For the 14th time already the Marcha Carnaval took place in Ibagué last Friday. It’s a festivity, but at the same time a manifestation, for the defense of life, water and other natural resources. Our partner organisation Comité Ambiental en Defensa de la Vida, together with other environmental collectives, mobilises for the march and year after year ten of thousands of people take part to show their peaceful opposition to the destruction and contamination of their territory.

These environmental marches in Ibagué are known to be the biggest ones in Colombia. It all started in 2007, when it was announced that the biggest goldmine in the province was going to be opened up in Cajamarca: the La Colosa mine, a project of multinational Anglogold. Thanks to a strong opposition from locals the mining project was luckily dismissed. But the same multinational continues to carry out other extractive projects in the region, often disguised underneath other company names because of their bad reputation. That’s why everywhere in the march you could see ‘Quita la mascara’ or ‘Remove the mask’, the central slogan of the newly launched campaign ‘Anglogold Nos Toca’ (Anglogold touches us).

The campaign was launched this month by the Network of Persons Affected By Anglogold (la Red de Personas Afectadas por AngloGold) to denounce and unmask the unethical and violent behavior of the multinational and to demand that they leave Colombian territory. In a web series with the name ‘Historias Quebradas’ they unveil the malpractices and secrecies of Anglogold in Colombia. With ‘Fuera Anglogold’ or ‘Anglogold out’ the manifestants regularly made clear last Friday that the company no longer is welcome on their territory.

With music, art, parades and costumes students, unions, collectives and all kind of political and social organisations of the whole region of Tolima showed their resistance against mining and fracking in their region. Manifestation and fighting for their right to say no to destructive projects, uniting all of those who believe that water is more important than gold.