion on:

1- community opposition in Puerto Wilches to both the ExxonMobil Platero and Ecopetrol Kale fracking pilot projects

2- the death threats that are being received by environmental defenders opposed to fracking in the Magdalena Medio region

3- the status of the proposed law now being debated in the Colombian Congress to ban fracking (and the role ExxonMobil has played globally to stop climate legislation)

4- the concern that fracking in Colombia would violate Colombia’s obligations as a signatory to the Paris climate agreement

5- the United Nations Human Rights Council resolution that highlights the crucial role played by environmental human rights defenders in assisting the State to fulfil their obligations under the Paris climate agreement

6- the role played by Export Development Canada (EDC) in facilitating the participation of Canadian corporations in controversial oil and gas projects in Colombia

7- the concerns being raised about the limited recourse provided to impacted communities through the new Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise (CORE).

To register for this webinar now, click here.

Webinar panel: Colombian environmental defenders Ivan Madero, Yuli Velasquez, Oscar Sampayo, Yuvelis Natalia Morales, plus Karen Hamilton (Above Ground), Luis van Isschot (Peace Brigades International-Canada).

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