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The USO said that the new Labor Minister Clara López will allow for a dialogue between the ministry and the union to systematically discuss worker issues.

The Meta Governor Marcela Amaya insisted that the department must shift its economic pillars away from oil and instead focus on tourism and agriculture. She formed a special committee to study employment.

In Orito, Cartagena, Yopal and Puerto Gaitán protests and conflicts over local hiring have escalated as jobs with the oil industry shrink.

USO president Cesar Loza participated in the recent debate in Colombia’s senate on the overruns suffered in the Cartagena Refinery (Reficar), and warned again that there is an alleged plot to privatize Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC).

A congressional representative from Caquetá allege that with growing E&P activity, the oil industry has intimidated the local population into accepting its presence and taken advantage of the unmet needs of the community to gain traction for potentially damaging projects.

The USO said that it is ready for Rubiales field to be reverted to Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) and discarded any notions that Pacific E&P workers affiliated with rival union UTEM would keep their jobs.

The Regional Autonomous Corporations (CARS) defended their role in the awarding of environmental licenses and expressed concern that national authorities like the National Agency of Environmental Licenses (ANLA) have ignored their opinion and approved projects.

Casanare congressional representative Luis Hernando Otálora has reminded his constituents to have some restraint when making requests for the oil industry, focusing on local hiring for goods and services.

The USO said that its actions to oppose fracking through marches and to demand the government ban the process has made it the target of the national police and it has sounded an urgent alarm for greater protection.

The State Council ruled against Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) and said that an administrative ruling that stemmed from a public referendum against oil activities in Tauramena was not its business, and rather it should be decided by a different court. Local press have labeled it as a win for the residents opposed to exploration and production activities.