Activists say the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) is not following its own sustainability guidelines and performance standards in the case of Hidroituango, the largest hydroelectric dam in Colombia, in a struggle on how best to develop the Lower Cauca River Valley… In 2019 Ríos Vivos brought a complaint against one of the dam’s chief financiers, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), accusing it of violating its own operational procedures in financing the dam… The $5 billion dam is being built by Empresas Públicas Medellín (EPM), a construction firm owned by the city of Medellín, and when completed will be the biggest hydroelectric dam in Colombia. Proponents of the project say that it will generate enough power to cover 17% of the country’s needs. Its construction has already impacted as many as 26,000 people… “Without the Inter-American Development Bank, this project never would have happened,” said Zuleta. “It generates confidence so that other banks invest. This makes it responsible, because it’s a political issue, it isn’t just about money. It’s about political responsibility for the damage they caused by investing here.”… During the construction of the dam, there are tunnels that divert the river from its original course to allow the river to flow before the dam is operational. EPM had made a smaller tunnel, not approved in its license, which landslides and rains caused to clog, leading to flooding, the near collapse of the dam and the evacuation of tens of thousands of people…