To whom it may concern:
Enclosed you will find information regarding a situation that
calls for your immediate attention and concerted action. This
situation concerns the threat posed by industrial gold mining on
the local communities and the biological diversity of the Pacific
Coast rainforest of Colombia. As you may know, there has been
increasing attention given to this region because it constitutes
one of the richest repositories of genetic, species, and
ecosystems diversity in the world. In addition, the Pacific
Coast is home to several hundred thousand people of indigenous
and African descent, and has witnessed growing cultural and
political activity on the part of organized indigenous and Afro-
Colombian groups in defense of their territories and cultures in
recent years. It is, in fact, the organization of black
communities that are attempting to reach out to environmental,
human rights, and indigenous rights organizations throughout the
world in order to make this situation visible and elicit support
for their struggles. We hope you will be able to respond to this
call in a timely fashion.
Sincerely,
Arturo Escobar
Department of Anthropology
Machmer Hall
University of Massachusetts
Amherst, MA 0l003, USA.
fax: (413) 545-9494
e-mail: aescobar@anthro.umass.edu
Destruction of the Colombian Pacific Coast rainforest by
industrial gold mining on the rise. Rights of local indigenous
and black communities violated.
The Pacific Coast region of Colombia --situated between the
westernmost chain of the Andes and the Pacific Ocean, stretching
between Panama and Ecuador-- is one of most important
repositories of biological diversity in the world. Destruction
of this valuable rainforest ecosystem --inhabited mostly by black
and indigenous communities-- has increased rapidly in recent
years, particularly by the influx of capital in activities such
as gold mining, african palm oil plantations, and shrimp
cultivation. The government has also launched an ambitious
"sustainable development" plan for the region, with international
funding, which is opposed by local activists and organizations.
A much smaller Biodiversity Conservation project has also been
initiated under the sponsorship of the World Bank's Global
Environment Facility (GEF).
One reason for concern is the increase during the last few
months in the number of industrial gold mining operations. In
the southern part of the region, these operations are funded by
capitalist groups from Cali; there is strong indication that Cali
Cartel money is involved as well. A recent report produced by the
Department of National Planning of Colombia, the highest planning
body in the country (Departamento Nacional de Planeaci"n, Plan de
Acci"n para la Poblaci"n Afrocolombiana y Raizal, Bogot , 1995,
p. 5), estimates that there are about 360 operations of this sort
in the entire region, 90% of which do not have the required
governmental permit, and are thus illegal. Based on various
studies (see, for instance, the study prepared by the
Biodiversity Conservation Project, La Miner!a de Oro en el
Pac!fico Colombiano, Bogot , Proyecto Biopac!fico, 1995), the
Network of Organization of Black Communities of the Pacific
(Proceso de Comunidades Negras, PCN), estimates that up to 80,000
hectares (1 hectare = 2.5 acres) are being destroyed per year by
industrial gold mining (the heavy equipment being used removes
about 600.000 cubic meters of soil in each site, destroying about
226 hectares each year). This contributes to the loss of
biological diversity and the destruction of rainforest habitats,
the state of which is already compromised by timber extraction;
it adds significantly to the devastation of rivers through
sedimentation and mercury contamination, affecting aquatic life
and even the course of the rivers; and it violates the rights of
the black and indigenous communities to control their own
territories, leading to violence, increased economic hardship,
displacement, and human rights abuses.
In 1993, the Colombian government approved a law (Ley 70)
granting collective ownership rights to the black communities
over the territories they have customarily occupied for the last
two to three-hundred years. It is expected that about 600,000
hectares will be adjudicated to the local communities over the
next four years. While Ley 70 considers the suspension of all
other land concessions and the granting of licenses for mining
operations, the fact is that these activities continue to take
place throughout the region often times with the tacit approval
of the authorities in charge of monitoring the use of natural
resources.
Since 1993, the organizations of black communities have
asked the government to put a stop to all of these illegal mining
activities. Despite the recent creation of the Ministry of
Environment, industrial mining is on the increase. This
situation is not only impairing the rich biodiversity of the
region, but endangering the rights and lives of the local
communities, as repression and force are being used to dissuade
local peoples from protesting the situation.
The Network of Organization of Black Communities (PCN) is
launching an international campaign to address this situation as
one of the primary means to pressure the government to intervene.
The PCN asks of all of those interested in environmental,
indigenous, and human rights issues to write to the following
institutions expressing their concern about this serious
situation, in particular the destruction caused by gold mining,
and to voice their support for the demands being made by the
local communities:
Cecilia L"pez Jorge E. Cock
Ministerio del Medio Ambiente Ministerio de Minas y Energ!a
Edificio Avianca Avda. El Dorado
Calle 16 No. 6-66 CAN
Bogota Bogota
Fax: (57-1) 336-3984 Fax: (57-1) 222-3651
Sr. Ernesto Samper
Presidente de la Rep#blica
Carrera 8 No. 7-26
Bogot
Fax: (57-1) 286-7434
286-6842
If possible, send copies and messages of solidarity to:
Organizaci"n de Comunidades Negras de Buenaventura (OCN)
c/o Fundaci"n Habla/Scribe
Calle 9B No. 20-28
Cali, Colombia
Fax: (57-2) 558-3976.
The English version of this communique has been prepared by
Arturo Escobar, Dept. of Anthropology, University of
Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 0l003, in conjunction with the OCN of
Buenaventura.
E-mail: aescobar@anthro.umass.edu. Fax: (413) 545-9494.