“Social opposition to extractive industries hits all-time high in Colombia” – 12 October 2017

Peace remains illusory for many Colombians a year on from the signing of a historic deal with guerrilla group the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC)…Tensions over land and natural resources persist in rural areas despite the end of conflict between FARC and the Colombian government. This is in part because the government continues to prioritise the extraction and export of commodities such as oil without properly consulting affected communities, according to Camilo González Posso, director of Colombia’s Institute for Peace and Development Studies (INDEPAZ)… The Nogal oil block in the southern former FARC stronghold of Caquetá is an example of resource-related conflicts taking place all over the country, says Joel Ross, Latin America analyst at UK consultancy Verisk Maplecroft…Drilling in the Nogal block, which is owned by Emerald Energy, a British subsidiary of China’s Sinochem, will cause irreparable damage to the water and soil that sensitive Amazon ecosystems and communities depend on, opponents say…Vanessa Torres…says many development projects had stalled in Colombia because of the presence of guerrillas…With graft-tainted Brazilian infrastructure giant Odebrecht selling assets in Colombia, China’s presence is “intensifying”, Torres says, but points out that until now investment has focused mainly on hydrocarbons…[Company comments on the case in Spanish are available here].