On April 25, we hosted a webinar with three human rights defenders about the impact of COVID-19 on human rights in Colombia. In such a challenging time, we were grateful to hear from folks around the world about their concerns for human rights defenders and to discuss...
Extractive Industries
Perspectives on Peace: Fabiola from Santa Rosa de Guayacán
In early August, we were able to travel with our partner Communities Constructing Peace in the Territories (CONPAZ) to Bajo Calima and the San Juan River, in the rural region outside of Buenaventura. There we heard from various indigenous and Afro-Colombian...
Mining in Cesar: Development Before Dignity?
Irene Benítez, our new Programme Coordinator, reflects on a journey to César, where FORPP accompanies Tierra Digna to help a community affected by mining secure dignified living conditions. We have spent days in a small classroom. The heat is unusual for me, almost...
Hope in the Midst of a Violent Crisis: Life in Buenaventura´s Urban Humanitarian Space
By Nikki Drake, accompanier at FOR Peace Presence Article originally published on Upside Down World An alarm of lively music starts each day around 6am, and the street slowly comes to life. Sweetened coffee percolates in houses, fishermen head out in their small...
Colombia: Approaching the Point of No Return
FOR Peace Presence focuses primarily on the negative effects of militarization and developmentalism on the human population of Colombia. Try as we might, Macaws have been really hard to accompany. This article, originally written for Capital Canal, then translated for...
IFOR Delegation Arrives
Hard at work.
Colombian Coal: Fueling the Cycle of Conflict
Barges and cargo ships dot the distant horizon off the white shores of Santa Marta. Seated on the Caribbean Sea between sandy beaches, small fishing villages, and the Sierra Nevada mountain range, Santa Marta was destined to be a centerpiece of Colombia’s growing...
Empires of Gold and Colombian Extractivism Today
By Luke Finn Before there was Colombia, there was the extractive industry. The legend of El Dorado stems from a Spaniard, Juan Rodriguez Freyle, watching a High Priest of the Muisca getting covered in gold dust and jumping in Lake Guatavita, near Bogotá, in a...