A wave of blockades in Putumayo, Caquetá and Huila add to the 45 registered this year in a growing trend which have some speculating in the national press that companies could start suspending or canceling projects.
Putumayo oil operators have denounced the presence of new blockades being carried out by unidentified individuals near one of the Farc concentration zones, raising fresh concerns that these areas could represent a threat to the oil industry.
The Colombian Chamber of Oil Goods and Services (Campetrol) expressed its concerns that concentration zones designed to house Farc members include a number of oil producing municipalities, even though the government has said it would avoid parks, mining operations, borders or indigenous zones.
The government and Farc have announced the protocols to be used to implement the bilateral and definitive ceasefire and the laying down of arms. But a recent poll shows an alarming increase in pessimism regarding the process and that if held today, a “no” vote would win in a plebiscite.
President Juan Manuel Santos released more details on the timing for signing a final agreement with the Farc and said that the plebiscite can be ordered before the final agreement is signed.
Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) and the national government reached an agreement with the U’wa indigious community which allowed NOC personnel to restart and secure the Gibraltar Gas plant after weeks of U’wa occupation.
Incidents per week dropped again in July. It was not the lowest four-week period we have seen but it was low for not being an end-of-year holiday period.
In Yaguará, Huila, Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) insists that it has hired 100% of its unskilled labor locally and 30% of skilled labor, but individuals in the community have maintained blockades affecting five wells for nearly two months.
In every one of his public addresses over the last week, President Juan Manuel Santos urged Colombians to support the peace agreement, as the government and its supporters gear up for an intense political campaign for the “yes” vote.
The explosive growth of blockades, protests and social conflicts has a direct impact on the finances of the regions responsible for them, and a recent study from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) sought to quantify how much these conflicts are costing.
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