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An agreement that required the intervention of the Labor Ministry to negotiate between the operator of the new port project, Impala, and local workers and communities has lifted a 30-day strike which has held up progress on the construction of the new facilities.

Community Action Committees (JACS) from Casanare have organized themselves to reject labor reforms proposed by the Labor Ministry that would sideline their role in local hiring in favor of government-run agencies. In a letter, the JACS said the reform is just as bad as the royalty reform.

A boom in the local population and migratory patterns that has led to increased unemployment, crime rates and now budget problems due to the lack of direct royalties. The Aguazul mayor Fernando Camacho argues that the nearly 15 years of oil activity has left the community worse off.

Perenco says that illegal blockades at its La Gloria Station in Aguazul Casanare have forced it to close its operations in the area.

Hours before a strike by USO-affiliated workers with Ecopetrol’s (NYSE:EC) biofuels refiner Ecodiesel, the union and company reached an agreement and averted the strike.

A kind of class action lawsuit, or “Popular Action” has been verified Casanare Administration Tribunal after a public hearing late last week, in which Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) has been required to install a valve for its natural gas line to the Agauazul municipality.

A recent seminar held by the Casanare Controller included addresses from two individuals with polar opposite views on the impact of seismic issues and the oil industry in general. The general public went one particular way with their comments.

Senator Julio Miguel Guerra Sotto has submitted a bill to create a formal social license for mining operations, a measure that other authorities and lawmakers have suggested for the hydrocarbons industry,

The director of the DNP Simón Gaviria Muñoz visited Yopal, Casanare to meet with local authorities and deliver a message that the government plans to get to the heart of the regions’ dissent and address royalty compensation.

The national government has issued a decree that sets requirements on local hiring for the hydrocarbons industry, obliging oil companies to hire municipal residents for both skilled and unskilled labor positions.