News · 14 August 2018
San Miguel de La Castellana demands protection against oil exploitation
## Key Facts
- LOCATION: Villagarzón, Putumayo
- TYPE OF COMMUNITY:Indigenous
- NUMBER OF HECTARES: No information
- NUMBER OF PLOTS: 2
- BUSINESS: Oil
The San Miguel de La Castellana community is located in the municipality of Villagarzón, Putumayo, and is made up of 109 families of the Inga ethnic group, the fifth largest Indigenous community in the country. In January 2018, specialized land judges in Mocoa agreed to study a lawsuit by the Land Restitution Unit to begin a process of restitution of territorial rights and thus protect this community from oil and timber exploitation.
Oil extraction began in the region in the 1970s and, with it, armed actors arrived. Since then the Inga People have had to move out of their territories and have even settled in urban spaces that have altered their traditions. First came the FARC with fronts 2, 32 and 48, and in 1997 the paramilitaries arrived with the Bloque Sur Putumayo of the Castaño brothers. This group later became part of the Bloque Central Bolívar of the AUC, commanded by Rafael Antonio Londoño, alias ‘Rafa Putumayo’.
In 2002, through Resolution No. 024 of December 10, 2002, San Miguel de La Castellana was constituted as a Resguardo by the Colombian Institute for Agrarian Reform, Incora. However, in 2008 the Ministry of the Interior issued an opinion for the Costayaco and La Cabaña oil exploitation areas in which it denied the existence of Indigenous groups in the area.
In 2014, the San Miguel community denounced the presence of an oil exploitation platform of the Canadian company Gran Tierra Energy Colombia, 500 meters from the Resguardo. That year, the community mobilized in Bogotá demanding recognition by the State. A year later, they filed a right of petition with the Ministry of the Interior demanding their right to prior consultation. In 2016, this ministry issued a resolution requiring the application of prior consultation.
In December 2017, a judge specialized in restitution in Mocoa began to examine a restitution claim filed by the Land Restitution Unit to protect the San Miguel de La Castellana Resguardo from oil exploitation. This Inga community is still awaiting a decision.
To see the main story, click here: https://verdadabierta.com/los-pueblos-indigenas-buscan-freno-a-la-explotacion-de-su-territorio/
## Key moments
## 1970-1990 - Presence of armed actors in the region
With the start of oil extraction in the area, the first armed group, the FARC, also arrived. Twenty years later, in the 1990s, paramilitaries of the Bloque Sur Putumayo of brothers Carlos and Vicente Castaño arrived.
## 2002 - San Miguel de La Castellana is recognized as a Resguardo
Through Resolution No. 024 of December 10, 2002, Incora established the community of San Miguel de La Castellana as a Resguardo. This benefited the Inga Indigenous community with two plots made up of public vacant land, community land and a plot belonging to the assets of the National Agrarian Fund, located in the jurisdiction of the municipality of Villagarzón, Putumayo.
## 2008 - The community demands recognition from the Ministry of the Interior
The San Miguel community filed a claim seeking recognition from the State in response to an opinion issued by the Ministry of the Interior, which denied the existence of Indigenous groups in the area planned for the Costayaco hydrocarbon exploitation area in the department.
## 2009 - Inga People at risk of disappearing according to the Constitutional Court
Through Order 04 of 2009, the Constitutional Court warned that the Inga People were at risk of disappearing because of the armed conflict, and therefore ordered the formulation of a safeguard plan for this community.
## 2014 - San Miguel community denounces a Canadian company's oil platform near the Resguardo
The San Miguel community denounced that a Canadian-owned company, Gran Tierra Energy Colombia, installed a platform for hydrocarbon exploration 500 meters from the Resguardo. That was the location of the company's Corunta Exploratory Drilling Area project. The Inga People mobilized in Bogotá in October 2014, demanding their right to prior consultation. This demand was supported by the Ombudsman's Office.
## October 2015 - Inga People demand their right to prior consultation
The Indigenous community of San Miguel de La Castellana submitted a right of petition to the Ministry of the Interior, demanding recognition of the right to prior consultation, due process and Indigenous autonomy. This was because, according to the community, part of Gran Tierra Energy Colombia's platform was located on Resguardo territory.
## 2016 - Ministry of the Interior orders prior consultation in San Miguel
In September, the Prior Consultation Directorate of the Ministry of the Interior issued a resolution requiring prior consultation to be carried out with the San Miguel de la Castellana Resguardo. This was because the Canadian company acknowledged that the communities could be affected by the project.
## 2017 - Inga community of Selvas del Putumayo receives restitution ruling
Another Resguardo of the Inga People, the Selvas del Putumayo community, obtained the first restitution ruling of the Colombian Amazon from the First Specialized Restitution Court of Mocoa.
## 2017 - Mocoa judges must review restitution claim for the San Miguel community
The Land Restitution Unit filed a lawsuit before a Specialized Land Restitution Court in Mocoa to begin a restitution process for the San Miguel de La Castellana community, in order to protect it from oil exploitation. Specialized judges in Mocoa must study the lawsuit.
## Key actors
- Companies X Case:
Company name: Gran Tierra Energy Colombia Ltd Relationship of the company to the case: In 2014, the community of San Miguel de La Castellana denounced the presence of an oil exploitation platform of the company Gran Tierra Energy Colombia, located 500 meters from the Resguardo. That year, backed by the Ombudsman's Office, the community mobilized in Bogotá and demanded that the Ministry of the Interior uphold its right to prior consultation. After the company acknowledged that the project could cause harm to the community, the Ministry issued a resolution to carry out the prior consultation.
