“Green” Fuel Has Human Cost
Governments and big business displacing landowners around the globe is nothing new. So it comes as no surprise that since 2005 there has been a resurgence of land theft in Colombia to make way for biofuel, and not so coincidentally, a re-mobilization of paramilitary groups.
BBC News covered the conflict in Colombia on June 3, exposing the human rights violations of the Colombian biofuel industry. An excerpt from the report states:
In rural areas, there is evidence that some people have been forcibly displaced to make way for biofuel production. Last year, the United Nations stopped its investment in the sector in Colombia. But while ethanol production in Brazil has been pored over by experts and activists, the challenges faced by Colombia remain relatively unexamined.
Inhabitants standing in the way of the biofuel industry are subject to paramilitaries arriving at their property and forcibly displacing them. Read more
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- Amy Mehta
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