Profiting from loss:

Colombian farmers evicted by British mining companies

6.30 – 8 pm, Monday 29 January, followed by reception

The Auditorium, Amnesty International UK,

The Human Rights Action Centre, 17-25 New Inn Yard, London EC2 (nearest tubeOld Street)

Representatives of African-Colombian and Indigenous families evicted from their land in the province of La Guajira, Colombia to make way for a massive opencast coal mine:

  • Jose Julio Perez, President of the Relocation Committee of the village of Tabaco
  • Armando Perez, legal representative of displaced communities and associate of Yanama, a Wayuu Indigenous organization
  • Alirio Uribe, Jose Alvear Restrepo Lawyers’ Collective, Bogotá.

Many communities have been forced from their land since the mine opened in the 1970s. The villageof Tabacowas demolished in 2001 just after British-based companies bought into the project. Many inhabitants accepted the inadequate financial compensation on offer, others are still holding out for community relocation so that they can continue living as a community and farming the land as they did before.

The British-based companies that now own the mine are Anglo American, BHPBilliton and Xstrata. All raise money on the London Stock Exchange. Anglo American has its head office in London. Many pension funds invest in these companies. Many ordinary working people in Britain, without knowing it, are benefiting from the destruction of farming communities in Colombia by the world's richest mining multinationals. All three companies have good reputations as socially and environmentally responsible enterprises. The reality is very different. Come and hear the communities’ side of the story.

Visit arranged by Colombia Solidarity Campaign

Meeting co-sponsored by ABColombia (

Come to the London branch of the Colombia Solidarity Campaign which meets on the third Thursday of each month. Next meeting 7pmThursday 15 February, Union Tavern 52, Lloyd Baker St, WC1, London (nearest tubes Kings Cross, Russell Square, Farringdon, Angel)

Read Frontline Latin America – newspaper of the Colombia Solidarity Campaign. New edition will include articles on Human Rights - the Para-State is Uncovered, Colombia’s indigenous movement, The fight against corporate complicity:Mining Special, Struggles across Latin America:Chavez’s post- election turn, Correa Opens a New Chapter, Bolivia Solidarity Campaign scores victory against Grant Thornton, popular uprising in Oaxaca, Argentine Empresas Recuperadas.

To join Campaign: individuals £15 waged, £7.50 unwaged, organisations £30/60/120.Donations Urgently Needed –Cheques 'Colombia Solidarity Campaign'

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For more information about Colombia, or to join the campaign, contactColombia Solidarity Campaign at: PO Box 8446, LondonN17 6NZ.

E-mail: info@colombiasolidarity.org.uk Website