In Colombia’s northwest, in the ancestral territory of the Embera-Katio people, the 700 million-dollar Urra Hydroelectric Project has altered the waters of the Sinu River and threatened the livelihood and culture of indigenous communities.

This dam was built with the help of an 18.2 million (US dollars) credit from the Export Development Corporation (EDC) of Canada. A Canadian firm named "Agra-Monenco" has been hired to monitor the project’s environmental impact. Indigenous leaders, however, have expressed concerns that the Canadian Company has increasingly sided with the Urra Corporation. Since 1996, the Embera-Katio people have mobilized strong opposition to this project and a Constitutional Court has temporarily halted the filling of the dam.

Right-wing paramilitaries, allegedly allied with local business/landowning interests, have threatened and murdered indigenous leaders in an attempt to weaken any resistance to this Megaproject.

Join us for a public discussion on the struggles of the Embera-Katio people against powerful economic interests within the context of Colombia’s dramatically escalating internal conflict.

Organized by: Canadian Colombia Association (CCA); Sponsored by: Research & International Support for Colombia (RISC), School of the Americas Watch Canada and Interchurch Committee for Human Rights in Latin America (ICCHRLA).