News and AnalysIs for

Locals said ‘No’ to the development of mining activities in Cajamarca, stopping Anglo Gold Ashanti from developing the ‘La Colosa’ gold mine. Can the decision be reversed?

Casanare’s Administrative Tribunal said that the popular consultation in Yopal is “unconstitutional.” Here is why.

Authorities announced the allocation of important resources to the development of social and infrastructure projects in Chocó, Casanare and Sucre, among others. These and other stories in our periodic Royalties summary.

Ivan Duque, President of Colombia, promised to make changes in the oil sector to boost its growth and the General System of Royalties (SGR) is one of the main discussion topics. Communities and authorities spoke on this issue in an Oil and Gas forum in the municipality of Aguazul (Casanare).

In last week’s presentation by the Committee of Experts on Fracking, a great deal was made about the industry not having a ‘social license to operate’. That was a pretty broad brush, based on a small window. Just VMM and, as it turned out, maybe only a couple of communities within VMM.

Communities of Puerto Guzmán (Putumayo) protested to reject the development of oil activities in their territory.

The Minister of Mines and Energy (MinMinas) spoke about the benefits that communities in Barrancabermeja and Sucre will receive thanks to royalties’ resources. These and other stories in our periodic Royalties summary.

Mechanisms of citizen participation such as popular referendums have been one of the main discussion topics in Colombia, as these has affected extractive sector development. The Constitutional Court ruled on this issue.

The National Institute of Roads (Invías) and the National Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH) are studying the option of leveraging the Works for Taxes initiative and develop projects in Casanare. These and other Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) stories in our periodic summary.

Transparency International recently published its Corruption Perception Index (CPI). Boards and ethical investors will be paying attention. After the scandals of recent years, corruption has become a key issue with voters as well.