Disputes over gold mining and dispossession of local afrodescendant communities from the Alto Cauca, Colombia. Issue 2 (3rd March 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Vélez-Torres, Irene
• Is Part Of: Third world thematics. Volume 1:Issue 2(2016)
• Page Start: 235
• Page End: 248
• Publication Date: 2016-03-03
• Subjects: Mining -- extractivism -- development -- afrodescendants -- dispossession; Developing countries -- Economic conditions -- Periodicals; Developing countries -- Politics and government -- Periodicals; Globalization -- Periodicals; 338.90091724
• DOI: 10.1080/23802014.2016.1229131
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2379-9978

Abstract

Abstract: In 2001, the local afrodescendant community from La Toma faced a double threat. First, new mining legislation was introduced and their ancestral mining activities were declared illegal. Second, paramilitary groups entered the territory and initiated a regime of terror that continues to date. Mining titles were conceded to multinationals and private parties, while the communities were restricted in their access to land-based resources. This paper deals with different dimensions of local dispossession resulting from violent mechanisms as well as from the neoliberal adjustment of the mining regulatory system in Colombia.