In recent months, disturbing images have emerged on social media from the Cauca region of Colombia, which local activists claim show people wearing the uniform of Smurfit Kappa’s local subsidiary attacking indigenous and campesino activists.

This statement by affected communities was released on 22nd October 2021 and is available in English and Spanish here: https://www.facebook.com/latinamericasolidaritycentre/posts/2891866867793854

In a voice message recorded in Spanish by Rodrigo Vargas of the Permanent Committee for the Defense of Human Rights in the Cauca Region, he addresses himself directly to people living in Ireland to speak about the environmental and social repercussions of the multinational’s operations in the area. A full transcript of the recording, in Spanish and English can be read here: https://www.facebook.com/latinamericasolidaritycentre/posts/2927375260909681

For this podcast, Tomás Lynch, a member of LASC, spoke with Andrea Guzman, a Colombian living in Ireland, and Thomas McDonagh, LASC’s Education Officer, to discuss the recent events in Colombia, and what we in Ireland can do in solidarity with the indigenous and campesino communities.

RELATED ACTIONS:

Sign the petition by SumOfUs to demand that Smurfit Kappa stop destroying Indigenous land in Colombia here: https://actions.sumofus.org/a/smurfit-kappa-stop-destroying-indigenous-land-in-colombia

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