SAFE SPACES FOR SUSTAINABLE ALTERNATIVES
Working to support communities threatened by state
and corporate violence.
In Colombia the interests of transnational corporations are imposed through violence. State-linked paramilitaries drive communities from their land to clear the ground for mega-projects such as oil in the regions of Arauca and Casanare, coal mining in the region of Catatumbo and palm oil along the Pacific Coast.
Espacio Bristol-Colombia is a collective of volunteers working in solidarity with activists and communities who face threats of murder and imprisonment as a result of their struggles for land rights and alternatives to corporate globalisation.
This project has been created in partnership with COSPACC, an organisation set up by displaced community leaders from Casanare, who oppose BP’s oil exploration activities. BP’s continued presence in the region has created a humanitarian and ecological crisis. The objectives of the project are threefold. Firstly, it will supply solidarity accompaniment to provide an international presence to deter the repression. Secondly, it will continue to recruit and train more UK based volunteers for the accompaniment programme and thirdly, it will support returning volunteers in using their first hand experiences to raise awareness of the impacts of oil exploration and biofuels in Columbia.
"Thank you very much for the brilliant news. We are all very excited about having the capacity to fully proceed with our project. Also our partners in Colombia are thrilled and we have already set the wheels in motion." Espacio
