Protests in Colombia over forced land evacuations to clear land for oil palm plantations

In Colombia, local Afro-Colombian families are staging protests over forced land evictions to clear land for palm oil plantations, primarily in the northwestern section of the country near the Panamanian border. According to human rights organizations such as Inter-Church Justice and Peace Commission, paramilitary gangs are seizing lands on behalf of of unnamed biofuels companies. The paramilitary groups originally were organized to combat left-wing guerillas in the area. According to one observer, “Once palm oil is planted we cannot hunt anymore because the animals have fled…The soil hardens for lack of shade. Rivers dry up. Nothing else grows except palm.” The government has adopted a strategy of growing 7 million acres of palm in Choco and the Pacific regions.

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