The North Shore Colombia Solidarity Committee Blog

from Chloe Schwabe

Dear all,

I think that Garry's timeline is a more accurate timeline of the events and perspective of the community. When I visited with displaced community members at a conference that was coordinated by the committee for the relocation of tabaco in Albania in 2004, the underlying message I heard from people was that people had the choice to leave (with or without compensation depending on the circumstances) or have their homes destroyed. While compensation was offered to some, it was actually way below the market value for the property. Some people received the full compensation the company offered and some did not. In many cases the compensation was also not enough to buy another home somewhere else. In some cases, the land titlements that people held were not recognized too. i would be happy to send anyone the trip report we did in 2004 with more specifics.

The history of this mine is ugly. Tabaco was not the only displaced community. Media Luna (wayuu) is fenced in and people's every movement is observed by mine security and they are not allowed to rebuild or fix any of their homes. In the meantime they are living on the land now controlled by the port. It is polluted by coal dust. The water is polluted.They were actually asked to move twice. The last time, some people refused to move and the fence was built around them. It is a very difficult existence. Manantial (afro) was displaced in the same way that Tabaco was displaced- with violence. THey had no support whatsoever. Another Wayuu community was displaced in the middle of the night when the very legislation that they had passed with the help of Armando Perez to protect the community and try to have the company take responsibility for the fact that their land was no longer inhabitable was used to displace them in the middle of the night. The community was dumped on some land with no shelter, no compensation, no jobs. Nothing.

I want to echo Avi's comments in that there are a lot of really awful cases in Colombia, but is it really right to comepare misery with misery? What happened to these communities is still wrong. When I visited and met people, built relationships with them and documented their stories, my heart was broken and I knew I had to keep doing what I could to help these communities, however little. Like all mining companies, Cerrejon tries to villainize the communities that oppose their operation and twist the story in their favor. These companies are actually really concerned about their public image. Any effort we can make to lift up the stories of these communities forces them to do pr damage control and furthers the cause for justice for these communities.

Some of us have been working with very limited resources for a while from Colombia, Canada, England, Australia and the US to do what we can with the limited resources that we have to bring attention to these communities when they are competing with other heart wrenching stories in Colombia and with media and government corruption there to have their voices heard. It is really exciting to see the impacts of Jose Julio's tour through the US and the delegation there this year and to see that finally these communities and this cause is getting the attention that it deserves. I hope people continue to stay involved so that one day soon, Tabaco can receive the compensation it deserves and other communities, such as Tamaquito, will receive better treatment.

We are all doing our part to improve the overall conditions for the people of Colombia. Klaus, I hope that you too will continue to be part of these efforts.

Ok. Now that I have written this manifesto, I will sign off.

Chloe