This paper emerges from a concern with the confluence of the following
three inter-related issues, all of them concerning Black communities’ territories
in northern Cauca region of Colombia: (i) renewed, intensification of violent
conflict during the year 2011-12; (ii) the rise of development megaprojects and
proliferation of land dispossession; and (iii), a national peace-building plan
through land policies and ‘consolidation’ zones.
During the last 10 years, the number of private enterprises and foreign
investment initiatives in Colombia has increased creating a considerable
economic growth that is expected to enhance the much-sought-after state of
stability and peace. At the same time, there have been important efforts to
create an atmosphere of transitional justice by demobilizing armed groups and
creating the Victims’ and Land Restitution Law. Despite this apparent positive
panorama, black communities or ‘Afro descendants’, among other
marginalized groups, have had to reinforce their claims and social struggles to
protect their territories from dispossession by multinational mining companies
and public-private joint venture enterprises.