Water and Wayuu: The crisis in La Guajira, Colombia

By Ariana Lippi

A white pick-up truck with reflective stickers and matching flags is stopped at a stop sign and is facing a dirt road. In front of the white vehicle is a coal truck that is around five times the size of the white pick-up. Both vehicles are on the Cerrejón mine in La Guajira, Colombia. The background is hazy from the dust in the air. 

(Source: Santiago La Rotta, Creative Commons, https://www.flickr.com/photos/troskiller/3626033763).

I. Introduction: Water, Wayuu and Cerrejón

Over the summer of 2024, leaders of the Wayuu[i] indigenous group stood in unison, blocking off major roadways of the remote La Guajira peninsula in northern Colombia, and obstructed the delivery of government issued emergency water supplies to their own community.[ii] While blocking aid might appear counterintuitive, this was an act of resistance against the continued violation of their land at the hands of the Cerrejón mine which makes billions, and leaves the Wayuu community teetering on famine.

Blockades are a common and reoccurring protest method for people from La Guajira to call attention to the multiple and compounding human rights disasters that threaten the Wayuu community and condemn them to death by slow violence.[iii] Some of the most acute aspects of the crisis relate to the astounding rates of starvation, malnutrition, environmental desecration, extreme poverty, and conflict that occur in this coastal desert area leading to the deaths of thousands of Wayuu. The complexities of these issues are tied to many structural failures of the state and inequalities of the region, with a common thread binding them together—water. 

Lack of access to water has been a long-standing issue in La Guajira due to poor water governance, the privatization of Colombian public services, climate change, and resource extraction. However, extended drought since 2012[iv] has amplified water access issues and triggered a state of emergency which disproportionately affects the Wayuu community. The water crisis is especially lethal for Wayuu children whose deaths have garnered national and international attention,[v] and sparked an outcry. In response, the government issued a series of emergency interventions beginning in 2017,[vi] but they were improperly implemented or failed to meet long-term needs, feeding a vicious cycle of acute crises.  

While the situation grows bleaker with increasing climate shocks, the Cerrejón mine has mostly remained out of the spotlight. A darling of the Colombian economy, the mine has historically received government support as it demolishes the land of La Guajira. This paper examines why the Wayuu community is experiencing an ongoing water and humanitarian crisis that seems both perpetual and perennial in nature by attempting to parse out its main drivers. In doing so it becomes apparent that Cerrejón’s nearly unfettered operations reinforce the baseline conditions that generated the water crisis, while repeated failed government interventions cause its sinusoidal nature. A severe water shortage and lack of aid mean that Wayuu are enduring consistent threats to their lives and existence as a people. There have been promises by the current president to begin to exit investments with Cerrejón, but it is unclear if it can be done in time to save lives.

II. Background: Resource Extraction & Poverty in La Guajira

“La Guajira …my town of indigenous people covered with salty pain…I will fight for this wild region of beautiful people who will one day die for their land…who are beautiful and proud and faithful to the sun and sea”[vii]

To contextualize the issue at hand, it is critical to discuss how the legacy of colonialism is intertwined with modern extractivism and dispossession of indigenous populations which both creates and entrenches socio-economic vulnerabilities.

Extending above the continent as the northernmost point of South America, La Guajira peninsula is one of 27 departments (states) constituting the Republic of Colombia. Encrusted by rugged beaches, the land of La Guajira is harsh, saline, and desertic, characterized by a delicate but rich ecosystem.[viii] The department is also distinguished as the ancestral territory of the Wayú/Wayuu—the largest indigenous ethnic group in Colombia.[ix] Though many Wayuu were lost to the genocide of Spanish colonization, they remain one of the few indigenous groups in the Americas that remained independent from the crown. By retreating to the cape of the peninsula and relying on their ancestral knowledge of how to live in this severe climate, they survived where the invaders could not.[x] Today, over 98% of the Wayuu community members live in La Guajira, where they make up about 50% of the department’s population[xi] and account for over 20% of the total indigenous population of Colombia.[xii]

While they were unable to annex the peninsula, Spanish made Riohacha—now the capital city of La Guajira—a major slave port.[xiii],[xiv] Further, the Spanish established haciendas[xv] around the nascent but growing mining industry once they discovered the peninsula’s wealth of natural resources.[xvi] Today, La Guajira’s natural richness continues to draw extractivist corporations that maintain a powerful presence amidst a shadowy appearance of the state. 

Though Colombia gained independence from Spain in 1810, the integration of La Guajira was slow and it was only formally established as a department in 1964, demonstrating the longstanding disconnection between Bogotá[xvii] and the peninsula.[xviii] Perhaps it was the promise of profit that brought La Guajira into the fold. Just over a decade after integration, the state signed an agreement with the International Colombia Resources Corporation, the Colombia Resources Corporation, and the state-owned company Carbones de Colombia S.A. to build the Cerrejón mine. [xix] This state-sanctioned extraction supercharged the existing mining operations in the area, boosting economic growth at the expense of the Wayuu and their land.

Colombia is currently the top exporter of coal in South America, which is almost exclusively mined in La Guajira.[xx] However, the profit from this extraction is extremely concentrated, flowing directly to the company and the government. The National Administrative Department of Statistics (DANE) estimates that the average GDP per person in La Guajira is approximately $2,000 USD,[xxi] which is above the global poverty line.[xxii] Yet, 67.4% of people in the department live in poverty, indicating a heavily skewed income distribution and a stark wealth gap.[xxiii]  Poverty is even more prevalent among the Wayuu; DANE reports that 53% of the Wayuu community in the department are living in extreme poverty, accounting for a large portion of impoverishment in the department overall and that 56 – 84% of Wayuu individuals do not have access to basic needs including food, implying they are food insecure and unable to support the healthy growth of children. [xxiv]

III. The State of the Crisis

“In La Guajira, there is no such thing as childhood. Here a child is already old.”[xxv]

Water access

For the Wayuu community, water and earth are sacred and are touchstones to their cosmovision; “earth is the essence of life, it goes beyond developing it in a single space, it is the whole, the place of spiritual and physical coexistence.”[xxvi] Maintaining connection with water is therefore not only imperative for their physical survival as a largely pastoral community, but for their cultural and spiritual survival as well. Typically, drought is considered a routine feature of a desert environment, and the Wayuu people have adapted to it for millennia, using jagüeys, a type of traditional water reservoir.[xxvii] However, due to neo-colonizing activity and a changing climate, the people and natural systems that depend on the prediction of drought cycles are thrown out of homeostasis and into precarity.

Therefore, when drought strikes, many in the Wayuu community are unable to use water for daily hydration and sanitation, irrigate their crops, feed their families, or stave off infections. Lack of access to water strips the Wayuu of their water security, autonomy, food sovereignty, income, traditional practices, and physical health. Since 2012, La Guajira has been experiencing a severe prolonged drought, prompting a humanitarian crisis that disproportionately affects and kills the Wayuu, especially young Wayuu children.[xxviii]

Children at risk

The crisis of water has also spurred a related humanitarian crisis (both are referred to hereinafter as “the crisis”) and has claimed the lives of around 100 Wayuu children annually in La Guajira from hunger and malnutrition.[xxix] Between 2012 and 2016, mortality rates for children in La Guajira under five years were four times higher than the national rate, while the mortality rate for infants was almost nine times higher. However, these calculations may be conservative because deaths are frequently unreported from more remote areas of the peninsula.[xxx] Additionally, reported numbers of crisis-related deaths often focus on children, excluding adults and vulnerable populations such as the elderly, expectant mothers, and disabled and/or health compromised individuals.[xxxi] 

In 2015-2016, there was mass national and international outcry over the situation facing the Wayuu community. Several reports by various organizations were submitted to the Inter-American Council on Human Rights (IACHR)[xxxii],[xxxiii] stating that 4,770 Wayuu children had died between 2008 and 2016 due to problems associated with malnutrition and lack of drinking water.[xxxiv] If deaths within this timeframe are considered a baseline estimate, this number will have doubled by 2024.

IV. Water Governance and Water Insecurity

 When driving through Wayuu communities, it’s a common practice for children and youths to manage makeshift tollbooths, holding a length of rope across the dirt road. To pass, the driver must pay in pesos, or with water.[xxxv]

Water rights & governance

Water governance in Colombia is disjointed, decentralized, and driven by profit. In Colombia, water is considered a fundamental right and public good, and everyone must have “access to sufficient, safe, acceptable, accessible and affordable water for personal or domestic uses.”[xxxvi] In theory, this would guarantee all the protected entitlements to water. However, in practice there is stark inequality in public water access across the country, especially in rural areas like La Guajira’s peninsula where the Wayuu reside.

A primary reason for this unequal access is the privatization of public goods and resources. In the 1980s, Colombia joined other Latin American countries in adopting neoliberal trade policies due to several factors. These factors included pressure from the United States, slow development and hardship from the Latin American economic crisis, and political instability from the growing armed conflict. As a result, there was sweeping legislation that simultaneously granted the government the right to govern public goods,[xxxvii] and allowed the government to contract the private sector to administer them.[xxxviii] Therefore, public goods, like water, became privatized. Colombian professor of bioethics, Dr. Carmen Zamudio Rodríguez, explains that this created a situation that while water in Colombia exists as a public good, the use of that water can be exploited and will have a price.[xxxix]

While privatization does not diminish the fundamental right to water, it certainly makes it more complicated to ensure. During the bidding process, the government issues contracts to “multiple actors, often from different sectors, playing different and sometimes contradictory roles in water governance, which creates dissonance between conceptual and methodological foundations.”[xl] The effect is that there is a saturation of private actors managing water infrastructure and administration causing great disorganization and disharmony. In the La Guajira context, the water grid is currently operated by about 30 different companies.[xli]Additionally, there are issues with inconsistencies as well. The private contractors may change from year to year depending on which company has the prevailing contract at the end of the bidding process.

Moreover, Colombia’s approach to water governance is characterized by an ignorance of local forms of government and barriers to public participation. Zamudio Rodríguez suggests that a major component missing from water governance in Colombia is a functioning socio-political framework that would enable the legitimate and holistic participation of society in water management, and an institutional culture of commitment to sustainable water use nationally.[xlii] This includes not only understanding, incorporating, and enhancing components of local social organization but also symbolic structures such as language, ways of knowing, cultural paradigms, and existing technological platforms.[xliii]

Water insecurity in La Guajira & the Wayuu

Despite incongruous water governance, various efforts have been made to improve water coverage and infrastructure in La Guajira.  A World Bank report found that in some areas of the peninsula, the water coverage reaches nearly 100%.[xliv] However, in rural La Guajira, only 22% of the population has access to potable water, and for the Wayuu community access is only 4%.[xlv] In other words, many people in La Guajira may have the infrastructure to have water delivered to their houses or within their community, but the service provided by this coverage is extremely inconsistent or virtually nonexistent. Since public water access is extremely low in rural areas of La Guajira, people are usually left with two options: (1) store their own water at a low cost but with high risk of it being contaminated, or (2) purchase it at over 3 times the cost.[xlvi]

Natural water collection/storage through traditional methods, like jagüeys, have largely become unsafe or unreliable for the Wayuu. Jagüeys are drying out from intensive use and from desertification of the environment due to climate change. They are also becoming increasingly polluted by mining activity, or urban pollution such as sewage runoff.[xlvii] Jagüeys are also used as sources of water for wild and domesticated animals, and as water availability decreases, they can become contaminated by water-borne pathogens. Unfortunately, more than 89% of Wayuu households report that they do not treat the water they consume, which significantly increases health risks.[xlviii]

Although there are other alternatives to supplement water access, these options can be quite expensive. The most common solutions are buying bottled water, buying and installing water pumps, or purchasing water from private vendors/smugglers.[xlix] The cost of these options is prohibitive for many especially for those already living in poverty.[l] Many of those who use jagüeys systems are impoverished and do not have the option of using these alternatives. One study found that in some areas up to 94% of jagüeys users were experiencing insecure housing and living in improvised shelters.[li]

V. Intervention Failures: Fumbling the fix

“It’s a tragedy…a dramatic…re-victimization” of [Wayuu] communities due to the lack of institutional coordination and policy.”[lii]

Getting government attention – Sentencia T-302 in 2017

While the government has provided aid to the Wayuu, the repeated failure of government interventions raises questions regarding human rights, political will, and the pernicious forces of private industry. There have been dozens of legal decrees and court orders attempting to address the crisis,[liii] but poor implementation has created a sense of hopelessness and desperation as more people perish of thirst and hunger.

In 2016, national outcry catalyzed a tutela[liv],[lv] to be filed on behalf of the Wayuu which resulted in a novel trip to La Guajira by the Constitutional Court to assess the situation. This level of state presence in La Guajira for the first time in history gave many hope that change was imminent.[lvi] Upon discovering the dire condition of many families and communities without protection of their constitutional rights to water, health, and nutrition, the Court declared the situation in La Guajira as unconstitutional and passed Sentencia T-302 in 2017 (hereinafter known as “302”).[lvii]

In short, 302 ordered an Action Plan to be created within six months of the sentence date that would initiate immediate life-saving programs for children in La Guajira, particularly from Wayuu communities in the municipalities of Uribia, Manaure, Riohacha and Maicao.[lviii] The court ordered national and local government entities to coordinate with communities and develop appropriate programs to uphold access to healthcare, water, and food, and ethnic participation for children and the Wayuu in La Guajira. These measures were intended to be evaluated every six months.[lix]  

Failure to launch

Though the “Action Plan” for 302 was meant to be developed in six months, nearly six years have passed and the Plan is still in development.[lx] The Action Plan should have brought urgent and life-saving state-led programs to the peninsula to build more public taps and water sources, establish food programs for children and remote families, and make sources of medical attention more accessible. However, Colombian newspaper El Espectador reports about 90% of the public taps that were installed according to the Action Plan are not functional, owing partially to the fact that infrastructures were not properly maintained where they were installed.[lxi] Poor implementation is also compounded by redundant bureaucratic processes and challenges to governing water processes such as lack of public and ethnic participation[lxii] and collaboration. Additionally, government food delivery programs fell short on their promises to curb hunger and malnutrition in children, continuously failing to provide enough food—even by their standards—to support healthy child development. Due to these failures, child mortality rates in La Guajira are currently higher than the years before the 302 sentencing and remain almost nine times higher than the national average.[lxiii]

Former Magistrate of the Constitutional Court, Aquiles Arrieta Gómez, called the response of the responsible governing parties[lxiv] to the 302 ruling a “dramatic…re-victimization of [Wayuu] communities…due to the lack of institutional coordination and policy.”[lxv] With unmet promises of greater water access and nutrition not being delivered, many people lost faith and trust in the Court and the government for their neglect.[lxvi] In 2021, then-President Ivan Duque attempted to reinvigorate action around the 302 objectives with a program called “Guajira Azul/Blue Guajira.” The program aimed to increase the water coverage up to 80% in rural areas and fulfill the promise of 302 to deliver 20 liters of water per child daily.[lxvii] Despite the administration’s recognition of the need for emergency services to the Wayuu, the program also failed to deliver on its promises; only about five out of 24 taps were installed and the same issues regarding sustainability and maintenance persisted.[lxviii]

In 2022, the Court ordered another intervention, Auto 696, that reiterated the urgency of the lack of access to water and child malnutrition rates in Wayuu communities in La Guajira.[lxix] Unlike previous interventions, Auto 696 requires the Constitutional Court to regularly report updates to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.[lxx] However, continued lack of response to the urgent situation that many families face has given rise to frequent political unrest as citizens and civil society have spoken out and protested the situation.[lxxi] Despite their protests, many activists and politicians feel that their pleas for action are ignored or otherwise silenced.[lxxii] While proceedings dragged out in court and politicians made more “action plans”[lxxiii] for Auto 696, at least 70 children died of malnutrition in La Guajira in 2023.[lxxiv]

A new plan?

In February 2024, the government provided unprecedented aid to the Wayuu community following the severe devastation of the El Niño effect[lxxv] in the area which intensified the drought and brought the possibility of famine closer to reality. The Deputy Director of The National Unit for Disaster Risk Management (UNGRD) stated that previous experiences of water distribution in La Guajira gave the government “lessons learned.”[lxxvi] Yet, similar themes from previous interventions are visible, which cast doubt on whether these measures will dampen the crisis or if the vicious cycle remains unbroken.

In February, UNGRD announced that it would purchase 40 trucks to deliver urgently needed water to La Guajira.[lxxvii] Yet, there has been significant upheaval about this decision, and the UNGRD has been accused of corruption and waste in this process.[lxxviii] Not only did UNGRD spend funds irresponsibly during this project, but after the trucks were supposed to be deployed, most of them remained unused in a parking lot for over a month due to alleged issues with contracts.[lxxix]

In June 2024, the government was still attempting to deploy the fleet of emergency water trucks to the peninsula and had installed a solar-powered treatment plant to filter, desalinate, bleach, and remove sand from the water and make it accessible by six distribution points.[lxxx] The project, if executed successfully, is estimated to benefit 82 Wayuu communities.[lxxxi] Aid to the peninsula also included 450 jerry cans, equipment to maintain the water systems, and a 10,000-liter tanker for water distribution.[lxxxii] The UNGRD claims these measures will “transform” how the water is managed and delivered in La Guajira .”[lxxxiii] However, some may still be feeling a sense of déjà vu. Water systems installed in the interventions following 302 were also solar paneled, were not maintained or serviced by the government, and failed after a few years, causing the crisis to spike yet again.

Though the government has failed repeatedly to alter the situation in La Guajira or prevent the death of Wayuu children due to lack of water, they have attempted, several times, to intervene. Their commitment to alleviating the issue seems contradictory to their failure to follow through, yet they keep trying. Do their efforts stem from genuine concern? Is it performative to avoid criticism? Or is it just enough to bide time and keep the Wayuu alive while they feed the beast – el Cerrejón.

VI. Cerrejón and Mining Activities 

 “They are westerners who want to control this land, the land where we, the Wayuu live…They want to siphon the river…which is of great importance to us, and we use that… for our rituals, we find medicinal plants for our illnesses and plants for consumption. And the Cerrejón wants to cut off this river [for their use].”[lxxxiv]

Privatization & Profit

Cerrejon’s implantation in La Guajira was preceded by the privatization of public goods and government ownership of natural resources in Colombia. Recognizing mining and other resource extraction activities to be wildly lucrative, many Latin American governments implemented policies that allowed the private sector to take a greater role within the economy and society.[lxxxv] The result was a swift pivot toward privatization, deregulation, and free trade.[lxxxvi] International companies, like Cerrejón, capitalized on this position and benefitted greatly. In peripheral places like La Guajira, where established government presence is absent or lacking, large multinationals can obtain monolithic powers which shield them from accountability and allow them to become neocolonial patrónes.[lxxxvii] 

The mine is currently owned and operated by the Swiss company Glencore,[lxxxviii] and has a tremendous scale of operation. It stretches over 170,500 acres of land in La Guajira and produces over 100 tons of coal every day with 24/7/365 operations.[lxxxix]  In 2021, the mine produced over 23 million tons of coal[xc] which generated $4 billion USD in profit,[xci] constituting 57% of La Guajira’s GDP.[xcii]  For more than 40 years, Cerrejón’s operations have increasingly spread in the region, displacing thousands of people and threatening human and ecological life.

Reinforcing baseline conditions: Threats to water, health and life

The mine uses more than 24 million liters of water a day, which has robbed the peninsula of at least 40% of its diminishing water resources.[xciii] Cerrejón’s water use dramatically decreases the amount of surface water and groundwater available for the surrounding communities and pollutes what is left. Though the company claims it uses water from non-potable sources that are generated from inside operation facilities, studies have upheld Wayuu and local community claims that much of the water used in the mining operations comes from the same environmentally and culturally significant aquifers and rivers used by local communities.[xciv]

In an area as dry and environmentally sensitive as La Guajira, even a small change in water availability can be devastating for the Wayuu. Cerrejón’s water theft amplifies baseline water access issues caused by climate change and poor water governance in the area. Additionally, disruptions to the ecosystem weaken it, making climate shocks such as prolonged drought more intense, ultimately exacerbating the crisis.

Furthermore, the round-the-clock extraction and transportation of coal from the mine releases large amounts of dust and toxins[xcv] into the atmosphere, creating serious health hazards for residents across the peninsula.[xcvi] Due to the open pit structure of the mine, the quantity of coal produced, the arid conditions of the peninsula, and strong winds from the sea, pollution from Cerrejón’s operations gets everywhere from the air to food.[xcvii] The pollution causes serious respiratory illnesses and different types of cancer.[xcviii]  Children are among the most affected by the pollution and remain at the center of the crisis.

An immune behemoth

Many who live in the region will often point to Cerrejón as a driving source of conflict in La Guajira, claiming that the mine promulgates violence, corruption, and is responsible for their community’s rights being denied.[xcix] However, the mine is skilled at evading connections between its activity and the lived experiences of local people, and therefore culpability. Though there is subversive tension and conflict caused by the company which can manifest violence or contribute to violence predicated on instability, it remains out of the legal spotlight. The company often engages in what Gilbertson and Jakobsen refer to as corporate counterinsurgency. Corporate counterinsurgency is a method by which corporations not only “shape social and cultural life and to engineer consent, but also employ both “coercive…[and] quieter registers of power” to shut down or divert public debate.[c]

Cerrejón’s ability to engineer the appearance of consent is particularly germane to their relationship with the Wayuu community. In Colombia, all indigenous populations have the right to free, prior, and informed consent to the activity on their land.[ci][cii] However, the mine has consistently denied the Wayuu the ability to consent regarding projects that impact them despite court mandates, and so far, Cerrejón has evaded any real consequences. Human rights groups have expressed growing concerns that these judicial rulings are just lip service, and that there is a serious lack of compliance with various court rulings[ciii] meant to protect the victims of Cerrejón’s actions.[civ]

In 2019, the Wayuu filed a class action against the mine, arguing that Cerrejón’s environmental licensing process failed to comply with environmental provisions and principles, violating the rights of the Wayúu community and the general population to a healthy environment, human health, and free, prior and informed consent.”[cv] The case is still pending, but the community has not remained silent. The blockades in the summer of 2024 which prevented water aid trucks from entering the peninsula, were orchestrated by Wayuu members protesting Cerrejón’s lack of consultation for new operations.[cvi]  However, Cerrejón called these types of road blockages “illegal” and called on local authorities to end them who appeared shortly after.[cvii] The company also issued a press release stating that they had “two judicial rulings which decided that the company did not need to provide consent.”[cviii] They did not specify which rulings and there were no comments made by the government.[cix]

In addition to not being held accountable for denying the Wayuu the right to consent, there are scores of accusations that the company is responsible for bribery[cx] and for the intimidation and murder of community leaders who speak up against mining operations.[cxi] Some scholars even claim that the parallel development of mining and the armed conflict in places like La Guajira are not coincidental and point to the nefarious involvement of government forces and the paramilitary. However, most acts of violence go uninvestigated and/or unreported, paving a path of impunity for the company.[cxii]

VII. Conclusions

 “Projects of gas and salt, fracking of energy and carbon, are destroying my nation [creating] a natural disaster. Justice! Justice for my Guajira!”
– Hugues Martínez Gámez[cxiii]

While historically Colombia has turned its back on La Guajira and the Wayuu people, several avenues for change have recently emerged. In 2023, Colombia’s first leftist and current president, Gustavo Petro, announced his intentions to make a “concerted exit” from engagements with Glencore.[cxiv] While this does not necessarily mean that mining in the area will cease, it opens numerous opportunities to change the dynamic in the region and possibly grant the Wayuu greater autonomy, potentially leading to more sustainable water management if they can collaborate with Colombian authorities.

If the government phases out Glencore operations and signs contracts with different companies, there could be an opening for the Wayuu to defend their rights to free, prior, and informed consent,[cxv] which will set a precedent and pave the way for other indigenous groups in Colombia to do the same. These opportunities come at a critical moment in the international legal landscape where regional laws and agreements focusing on environmental justice have recently emerged. One such agreement is the Regional Agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation and Justice in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean (better known as the Escazú Agreement). The Escazú Agreement is a legally binding agreement, recently ratified by Colombia, that strengthens indigenous communities’ rights to participation in decision-making regarding their land or operations that would affect them.[cxvi] The Inter-American Court on Human Rights’ pending decision on U’wa Indigenous People v. Colombia regarding the land autonomy of the U’wa people presents another opportunity.[cxvii] If the court rules in favor of the U’wa, it will set a legal precedent in domestic and international courts cementing indigenous autonomy over reservations (like that of the Wayuu).

While there are multiple complex factors of the crisis in La Guajira, including the lingering violence of the 60-year armed conflict, poor governance and privatization of water resources, and climate change, the most convincing factor is the monolithic power of Cerrejón. The Wayuu have remained persistent in their resistance against Cerrejón, the denial of their human rights, and their erasure, despite the herculean challenges imposed on them. Though Colombia’s economy relies on energy projects for economic development, it should not come at the expense of the lives of the most vulnerable. Some sources have called the newest round of government interventions a “significant advancement,”[cxviii] but it may be too early to tell if they will be enough to break or perpetuate the violent cycle of the water and humanitarian crisis undergirded by Cerrejón. The government must restore the rights of the Wayuu and ensure a safe and self-determined life for Wayuu children and future generations.

Statement of Positionality

I am a white, lower-middle-class graduate from the Global North conducting research on the experiences of low-income and impoverished indigenous people in South America in extreme poverty and humanitarian crisis. I acknowledge that my position of privilege may influence the analysis and interpretation of my research, but I am committed to mitigating these biases. I would like to acknowledge the Wayuu’s struggles to be seen, heard, respected, and their fight for environmental justice and human rights, which I wish to amplify in this publication. It is my ardent hope that this article honors a part of their story.

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Wendy de Armas, “Ungrd implementa nuevas medidas para mejorar distribución de agua en La Guajira.” Tuuputchika.com April 22, 2024. Accessed November 25, 2024. https://www.tuuputchika.com/ungrd-implementa-nuevas-medidas-para-mejorar-distribucion-de-agua-en-la-guajira/.

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Zuleta Abogados, “Colombia’s Constitutional Court Declares That Constitutional Injunctions (Tutela) Can Be Upheld Against Awards In International Arbitration.” Kluwer Arbitration Blog, November 4, 2019. Accessed November 25, 2024. https://arbitrationblog.kluwerarbitration.com/2019/11/04/colombias-constitutional-court-declares-that-constitutional-injunctions-tutela-can-be-upheld-against-awards-in-international-arbitration/#:~:text=The%20tutela%20is%20a%20constitutional,Article%2086%20of%20the%20Constitution.

Zamudio Rodríguez, Carmen. “Gobernabilidad Sobre El Recurso Hídrico En Colombia: Entre Avances Y Retos” Universidad Nacional de Colombia, 2012. Accessed November 25, 2024. https://revistas.unal.edu.co/index.php/gestion/article/view/36284.

“2015 Annual Report.” IACHR Online. Accessed November 25, 2024. http://www.oas.org/en/iachr/docs/annual/2015/doc-en/informeanual2015-cap2c-medidas-en.pdf.

ENDNOTES

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[i] For clarity, “the Wayuu” refers to the Wayuu community broadly, while “Wayuu” refers to individuals within the Wayuu community. For example, “…the Wayuu faces challenges that affect X% of Wayuu children.”

[ii] “Cerrejón: Bloqueos Viales En La Guajira Frenan Operaciones E Impiden Suministro de Agua.” Semana online July 26, 2024. Accessed July 26, 2024. https://www.semana.com/mejor-colombia/articulo/cerrejon-bloqueos-viales-en-la-guajira-frenan-operaciones-e-impiden-suministro-de-agua/202450/.

[iii] O’Lear, Shannon, and Shannon O’Lear. “Geographies of Slow Violence: An Introduction.” In A Research Agenda for Geographies of Slow Violence, 1–20. United Kingdom: Edward Elgar Publishing Limited, 2021. doi:10.4337/9781788978033.00005.

[iv] “La Sequía Afecta a Miles de Personas En La Guajira – Colombia.” ReliefWeb, August 26, 2014. Accessed November 25, 2024. https://reliefweb.int/report/colombia/la-sequ-afecta-miles-de-personas-en-la-guajira.; and

“Colombia: Indigenous Kids at Risk of Malnutrition, Death.” 2020. Human Rights Watch. August 13, 2020. Accessed November 25, 2024  https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/08/13/colombia-indigenous-kids-risk-malnutrition-death.

[v] Gutierrez Martinez, Julian, and Torres Bastidas, Adriana Carolinas, “Huelga de Hambre Por El Hambre.” Dejusticia. October 19, 2021. Accessed November 25, 2024 https://www.dejusticia.org/column/huelga-de-hambre-por-el-hambre/.

[vi] Sentencia T-302/17. Corte Constitucional de Colombia. Last updated 2017. Accessed November 15, 2024. https://www.corteconstitucional.gov.co/relatoria/2017/t-302-17.htm

[vii] Vergara, Carolina. “Mi Guajira Los Hermanos Zuleta.” YouTube, February 3, 2010. Accessed November 25, 2024. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuTQpgmjODk

[viii] “Guajira – Natural History of Ecological Restoration.” Natural History of Ecological Restoration. Accessed November 25, 2024. https://mbgecologicalrestoration.wordpress.com/tag/guajira/.

[ix] “ONIC – Wayuú.”. ONIC (2024). Accessed November 25, 2024.  https://www.onic.org.co/pueblos/1156-wayuu.

[x] Adriaan Alsema. “La Guajira ’s Desert and Its Legendary Wayuu People.” Colombia News, Colombia Reports (2019). September 25, 2019. Accessed November 25, 2024.  https://colombiareports.com/amp/la-guajiras-desert-and-its-legendary-wayuu-people/.

[xi] “Wayuú.” ONIC. Accessed November 25, 2024. https://www.onic.org.co/pueblos/1156-wayuu.

[xii] “Informes de Estadística Sociodemográfica Aplicada: Número 3 Información sociodemográfica del pueblo Wayúu” DANE Online, 2021. Accessed November 25, 2024. http://www.dane.gov.co/files/investigaciones/poblacion/informes-estadisticas-sociodemograficas/2021-09-24-Registro-Estadistico-Pueblo-Wayuu.pdf. 

[xiii] It is critical to acknowledge that due to the legacies of slavery and colonialism in the department, over 14% of the population in La Guajira identify as Afrocolombiano/Afro-Colombian many of which also lack water access and have been displaced by mining operations but will not be focused on within the scope of this paper.

[xiv] “Creating a Digital Archive of a Circum-Caribbean Trading Entrepôt: Notarial Records from La Guajira.” Endangered Archives Programme. Accessed November 25, 2024.  https://eap.bl.uk/project/EAP503#:~:text=Later%20La%20Guajira%20became%20an,%2C%20gold%2C%20and%20other%20commodities.;
“Coexistencias: Mapa intercultural de La Guajira.”Banrep Cultural. Accessed November 25, 2024. https://www.banrepcultural.org/narrativas-digitales/coexistencias-mapa-intercultural-de-la-guajira; and
Banrepcultural.org. 2024. https://www.banrepcultural.org/narrativas-digitales/coexistencias-mapa-intercultural-de-la-guajira/comunidades-afroguajiras.  

[xv] Spanish plantations that relied on slavery and other forms of forced labor establishing a feudal system in many Spanish colonies. In some Latin American countries, the hacienda system lasted until the 20^th century, and have long-lasting impacts on socio-economic inequality.  

[xvi] Leonardo Reales Jiménez, “Slavery, racism and manumission in Colombia (1821-1851)” Revista Análisis Internacional, Vol. 6 No 1 – January 2015, Universidad De Bogotá Jorge Tadeo Lozano. Accessed November 25, 2024. https://revistas.utadeo.edu.co/index.php/RAI/article/view/1024/1058

[xvii] Bogotá is the Capital of Colombia.

[xviii] “Historia De La Guajira.” Government of Colombia Online. Accessed November 25, 2024.  https://www.laguajira.gov.co/LaGuajira/Paginas/Historia-de-La-Guajira.aspx#:~:text=El%20territorio%20guajiro%20perteneci%C3%B3%20al,la%20Ley%2034%20de%201898; and

Click to access Cerrejon-letter-to-ABColombia-060520.pdf

[xix] Avellaneda, Daniela, Asesor Hermes Tovar, Fabio Sánchez, Jorge Tovar, Emilio Depetris, and Juan Bedoya. “La Infraestructura Portuaria Del Carbón Y El Crecimiento Regional Del Caribe Colombiano: Caso de Santa Marta Y Ciénaga.” Universidad de los Andes. Accessed November 25, 2024. https://repositorio.uniandes.edu.co/server/api/core/bitstreams/6cd039e0-7f88-4790-b911-6f114609d2b2/content.

[xx] “Colombian coal stoking high hopes for growth.” Bnamericas Online August 4, 2022. Accessed November 25, 2024.  https://www.bnamericas.com/en/interviews/colombian-coal-stoking-high-hopes-for-growth#:~:text=Dur%C3%A1n%3A%20Coal%20continues%20to%20be,56%25%20of%20Colombian%20mining%20GDP.

[xxi] “PIB Por Departamento.” DANE Online. Accessed November 25, 2024.  https://www.dane.gov.co/index.php/estadisticas-por-tema/cuentas-nacionales/cuentas-nacionales-departamentales#:~:text=Informaci%C3%B3n%202021%20preliminar,de%20millones%20de%20pesos%2C%20respectivamente

[xxii] “Fact Sheet: An Adjustment to Global Poverty Lines.” World Bank Online. Accessed November 25, 2024.  https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/factsheet/2022/05/02/fact-sheet-an-adjustment-to-global-poverty-lines#:~:text=As%20differences%20in%20price%20levels,%242.15%20per%20person%20per%20day.

[xxiii] “Pobreza monetaria y pobreza monetaria extrema.” DANE Online. Accessed November 25, 2024.  https://www.dane.gov.co/index.php/estadisticas-por-tema/pobreza-y-condiciones-de-vida/pobreza-monetaria

[xxiv] “Informes de Estadística Sociodemográfica ISSN: 2805-6345 (en línea) Aplicada.” DANE. Accessed November 25, 2024. https://www.dane.gov.co/files/investigaciones/poblacion/informes-estadisticas-sociodemograficas/2021-09-24-Registro-Estadistico-Pueblo-Wayuu.pdf.

[xxv] Rodríguez Olaya, Cristian Camilo interviewing Matilde López, a Wayuú leader. “Cerrejón: el poder de acabar con La Guajira. Entrevista a una líder wayuú.” YouTube April 18, 2017. Accessed November 25, 2024.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JkEac53Nks.

[xxvi] Rhonal Eduardo Torres Campos, “Análisis de la gobernanza del agua en la comunidad indígena wayuu Spatou, ubicada en zona rural del municipio de Uribia, La Guajira.” Universidad Nacional de Colombia May 3, 2021. Accessed November 25, 2024  https://repository.unad.edu.co/handle/10596/40610?locale-attribute=pt.

[xxvii] Estudio Nacional de la Situación Alimentaria y Nutricional de los Pueblos Indígenas de Colombia. ENSANI December 2014. Accessed November 25, 2024. https://www.uexternado.edu.co/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/wayuu-ENSANI-b.pdf 

[xxviii]“El Exterminio Del Pueblo Wayuu.” Polodemocratico.net. April 20, 2015. Accessed November 25, 2024. https://www.polodemocratico.net/el-exterminio-del-pueblo-wayuu/.

[xxix]Ricardo L. Cruz, “Los 327 Niños Que Han Muerto de Hambre Y Sed En La Guajira.” Connectas.Org. Accessed November 25, 2024 https://www.connectas.org/especiales/los-327-ninos-wayu/ 

[xxx] Belmaker, Genevieve, “In Colombia’s La Guajira , the Native Wayuu Are Forgotten in the Dust.” Mongabay Environmental News. May 13, 2020. Accessed November 25, 2024 https://news.mongabay.com/2020/05/in-colombias-la-guajira-the-native-wayuu-are-forgotten-in-the-dust/#:~:text=More%20than%20270%2C000%20Wayuu%20live,kind%20of%20meaningful%20farming%20impossible.

[xxxi] There are disproportionately higher rates of cancer and respiratory illnesses among Wayuu populations in La Guajira due to Cerrejon mining activity. See section on mining. 

[xxxii] “The IACHR is a principal and autonomous organ of the Organization of American States (“OAS”) whose mission is to promote and protect human rights in the American hemisphere.” The IAHCR “receives, analyzes and investigates individual petitions which allege human rights violations.”

[xxxiii] Oas.org. Accessed 25, November 2024. https://www.oas.org/en/IACHR/jsForm/?File=/en/iachr/mandate/what.aspñ.; and
What Is the IACHR?” European Parliament. Accessed November 25, 2024. https://www.europarl.europa.eu/meetdocs/2004_2009/documents/fd/iachr_/iachr_en.pdf

[xxxiv] “La sentencia que asegura derechos fundamentales para los niños wayúu.” Dejusticia, June 15, 2018. Accessed November 25, 2024 https://www.dejusticia.org/litigation/la-sentencia-que-asegura-derechos-fundamentales-para-los-ninos-wayuu-2/.; and
“2015 Annual Report.” IACHR Online. Accessed November 25, 2024 http://www.oas.org/en/iachr/docs/annual/2015/doc-en/informeanual2015-cap2c-medidas-en.pdf.  

[xxxv] Ariana Lippi, personal observation, January 2019.

[xxxvi] “Colombia – Environment – DECRETO LEY 2811, 1974, Code of Natural Resources | Animal Legal & Historical Center.” Animallaw.info. Accessed November 25, 2024 https://www.animallaw.info/statute/colombia-environment-decreto-ley-2811-1974-code-natural-resources#:~:text=Summary%3A%20The%20Code%20of%20Natural,that%20has%20to%20be%20protected.

[xxxvii] “Ley Nº 142 – Régimen de los servicios públicos domiciliarios” FAO. Accessed November 25, 2024.  https://www.fao.org/faolex/results/details/es/c/LEX-FAOC044399/

[xxxviii] “Colombia – Selling to the Public Sector.” International Trade Administration | Trade.gov. November 25, 2023. Accessed November 25, 2024 https://www.trade.gov/country-commercial-guides/colombia-selling-public-sector.  

[xxxix] Zamudio Rodríguez, Carmen. “Gobernabilidad Sobre El Recurso Hídrico En Colombia: Entre Avances Y Retos” Universidad Nacional de Colombia, 2012. https://revistas.unal.edu.co/index.php/gestion/article/view/36284

[xl] ibid

[xli] “Agua Potable en La Guajira.” Empresite Online, 2022. https://empresite.eleconomistaamerica.co/Actividad/AGUA-POTABLE/departamento/GUAJIRA/. 

[xlii] Zamudio Rodríguez, Carmen. “Gobernabilidad Sobre El Recurso Hídrico En Colombia: Entre Avances Y Retos” Universidad Nacional de Colombia, 2012. https://revistas.unal.edu.co/index.php/gestion/article/view/36284

[xliii] Zamudio Rodríguez, Carmen. “Gobernabilidad Sobre El Recurso Hídrico En Colombia: Entre Avances Y Retos” (p.8-9, 2012). Universidad Nacional de Colombia, 2012. https://revistas.unal.edu.co/index.php/gestion/article/view/36284

[xliv] “Implementation Completion And Results Report…” (p.72). World Bank, 2018. Accessed November 25, 2024 https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/pt/694091540571349821/pdf/icr00004295-10152018-636761018150262437.pdf. 

[xlv] Bhamidipati, Srirama, Contreras, Diana, Contreras, Sandra, Jana, Junghardt, and Voets, Alex. “The Drivers of Child Mortality During the 2012–2016 Drought in La Guajira .” Springer, February 19, 2020. Accessed November 25, 2024 https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s13753-020-00255-0.pdf?pdf=button.; and
“COLOMBIA: Impact of floods in La Guajira ”Colombian Red Cross, UNHCR, UNICEF, IOM, Action Against Hunger World Vision, 2022. Accessed November 25, 2024 https://www.acaps.org/sites/acaps/files/products/files/20221013_acaps_start_briefing_note_colombia_floods_in_la_guajira.pdf 

[xlvi] Ibid

[xlvii] Plataforma de Derechos Humanos, Democracía y Desarrollo. “Derecho a Agua en Colombia: Informe Nacional.” Government of Colombia, 2020. Accessed November 25, 2024 file:///C://Users/lippi/Downloads/Derecho-al-agua-en-Colombia-Informe-Nacional-FINAL%20(1).pdf.; and Barrios Flores, Evelin Adrianna.“Aguas negras estarían invadiendo jagüey de resguardo indígena en Riohacha.” RCN Radio Online, February 1, 2022. Accessed November 25, 2024 https://www.rcnradio.com/colombia/caribe/aguas-negras-estarian-invadiendo-jaguey-de-resguardo-indigena-en-riohacha. 

[xlviii] Vivanco, José Miguel. “Letter to OECD Secretary General re: Colombia’s accession” Human Rights Watch, October 27, 2017. Accessed November 25, 2024 https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/10/30/letter-oecd-secretary-general-re-colombias-accession. 

[xlix]“Implementation Completion And Results Report  (Ibrd 7434 – Co)   On A  Loan  In The Amount Of US$ 90 Million  To The  Department Of La Guajira With The Guarantee Of The Republic Of Colombia   For The  La Guajira Water And Sanitation Infrastructure And Service  Management Project,” (p.72). World Bank, October 15, 2018. Accessed November 25, 2024 https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/pt/694091540571349821/pdf/icr00004295-10152018-636761018150262437.pdf. 

[l] Ibid

[li]. “Needs Assessment Report: Fonseca and Riohacha municipalities La Guajira Department, Colombia.” Relief Web. April 22, 2020. Accessed November 25, 2024 https://reliefweb.int/report/colombia/needs-assessment-report-fonseca-and-riohacha-municipalities-la-guajira-department.

[lii]. “Cómo entender la Sentencia T-302 de 2017.” FUCAI Colombia, YouTube, November 4, 2022. Accessed November 25, 2024 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTjzkguhcBo.

[liii] Some of the legislative efforts have included: Sentencia T-302, 2017; Sentencias T415 de 2018 y T-216 de 2019; Plan Nacional de Desarrollo 2018 – 2022; Documento CONPES 3944 de 2018 (Sentencia T-466 de 2016; Política Nacional de Seguridad Alimentaria para la niñez Wayuu; Sentencia T-614/19, 2019 (Cerrejón); Decreto 100 de 28 de enero de 2020; Comisión Interseccional para el departamento de La Guajira Credito BIDS193/OC-CO 23 de diciembre de 2020; Pacto Funcional Cesar-La Guajira 14 de enero de 2021; Decreto 1085 de 2023 “Por el cual se declara el Estado de Emergencia Económica, Social y Ecológica en el departamento de La Guajira ” ; Sentencia T-701/16. See https://www.dnp.gov.co/publicaciones/Planeacion/Paginas/crisis-humanitaria-en-la-guajira-las-intervenciones-estrategicas-del-gobierno.aspx; https://colombiaplural.com/cerrejon-problema-la-guajira/.  

[liv] A Tutela is constitutional injunction that aims to protect fundamental constitutional rights when they are violated or threatened by the action or omission of any public authority. Similar to a lawsuit in the US.

[lv] Zuleta Abogados, “Colombia’s Constitutional Court Declares That Constitutional Injunctions (Tutela) Can Be Upheld Against Awards In International Arbitration.” Kluwer Arbitration Blog, November 4, 2019. Accessed November 25, 2024 https://arbitrationblog.kluwerarbitration.com/2019/11/04/colombias-constitutional-court-declares-that-constitutional-injunctions-tutela-can-be-upheld-against-awards-in-international-arbitration/#:~:text=The%20tutela%20is%20a%20constitutional,Article%2086%20of%20the%20Constitution.

[lvi] “La sentencia que asegura derechos fundamentales para los niños wayúu.” Dejusticia June 15, 2018. Accessed November 25, 2024. https://www.dejusticia.org/litigation/la-sentencia-que-asegura-derechos-fundamentales-para-los-ninos-wayuu-2.

[lvii] “Conoce Aquí La Sentencia T-302 Y Los Autos Relacionados.” Universidad de La Guajira. April 12, 2024. Accessed November 25, 2024https://uniguajira.edu.co/conoce-aqui-la-sentencia-t-302-y-los-autos-relacionados/.  

[lviii] “Sentencia T-302/17.” Corte Constitutional, 2017. Accessed November 25, 2024. https://www.corteconstitucional.gov.co/relatoria/2017/t-302-17.htm.

[lix] “Sentencia T-302/17.” Corte Constitutional, 2017. Accessed November 25, 2024.  https://www.corteconstitucional.gov.co/relatoria/2017/t-302-17.htm.; and
Salamanca, Lizeth. “La Guajira no muere de hambre, muere de abandono.” El Tiempo Online, August 8, 2014. https://www.eltiempo.com/archivo/documento/CMS-14357839.

[lx] “Seguimiento al Plan de Acción Sentencia T-302 del 2017 – La Guajira,” Singergia – Departamento Nacional de la Planeación. Accessed November 25, 2024. https://sinergia.dnp.gov.co/seguimiento/Paginas/esp-guajira.aspx.

[lxi] El Espectador. “Hambre en La Guajira : cinco años de una promesa incumplida | El Espectador.” YouTube, August 23, 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KcZdcVOnLk.

 2022).

[lxii] Ethnic participation is political participation that is inclusive to indigenous and Afrodescendant populations in Latin America (and elsewhere). It often comes with its own set of methods that make it distinct from general political participation to be inclusive of different cultural practices. 

[lxiii] Martinez, Betty. “La Veeduría Ciudadana a la sentencia T 302 de 2017, respondió los requerimientos de la Corte Constitucional.” Tuuputchika, June 16, 2021. Accessed November 25, 2024  https://www.tuuputchika.com/2021/06/16/la-veeduria-ciudadana-a-la-sentencia-t-302-de-2017-respondio-los-requerimientos-de-la-corte-constitucional/. 

[lxiv] Such as the Ministry of Health, Wellbeing and Land, The Ministry of the Environment, DANE, etc.)

[lxv]. “Cómo entender la Sentencia T-302 de 2017.” FUCAI Colombia, YouTube, November 4, 2022. Accessed November 25, 2024 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTjzkguhcBo.

[lxvi] “Defensoría Del Pueblo Atribuye a ‘Negligencia Estatal’ Abandono de La Guajira.” ZONA CERO. August 11, 2023. https://zonacero.com/politica/defensoria-del-pueblo-atribuye-negligencia-estatal-abandono-de-la-guajira.; and

Agenzia Fides. “AMERICA/COLOMBIA – the Wayuu Denounce a State of Neglect as the Cause of Death Regarding Malnourished Children – Agenzia Fides.” Fides.org. February 27, 2017. Accessed November 25, 2024  https://www.fides.org/en/news/61721-AMERICA_COLOMBIA_The_Wayuu_denounce_a_state_of_neglect_as_the_cause_of_death_regarding_malnourished_children.

[lxvii] “Garantizados los recursos para la ejecución del programa de agua potable y alcantarillado en La Guajira .” Departamento Nacional de Planeacion, 2022. Accessed November 25, 2024 https://www.dnp.gov.co/Paginas/Garantizados-los-recursos-para-la-ejecucion-del-programa-de-agua-potable-y-alcantarillado-en-La-Guajira.aspx.

[lxviii] Díaz, Ivonne Elena, Gutiérrez, Julián, Ilich, Bacca, Torres Bastidas, Adriana Carolina, Paulo Guarnizo, Diana, Pereira Arana Isabel, and Pulido, Sergio. “Los problemas de la estrategia estatal ‘Guajira Azul’ que le planteamos a la Corte Constitucional.” Dejusticia, September 16, 2022. Accessed November 25, 2024 https://www.dejusticia.org/los-problemas-de-la-estrategia-estatal-guajira-azul-que-le-planteamos-a-la-corte-constitucional/.

[lxix] “Auto 696/22.” Corte Constitucional Online, 2022. Accessed November 25, 2024  https://www.corteconstitucional.gov.co/Relatoria/autos/2022/A696-22.htm.

[lxx]. “ABC del auto 696 del 2022.” FUCAI Colombia, YouTube, August 25, 2022. Accessed November 25, 2024 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUv_QVfDmjU&t=207s

[lxxi] “La Guajira será epicentro de movilizaciones: indígenas wayuu anuncian manifestaciones para el lunes 23 de enero.” Infobae January 21, 2023. Accessed November 25, 2024. https://www.infobae.com/colombia/2023/01/21/la-guajira-sera-epicentro-de-movilizaciones-indigenas-wayuu-anunciaron-manifestaciones-para-el-lunes-23-de-enero.

[lxxii] “Jakeline Romero Epiayú, 1979 – 2024 – ABColombia.” ABColombia. February 27, 2024. Accessed November 25, 2024 https://www.abcolombia.org.uk/jakeline-romero-epiayu-1979-2024/.

[lxxiii] “Corte Constitucional ordena a Gobierno presentar nuevo plan de acción para niños Wayuu.” El EspectadorJuly 17, 2024. Accessed November 25, 2024https://www.elespectador.com/judicial/corte-constitucional-ordena-a-gobierno-presentar-nuevo-plan-de-accion-para-ninos-wayuu/.

[lxxiv] Jesus Uribe,“¿Los carro tanques serán la solución para saciar la sed en La Guajira?” RegionCaribe.org February 23, 2024. Accessed November 25, 2024. https://www.regioncaribe.org/post/los-carro-tanques-ser%C3%A1n-la-soluci%C3%B3n-para-saciar-la-sed-en-la-guajira.

[lxxv] Jules Ownby“El misterio de los 40 carrotanques que deben suministrar agua en La Guajira y que no han repartido ni una sola gota.” El País, February 19, 2019. Accessed November 25, 2024 https://elpais.com/america-colombia/2024-02-19/el-misterio-de-los-40-carrotanques-que-deben-suministrar-agua-en-la-guajira-y-que-aun-no-han-repartido-ni-una-sola-gota.html.

[lxxvi] Ariza, Daniela Ramírez, “UNGRD Anuncia Nuevo Plan de Distribución de Agua En La Guajira.” Caracol Radio. April 20, 2024. Accessed November 25, 2024 https://caracol.com.co/2024/04/21/ungrd-anuncia-nuevo-plan-de-distribucion-de-agua-en-la-guajira/.

[lxxvii] Torres, Santiago Olivares. “With One Dead Already, Widening Corruption Scandal Threatens Petro’s Presidency.” Finance Colombia . Finance Colombia. October 23, 2024. Accessed November 25, 2024 https://www.financecolombia.com/with-one-dead-already-widening-corruption-scandal-threatens-petros-presidency/

[lxxviii] Juan Pablo Calvás, “El Gobierno perdió 20.000 millones de pesos comprando unos camiones.” El País, February 22, 2024. Accessed November 25, 2024. https://elpais.com/america-colombia/2024-02-23/el-gobierno-perdio-20000-millones-de-pesos-comprando-unos-camiones.html

[lxxix] Rodríguez, Paula Valentina. “Exgerente Para La Guajira Dijo Que Había Advertido de La Corrupción En La Ungrd: ‘El Presidente Recibió Queja de Una Wayuú.’” Infobae. May 9, 2024. Accessed November 25, 2024 https://www.infobae.com/colombia/2024/05/09/exgerente-para-la-guajira-dijo-que-ya-habia-advertido-sobre-corrupcion-en-la-ungrd-el-presidente-recibio-queja-de-una-wayuu/.

[lxxx] “Proyecto Llevará Agua Potable a Indígenas de La Guajira, Colombia – Noticias Prensa Latina.”Noticias Prensa Latina – Actualizando Minuto a Minuto. June 7, 2024. Accessed November 25, 2024 https://www.prensa-latina.cu/2024/06/07/proyecto-llevara-agua-potable-a-indigenas-de-la-guajira-colombia/.

[lxxxi] “Ecopetrol, Alcaldía y Esepgua suministran agua potable a más de 10.000 habitantes Wayúu en Manaure” EcoPetrol June 6, 2024. Accessed November 25, 2024https://www.ecopetrol.com.co/wps/portal/Home/es/noticias/detalle/ecopetrol-alcaldia-y-esepgua-suministran-agua-potable-a-mas-de-10000-habitantes-wayuu-en-manaure

[lxxxii] “Proyecto Llevará Agua Potable a Indígenas de La Guajira, Colombia – Noticias Prensa Latina.”Noticias Prensa Latina – Actualizando Minuto a Minuto. June 7, 2024. Accessed November 25, 2024 https://www.prensa-latina.cu/2024/06/07/proyecto-llevara-agua-potable-a-indigenas-de-la-guajira-colombia/.

[lxxxiii] Wendy de Armas, “Ungrd implementa nuevas medidas para mejorar distribución de agua en La Guajira.” Tuuputchika.com April 22, 2024. Accessed November 25, 2024. https://www.tuuputchika.com/ungrd-implementa-nuevas-medidas-para-mejorar-distribucion-de-agua-en-la-guajira/.

[lxxxiv] Cristian Camilo Rodriguez Oloya interviewing Alexix Vergara de Pushaina. “Cerrejón: el poder de acabar con La Guajira. Entrevista a una líder wayuú.” 2024. Youtube Accessed November 25, 2024. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JkEac53Nks.

[lxxxv] As was mentioned in the previous section this applied not only to natural resources like coal, but also water; leading to diminished rights to water and poor water governance, and increased rights and profits of the private sector.

[lxxxvi] Kimberly, Maida, “Extractivism & Indigenous Rights: A Case Study of the Wayuu People and their Struggle for Water” (p.11). Brandeis University, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, ScholarWorks, 2018. Accessed November 25, 2024 https://scholarworks.brandeis.edu/esploro/outputs/graduate/Extractivism–Indigenous-Rights–A/9923880292001921#details.

[lxxxvii] A patrón was the head of a hacienda under the hacienda system. Also called a hacendado.  

[lxxxviii] “Glencore completes acquisition of Cerrejón.” Glencore Online 2022. Accessed November 25, 2024 https://www.glencore.com/media-and-insights/news/glencore-completes-acquisition-of-cerrejon#:~:text=Glencore’s%20acquisition%20of%20Cerrej%C3%B3n%20is,total%20emissions%20business%20by%202050.

[lxxxix] Boersma, Ynske , Living in the Shadow of Colombia’s Largest Coal Mine” Earth Island Journal, January 30, 2018. Accessed November 25, 2024 https://www.earthisland.org/journal/index.php/articles/entry/shardow_colombia_Coal_Mine_Carrejon/.; and  
UN Human Rights, Office of the High Commissioner. “UN expert calls for halt to mining at controversial Colombia site” United Nations, September 28, 2020. Accessed November 25, 2024 https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2020/09/un-expert-calls-halt-mining-controversial-colombia-site.

[xc] “Cerrejón produjo 23,4 millones de toneladas de carbón en 2021.” Cerrejón Online, February 28, 2022. Ccessed November 25, 2024 https://www.cerrejon.com/medios/noticias/cerrejon-produjo-234-millones-de-toneladas-de-carbon-el-ano-pasado#:~:text=Cerrej%C3%B3n%20finaliz%C3%B3%202021%20con%2023,parte%20del%20equipo%20de%20Cerrej%C3%B3n.

[xci] “BHP, Anglo on the wrong side of deal of the year.” Financial Review Online, October 18 2022. Accessed November 25, 2024 https://www.afr.com/chanticleer/bhp-anglo-on-the-wrong-side-of-deal-of-the-year-20221018-p5bqnt#:~:text=It%20is%20estimated%20that%20the,following%20its%20war%20on%20Ukraine.

[xcii] “Más de 60 millones de litros de agua entregados por Cerrejón beneficiaron a 164 comunidades de La Guajira en 2023.” Cerrejon Online, May 30, 2024. Accessed November 25, 2024 https://www.cerrejon.com/medios/noticias/mas-60-millones-litros-agua-entregados-cerrejon-beneficiaron-164-comunidades-guajira-en-2023#:~:text=Durante%20el%202023%2C%20Cerrej%C3%B3n%20represent%C3%B3,pesos%20en%20impuestos%20y%20regal%C3%ADas.

[xciii] “Protecting Our Common Home: Land and environmental human rights defenders in Latin America.” Corporate Justice Coalition, July 6, 2021. Accessed November 25, 2024 https://corporatejusticecoalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Protecting-our-common-home-HDR-in-Latin-America.pdf

[xciv] Ibid.  

[xcv] Muñoz-Galeano, Esteban. 2016. “Adverse Effects on the Environment due to Contamination of Land, Water and Air Resources in Mining Zones…” ResearchGate, June. unknown. doi:https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.1.3147.9922. 

‌Accessed November 25, 2024 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/303858166_Adverse_effects_on_the_environment_due_to_contamination_of_land_water_and_air_resources_in_mining_zones_in_Colombia_-_The_dark_side_of_the_mining_’boom’_in_Colombia_part_II

[xcvi] “Non-Compliance With The OECD Guidelines For Multinational Enterprises.” Global Legal Action Network. Accessed November 25, 2024 https://c5e65ece-003b-4d73-aa76-854664da4e33.filesusr.com/ugd/14ee1a_14d758179e494a7bb096875cf1f63c87.pdf

[xcvii] “La oscura nube del Cerrejón en La Guajira.” La Liga Contra El Silencio Online, 2019. Accessed November 25, 2024.  https://cerosetenta.uniandes.edu.co/cerrejon-liga/.

[xcviii] “Non-Compliance With The OECD Guidelines For Multinational Enterprises.” Global Legal Action Network. Accessed November 25, 2024 https://c5e65ece-003b-4d73-aa76-854664da4e33.filesusr.com/ugd/14ee1a_14d758179e494a7bb096875cf1f63c87.pdf

[xcix] It must be noted that while extractivist activities in Latin America often come with a heavy price for local communities, they are often a prevailing source of employment, and without their presence there would be no income streams or labor opportunities at all. Therefore, a financial dependence on the mine’s presence causes some community members to be in support of their activities, especially employees.

[c] Gilbert, Jacqueline Elyse, Gilbertson, Tamra, Jakobsen, Line. “Incommensurability and corporate social technologies: a critique of corporate compensations in Colombia’s coal mining region of La Guajira ” (p. 436). Journal of Political Ecology, Vol. 28, 2021. https://journals.librarypublishing.arizona.edu/jpe/article/2952/galley/3045/view/.

[ci] “Proceso de Consuta Previa” Ministerio del Interior. Accessed November 25, 2024 https://www.mininterior.gov.co/proceso-de-consuta-previa/; and

César Rodríguez Garavito and Carlos Andrés Baquero Díaz “The Right to Free, Prior, and Informed Consultation in Colombia: Advances and Setbacks.” OHCHR. Accessed November 25, 2024

Click to access GaravitoAndDiaz.pdf

[cii] A legal principle that protects indigenous communities’ right to provide or withhold consent to projects that may affect their lands, territories, or rights. 

[ciii] As a result of a tutela against the company, Sentencia T-704 of 2016 established the protection of prior consent for the Media Luna Dos community, which also had implications for the prior consent rights of other communities affected by the mine.

[civ] “ABColombia profound concerns regarding Cerrejon’s lack of compliance with Court Rulings.”  ABColombia. Accessed November 25, 2024. https://www.abcolombia.org.uk/cerrejon-lack-of-compliance-with-court-rulings/.

[cv] “Wayúu Indigenous Community and Others v. Ministry of Environment and Others – Climate Change Litigation.” 2022. Climate Change Litigation. Accessed November 25, 2024  https://climatecasechart.com/non-us-case/wayuu-indigenous-community-and-others-v-ministry-of-environment-and-others/. 

[cvi]  Bernal, Jhon. “Indígenas Llevan Más de 50 Horas Bloqueando La Línea Férrea Del Cerrejón: Esto Es Lo Que Exigen Para Levantar Su Protesta.” Infobae. July 22, 2024. Accessed November 25, 2024 https://www.infobae.com/colombia/2024/07/22/indigenas-llevan-mas-de-50-horas-bloqueando-la-linea-ferrea-del-cerrejon-esto-es-lo-que-exigen-para-levantar-su-protesta/.

[cvii] “Crónica del bloqueo de la línea férrea de El Cerrejón.” Redher: Red de Humanidad y solidaridad con Colombia,  Last updated November 11, 2024. Accessed Nov 25, 2024. https://www.redcolombia.org/cronica-del-bloqueo-de-la-linea-ferrea-de-el-cerrejon/.

[cviii] Though these rulings were not explicitly mentioned, they could have possibly been referring to Sentencia T-704/16 (Corte Constitutional, https://www.corteconstitucional.gov.co/relatoria/2016/t-704-16.htm)

Sentencia SU123/18 (Corte Constitucional, https://www.corteconstitucional.gov.co/relatoria/2018/su123-18.htm) Accessed November 24, 2024.

[cix] No comments were found. No sources could confirm that comments were or were not made

[cx] “Alto ejecutivo petrolero, acusado por millonarios sobornos de Glencore. ¿Qué tiene que ver con Colombia?” Cambio Colombia, November 4, 2022. Accessed November 25, 2024 https://cambiocolombia.com/articulo/pais/alto-ejecutivo-petrolero-acusado-por-millonarios-sobornos-de-glencore-que-tiene-que.

Cambio Colombia Online, November 4, 2022. Accessed November 25, 2024 https://cambiocolombia.com/articulo/pais/alto-ejecutivo-petrolero-acusado-por-millonarios-sobornos-de-glencore-que-tiene-que.

[cxi] “ABColombia profound concerns regarding Cerrejon’s lack of compliance with Court Rulings.”  ABColombia. Accessed November 25, 2024

https://www.abcolombia.org.uk/cerrejon-lack-of-compliance-with-court-rulings/;  and

“‘We Are Going to Kill You.’ a Case Study in Corporate Power Left Unchecked | Global Witness.” 2021. Global Witness. Accessed November 25, 2024  https://www.globalwitness.org/en/blog/we-are-going-to-kill-you-a-case-study-in-corporate-power-left-unchecked/.

[cxii] Ángel, Daniel. “Minería a Gran Escala Y Conflicto Armado En Colombia: El Caso Del Carbón.” July 27, 2013. Accessed November 25, 2024 https://alacip.org/cong13/695-angel-7cc.pdf.

[cxiii] Cantautor Hugues Leonardo Martinez Gámez. “Justicia, vídeo oficial del cantautor Hugues Leonardo Martinez Gámez.” Youtube. Accessed November 25, 2024 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDYovTVrAi0

[cxiv] “Petro Buscaría Dar ‘Salida Concertada’ a Glencore, Dueña de Cerrejón.” ELESPECTADOR.COM. August 11 2023. Accessed November 25, 2024 https://www.elespectador.com/ambiente/petro-buscaria-concertar-para-que-glencore-duena-de-cerrejon-no-se-expanda-mas/.

[cxv] “Free, Prior and Informed Consultation in Colombia: the case of the expansion of the Cerrejón project” paxvoorvrede.nl January 2012. Accessed November 25, 2024 https://paxvoorvrede.nl/wp-content/uploads/import/import/free-prior-and-informed-consultation-colombia.pdf

[cxvi] “Regional Agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation and Justice in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean. Accessible Format.” Cepal.org April 2024. Accessed November 25, 2024 https://www.cepal.org/en/publications/69163-regional-agreement-access-information-public-participation-and-justice.

[cxvii] Ariana Lippi, “U’wa Indigenous People vs. Columbia: Potential Applications of the Escazu Agreement.” Washington College of Law Brief Sustainable Development Law & Policy Vol. 24, Iss. 1. Accessed November 25, 2024 https://digitalcommons.wcl.american.edu/sdlp/vol24/iss1/4/. 

[cxviii] “Misión La Guajira: Transformación Sostenible En Las Comunidades Wayuu – La Guajira Hoy.com.” La Guajira Hoy.com – Los Hechos Que Son Noticia En La Guajira. September 23, 2024. Accessed November 25, 2024 https://laguajirahoy.com/la-guajira/mision-la-guajira-transformacion-sostenible-en-las-comunidades-wayuu.html. 

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