Las Casitas is a small community living on the edge of one of the world’s largest coal mines, located in the poorest region of Colombia. The community is under imminent threat of forced displacement as a result of the Cerrejón coal mine.
The mine is owned by three of the world’s richest mining companies (BHP Billiton, Glencore and Anglo American) and exports most of this coal to the richest parts of the world, including Europe and US. Yet local communities get little benefit from the mine. Cerrejón Coal is now threatening local communities with forced displacement unless they accept a new piece of land which has been found to be unfit for human habitation.
We have seen how the negotiations between Cerrejón Coal and local communities have worked before. In the past, the threat of getting their land expropriated has pushed communities to accept worse agreements for fear that they will receive nothing at all.
Read more about the Las Casitas resistance to the relocation here
Take action to avoid the unjust expropriation of Las Casitas