From: Avi Chomsky, Professor of History and Coordinator of Latin American, Latino and Caribbean Studies, Salem State College

“...as a result of this summer’s delegation, we’ve been working on organizing a conference on The Regional Impact of Mining in Colombia: Labor, Environment, and Communities.  There is a lot of exciting organizing going on both at the local level and the national level, and it seemed to everyone like a propitious moment to bring together the different communities in La Guajira and Cesar, the unions, and the national coalitions and organizations working to defend human, labor, and environmental rights in the mining sector.

“The conference will take place September 3-4 at the University of Santander in Valledupar.  Witness for Peace and Indepaz are coordinating with the communities, the unions, and the Colombian organizations, and we’re working with organizations in Switzerland, Canada, Germany, and the US to bring people from different unions and solidarity organizations, and to fund some activists from Guatemala and maybe Brazil.

“If anyone is interested in coming to Colombia, meeting some of the amazing people involved in the struggles there, and being part of this event, let me know!”