Image taken from laregional.net
STATEMENT TO THE PUBLIC
Leaders of the communities resettled by Cerrejón Limited of the municipality of Barrancas in the south of the Department of La Guajira grouped in the following organizations: Junta de Acción Comunal de Patilla, Junta de Acción Comunal Electa de Casitas, Asociación de Negros Afrodescendientes de Chancleta (Asnac), Resguardo Indígena de Tamaquito II, through a call from the members of these communities, based on previous meetings where they make us an urgent call due to the difficult situation they are facing, which we summarize in the following points:
Socioeconomic situation: Considering that the economic conditions in general, due to the low level of household income has directly affected the quality of life of the families, today they do not have the basic resources to sustain themselves and the situation is getting worse every day. To date, the Cerrejón company pays for some services (water, electricity and internet). However, there are no alternatives that provide a real solution to self-support over time, which indicates that once the company stops paying for these services the families will not have the resources to assume them, due to the high unemployment that affects us.
However, we are not ignoring some of the benefits derived from the process, our call for attention is directed to the fact that relevant and transcendent solutions are not being provided, taking into account that socio-economic and cultural aspects have been affected and, therefore, the cost of living has risen.
At this time, the communities do not have job opportunities because ancestrally we were dedicated to the field, (agriculture, breeding of small species, small livestock, bread products, fishing, among others), today due to the relocation we do not have territory or areas where to carry out these activities that allow us to produce what is necessary to meet the needs of an entire population, Although there is the opportunity of a badly named Educational Aid which we highlight in the midst of so many mistakes on the part of the company, many of the young people who manage to professionalize, do not have opportunities in the coal project nor accompaniment in the search for their first job.
Cultural Situation: Faced with our cultural identity, there is an indigenous community as is Tamaquito II and the others, we recognize ourselves as Afro-descendant, which is why we consider that the company has violated our rights as ethnic minorities, from the moment of the deterritorialization until today, although we did not have an ethnic organization at the time, our uses, customs and identity are part of our idiosyncrasy which was known by the company since they had the appropriate professionals to identify through their ethnographic studies the ways of life and ancestral traits within the communities.
In response to the different problems mentioned above and others that afflict the communities, we have held meetings with the company, which has always expressed its willingness to talk, but not to provide solutions, as every day we see how the communities are declining.
We make it clear that we are not after money, but the construction of self-sustainable communities over time and thus to avoid that our young people continue to be lost due to lack of job opportunities, we want to be communities that bring welfare to our municipalities but not problem communities.
We decided to make public knowledge of the real situation that the communities wrongly called resettled are going through, so that they know our discontent with the company, the National, Departmental and Municipal government, and together we can look for a real solution, otherwise we are willing to take action, including actions.
Barrancas La Guajira, March 3, 2022.
Image taken from laregional.net
