Article by PBI-Canada

On December 11, the Peace Brigades International-Colombia Project posted: “Yesterday, international day of human rights, we accompanied the Campesina Association of the Cimitarra River Valley – National Agroecological Network (ACVC-RAN) in a commission to verify the human rights situation in Northeast Antioquia.”

Northeastern Antioquia is a subregion in the department of Antioquia.

On December 3, Justice for Colombia reported: “Regions such as Cauca, Antioquia, Nariño, Chocó and Putumayo [have seen] a particularly high number of human rights violations [this year].” And in late-May, Fundacion Ideas de la Paz (FIP) reported that “the deadliest provinces for social leaders continue to be Cauca and Antioquia.”

In January, the United Nations documented that more than half of the 115 confirmed killings of human rights defenders in Colombia last year were recorded in the departments of Antioquia, Arauca, Cauca and Caquetá.

The controversial Canadian-financed Ituango hydroelectric dam on the Cauca River is also located in the department of Antioquia.

PBI-Colombia has previously noted: “PBI accompanies the ACVC who focus their work on the Campesino Reserve Zones (ZRC) and sustainable development, the development of agricultural projects in areas of education and health.”

PBI-Colombia has also explained: “The Campesino Reserve Zones are an example of community-driven resistance [that] promote food security and sustainable agriculture, challenging the economic model based on the extraction of natural resources and large-scale land exploitation through agribusiness.”

And PBI-Colombia has noted: “The hydrocarbon industry has played a fundamental role in the economic activity of the [Cimitarra River Valley] region, generating approximately 70% of the total economic value produced there.”

Further to that point, International Action for Peace has noted: “There was talk [at the Festival for Culture and Peasant Dignity in Puerto Nuevo Ité that was hosted by ACVC-RAN in 2018] about the problem of fracking and the threat of this activity in the Serranía de San Lucas and the wetlands of the Magdalena Medio.”

PBI-Colombia began accompanying ACVC-RAN in 2007 and has since expanded its accompaniment emphasizing political advocacy to raise awareness about the problems faces by the organization and the region in which they carry out their work.