The Human Cost of Colombian Coal

A case study of the world’s largest open-pit coal mine reveals the hidden costs of coal from Colombia, in particular the effects on indigenous and Afro-Colombian villages. In The People Behind Colombian Coal: Mining, Multinationals and Human Rights, anthropologist Steve Striffler and colleagues Aviva Chomsky and Garry Leech have assembled a comprehensive collection of reports on the impact of the Cerrejon mine, located in La Guajira state in northern Colombia.

The continual expansion of the Cerrejon mine — at the rate of about 1,482 acres a year — has led to the forced displacement of indigenous Wayuu and Afro-Colombian communities. Some assessments have been made of the environmental effects on ground water, marine life, and air quality, all of which affect the rural and fishing communities.

The Wayuu, who have inhabited the region since before Europeans arrived in 1499, had retained a large degree of autonomy while their region remained undeveloped. Although one of the largest and most complex tribal groups in Colombia, the Wayuu have no centralized political power, which has made it difficult for them to effectively confront external pressures.

Striffler has visited the area four or five times, and he and his colleagues have acted as intermediaries for the communities, helping them develop relationships with the mining company and with the labor unions representing the miners.

Several essays in the book detail the effects of land expropriation on the villagers. From the beginning, the mining companies chose to negotiate with the villagers individually to assess compensation for land and houses. However, Striffler reports, most communities want to conduct collective negotiations to obtain a new area to rebuild their villages with houses, land, and an infrastructure of roads, schools, and churches.

“At this point, the mining companies have recognized that they had not handled land acquisition well and that the villages need to be relocated,” Striffler says. “The question now is how these negotiations will occur. The details have not been worked out.”

The labor union, an important force at the mine with more than 5,000 members and considerable financial resources, has become a valuable ally for the villagers. The union had not realized initially that the indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities existed. Typically, the miners have come from other areas of the country and are relatively well-educated and well-paid compared to the local villagers.

Villagers in Tabaco, which was established by former slaves, initially did not realize the coming of the mine would mean the end of their community and the introduction of health problems, such as tuberculosis, related to the coal dust.

“When the mine first came, we all thought that our land would be preserved intact, that the mine wasn’t going to cause us problems,” a villager reported. “What we didn’t know was that what they called ‘progress’ was going to mean the destruction of our towns.”

English- and Spanish-language editions of The People Behind Colombian Coal are available.

 

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