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Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) worked with medical associations to offer several different health care initiatives, including 60 surgeries to correct cleft lip and palate in children living in the area of Barrancabermeja. This and other Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) stories in our periodic summary.

The Minister of Mines and Energy (MinMinas) Germán Arce confirmed that the ministry is open to studying a proposal from the truckers association to lower the price of diesel, as a trucker strike drags on since the beginning of the month.

The National Planning Department (DNP) said that it has suspended, if only temporarily, royalty payments to 124 municipalities in 24 departments for not meeting the deadlines to notify authorities of the advances and current state of projects funded with royalty money. This and other royalty related stories in our periodic summary.

The reversion of the Rubiales field was an achievement for unions, social movements, political leaders and rural residents who worked together to force Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) to take the field back, says the USO oil workers union.

Rubén Darío Lizarralde, president of the Colombian Chamber of Oil Goods and Services (Campetrol) warned that the Constitutional Court’s recent decisions amount to “a direct attack against the sector and against foreign investment and the productivity of the country”.

The USO has again railed against proposed changes to Ecopetrol’s (NYSE:ECP) health benefits, which it alleges will lower the quality of health professionals and put its workers at greater risk.

Community members from Íquira, Huila have called for the environmental license of Telpico to be revoked launching a number of accusations against the process. The local environmental management agency, CAM, is investigating and said that the local ordinance laws (POT) are appropriate for local leaders to control extractive projects.

The National Planning Department (DNP) sounded the alarms on 144 royalty funded projects which are in a “critical” state and need immediate intervention to avoid further problems, worth a total of CoP$1.2T (US$400M).

Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) is set to receive the Cusiana field from Equion on July 4^th, and is in talks with the local community to identify social priorities which are aligned with the project.

Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) has signed an agreement with communities which affected its production in Chichimene, in the Acacías and Castilla la Nueva Municipalities, but reports show a willful criminal activity behind the protests, which could flare up again.