11: Marching Against a Mine
Colombia
A Climate Pollinator story by Sierra Ross Richer
Every year, the congregation from Iglesia Menonita de Ibague in Colombia dresses up in colorful costumes, grabs banners printed with verses from the Bible, and joins thousands from the city in a march for the environment.
The Carnival March has taken place in Ibague every year for more than a decade. The Mennonite congregation has participated since the inaugural march in 2011 which was used as a platform for protesting the construction of a massive open-pit gold mine outside the city.
In 2006, the company AngloGold Ashanti discovered what is likely the country’s largest gold deposit beneath a forest reserve in Cajamarca, Tolima, the municipality neighboring Ibague.
“They started to talk about the installation of an immense open-pit gold mine,” said Jose Antonio Vaca Bello, a leader in the Ibague congregation who also serves in roles with the regional and national Mennonite church.
The operation would require a lot of water and create pollution and waste, Jose said. Plus, the mine would be in a seismic risk zone, built on an inactive volcano with an active volcano, Machin, nearby.
“A great social movement lifted up,” Jose said. Universities, cultural organizations, government entities and churches joined together to protest the project.
They applied pressure to stop the construction of the mine and pushed to create a legal process that would allow the people living in an area to vote on mining projects that would impact their livelihoods.
The efforts worked. The Constitutional Court agreed to instate a mechanism for local governments and citizens to challenge mining permits. And in 2017, a vote by the residents of Cajamarca led to the suspension of the gold mine project.
Construction has been suspended, but Jose said, the title is still in the hands of the mining company, so the project could start up again any time.
In the meantime, the carnival marches continue to serve as a call for environmental justice.
In the most recent parade last summer, church members carried a banner with words from Romans 8:22-23A: “For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. And not only this, but also we ourselves.”
The earth is in pain, Jose said. Humans need to help it heal.
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